Tickle, Tickle?

It doesn't happen often which is why it takes me by surprise every time she does it.  Yesterday, I was sitting in my chair and all the sudden I start to feel a little hand pinching the soft bits around my hips.  I look down and ask her what in the world she is doing... and she looks up at me with an adorable little grin and says "Tickle tickle!"

It just amazes me how fast time flies and how quickly things can change.  In the  past couple of weeks Gwen has decided that she likes her shoes... well, not just likes them, but likes to wear them.  Originally it was a battle to get her to let me put shoes on.  It didn't help that every time I turned around it looked like her shoes were too tight and I'd have to go get new ones.  Finally I broke down and went to a real children's shoe store and had them measure her foot.  Well, no wonder the Wal-Mart shoes weren't working... it appears that someone has inherited her daddy's wide feet.  Honestly though, I can't say that it would have been any better for her to have gotten my narrow ones.  Anyhow, once she started walking she disliked the shoes even more.  I think it was just too different for her.  Even the weekend of her birthday she wasn't too sure about them.  Out in my aunt and uncle's backyard I made her wear them, but she wouldn't walk unless she was holding my hand for support.  She'd go out in the grass and just sit... not move from that spot... not go chase the ball even though she obviously wanted it.  Now its a complete 180.  When we get ready to leave the house and she sees that I have her shoes and socks, she comes running.  She sits there nice and still while I get them on and everything... and then she won't take them off.  Usually once we get home she just stays in her shoes til bed time when I have to take them off to do bath/jammies.

I can't believe how early it is... its just now past 6am and I've been up for a while already.  The little critter is cutting more teeth so she started fussing at about 430 this morning and by the time I got her back to sleep I was wide awake.  I just don't seem to be getting a break at all between teeth.  So far she has the 4 up top center, 4 on bottom center, and is starting to finally cut some of the back teeth she's been working on.  She won't let me see exactly which ones they are and considering the 8 rather sharp little consequences of my trying to do some unwanted prodding, I figure its good enough to know that she's cutting some at all.  I did catch a glimpse of white where one is finally breaking the surface up top, but I didn't get more than a split second.

Speaking of a little pain... not sure if it counts as a black eye, but my little wrestler in training has her first big bruise... well... bigger is a relative term.  She has taken to playing a very cute little version of hide and seek.  She tries to hide behind the sofa, the coffee table, the end of her crib or pretty much anywhere else she thinks I won't be able to see her.  She even seems to have caught on to the fact that she needs to hide her whole body, not just her face.  Whenever she thinks I'm not looking, she'll run to one of her hiding spots and duck down low so that she thinks I can't see where she is.  Then, if I don't start looking for her right away, she'll peek her head up top or around the side of her chosen piece of furniture to check on me and then dart back into hiding while giggling wildly.  She thinks this whole process is hilarious.  Well, her favorite spot to run and hide is on the far side of my bed.  Anytime she catches my bedroom door open, its not long before I hear her giggles coming from in there.  Well, the other day she was doing this and I went to go "find" her and as I come in the door way, she's just stood up to peek over the top of the bed...  and as she sees me, she goes to drop down low out of sight... and wham!  She hits her face on the edge of the bed frame... no more giggling, cue the screams.  She managed to give herself a pretty good bruise just below her right eye brow that has since turned a lovely shade of purple.  She was fine in a matter of seconds once I distracted her with a toy, but I have gotten some funny looks while running errands since then... oh well!  Bumps, bruises, and scrapes are all part of the territory of being a toddler and I have plenty more of them ahead of me. 

Well, I hear a critter stirring for real now so I'd better wrap this up.  Until the next adventure!

Adventures in Vacuuming!

Just seeing Gwen's reaction to the vacuum gives me motivation some days.  She won't go in another room while I'm vacuuming but she's obviously not sure that its something I should be doing.  The entire time its running she runs up towards it, but not too close, then turns and runs aways.  All of this is done with lots of shrieks and squeaks.  Last time, as soon as I was done and had turned the vacuum off, she went up and started yelling at it.  She had her hands going and everything.

Gwen has really taken off with the walking.  I was all prepared after her first steps that it would be a while before she tried again, but that next day she was working hard at it.  Even when she stumbled, she'd get right back up and keep trying.  She was very determined to walk.  Now, only about 6wks later she walks everywhere.  The only time she reverts to crawling is when going over rough terrain.

This picture was taken right after she got up on the morning of her birthday.  I love her goofy, cheesy grin... especially with all that wild, curly hair.

Gwen was fascinated by the flame on the candle so Mama had to jump in and help blow it out.

My neat and tidy child who refused to make a mess.  Before she would eat the cake, I had to cut it into bite size pieces and even then she wasn't sure she was supposed to eat it until I fed her the first bite.  She only got in a few bites before she decided she was done with it and that her toys looked like more fun.  The cake was delicious though.  My aunt made it... chocolate with cream cheese frosting... mmmm.

This is me with my cousin, but I had to throw it in here too since it was a good belly shot.  In this one I'm at about 21wks.

I can't believe how fast this pregnancy is going.  It just dawned on me yesterday that at the outside I've only got about 3 months left before I go from 1 baby to 3.  I guess its a good thing I finally got my baby registry done.  Not much longer before my life gets really crazy!

Just in the past week I've gone from barely being able to feel the twins from the outside to being able to sit and watch my belly hop around.  They are amazingly active.  I have doctor's appointments every week at this point and all the doctors and sonographers have commented on how much they move around.  The poor sonographers really have to work when I come in.  I usually end up taking the full appointment time, sometimes more, just because they're having a hard time taking all the measurements they need due to the twins being so active.  I love getting to watch them move around on the screen.  Its neat to be able to feel them kicking and see it at the same time.  I love being able to feel them all the time.  Its very reassuring not to need to do kick counts or worry about them so much.

I think I've started hitting that whole nesting thing too.  The past week has been spent organizing closets and getting baby clothes washed and folded and ready.  Baby stuff has been a lot less stressful this time.  Last time I just kept looking at what all was out there without really knowing which was stuff I needed and which was stuff I would be fine without.  I had a much better idea in my head of what was needed this time which has made things easier.  This time too I've had much better resources available to me.  Out in California I didn't really have anywhere other than a Babies R Us to go to.  This time, even though I did my registry through them, I was able to collect most of the bigger items elsewhere.  There's a new baby resale shop that opened a couple months ago that has been absolutely wonderful.  I've gotten some great deals there on stuff for the twins as well as stuff for Gwen.  Also, there's an organization called Just Between Friends that sponsors giant baby garage sale type things nation wide.  I've been able to get stuff from the sales in Austin and Houston and my mom has been able to hit the sales in the Kansas City area (she's finishing up a temporary assignment there).  I just feel so much more prepared this time.  The only thing that would make it better is if Kurt were here too.

Anyhow, the critter is down for her nap so I think I'll go catch me one too while there's still time!