Words

The girls love playing with spoons. I really don't know why, but they are happy with big spoons, little spoons, measuring spoons or soup spoons. When they have one, they run around yelling "Spoooon! Spoooon! Spooon!"

Which got me to thinking about how many words the girls use and know. What amazes me is their power to relate abstract depictions of objects with their real counterparts. When they see cartoon pictures of cats they say "kitty". When they see real cats they say "kitty". They saw a wood carving a cat and said "kitty". I looked at it and said, "What!!?? Oh yeah, it *is* a kitty".

They have also been using sign language for 7 or 8 months now and continue to amaze me. Having only been exposed to cartoon ducks, their rubber bath ducky, and a stuffed animal, the first time they saw ducks at the beach both girls started signing "duck". They used a separate bird sign for the seagulls and herons. Isabella's duck sign is now morphing into snapping, but that allows her to keep rhythm with the music on the radio. ;-)

It truly is amazing how much babies must learn in their first year. From learning how to move their little limbs to understanding language. Now when we ask one of the girls to go get a different book from the shelf, she merrily trots over and gets one, a feat utilizing language recognition and motor skills. I really don't know how much they understand, but I suspect it is a lot more than I give them credit for.

 
 
  

Bumper Cars

The girls love pushing themselves around on their little car thing-a-ma-jigs. They wander over hop on then start running into things. I sure hope they get better before they take out daddy's car.
 
 
 

Santa Claus

Santa came to the park near the house. The girls couldn't tell him what they wanted for Christmas so it will be up to us to figure it out. A clown making balloon animals added to the scene. There must be some universal appeal for balloon critters. More kids were crowded around him than Santa! Our girls sure loved the balloons but were mixed on Santa himself.

Mike D Visits

My good friend Mike Davis visited from Colorado while up interviewing with the Death Star. Kellie and I tried the hard sell on Washington to bring him and his family up here. Mike has a darling little boy a few months younger than the girls. He was the one who inspired me to create this blog. Thanks Mike! Mike and Talisha's Blog
 
 

Make Like a Cat

Maybe the girls have been hanging out with the cat too much, but they are adopting some of his ways. They have a penchant for climbing into things, including the kitty bed. Maybe we will be able to leave out paper bags and cardboard boxes and let them romp. Balls of string haven't made it onto their radar yet, but the toilet paper rolls prove just as fascinating.