And Our New Baby Cousin is....

A GIRL! Tom and Amber had an ultrasound appointment today and all is well. Frances and Grace have many clothes to share with their new baby cousin. And I'm sure Isaak is excited to have a new baby sister on the way. I hope he can handle all the estrogen in the family hehehe.

Congrats! Can't wait until October 18!

Allergy Test and 10 Months Old

The girls had their food allergy skin tests today. The appointment was at 3:30 and we didn't get home until 5:30 - crazy! Anywho, Grace came back negative for everything; and Frances came back with a bit of a reaction to eggs, everything else was negative. Soooo ... you'd think, "That's it - all is well with milk and soy now!" BUT not so fast. The allergist said there can be two types of allergic reactions to food. He said that the gastro-intestinal system can have an internal allergic reaction - presenting via diahrrea and bloody stool, etc.(sans the typical external signs - hives, sneezing, etc.). He said the most conclusive test for that type of reaction is an endoscopic biopsy. But the girls are so little, it seems too invasive at this point. So basically we have to try introducing some milk based formula slowly (an ounce per day). We'll start this weekend. The doctor gave us a prescription for a couple epi-pens to be safe. So we'll see if they have reactions or not. If they have a reaction, then we'll be sent for blood tests - yearly - until they are old enough for endoscopy.

And update on stats:
Frances weighs in at 23 pounds (95th percentile)
Grace weighs in at 22 pounds (90th percentile)
Don't know the heights...

Frances is now saying: dada, baba, tete, nene, mama, gaga, and mixtures of the former. The other day the nanny said "Dorita" in reference to Dora and Frances said "doraaaaaahhh" - although I'm pretty sure that last one was just a coincidence. Sra. Esther and I laughed in surprise. haha. Frances can now go from sitting to crawling.

Grace says baba and dada. And the next day after my last post she had mastered sitting. Anywho, we can't keep them in one spot for too long. It's tiring and amusing at the same time. Grace loves to climb and pull on everything.

The girls seem to acknowledge each other more - for better or worse. Sometimes they get angry having the other one near them. Other times it seems as though they are talking to each other and mildly interacting. Should get more interesting the older they get.

We're 10 months old tomorrow! Time is flying by so fast :-(

Did I Say We Are Changing Fast?

Okay so just since yesterday...... Frances is a full-on crawler now! Wow! And Grace is pulling up in her crib. Crazy I tell you. I'll have to upload some photos and videos - but for now, here is a picture Richard took of Grace standing at her toy in the morning (via cellphone, hence the blurry quality).

Grace standing.

First Mother's Day!

Gracie, Mommy, and Francie at LeeLynn's for an early Mother's Day

Wow! Although I definitely felt like I was a HUGE motha' last year (hehehe), yesterday was my first "official" Mother's Day. We actually celebrated last weekend. It's hard getting out of the house with the babies - especially to go out to eat - so we figured it would be easier to go on the less busy weekend. So Richard, Frances, Grace and I trekked to our favorite Columbia eatery, LeeLynn's. It was great. The girls did pretty well. We were able to eat outside with the girls in their strollers. They lasted for about 1/2 hour and then had enough. So we headed to the park.

This weekend we made baby food on Saturday - we're introducing red meat! Much to their chagrin. Hopefully they'll adapt to the taste. And since last week we've been chomping on Cheerios. I took some with us when we went to the pond on Saturday morning while daddy was playing basketball. The girls ate their share then I decided to feed the fish and the geese. Oh Grace was laughing hysterically. Later in the afternoon, we went to back to the pond with Richard for a picnic. Richard promptly stepped in goose crap - in his socks no less. And tracked it on to the blanket. hahaha. And we thought the girls would be the ones to get in the goose poop.

On Sunday we went to the lake for a mini-picnic. The girls LOVE being outside. They had fun watching the little boys next to us rough house. Yay for entertainment!

Some new developments. Grace is climbing up on everything. She can go from sitting to crawling with no problem. She hasn't really mastered going from crawling to sitting though, but she can sit on her knees. And can pull herself to standing now. This is just since the end of last week. And the standing thing just started yesterday! Frances is so close to the full-on crawl. She'll get a few paces and then forget about coordination. But she'll be there soon. I can't believe how fast they learn stuff. Also, Grace is talking. The night after her 9 month check up she just decided to start saying "Babababa." Really loud! I thought it was Frances. But when I looked Frances was just staring open-mouthed at Grace -- she was as surprised as me! hahaha. Frances now says, "bababa," "dadada," and "papapa." They are so cute!

I can't believe they are going to be 10 months old next week. Crazy! Only two more months until one year old. Wow.