I want to remember a few things about this stage the girls are in:
-We almost never use the stroller anymore. (Who thought that day would come?! not me.) Occasionally we'll use it to go for a walk, but they usually jump out at some point and leave me pushing an empty double stroller. When we go to the gym or the store, they just hold my hand walking in, and then wander freely inside. They LOVE holding Tiago's hand.
-Another milestone is that they act like they like each other. And they're protective of each other (when they're not busy pulling hair and pushing... the hair pulling has slowed down, hopefully coming to an end.) A few weeks ago in their gymnastics class, a little girl took the circle mat Mila was sitting on. Mila threw a fit and tried to get it back, and Siena immediately came to her rescue, throwing a fit, too. It was quite the uprising.
-Princesses!! The girls started reading some of my old Disney books and are obsessed with princesses. Siena is particularly enamored. When we were playing at the library, she wandered over to the magazines, found a kid magazine with Cinderella on the cover, and sat reading it for several minutes. They are utilizing the dress-up clothes they got for Christmas, often requesting to be "Barbie", "Sofia", or "Cinderella." (Although they pronounce it "pincerella". Another funny pronunciation they have is "Seepy Booty" for Sleeping Beauty.
-In general, they're talking quite a bit. A lot of what Mila says is gibberish still, but when they really want to communicate they can. Two funny things Siena says frequently are grabbing my face or touching my hair with both hands and saying "Boo-diful". And making dramatic statements like, "This sooo heavy!" (a small empty box) or "He soo funny!" Mila likes to have conversations (much of which I don't understand) but it makes her smile so big to be talking.
-I don't remember their first words (shame on me) but I remember about 6 months ago, before they were saying much more than "Mama" and "Papa", I bought a huge box of fruit snacks at Costco. I kept them in the pantry (which has a thing on the handle so the kids can't go in). One morning I saw Siena pounding on the pantry door saying "foot snacks" over and over. I thought, "She can't really be saying that..." But maybe that was her first real words! I think I've written this before, but she also pronounced her name "Si-nena", and still kind of does.
-They know who they are now! If they're at day care and someone asks, "Who is Mila?" They correctly identify themselves. If you ask their names, they can tell you. This is huge! Because previously, if I didn't tell the adults present who was who, no one knew. (They even would claim to both be Mila.) Tiago still can't really tell them apart, but he also doesn't ever try. We've noticed he just refers to them as "The girls." Or individually, "That girl." I'm trying to help him realize they are different, and have names.
-They went about 2 months without napping (back in April/May/June) and all of a sudden they're back to long naps every afternoon. I think they stopped napping while they were teething, plus they were in the same room and kept each other up with their talking. I tried separating them during nap time (with a pack&play in Tiago's room) and it's kind of been a miracle. I almost don't even know what to do with myself in the afternoon. Mila is SO good about just laying down, drinking her milk and falling asleep. I don't even hear a noise from her room. Siena is more problematic, crying out 3 or 4 times for help ("Papa!!!" Or "More milk!!" Or telling me she needs her diaper changed.) But eventually she falls asleep too. It makes for a little bit later bed time, but it's a fair trade off for happier kids.
-Siena is kind of obsessed with Hyrum. The first night he was gone at a training after coming home from deployment Siena laid in her crib at night whimpering and saying, "Want Papa!" She pointed to the door asking for him. We go through a similar routine almost every night he's not here. (Way too many.)
-They like to carry their blankets all over. Yes, plural. As babies they never really had an attachment to blankets. They had so many that I put two in each crib to see if they'd take to one. (I did that with Tiago, and he became obsessed with his blue one.) But now the girls are just obsessed with two blankets each. They used to be in the cribs only, but now they pull them out and drag them around the house.
-They love to sing! And always have. But now they can actually sing the words to several songs. Their favorite is "Child of God." They also like Silent Night, If you're Happy and you know it Clap your Hands, the mouse song from Cinderella, all of Mary Poppins, and Hi-Ho from Snow White. Their nursery leader loves them for it.
-I'll end with one of my least favorite phrases of the moment, "Hold you!!" (Which really means hold me.) They say it all the time. And I tell them, "No, I'm not going to hold you." I try to just hold them when I'm sitting down, but it also happens in public when they're screaming and I'm trying to calm them down or listen to something. When Hyrum wants to drive me crazy he just starts saying, "Hold you! Hold you!"
Pictures of Siena (she was completely naked, but I cropped because this is the internet!)
Pictures of Mila, making one of her favorite faces
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