Diswasher Magnents

Hello all,

We're still hanging out in Cali with family and they haven't kicked us out yet! The weather here has been chilly, but sunny. I can see my breath when walking outside during the day if that gives you any idea of what we call winter. For some reason as soon as the dishwasher door is opened the twins hear or see it and come scrambling towards it. We've baby proofed the rest of the kitchen, but there's no way to block them from grabbing for silverware and bowls other than to kick them out of the kitchen completely. They look like kids in a candy store, don't they...


The list of tricks Easton and Layla can do is growing quickly. At some point the list will be so big I can't keep up, but for now it's short and funny.

Layla:

When asked, "what does a tiger say?" she makes a growling noise with a wide open mouth

She can walk! she takes two shaky steps with one stiff leg. She looks a little like a drunk pirate with a peg leg trying walk across the deck of a ship as it's being tossed back and forth in the ocean.

She claps on command. We thought this day would never come since she normally has fists clinched. that doesn't lend itself to clapping, but shes getting better at spreading her fingers out.

I'm not sure the One-Legged Prairie Dog stance counts for much now that she's walking, but I still think it's adorable.

She waves. I guess you call it waving. She turns the palm of her hand towards herself, makes a fist and then spreads her fingers out wide. repeat that several times and I suppose that's considered waving, right?

She knows sign language! After 6 months of us trying to teach the sign for "more", Layla finally gets it and shows the sign at the appropriate time.

She stomps her feet. As she is sitting upright if you say, "Stomp your feet!" she'll move her legs in and out and stomp her feet on the floor.

Easton:

We call him "the light man" because he randomly looks (and sometimes points) up at the lights and says, "ight! ight!"

He walks with the walker. although he's not walking unassisted yet, this is a big accomplishment. He gets a huge grin and chuckles as he pushes the walker thing around the house.

He follows instructions to put things into containers. When I say, "put the ball in the container" he places the ball in and lets go. He also does "on top of" where he stacks objects. Easton is definitely more constructive and tactile than Layla.

He responds when we say, "No!" All we have to do is say, "Easton! No." and he responds correctly. Layla? not so much. We're working on her. My sister describes it as having a "happy heart" and that's the concept we are instilling into Layla.

I wish I could take credit for this next picture by saying Easton purposefully expresses his "GQ" look, but it's all complete coincidence. He still looks cool though!



One last bit of humor for the day is my haircut story. sometimes Kendra wants me to have long, wavy hair and sometimes she likes it to be shaved off. Sometimes she like my goatee and sometimes she wants a clean-shaven face. Since I don't have to look at myself, what do I care??? So... a few days ago Kendra said, "I think you should cut your hair". The next words out of my mouth were, "Mom? Get the trimmers!" I sat down in the kitchen and let my mother-in-law loose with trimmers and sharp scissors. Now THAT is truly trusting you in-laws.


She did a good job and now I don't wake up every morning looking like Kramer (from the TV show friends). I also shaved my goatee for unknown reasons. When people ask why I do these things (shave my head and goatee) I tell them it's all part of the Witness Protection Program. Of course, I'm just joking,

That's all for now, but I promise to upload a video of Layla's first steps in the next day or so.

Happy New Year!