Lucy is standing!

I found Lucy standing in her crib a few days ago. The crib has now been lowered to the bottom setting - and we have entered the time of cruisin'. Lucy will now use objects to negotiate moving from place to place while standing. For example, when she is in the playpen, she will do a perimeter tour.
Oh boy - busy times are coming.
On the plus side, I don't really have to prop her up much in the grocery cart, she is big and strong enough to stay seated for the entire trip. Even with temptation (ie. Rebecca's hair) right beside her, she was very well-behaved on our last outing. Rebecca gave her hugs and kisses the entire time (wow - I was really surprised - I am more accustomed to Becca's screaming/pushing reaction to Lucy).

We're all sick

I've been sick for a while, off and on.  An annoying recurring head cold which finally moved down to my throat last week.

At the same time, both girls and mom got sick at the same time, with the same cold.  Madeleine had it the worst, losing her voice and being knocked on her butt for a couple days.  Lucy was next, with runny nose, coughing and a bit of a fever for a couple days.  Rebecca's been coughing, and napping, but otherwise seems ok.

While the adults in the household have really been beaten up by the cold, the kids have maintained their chipper dispositions for the most part.  Lucy requires many more cuddles, especially around bed time, but still beams her lovely smile when mom comes into the room.  Rebecca has been a total nut, as usual, but wakes up a couple times each night needing sympathy and often ends up sneaking into our bed around 6am or so.

So while it could be worse, it's really put a damper on enjoying the holiday season as far as getting out of the house is concerned.  Rebecca and mom are still very excited about Christmas, hopefully we're all feeling at least somewhat better in a couple more days.

Oh, and Maddy came down with an ear infection yesterday and is now on penicillin.  That was fun.

Rebecca turned 3 on December 10th

Here is the birthday girl enjoying some Rolie Polie Olie.

Another tooth for Lucy

Tooth #6 is out (as of Saturday, December 10th). Unfortunately this makes for an unhappy baby lately - she is terribly rashy on her bottom, and has facial rashes from all the drooling. I hope she will get a break soon, but I'm afraid she's already working on more teeth.

Successful nighttime bathroom visit.

So Rebecca has been giving us some trouble after bedtime.  When we go in to check on her she often either informs us that she needs a new pull-up or that she wants to sit on the toilet.

Several times recently we've had unproductive visits, no pee, but she gets annoyed when we try to get her off the pot and back to bed.

Last night, however, went differently.  I was just about ready to kick her off the toilet and to bed, when all of a sudden, she pooped.  She seemed a little surprised, I rewarded her with gusto, hugs, cheers, and a pair of shiny kitty stickers for her potty chart.

Tonight, was back to the normal routine of sit and sit and sit and not much happens.  Fingers crossed that we can reinforce the successful number two visits soon.

Dare to compare - 7 month edition

Here is Lucy at 7 months of age. She is bigger than Rebecca was at the same age.












Here is Lucy - she likes to attack shoes and other objects neglected on the floor.












Here is Rebecca at 11 months of age, wearing something Lucy wears now! Rebecca was into attacking purses rather than shoes.













Here is Rebecca at 7 months of age, standing up with assistance from the crib. Lucy seems anxious to try to stand when held, but has not achieved the crib stand yet. We still haven't lowered the floor of her crib all the way yet. My doctor told me that larger babies take longer to achieve the same physical milestones (such as crawling, sitting etc.) as smaller babies. This is certainly turning out to be the case with my girls.




Here is Rebecca at 7 months of age -sitting unassisted. While Lucy can do this as of today, it is much more hit-and-miss, and we are now pushing 8 months of age.










Here is Rebecca enjoying blueberries at age 7 months. Lucy definitely eats more than Rebecca did, but is also pickier. Neither Lucy nor Rebecca seems to enjoy meat purées, and are not in a rush to hold their own bottle (although Lucy has surprised us by doing so a few times so far).

Independent sitting - hooray!

After weeks of trying, Lucy has finally managed to back herself into a seated position from crawling. While on all fours, she fully extends her back legs, and then lowers herself backwards. There are still occasional face plants, but all in all, I have seen multiple successes today alone. There appear to be two distinct sitting styles - one is normal, one has one leg in front, and one bent to the side. She has also taken to lounging on her side.