A few updates

I have a few things to report:

Natalie is finally getting more teeth! The right top tooth is coming in, and has been for about a week. I can also finally see her elusive bottom tooth. It's just now poking through. I'm quite happy since if it were not, she would have a bottom tooth on the left side bottom and a top tooth on the right side. I'm pretty sure that makes chewing rather difficult.

Yesterday, and again today, Natalie copied me and tried to stack one block on top of another to create a tower. She couldn't quite do it, but you could see she was getting the idea. She has also been babbling like crazy. Abby used to be the loud one, but now it's Natalie. She also loves to walk around. She gets such a delight from it - laughing and giggling. It's really cute.

I am declaring that Abby has her first word - kitty. She has actually been using it for a while. She will use it when seeing our cats and sometimes when she sees a picture in a book. She has also been using a lot of different sounds. She will copy us and make a monkey sound after we do it a few times. We also been working hard on getting her to meow. I think she is trying to do it. She makes some sound, although it doesn't sound too much like meow. But, she seems to make the same sound, so I guess it counts. Both girls can say da-da and ma-ma, but we are still waiting for them to actually call us da-da and ma-ma.

Abby has also become really cuddly. She will run to me and bury her face in my shoulder. Then she'll move away, and come running back. It's so sweet. Natalie runs to us too, but she more stops and sits on our lap than gives cuddly hugs.

Oh, Abby has developed another little trick as well - biting. I knew it was a matter of time. I may have mentioned it before, but she bit me good at my dad's. I yelped in pain and told her no biting (rather strongly). She was so startled, she started crying :-( She has a tendency to lunge towards a person with an open mouth. We watch for it, though, and she responds pretty well to "don't bite" - if we catch it in time. I'm pretty sure she's bitten Natalie a few times. There have been a few bouts of unexplained crying. Abby better watch out though. Natalie's getting that top tooth, and then the playing field is leveled a bit.

Both girls have started picking things up and handing them to us and engaging us in their play. They are still apt to put nearly everything in their mouths, but they are also just as likely to hand it to us first. Abby especially likes to do this. While playing, they will often hand the toy to us to get us to play too. Or, if they are pretending to drink from a cup, they will offer it to us as well. They are also starting to throw balls, or at least drop them in our general direction. Natalie seems to really like playing with the balls.

Overall, their receptive language is really good. They both will follow simple directions: come here; bring me the ball; give that to mommy. They will also come from their room to the living room when called - usually:-)

It's very exciting to see Natalie and Abby discover new things and learn new things. Watching them grow is such a joy, a little bittersweet, but a joy nonetheless.