Lately...

Where did I leave off, let's see..... my babies are going to be 10 months and 25 months this week.

Gavin- 

*  Lack of sleep- the same.  I thought (prayed) that his getting tubes would miraculously turn him into a better sleeper.  Keep dreaming mama.  This week he is waking at 10:30pm, 2:00am and up for the day at 5:00am.  We have let him cry, he's stubborn and just keeps on crying.  So we are just working on routine and consistency and hoping he figures this sleep thing out before he turns one.  (please, please, please)

* Tubes-  Like I mentioned up there, Gavin got tubes for his recurring ear infections on November 7th.  He did great, except he was a monster coming out of anesthesia, just like his big sister.  But as soon as we got him out of the recovery area he was all smiles.  There has been some drainage and he seems much happier (if that's even possible).  The only problem is, we cannot find an earplug that we can keep in his ears during bath time.  They all fall out or he knocks them out, annoying. 

I have to share this story- we were sitting in the play area at the hospital waiting for the nurses to take Gavin back and there was a little girl playing in the same area.  She had about 5 family members with her and had big scars across her tiny little head.  She crawled up to Gavin and they played together until the little girl's name was called.  Gavin gave her a kiss before she left, it was the sweetest thing I've ever seen.  We saw the same family in the waiting area and overheard that they were there for a 6-7 hour surgery that included reconstructive surgery on her face.  My heart was so heavy for that family.  I am so thankful for Children's Hospital and all that they have done for my kids and so many other kids.  I felt silly for being as nervous as I was while these poor people were going through something so much worse.

* Eating- not much has changed eating-wise.  He is not into trying "real" food like Emily was.  He eats his pouches, cereal, cheerios, puffs and bottles but when we try to give him finger food he's just not interested.

*  Movement- he is all over the place, crawling, starting to cruise on the furniture and he wants to climb over EVERYTHING.  You put an obstacle in his way and he will crawl over it, he has no fear.  He has started standing for very short periods on his own.

*  Other stuff-  he gives the best open-mouthed kisses when asked, he waves bye-bye, claps and will give high fives.  His sister can make him laugh like no one else and he is the biggest daddy's boy ever in the world.  He could really care less if mom is around.

Emily- 

*  She has been changing so much in this past month.  Talking more, making more sense when she talks, and just so amazing to watch.  My favorite things she has been saying are, "where you at mommy?", "what you doin mommy?"  "where's Gavin/daddy/grandma/grandpa?"  "I love you mommy".  She also says "MINE"  all.the.time.  If Gavin comes near her toys when she is playing she grabs them up and says "mine!"  We have been working with her a lot on sharing and she will hand him toys when reminded that we have to share.  Slowly but surely, she's getting used to having Gavin around.

*  She is kind of over Mickey Mouse which was a little shocking to me.  Her new obsession favorite is Bubble Guppies or as she says, 'Bubba Duppies'. 

*  She has recently been more and more into her babies and the past two nights she has cried and cried until I let her have two babies and their little sippy cup in her crib with her. She feeds them, covers them with blankets, shushes them, burps them, etc.  She also has been playing dress up. Toddlers crack me up.

*  She has started counting a lot.  She gets to 13 and then after that she just says 'fifeen' over and over.  She's not as much into letters as she is numbers but every once in awhile she will start singing her ABC's

*  Girlfriend is very opinionated about a lot of things, shoes in particular.  She will only wear her Chuck Taylor's, no other shoes will do.  I've tried a million pairs of shoes and she has a serious, serious meltdown.  I guess I will just be buying Chucks in every size until she grows out of this phase. 

* Eating- she's an awesome eater but has a new habit of spitting things out she doesn't like and saying "yucky".

* Being outside is still her favorite thing ever and it probably always will be

And that's what we've been up to lately!