Let me have yours, HY!

I tried to put one toy in each of their hands once they sat down and left plenty of toys in front of them in case they got bored with what they were playing. Well, yes, EY got bored right away with what she had and she glanced at HY's toy. HY was playing with the book and she banged on it to make sound. Sometimes she tried to grab the pictures and only found that nothing ended up in her hands. And, she tried and tried a few times with a few pictures then she decided to flip the pages. EY leaned forward, with both her hands, she snatched the book from HY's hand. EY had a very firm grip on the book and when HY tried to retrieve her book, she couldn't get it out of EY's hand. EY seemed to know how to protect her possession by turning her body away from HY and HY would not be able to reach the book again.

I saw what was happening so I gave HY another book. HY was happy to get another book so she gave up getting the other book from EY. Well, EY saw HY got another book, she turned back towards HY, dropped what was in her hand, and reached out and once again successfully grabbed the book and pulled it out of HY's hand. Haha, EY was fast. Well, HY looked at EY, no expression on her face, not mad, nor happy, and observed what EY was doing with her book. A minute later, she noticed her old book in front of EY was available, she bent forward until her butt almost up in the air and she would barely maintained her balance without falling forward. She was able to get a hold with that book and took it back to play.

Well, EY saw HY had another book, realized that was the book she left. She now wanted it from HY again. She dropped what she had and approached HY. haha, this could go on for a few rounds until EY decided to hold both books in her hands and HY would look up to me for help.

Occasionally they would screamed at each other during the battle of grabbing toys. As long as no one broke out in tears, it remained entertaining to us. We'll see when things change around.

Where are you going, EY?

Here is the "conversation" WY had with EY:

"EY, this way, come to Baba." WY waving at EY who was in her crawling position between the sofa and WY's reading chair. EY looked at WY and smiled and started to push and move.

"EY, where are you going? Baba is this way, over here, please come here, I'll hold you if you come." Well, EY was trying her best to push with her arms and kick her legs. She was moving, just in a wrong direction. She couldn't crawl forward but she could push backwards. She wanted to go forward but she was going backwards instead. She thought she was moving because she still got a big smile on her face looking at Baba.

"EY, what's under the sofa? you are going into the sofa? Can you fit? your butt won't fit, don't try, come back out? Ohh mine, you are able to got your butt in? Don't go in more, you'll hit your head? Opps, you can't move? Here, this way, push yourself out, come on, this way! Wait, wait, wait, let me help you out." WY had to rescue EY because she managed to push her body underneath the sofa and got her butt stuck and not able to move neither way. She was quite confused on what was happening and the corners of her lips were starting to point downwards which meant she was about to scream and cry. That was when WY went to get her out of trouble.

Yes, that's EY's adventure lately pushing backwards. It was just funny how she didn't seem to know she was going further away from us or she just simply wanted to stay away:-)

Share!

When I put a toy between the girls, they used to just look at them and maybe one of them would grab it and play with it while sister would just look or play with other stuff. This week, the girls seemed to be interested in the same toy. If I gave HY a toy, HY would hold onto it and flipped it around to check it out then maybe she would put it into her mouth to taste it. Before she could complete her examination by looking, EY would lean forward and grab the toy out of HY's hand. HY would try to take it back but EY had a stronger gripe of the toy and she would turn her body to the opposite side of HY so that HY couldn't reach. EY so far was the winner on taking possession of toys. Right now, HY didn't cry after losing the toy. She would try to get it back but if she failed a few attempts, then, she would just look for other things to play. There was only one time she looked at me and gave me sad face and blinked her big eyes then I intervened. I told EY to share with HY. "Let's share. " Then, I took the toy back and put it in between them so that HY would have a chance to get the toy and play with it. EY was fast. The moment the toy was taken from her, her eyes were following it and as soon as I put it down. She reached out and got it again. Then, I would let her play with it for a bit then took it from her to give it to HY. Before I knew it, EY had the toy back in her hands in no time.

Ohh yeah, this is the new concept to the girls. "Share!" "Let's share." I hope they learn to share early in their lives because I don't know how to be fair and make them share. God has to teach me that. Growing up as an only child didn't help on this part. I didn't remember that I learned to share my stuff with others until elementary school. No one needed me to share the toys with when I was little. It will be very different for our girls :-P

The swing in the park

We took the girls out to the neighborhood park last weekend. They enjoyed looking at other kids running around and making all kind of noises. They did attract some attention due to the double stroller. I think soon when we change to a regular double stroller, people won't be able to tell that they are twins unless I dress them the same :-P

The girls have been sitting on the swing at home almost since they were born. Since they could sit up well, we let them try the real swing. The bowl of the swing was too big for them. Their little bodies only filled one third of the bowl. It didn't matter. The girls loved the swing motion as they used to it at home. They leaned forward with their chests onto the bowl of the swing and one hand held onto the bowl and one hand grabbed onto the chain. They were quite stable on the swing surprisingly. We didn't swing them too high worry that they would lose balance and tip over. HY loved it and she had a big smile on her face as we pushed her up. EY enjoyed it but she was more distracted by other kids who were running around and screaming. She was curious about what was going on around her than the swing itself.

It was almost sunset and the sunlight landed on their fussy hair which finally started to grow. Their hair was so short that they were standing up in the top of their heads but very soft. The sun light gave them a glow and that just made them look like angels! They are my lovely angels!

push "ur....ahh:

Now the girls have been eating solid for a couple of months, their by product is getting less runny and more chunky. That means they have to really push them out, haha. Sorry this may sound gross, but, their pushing facial expressions are very funny.

They would bend their lower back, straighten their legs, extend and harden their neck, open mouth midway, allow the drools to fall freely, stare straight ahead with their slight red and watery eyes, hold her breath and make the sound of "ur.... ahh, ur...ahh" at their throat. Imagine that every time they put on that face, we couldn't help laughing and look away to try to give them some privacy. When they were done, they would look up at you with a big relief on their face and continued on their fun activities.

who is more independent?

Our girls are turning 9 months old soon. They are just more and more fun to play with. Also, they require for a lot of attention. It becomes clear to us that HY prefers our presence all the time and EY is OK to sit there and play on her own for a while. Despite the fact that I hate to make a specific statement about that, HY has tired out their grandparents and us when she refuses to sit by herself but insists being held or helped to stand. I feel bad that she cries for attention and I try my best to be there but then I have no time to even eat or drink or go to the bathroom. Their grandparents for sure give in to her then complain about her every time, haha. They praise EY because she is relatively lower maintenance. I hope HY will get better later otherwise she is asking to be the less favorite one in grandparents' eyes :-)

However, HY is the friendly one when it comes to hang out with their uncles and aunties. HY is OK with unfamiliar faces as long as we are around after her warm up. She will be OK to be held by an auntie or uncle. EY takes longer to warm up. She is scared of being held other than us. She prefers to sit next to us and she gives you her stare.

So, who is more independent? I don't have the answer. It depends on the situation. But, who cries more for attention during the day, is HY :-P. Who cries more for attention at night during sleep, is EY :-P

Conclusion: They need our attention ALL THE TIME - Day and Night!

standing up

I might have blogged about this already, but, HY was able to stand holding on to the coach or busy zoo toy and the slat of the crib on her own. She could not last too long but she was able to maintain her balance for a minute or so. She prefers standing over sitting or laying down. It has been a problem because we couldn't feed her food too well while she was standing. And, we got tired bending over to support her by her arm pits. EY was able to stand as well, but she didn't have a strong preference like HY. EY got very efficient with her rolling around on the floor. She now would get into her crawling position but she didn't know how to use her legs to push forward yet. She pushed her body above the ground and ready to move forward. Maybe EY would start crawling very soon and HY may skip crawling and learned how to walk first.

DA DA DADADA...

Yes, HY started to say DA DA DADADA. Hahaha, I don't think she knew what it meant but it meant a whole lot to her daddy. HY lately has been very dependent such as she would prefer being standing with help over sitting on her own. When she cried for us to hold her up standing, she said "Dadada-dada-dadada". That was the first word she said other than the "cooing sound".

Time to lower the crib mattress again:-)

The crib is becoming more fun than just a sleeping place. HY loved to stand by the slat and held onto it so that she could stand. Of course I put my arms around her just in case she let go of the slat and fell. Even though I was prepared, sometimes, she was just too fast to catch and fell on her side. Luckily she didn't hit her head. Since I was right there and picked her right up, she didn't cry. EY loved to roll and flip around inside the crib. We could find her 90 degrees away from her original position. She loved to peek through the slats of the crib to see where sister, Dada and Mama were at. She would curve her back backwards to look at our bed so much that she could make a half circle with her body.

Yesterday, I put the girls at there own crib and let them sit face to face. They thought that was so funny that they could see each other between the slats. They were just cracking up looking at each other. EY was so excited that she also pulled down the bumper. HY was grabbing onto the slat and even pulled her bottom off the crib mattress! Wow, I was impressed how strong these girls were. Soon, they could pull themselves up in the crib! Time to lower the mattress again!

refuse to sit

The girls have mastered this new technique lately to avoid being put down on their bottom. Arching their backs and kept their legs straight. You would think how strong can a little baby be. Well, they managed to got everyone to give in not putting them down sitting up. They also learned if they didn't want to be in the exer-saucer, when they were lift up to put into the exer-saucer, they would curl up their legs so that we couldn't thread their legs through the seats and they would end up standing on the seat instead of sitting. Then, we were forced to lift them back out of the exer-saucer. That act had made grandpa very frustrated and mad. Grandpa couldn't get them to sit in the exer-saucer and his back was hurting holding them up in the air and tried to figure out what to do. Well, I guess we have more than a handful to deal with now!

Growing and changing

HY used to like her space and she would pull back if we stuck our faces too closed to hers. She would avoid your eyes if you were too closed to her. For a while I thought she might have significant amount of hyperopia because she would prefer distance and dislike things were closed to her.

EY used to be the quiet one who sat there to welcome everything with her innocent and warm smile. She didn't mind that you got your face right up to hers. She would just give you a big blink and stare at your nose or eyes, not forgetting to give you a friendly smile.

Well, the girls were growing and changing. Well, HY became quite sensual. Not only she didn't mind us getting very closed to her face, she loved it. When you stuck your face up against hers, she would closed her eyes and relaxed and prepared to feel your skin rubbing on her face. She would rub her forehead into your cheek and made a soft sound that she was expressing her enjoyment. She would put her little warm hand on your face and gave you a gentle brush.

It was funny that when I put EY next to HY side by side and with their shoulders touching , they would look at each other and made that special soft sound, then, closed their eyes and leaned on each others' head with their own head. When they felt the touch of the skin, they would rub their forehead back and forth on each others' face and head. Then, one of them would fall forward into her sister's arms. The remain sitting sister would pat her sister's head and face with her cute little chubby hand. Most of the time I would interfere at this point in case their little fingers ended up into eyes or nose or mouths. "space" I called. They would heard me and paused and I took the hands off the sister's head.

They loved to be kissed, specially a big one on their face and neck. They always giggled when you made loud noises kissing them. When you kissed them on their forehead, they would give you a sweet blink with a sweet soft sound back to thank you for the love. Ohh, I just love kissing and hugging my two babies!

EY was a lot more active now than before. She would roll around on the floor and couldn't sit still. HY would to stand on her feet and refused to sit. Ohh well, they are really changing everyday!