Happy 16-Month Birthday, T and E!!!

This is the best picture I could get of the 16-month-olds together this time. Note the NICU bears and the book. The book is the only thing that made this event halfway peaceful... until Evie decided it should be hers, not her sister's! 

Dear Tamsie and Evangelyn,

How has another month come and gone so quickly? Girls, you're just growing and growing! Here's a little glimpse of what life is like with you right now:

E spent most of her 16-month birthday toting around this block and a white one just like it -- when she wasn't playing with her books, that is!

* Both of you are just a couple of ounces shy of 19 lbs! You're long, but you have little waists, which makes finding clothes that fit well quite the challenge these days. You're in 9-12 month clothes -- generally 9 month in weight but 12 month in length. Still rockin' size 3 diapers... although something came to live with us this past weekend: a baby potty!! We'll be starting to get you used to the idea of it all! This mama is not wasting any time getting you two out of diapers - ha! (And don't worry, I won't humiliate y'all by posting the details on here! But I will say that right now you're both fascinated and terrified by the thing, so I think it will be a while before you understand what it's for.)

Tamsie

* You are becoming quite the conversationalists. While much of what you say is still babble, you're also amazingly adept at communicating what you would like or need. Sometimes I wonder how far to go with baby signs because you seem to be picking up on language so well! Your speech pathologist is officially wowed by your talking skills! :) You love to repeat what we say, and you have very good memories, so you often surprise us by calling things by their right names! This is one of my favorite parts of your development right now. It's so much fun watching you learn new words all the time!

Miss E, talking

* You're also understanding tons of new words. If we ask you to go get a certain book, both of you know which book we're referring to, and so you get it and bring it to us -- even if you can't pronounce the name of it. It's really quite impressive! :) 

Miss T, whacking the arm of her chair

* Bottle weaning is officially DONE! You are now on all sippies all the time! Also, your formula days are over! You have successfully moved on to whole milk, and you love it. We are so thankful. We also eliminated all baby food from your diet this past month, so now you're eating real food! You're typically taking three meals and two snacks per day.

After the first picture of this post, E decided she should be the one holding the book. T did not agree.

E broke out her infamous back arch...

... which was apparently successful. Grandma intervened and tried to distract T with another toy.

It didn't work. E once again broke out the back arch, which led to the sudden conclusion of the photo session...

... until their Daddy arrived home, and this was just too cute not to get a picture of.

* You started Mother's Day Out this past month, and you have been having a grand old time each week there! I keep getting stellar reports about the two of you. What's interesting is that, in general, Evangelyn tends to be the cuddler at MDO and nursery, and Tamsie tends to be the social one who wants to be playing with everyone and into everything. At home, however, I would say T is slightly more cuddly, with me anyway, although both of you have become much more cuddly (cuddlier? more cuddly? AHHH) than ever this month! 

Learning to eat with spoons. It's looking like E will be our righty and T our lefty!

* I think you must be trying to transition to one nap a day. At least I hope that's why naptimes have been so random lately! But we are happy you are such good sleepers at night, so we'll take wonky naptimes if we must.

Saturday mornings with T and Daddy. E was still sleeping.

* You've been sick the past couple of weeks (and Mom has joined you for the most recent round of yuckies.) It started with a double ear infection for Evangelyn and then progressed into head colds for both, in addition to some hardcore teething. That has kept you up more than usual at night, but luckily still not anything too out-of-control.

Books are still their favorites by far.

*Y'all have now added "NO" to your vocabulary. That has been an interesting development! Sometimes it's cute, though. At lunchtime yesterday, Tamsie was trying to take off her bib, so I told her "no," and she stopped. Then she saw Evie trying to take her bib off, and before I could intervene, Tamsie was telling her "NO!" and holding her bib down!

Phones are pretty cool too, though! They love to pick up their phone and copy what they hear Mom say on her phone: "Hello? Hi! ... Dadadadada... E-I-E-I-O... schmareinums.... ebbysee [T and Espeak for ABC].... tickletickletickle.... Bye bye!" Slam!

*You may get on each other's nerves sometimes by stealing each other's stuff or getting in each other's way, but you really do love each other. I love hearing you say "SISSY!" and watching you reach for each other. Evangelyn has started calling Tamsie T.T. Sometimes when one of you falls asleep before the other, the one who's still awake will look over at the sleeping one and say, "SISSY!" in an attempt to wake her up. Not my favorite of your new tricks, but sweet nonetheless.

I kept the sickly girls home from their Great-Grandma's on Sunday, so she sent their Valentine gifts over with my Mom that night. Here's Evie inspecting her card. Great-Grandma gave them little puppies, which they loooove!

* You are both absolutely adorable. Last night I was holding Tamsie and stroking her hair, and she smiled really big and said, "Mama." I about melted. Both of you love to give hugs and kisses too!

Reading time for Evangelyn

*Both of you love to dance.

She loves her books! This one is a Romeo and Juliet counting book from the girls' Aunt Carissa!

* Favorite book of the moment: My Little Train

Tamsie now knows to flash her cheesy smile when I ask her to look at the camera.

Tamsie's favorite toy of the moment: her jingly sheep

Evie was enjoying putting her Cheerios around her finger. That should tell you something about how tiny her fingers are!

Evangelyn's favorite toy of the moment: her sock monkey

Both girls are drawn to this little corner in their play area. Here's Evie with her seahorse that she calls "Baby."

* You pay so much attention to everything! Yesterday Evangelyn picked up the TV remote and pointed it at the TV to turn it on. Who knew you noticed when we did that?

Aunt JJ came for a much-needed visit last week! Tamsie's on the left and Evangelyn's on the right.

* Favorite food: CHEESE! (Often pronounced CHIA!)

Silly girls!

Here are a few recent videos. I know it's a bunch, but I couldn't narrow them down any further than this! I never want to forget how precious and fun you are right now:

Ahhhh, more T Face:

Daytime drama:

Giggles!

Game show:

Girls, I'm just crazy about you. Every day, your dad and I thank the Lord for the privilege of being your parents.

Love,

Mama