Blana Babies

Ethan is using the sign for milk! I saw it yesterday when Jackie was over, but I wasn't really sure that he wasn't just making a fist and opening his hand randomly (see the sign here, it's like a one-handed milking a cow motion... which we all know because we milk cows all the time). Then this morning Blake was with the babies and I was in the other room (pumping as usual) and Blake yells,
"he's doing it, he's doing it!"
Me: "What? What? what's he doing?"
Blake: "He's doing the sign for milk!"
Me: "well, then get him some milk fast!"
It was funny (really). but we've seen Ethan sign a few more times today and only once (right before his nap when he was getting tired) did he not want the bottle after making the sign. Yes, Ethan frequently wants a bottle, but not if he's more interested in something else, so I think it's legit.

How crazy is that? his first word!

things are busy around here, so this is a cheater post: read a bit about my kids on jackie's blog!

A funny little video from the other day. We had just returned from a stroller outing so the kiddos were both wearing hats. Other than the fact that Kaylee wanted Ethan's hat, things to note include: Kaylee is as usual slow and focused. She gets a ring on the ring stacker! Ethan just wants to make noise. He loves it when he finds two things that, when smashed/banged into each other, make noise. Having two different kids is pretty fun; I love their differences and their unique little personalities.

I myself was torn between Snaylee and Snailee, and for awhile there they were tied for votes. Snaylee is closer to Kaylee after all, but "Snay" just seems like not the greatest sound - makes you want to say it all nasal-y. But snails are cute... but I was torn. So I'm glad you all decided for me. If you feel strongly toward Snaylee you may spell it that way. :) it is only one letter different anyway.

Ethan's nickname is sort of leaning toward Eth (like Ethan, but truncated before the "ann"). My mom was voting that should be spelled Ethe. I'm not sure. I'm also not sure it's his nickname. Snailee got her nickname organically, w/o trying, it just happened. I think it would be fun for Ethan to also have a nickname that evokes images of small slimy things, but none have arisen. :) thoughts?

Here are some fun pics of the kiddos w/ Heidi... a couple weeks ago (I'm going for better late than never).

 kaylee loves to jump. loves it.


 standing is okay, but jumping is where it's at.


 eating books is also pretty excellent...


 and looking at your gramma. she has such interesting things to say.


ethan, however, loves to stand. look at that, gramma nearby to catch him, but standing all on his own, what fun.


 yay!





 no hands!



and again!


 possibly falling over in this pic...


 ha ha :)


 phew. all done with that, time to sit down and let kaylee have a turn.

Kaylee had not moved. but Ethan certainly had! I'm sure he rolled onto his tummy, then backed up, rotated, and backed up some more. I think he was currently trying to go forward and steal Kaylee's book, but forward isn't something he's figured out yet. and yes, he's wearing a pink bib that says princess on it. he had drooled through all the non-girly bibs.

:)

okay, one more thing - and this is very important.

Kaylee has a nickname. Sometimes we call her Snaylee. ... or snailey... snailee? This is the problem. Sometimes we just call her "the snail." but the other day Kaylee wanted to send Blake an email at work, and she asked me, "Mommy, how do you spell snaylee?" (so that she could sign her name at the end) and I didn't know how to answer. So I need your help. how would you spell it? there's a poll on the right side of my blog. Let me know...

Happy birthday Gramps! My parents went to Molbak's Nursery on my Dad's birthday (or maybe it was the day after actually) and the babies wanted to pay Gramps a surprise visit. It was during naptime however so... Ethan fell asleep :)


In cute blue and pink outfits at Nana's. this pic makes me smile because you're not really sure if they're hugging or strangling each other...


We've since taken the bumper out of Ethan's crib, but this used to be one of our favorite games - pull down the bumper to see mom.


I believe this lizard is from Alyssa. I try not to torture my children too often, but putting this lizard on Kaylee's head just cracks me up. She can keep in there for awhile! It always slides right off Ethan's head, but apparently Kaylee doesn't move her head as jerk-ily. when you put it backwards like this she reaches up and grabs the tail and pulls it off, which is also cute to watch her try to get her hands in the right place. In the last few days she's realized she can turn her head side to side and shake it off, so I think this game is over, but it was pretty funny before.


This pic captures the fact that Ethan always wants whatever Kaylee has. Kaylee's all happy with her toy, but Ethan has dropped the book he was happy with moments before and is now quite focused on what Kaylee has. sigh.


 cute pic of my mom and kaylee.


ethan taking a nap - this is why we removed his bumper. he rolls all over his crib now and always seems to end up with his face smashed into the side. for a bit (including when this pic was taken) I tied his bumper to the top of the crib so that he could still breathe, but that encouraged the pulling up using the bumper, so now it's just out entirely. which is less cute, but makes it much easier to change the crib sheets!


kaylee in her would-be easter dress. it's too big so she'll just wear her after-dedication party dress. (I know it doesn't look too too big in this pic, but she is completely stretched out in this pic. it hits the floor when she stands.)

okay, that's all for now. I have a few videos I could post, but we'll see if that happens...

happy friday!

while ethan has been working on his teeth, kaylee has been working on her words. she now says dah-dah and ma-ma. unfortunately, they're not really words, as it's more often dah-dah-dah, followed by other random sounds, but none-the-less, it's fun to pretend she's saying mama and dada. :)

look at those teeth! (yes, that's ethan, in kaylee's crib)

(pay no attention to his skin which is looking horrible again today - it changes every day. we put him down to sleep at night w/ horrible skin and he wakes up with almost perfect skin. the next day we put him down w/ near-perfect skin and he wakes up and his face looks covered in scabs. it's so sad. we have tried every cream known to us or the doc. it doesn't seem to bother ethan, but it just looks so sad.) so anyways, we'll just focus on the positive - look at those teeth!