Seven Months Old

These little cuties are seven months old already!  They were very happy for their monthly photos and are really filling up the blanket.

 

Leonie was all smiles.

 

 

A happy Elsie too.

 

 

We had another busy month that started off with a trip to North Carolina for Matthew to go skiing.  I didn't take any photos, but here are a few from Aunt Emily, Matthew's sister.  The girls got to meet their cousin Henry.  They may not look too thrilled in this photo but Henry was very entertaining for them.  Elsie is on the left.

Nanny and Pop with their three youngest grandbabies.  They came down from Virginia to visit too.

 

While Matthew was skiing the rest of us went for a walk around a raptor center.  The girls loved being carried around in their carriers and watching the other people and birds.

 

Later in February we had some more visitors at our house.  My college roommate Sam and another good college friend, Jen, came for a long weekend.  Giving the girls their bottles is always a fun activity for our company.

 

The weather was beautiful and we finally have things together enough that we made it out to the beach with the girls.  We brought our new jogging stroller and walked along the beach.  Then we stopped in Savannah at Leopold's ice cream for a treat.

 

 

Family Beach Portrait

 

 

Elsie and I

 

 

Some fog rolled in while we were walking.  Thanks for the great photo Jen!

 

 

The girls are now champs at sitting on their own.  They prefer to spend most of their time sitting and playing with toys.  Here's Leonie making a silly face.

 

 

And Elsie talking to a toy.

 

 

Crawling is not too far away and the cats may be the motivation that the girls need to get moving!

 

 

Mealtimes continue to be a huge hit.  We feed messy things like yogurt and guacamole on bath nights.

 

 

Baths are also quite fun.  Here Leonie is splashing around.

 

 

Elsie with their rubber ducky.  They also enjoy playing with cups of water.  For the most part we have very happy babies and are loving every minute.

Real Food!

Right after their six month "birthday" the girls got their first taste of real food.  We have decided to do Baby Led Weaning and forego the purees and mush.  So far, it has been going very well!  Their first meal was venison steak from my dad, winter squash from my mom, and a slice of store bought apple.  They loved everything!  Here are the before photos.

 

Leonie.

 

 

Elsie

 

 

The theory behind Baby Led Weaning is to let the baby take the lead and feed themselves from the beginning.  The girls already know how to put spoons in their mouths and they were delighted to find something tasty on the spoon!  Here Leonie eats some squash.

 

 

Elsie with an apple.

 

 

This approach to feeding might be a little messier but they sure have a lot of fun!  In fact, Matthew and I can now sit down and eat our own food while it is hot and in relative peace because the girls are easily entertained by playing with their food.

 

Leonie with her apple.

 

 

These photos are from a couple of weeks later.  You can see that we have learned to use different bibs that clean easier and catch more of the food.  The girls have also gotten a lot better at getting the food into their mouth.  They are swallowing more and more of it every day!

 

Elsie with her banana. We leave a little piece of the peel on so that they can get a good grip.

 

Leonie with her banana.

Six Months Old

The girls' half-birthday falls on Valentine's Day so I thought these adorable outfits from their Gigi would be fitting.  It is getting tricky to photograph both of them on the same mat without anyone poking the other, haha.

 

Elsie

 

 

Leonie

 

 

Both girls are getting stronger each day and can now sit up pretty well.  Here they are playing in their high chairs. Elsie is on the left.

 

 

The weather has been beautiful so we've been able to get outside a little and enjoy it.  Here we are with our friend Jamie taking a walk at a nearby park. Elsie is on the left.

 

 

We've started a mommy and me dance class, which the girls love, and afterwards we meet Matthew for lunch.  We also met daddy for lunch on his birthday.  The girls are great about going out to eat and we get lots of compliments.  They also are enthralled by our eating and drinking, especially water glasses. Elsie is barely letting me drink!

 

Like any good horse mom the girls are getting some time with the ponies too.  Here Elsie is saying Hi to Mow.

 

 

And Leonie checks out Peanut.

 

Elsie getting a little cart ride around the yard.

 

 

Leonie's turn.

 

Daddy decided to take the girls in the jogging stroller while I drove Peanut down the road.  It was nice to all get out of the house!

 

Here Louie helps soothe Elsie for nap time and Bagheera checks up on both of them.  The cats are very tolerant of the girls and the girls absolutely love the cats.

 

 

We even brought in one of our cute baby bunnies for a little photo shoot.  Here's Leonie.

 

And Elsie.

 

Tummy time is no longer quite as unpopular since both girls can roll in both directions.  In fact, I turned around one morning and found them like this.  Plotting against their parents no doubt! Leonie is on the left.

 

 

Can't resist these cuties!  Elsie on the left.

 

 

To help get through the "witching hour" at the end of the day we've been doing some Naked Time.  The girls, naturally, love it and it is a great chance for them to put their feet in their mouths.  Here's Leonie showing off her flexibility.

 

 

Elsie is also enthusiastic about her tasty toes.

 

We've been working on sitting and both girls can hold themselves up for short periods of time by propping up with their hands on their legs.  Here's Elsie.

 

 

And Leonie. Note the adorable unicorn toes on her jammies (the only outfit I've purchased so far!)

 

One last picture, my new favorite photo of Leonie.

 

 

And a couple of videos of this month's cuteness. 

 

Leonie rolling back to front.

 

 

 

Elsie mostly rolling over.  They never want to cooperate when I'm videoing!

 

 

Leonie having a ball in the bouncy seat

 

And both girls chatting with Louie.  I stopped the video just as Leonie barrel-rolled into him, a trick she is starting to do consistently to get around.

 

 

Super Museum Sunday

Yesterday we took the girls out to the aquarium on Skidaway Island where I used to work for Super Museum Sunday.  They love the fish tank at home so we thought that they'd really enjoy an aquarium.  They did enjoy it, but not for the fish!  They mostly liked watching the people and kids who were also visiting and trying to touch their feet when we sat them by the tanks.  Here Leonie gets up close to a diamondback terrapin.

 

Elsie liked the Gray's Reef animals who are a little more brightly colored.

 

 

It was such a beautiful day that we also took them for a walk along the 1.5 mile nature trail.

 

It was nice to be out in nature for a while and the girls were easily entertained.  Just touching a palm frond was exciting!