Sibling rivalry...it starts...

Well February is almost over...thank God! We're getting closer to spring...despite that furry little critter's cold prediction on Feb. 2nd. That darn groundhog! He always dashes my hopes of an early spring. Someday, I'll have to hunt him down and have a serious talk with him and his phobia of shadows. If he wasn't such a cute little guy, I'd be more hostile. In any case, his predictions, so they say, are always pretty much right on. Geez, can't we get him to predict the winning lotto numbers then? Anyhoo...

Annaliese said her first clear word. You know what it is?

Da-da.

Yep. Da-da. Sure, why not? Mama's home with her all day. I change her Hazwa diapers (my nick name for the kind of diapers that make her 'Da-da' run in the other direction...it stands for "Hazardous Waste"), I sing to her, wipe her eyes when she cries and rock her to sleep for her naps. What do I get?

"Da-da".

Ah well, that's the way it goes I guess. Marcus' first word was 'Mama'. Sometimes he even calls Daddy 'Mama'. So I guess it's only fair that Annaliese says Da-da. She does say 'meh-meh' and 'ah-meh' and I believe that this is her saying Mama. But we can't be sure since her 'Da-da' is clear as a bell. When Daddy is home she says it even more and it's usually accompanied by her holding out her little hands to him to be picked up (does my little girl know how to butter up her Daddy or what?!).

Annaliese is pulling up on everything now. Standing on her own to play with the activity table only her brother could reach before. She's so determined to walk before her first birthday. The doctor is amazed at how well she's doing considering the fact that she still is 10 weeks preemie. She still meets every mile-stone she supposed to at each well baby visit. My response to this? Well, first of all, my daughter is a very determined little girl and secondly, no one told her that she was 10 weeks preemie.

Part of her progress has to do with her brother. She sees him walking around while she's crawling on the floor behind him and she's had enough of that, thank you very much! One day, she used her brother as leverage to stand. She climbed him like tree and stood on her own two feet proudly right beside him. Unfortunately for Marcus, she 'pants-ed' him in the process. Poor brother was screaming while his pajama bottoms were down around his knees and there's sister standing next him with a big accomplished grin on her face.

It starts.

Marcus is kicking everything now and I've thought seriously about changing his nick-name to 'Kickasaurus'. He actually follows after the item he's kicking and usually kicks it into or under something. The beginnings of a little soccer player. I am trying to foster this ability in him but it does have it's drawbacks. Especially when he kicks things like the car keys I've been looking for, my chapstick, his cup, his sister's bottle (he does this while she's crawling after him and yelling in her special 'baby language', "Baba da ga ba GAAH!" Which most likely means, "Give me my back my bottle or I'll spit in your sippy cup!").

It starts.

Territory lines have been drawn now. I've had to break up a few tussles over a toy because said toy was being pulled back and forth between two sets of chubby little hands. It's amazing how little they are and how they've already discovered the feeling of 'territory'. That 'this is mine and that's yours' thing happens rather quickly between sibs, I suppose. Unfortunately, they are still at the stage of 'this is mine and what's yours is mine'. That being said, Marcus does not understand that his cup is his and the bottle is his sister's. He just loves pulling the bottle out of his sister's mouth. I think he does it partially because he likes the loud 'pop' sound it makes when he yanks it out of her mouth mid-suck. I think he actually enjoys the excitement that follows while I chase after him to retreive it. He doesn't drink from it because he doesn't like it. He just doesn't want her to have it. Of course Annaliese screams her head off when he does this. I have visions of the future paybacks she will dole out to him.

It starts.

Well, I can hear my little ones waking up to start their day, right now. Annaliese is having a delightful conversation with the butterflies around her on the bumpers of her crib and by now Marcus, my little Throwasaurus, has most likely thrown his blanket, binky and giraffe out of his crib. This is his sign language for: "I'm done with this, get me out of the crib!".

BTW, the giraffe's name is Raffi...I know, I couldn't resist!

The baby monitor's lights are reaching the highest level. The natives are getting restless.

Time to go.

Happy (belated) Valentine's Day to all!

- The Mamasaurus