Sister Hugs

Blake and I see changes in the girls everyday; what they understand, what they can do, and what they copy us doing.  Our favorite though is seeing the changes in how they interact with each other.

They give each other high fives, they like to give each other kisses, and yesterday during bathtime Ellie kept giving Caroline hugs.  

And since then, they are hugging machines.  We haven't yet seen Caroline wrap her arms around Ellie, but it seems to us that Caroline's effort in the hugging process is willingly receiving the chokehold that Ellie gives her.

...well, willingly might be stretching it a little.  Maybe "tolerating it" is a better description.

How do you Capture the Memories?

I have taken about 15,000 pictures of Caroline and Ellie in their first 16 months of life, and somehow, I still feel like I'm not able to capture all the memories that I want to hold dear.

How exactly do you capture in a picture two squealing babies enjoying being pulled in a sled despite the frigid 10 degree weather that they don't even seem to notice?

....or when the girls find their snack cups from the night before and ask to have it in such a sweet way that you just can't say no?

I'm not sure I can get in a picture the sweetness of Caroline ALWAYS wanting to to crawl into  Grandmom's lap and just sit there sucking her thumb.

Or the look that comes on their face in the moments that they hear a familiar song...or in this case, see Mickey Mouse singing his song on TV.

How do a capture in a thousand pictures the increased level of understanding Caroline and Ellie have such as when I tell them to put a toy in the mailbox, they simultaneously rush over to to open the lid and be the first one to get their toy through?

...or how into window sills they are right now.  No matter what house we are in, the window sill is the perfect place to put your toys, apparently.

How does a picture show how they love to be outside...no matter the weather conditions.

...and how they ask to go outside every time they get up from their nap.

And then there is their love for dragging their hands whenever they are moving.  I can take a picture of a hand sticking out of the sled, but I can't seem to capture in a single picture how their hands are total ice cubes at the end of a walk from their constant hand dragging.  

...or here in Texas, how their hands are black from dragging their hands along the top of the wheels while we go along the sidewalk.

I have many pictures of them in the grocery store, but I can't really capture the way they wave in synch to everyone we pass as I'm pushing them side by side in the cart.

How do I get in a picture the way they play with their toys and fight to the point of tears about who gets to pour the tea from their teapot?  

Or how they point to the back door when I ask them where Daddy is during a work day...the back door being the entrance Blake always walks through with arms wide accompanied with two squealing girls when he comes home from work.

I really wish I could somehow get a picture of the way the girls sometimes lay their head on my shoulder in the store parking lot when I pick them up transferring them from the stroller to the carseat...which always opens up a floodgate of tenderness to my heart that I can only just stand there, slightly swaying soaking up the moment while ignoring the other cars that want my parking space, knowing that there's no place I'd rather be than right there, right in that moment.  

And if I could only get a picture of that, I would.  But the picture of that fleeting moment that is burned in my memory and in my heart is more beautiful, more tender than anything I could ever take....

....and all this makes me realize all over again for the thousandth time of how short this time is with my baby girls and how thankful I am to not miss a second of it.

16 Months!

Caroline and Ellie are 16 months old and they are changing so much in the little things.  

After visiting my parents in Alaska for 4 weeks, we are back in Houston and adjusting back to normal life.  We came back with them so much more capable than they were when we left.

This is our first time since before Christmas that we are settling in and just doing normal life, but back then (which feels like a lifetime ago) the girls were barely walking.  

They loved hearing the "swish swish" that their feet made in the snow

They are fast up the stairs and just at the slightest mention of bedtime or bathtime, they immediately stop what they're doing, go straight to the stairs and make their way to their bedroom.  

For starters, anytime you take a picture, they want to see it.  Somehow they know if a picture is being taken no matter if it is with my big camera or with a cell phone, and they always want to slide their finger across any screen to flip to the next picture.  

They have also learned and mastered "peek-a-boo"....

...and I have to say in my unbiased opinion, there's nothing cuter than walking the aisles of Wal-Mart the girls playing peek-a-boo in our double stroller!

They are getting slightly better at playing...or at least they show glimpses of playing with something longer than 8 seconds.  

The are getting really good at song recognition.  If they hear the tune to any familiar songs they immediately stop and start to dance.  

The like the Mickey Mouse songs...notice my Mom doing the "Hot Dog" Dance with the girls

Their favorite songs right now are "Itsy Bitsy Spider", "Where is Thumbkin" and "Pat-a-Cake".  They request us to sing these songs ad nauseam and they have a special hand signal for each song.  

We talked to Blake on Skype every night and now I have to keep the computer hidden because every time they see it, they want to talk to someone on it.  

Even on Skype, if someone asks them to point to a body part, they're happy to oblige.  We've covered all the facial body parts and now we're working on the joints such as shoulder and elbow!

With all the things that they can do, they still cannot say one small word, despite my best efforts.  Not even a Mama or a Dada. 

I guess the persistent whining is still working for them and they don't feel the need to form a word.  

Even if they can't express it in words, I know Caroline and Ellie are missing their grandparents.  It was a really fun month in the snow and with my parents.  Plenty of attention, arms to hold them, and kisses to go around at all times.  It was a great visit!