School is back in session, Mama has returned to teaching and Meema is back on duty! The girls will turn 7 months on the 29th and I cannot believe the changes in their routines and personalities. They are no longer sleepy little cuddle bundles. Every day is filled with energy, sound and exploration.

The Baby channel rarely keeps their attention any more. They seem to prefer the vivid colors and music  of Nick Jr and Disney Jr. They recognize theme songs for certain programs and will stop what they are doing when the Octonauts sing the "Creature Report" or when Jake and the Neverland Pirates sing "YO HO!"

As I type this, they are fighting their nap time and shouting at each other in their swings.  A quick check identifies the problem. Both have tossed out their pacifiers and their burp cloths. They like to hold the burp cloths over their eyes as they fall asleep. Cousins Jamie and Seth bought the girls a second swing and those of us who care for them will be eternally grateful! Two swings are a must for twins! The morning routine is typically eat, play and nap. Then we venture out in the stroller to see the flowers, birds, mailboxes, trees, clouds, cars and red stop signs. Yes, we identify each of these along the way!

Play time is so much fun now because the girls are nearly crawling (lots of scooting and rolling) and can go pretty much wherever I allow them to go. They recognize the alphabet song and it always makes them smile. They also recognize counting from 1 to 5. We are working on colors. When they do pay attention to what is on TV, I explain what they are seeing. They love story time and like to touch the pages as I read. Molly desperately wants to eat the books.

They are now big enough to sit in the play disks which is fabulous! Of the 2 disks, they both prefer the Baby Einstein over the evenflo ExerSaucer. I think because the seat in the Baby Einstein offers more snug stability for babies not quite able to sit up on their own. They both put their feet down and this is building very strong legs and great balance. Play time is divided between these and floor exercise. They love the toys that produce colors and sounds when touched or moved. The picture below shows a few of their favorites. The Baby Einstein toys really appeal to them.

Baby Einstein on left

How do I get into this thing?

Yay! I did it!

Molly says, "this is way cool."

They love the toys that flash lights and play music!

1, 2, 3, red, blue, yellow!

Coolest toys ever

Molly travelled across the blanket to claim her prize

Victory!

That was exhausting!

Harper practicing sitting up!

If I smack this hard enough, it plays music and talks to me!

And this ball rolls around by itself....makes it hard to capture and eat.

Hellllooooo?

I love this thing!

Shhhh ... I'm listening to my tunes

I thought I'd never get my turn with this thing!

Although they play side by side, they usually ignore each other. However, lately they are expressing more interest in what the other is doing and often wriggle their way over to steal the other's toy or tug on hair. ... and so it begins! It's fascinating to watch them as they discover new things and they are almost always in great moods!

There certainly seems to be enough to go around for everyone!

They are still mainly drinking breast milk but have begun to eat oatmeal, sweet potatoes and bananas in the evening. All of this makes for more interesting diapers   :(      but they are loving it! I'm sure as they begin to eat more and more solids, I will have the opportunity to include the standard, messy-face photos. For now, their mom gets to deal with that mess.

Have I told you this is the best job .... EVER!