8.5 Months

I figured I'd catch y'all up on the twins.

8.5 months. We weighed them a little before 8 months. About 20-21 pounds apiece, so I'm guessing they're about 22-23 pounds now. We had to upgrade to "big girl" car seats...the kind that just stays in your car. Thank goodness, because I had about had it with their infant seats. I kept telling David they weighed more than the girls. And he was like, "Oh, you're just weak." And I would say, "They have to way at LEAST 10 pounds." And he's all, "Uh, no, probably not. More like 3-5 pounds. You're just a woman and #1, y'all are horrible at guesstimating and #2, you're not very strong." Well, we took them to my Dad's office to weigh...guess what...10 POUNDS, BABY! Eat THAT, accountant! Yeah, so...it's not fun toting around a 22-pounder in a 10-pound contraption.

Harper is a crawling fool. That kid can get anywhere in the house in under 6.9 seconds. And don't get in her way. She will plow right over you...leaving your mangled body in her wake. She pulls up to standing on whatever she can get her hands on...even if it means using your hair for leverage. Piper Lee has more of an attitude of "Why should I move when I know you'll come and move me eventually?" She slithers around. She'll get up on her knees and literally hop forward if she really wants something. Or she roll side over side to get to where she wants to be. But, for the most part, she's pretty content to just sit and play. She's very contemplative and analytical. In fact, right now, she's building something with the toys...looks kind of like a cannon. I'm sure it's not...but, wait, is that gunpowder? PIPER LEE! Hang on...brb............................................

Okay, it WAS a cannon. We had a talk. Anyways.

They love bath time. Or, I should say, tidal wave splash time. Thank goodness for clear, plastic shower curtain barrier things. By the end of bath time, David and I are soaked. But the girls are tired and ready for bed. Happy babies, happy Mommy and Daddy.

Piper Lee has developed this half kitten/half puppy arf arf arf arf that she does ALL. THE. TIME. whilst playing with her toys. It's really sweet, but after 13 hours of it, I heartily welcome a little quiet. They jabber incessantly, which makes me laugh.

They have several very distinct laughs. I'm trying to get each one on camera so I can show y'all. There's their regular "I'm happy to see you" laugh. There's the polite "you're not as funny as you think you are, Mom, but I'll laugh to make you feel better" laugh. There's the "stop tickling me or I'll wet my diaper...oops, too late" laugh. There's the "laughing at sister while Mom tickles her" laugh. And then, there's the ever-elusive "just for us babies" laugh. The only time I hear this laugh is when they're laughing at each other. I hear it pretty often throughout the day, but it's really hard to catch it in person or on film. It's the best laugh ever invented.

They've just recently started fighting over toys, which is HUH-LARIOUS. We've started telling them "no" when they're pulling each other's hair or taking toys from each other or unplugging my external hard drive without properly ejecting it first. And I know I need to establish that "sharing is good", but it's just so funny. And they fight over toys that they have two of. But, nope, sister's exact same toy is better than mine. They pitch tiny little twin fits and it's hard not to laugh, but they're SO dramatic. I have no idea where they get that from. The only toy they don't really fight over is the sit and play piano. They'll sit side by side and play. Eventually, though, someone does push someone else over and I have to rescue that someone on the ground. Either that, or someone breeches the personal space boundary of someone else (a.k.a. playing with her ears, poking her eyes, picking her nose, etc.) and that someone else gets fussy about it, so I have to separate them.

They definitely have the twin vibe going because, while they can't complete each other's sentences yet, they do poop at the EXACT same time during the day. I mean, it's like a schedule. Which makes that a very stressful 10 minutes for me, because they're both moving and squirming everywhere, and sitting up and laying back down doesn't help the situation or the limits of the diaper barrier. And, we had an incident yesterday, which I will tell y'all about soon, but first, I have to break some bad news to a friend about a baby outfit she let me borrow. Sigh.

Although they're identical, they have super different personalities. Piper Lee is a mini-David and Harper is a mini-me. Harper is nosey and, no matter what language you say "no" in, she's still going to do what she wants. Piper Lee is quiet (except for the arf) and studies things so intently and will just sit and smile at you. They're both so sweet and loving, though, and love to cuddle and be held and sit in your lap and read a book. They LOVE books. Which is great, because I love perusing through the children's section at the book store.

I recently started putting bows in their hair. Little tiny ones. It's pretty funny and adorable. Like little Davids with bows. Just as soon as I put them in, however, they pull them out of each other's hair. I honestly think it's because they're helping each other..."Hey, sis, you've got something in your hair." "What? What is it? Get it out!! Is it gone?!" "Chill...I got it."

They can feed themselves finger foods. I'll cut up big wedges of apples for them. They love those. They don't really eat them...more like gnaw. They like the baby puff things. Those are just plain funny. They get stuck on their faces or hands and they can't get them off. Maybe they're saving them for later.

They both have their bottom teeth coming in. Right now, they look like piranhas with sweet smiles. And yeah, those things are SHARP. I know the day is coming when I hear a squeal and it's because someone's bitten someone else.

Their obsession with jewelry has reached a new level. At first, it was big, chunky jewelry like a necklace or earrings. Then, it was anything sparkly. But really, now, if you have a gold tooth, they will rip it from your mouth and treasure it...my precioussssssss. Like little parrots. I'm pretty sure they're collecting things in their cribs to sell on Ebay. I feel like we're going to have to buy stock in the costume jewelry industry.

They still refuse to eat homemade baby food. We've tried it all different ways. I'm going to videotape what they do when we give it to them. It's one of the most amazing things you'll ever see.

The squeal with delight and wave their arms when Daddy comes home. Harper will crawl to him, straight up into his lap. PL will wait patiently until he comes to her...little slug.

They love their baby videos. I rotate between two Praise Baby videos and Reid's Mozart video. I'm saving the Christmas Praise Baby for, well, Christmastime...meaning, December 1. They also love, I am very proud to say, Project Runway.

They're the best kids. So much fun.