Close-Ups & Fish Lips

I did fish-lips the other day, the babies tried to copy me (naturally!). Here is the result:

Tenley's fish lip attempt.

...and Ethan's! He looks kinda silly :o)

Tenley is getting more and more photogenic, maybe we're past the phase of blinking, and/or turning away when she see's the camera!

A close-up of Ethan too...just to even it up!

The babies are both doing a lot of talking lately. Ethan will try really hard to say whatever you ask him too, with mixed results. Last night we got him to say the whole alphabet, some letters are better than others..."W" is nearly impossible, but with 3 syllables it's understandable! Ethan is definitely more willing to try to say a word than Tenley is. If she doesn't think she can say it she generally won't try. Her little voice is so high-pitched and sweet though, I need to take a video of her saying "hi" it's too darn cute. Actually, at the moment they both say "hi" really sweetly, it's probably my favorite thing that either of them say. They both go into a higher pitch when they say "hi" and Ethan actually says, "H h hi" (imagine making the "h" sound a few times before actually finishing the word). This all makes for a great blog post, I know...tough to imagine, I'll just have to record it and share.

Ethan has said "Ah-ba-doh" for a long time and we never knew what he was saying...we know now. My mom says, "Up we go" when she puts him in (or takes him out) of the high chair, "Ah-ba-doh"! ! I don't know what he actually wants from me when he randomly says it during the day though...any guesses? Is he hungry? Does he want to be picked up? Does he just like saying it? There seems to be no pattern of behavior. Oh well, it's cute.

Gosh, they both do sooooo much now, it's getting harder to even do an update with what they're doing because there's a TON!

Tenley uses her imagination and nurturing skills pretty well already. She puts blankets on me if I'm laying on the couch. The other night she gave her binky and blankie to her Elmo doll. She put a dress on Ethan's bumble bee pillow. When we're in the back yard she makes "soup" out of grass and leaves and stirs it up and offers everyone a spoonful (including the cat and Angela's dog).

As far as personality, Tenley is very strong willed. "NO" is more of a loose suggestion as far as she's concerned...and time-outs don't really phase her. The other day she was doing something I told her not to and I said, "Tenley, do you want a time out?" she nodded "yes". Ok then.... I gave her the time out and she finished it up and continued doing what I told her not to. Almost every night she gets in trouble for throwing her food. Ethan, on the other hand, is very very sorry when he does anything that gets him into trouble. He's very remorseful, and has a fantastically effective pouty lip. He doesn't throw his food though (well, he hasn't for a long time anyways). They're both very good (most of the time) with bathtub rules (no standing unless mommy or daddy is holding on to you) they have tested the limits and realize that we're not kidding when we say "sit down or you're getting out of the tub!" Overall they're very well behaved kids, and they're so darn cute too! !