Uh oh. She understands.

A few weeks ago, when Emma was all set on helping get bibs, I pointed out one on the floor and asked her to get it for me, and she did. Last night, though, Becca was doing a nebulizer treatment and screaming and squirming, so, without any gestures, I said something along the lines of, "Emma, do you think you could take a toy over to Becca to make her feel better?" And sure enough, she picked up a couple of toys from the floor, and took them over to Rebecca. So sweet. And Becca (temporarily) stopped screaming. Even sweeter.

So I'm still kind of in shock as to what this means.

Because it means I need to start watching my mouth.

She's about to start repeating EVERYTHING. I see her watching me talk, and we'll work on words and I can literally see her trying to repeat things. She is definitely imitating sounds, and while she may not retain the words, she certainly knows the meaning of a lot of words. (I know she knows the word "bib." Earlier in the week, I told her it was time for bibs, and she pointed to the box on top of the entertainment center. We had to put them out of reach, because bibs are toys around here, and I'm tired of having to question whether they're clean, dirty, or toys.)

My mom and I took the girls to the zoo on Monday morning. This time, Emma was scared of lots of things. At least we got lots of fresh air. The girls are definitely seeing the elephants, and seem to like the giraffes. Of course, what did Becca like MOST? The pink umbrella stroller. (We had the double plus an umbrella stroller.) Julie was in it first, randomly, but Becca made a beeline for it the first chance she got, and said "AT. AT. AT." When my mom got her out to look at the giraffes, she looked for a little while, and then wanted to be put down on the ground... so she could make a dash back to the stroller. "AT. AT. AT."

Grandma and Becca check out the giraffes




Julie. She loves to point. And takes any opportunity to put her finger on my lens.


Speaking of "AT," Emma seems to have figured out that "AT" gets Becca what she wants. Emma had been working on "up," and she had it down pretty good. But early this week, I caught her switching to "AT"... since it works for Becca. Emma's also working on either "ball" or "bird" or both. She knows what a ball is, if I tell her to put down the ball ("and come sit and drink your milk!")

Julie still loves "quack." I've also heard "mama" and "daddy," though I'm not 100% sure they were in context. We'll see over the next few days whether she repeats them.

Becca is also working on a "bah" sound that could be ball. Mostly, though, it's "AT. AT. AT."

My mom flew back on Monday, and I took some time off from work. Greg took some time off in the afternoon, too, so he could take her to the airport. But we were all home again... earlier than usual, so we had lots of time to play. The girls needed some input, so we let them loose in the kitchen, and pulled out some of the riding toys.

The new danger corner



She loves boxes!


On Tuesday afternoon, daycare called and said that Julie had a fever of 103. (They said she woke up from her nap with a fever. They also said that Emma woke up from her nap and went down to Julie's crib and started patting her. I think I mentioned that had to separate their cribs because they just chat and giggle and do anything but nap. But they know where each others' cribs are.) I just can't win. I had to go get her, and took her to the doctor. There's still so much coming out of her ears that they aren't sure if there's an infection, or if she has a sinus infection. She's on oral antibiotics, so hopefully it will clear up, and we'll get some sleep soon.

Speaking of sleep, the past week has been AWFUL. Everybody's up at least once a night. They are all just so congested that they start coughing in their sleep and wake themselves up. They're so stuffy and can't breathe through their noses, and they start crying. Even if they do go back to sleep, they wake us up. Bendaryl has helped the past few nights.