Mamamamama.....

Yes, you guessed it. Callia is saying "mamamama" and it was wonderful to hear her little voice for the first time! She has been practicing her consonants for a long time now: "mmmm, fffff, ththth" but I had never heard her put a vowel with any of them. Although I would love to think she is saying "Mama", she may just be exploring the sounds. However, she did look right at me the other day and say, "Mama". Now she has moved on to "babababa" which Jason thinks she is really trying to say "dada". I think someone is a little jealous...:) Callia is also playing peek-a-boo on her own covering her face with fabric and taking it off when we say, "Peek-a-boo!" It is so adorable.

Maia has still not officially crawled yet but can get herself to wherever she wants to go. She loves to do her new yoga pose, "downward dog" and still laughs at just about anything. Her new trick as of this morning is giving us a "High Five".

The cats are doing so much better after we implemented some of the suggestions the behaviorist gave us. I am sure the Prozac has nothing to do with it. It is amazing how just adding some things have really changed their behavior (e.g. cat tree, 3rd litter box, places to hide). Needless to say it is a little less stressful in our home these days.

Happy Spring!

Latest developments of Maia & Callia

Fun shirts from an Isis Maternity friend

Callia & Maia enjoying their new alphabet puzzle mat from Grandma & Granddad!

Callia loves her carrots!

Maia doing yoga

Practicing sitting up

Daddy goofing around with his girls

Callia intently reading

Maia & her jungle jumperoo!

Maia & Callia with Aunt Alexandra (our great friend)

As the girls are approaching 8 months in a few weeks, we are amazed at how quickly time is going by with their many new acquired skills!

Callia is still laid back and a happy girl although she definitely has found her voice and tells us when she does not want something. She is so social and just loves to "talk" to anyone who smiles at her. She is sitting up very well with only a little support from a pillow. Still not very interested in rolling but she is "thinking about it." Callia's new tricks are sitting up, grabbing her feet, staring with amazement at her fingers moving and taking a toy from her sister.

Maia is rolling everywhere! She does not confine herself to any blanket or foam alphabet mat we have down for she likes to explore everything! I often find her at the edge of the blanket in our living room playing with the fringes of the carpet. Maia continues to find everything funny. She giggles at certain sounds, words, motions...right now she laughs when I say, "Pssst.." Maia's favorite activities are rolling, kicking her legs, arching her back, jumping in her jumperoo (the funniest thing you have ever seen)...anything physical. We went through about two weeks of her waking up every hour most every night. We are not sure if it is teething/tummy issues but we hope it has resolved itself for now.

Both girls are going through a growth spurt and eating 3 solid meals per day plus bottles. They have just tried Cheerios and are not completely sure about them but are giving them a chance. We are all so anxious for warmer weather as it is so hard to be stuck inside all the time. Mommy and Daddy really like the time change since they are now waking at 6:30 instead of 5:30 and going to bed a little later. I am trying to get them to consolidate their 3 naps per day into two but it is taking some time. They just can't make it all the way yet and have a really hard time getting to bed at night if they are over tired. All in all, they are very happy babies who are wanting to explore everything. We are almost done with babyproofing but still need to get those gates up!

As far as the cats go, we have decided to consult a Cat Behaviorist to help us with Anya and Owen. We thought long and hard about what to do and although it would be easier to find another home for Owen, we don't think we will be able to so quickly and I refuse to put him in a shelter - he would be miserable. So for the time being, he goes in the basement when other people are here and we look forward to hearing what the behaviorist has to say. He actually loves the girls right now and likes to come around and hang out with us. He is very sweet with them but we will have to be careful when they are even more mobile and can start pulling his tail.

Hope you like the recent pictures!