Not such a good thing

So I've been posting to this blog for about six weeks now and basically everything I say is positive. That's great, and it's certainly the case that most events with the twins are positive. But recently, we discovered that Emily is a biter. Yes, that's right, she's using her teeth to get her way. She has bit Ella hard enough to leave marks about 4-6 times. Needless to say, we are not happy. Both Sarah and I have caught her doing it, and we've also stopper her a half-dozen times. Sarah has done some reading on it, and we may call the pediatrician to see what he suggests. For now, we're just staying vigilant and watching Emily as closely as we can.

For me, one of the worst things about it is that I don't feel like I can put Ella and Emily alone together in a small area (like their crib or the playpen), even if just for a few minutes while I make them breakfast or whatever. We are actively reprimanding Emily when we catch her, and I hope this is just a phase, but I'll be sure to update you all.

Tahoe Reunion

It was short, but sweet. We went to Lake Tahoe on Friday. We got up there a few minutes before 1:00 to Zephyr Point (http://www.zephyrpoint.org/). The event is the CCFC annual gathering (CCFC = Chinese Christian Family Conference). I think of it basically as a big extended family reunion. It's a place where I have been going off-and-on (more off lately) since I was about 10 years old, maybe 12. So I know the place pretty well. I have a hard time remembering the names of all the people, but it is still a great time. Sarah and I think this is the first time in about five years that we've been there. She came with me two or three times in the past.

The reason we went was to show off the twins, really, and to have a nice day away from everything. We had a picnic, went to the beach, played in the sand and water, and had a great time! We got several pictures of the twins, which I'll upload later. While we were there, both girls ate sand. YUCK! Ella really liked the water, which I guess was warm for Lake Tahoe (but still the coldest water they've ever been in.) Emily didn't dis-like the water, she just didn't take to it as much as Ella. Everyone up there loved them, and it was great to see that there were lots of other kids. I think they ranged from about 5 - young teenagers. I hope we go again in the coming years.

Papa with Emily and Roberta with Ella in Lake Tahoe.



















Papa with Emily and Roberta with Ella (and her other granddaughter Ella) in Lake Tahoe.














Emily and Ella in Lake Tahoe.

Emily in an innertube at Kaje Tahoe.

Our Ella playing with her cousing, also Ella, at Lake Tahoe.

Quick Update

Emily has started standing on her own as of yesterday. Until yesterday, she needed help standing. She'd crawl to the couch or a toy and pull herself up. Now she can do it on her own. I have some pictures, which I'll upload later. They are kind of blurry, but you'll get the idea. Similar to what Ella did a couple weeks ago.

Today we're going to Lake Tahoe to visit my dad and step-mom at the CCFC family reunion. Hopefully we'll get some pictures of the girls at the beach.

Definitely My Daughters

Take a close look at the photo. See what is in Ella's hands? That is a Nintedo Wii controller! And what does Emily have in her hand? A computer mouse and she's looking at the keyboard. Sarah snapped these shots while I was in another room. These are definitely my daughters! No doubt about it.

Emily is WALKING!!

Okay, so this isn't the post I alluded to yesterday that proves these are my daughters, but I couldn't wait. I had to get this posted ASAP. This morning, around 10:15 - 10:30 am, Emily started walking on her own. Sherri was here, and a friend had come over, too. Both of them were sitting on the couch and Emily started to walk between them. They called me into the front room and Emily walked from the couch to the TV and back, and then all over the place. She holds her arms a little more up than Ella does, but same sort of thing. Now she's still not quite able to transition from a sitting to standing position on her own, but once she's standing, she can walk now! And she is so happy when she does it, just like Ella! It's great! I got a couple pictures, so I'll post them later.

Walking and Carrying the Basket

Ella has moved on beyond just walking. Now she has started carrying things around with her. Most recently, her Lego basket. She carried this basket around the room a couple times this weekend. Most of you that know me know that I love Legos, so this is doubly sweet.

But, if you think I like this, wait until you see my next update. I'm not sure if I'll get it posted today or not, but it'll be posted this week for sure, with pictures, and you'll know why I know she's my daughter.

Fishy Lips

If any of you know the term, then I think you're already laughing. "Fishy Lips" is when you suck in your cheeks so much that your lips pucker and end up looking like stereotypical fish lips, like in a cartoon. :) Anyway, I did it for the twins several days ago and now Emily can do it back to me. It is so funny! And she gets such a kick out of it when either we do it for her or she does it for us.

Learning to put their toys away

The twins are learning to put their own toys away. This may not be huge news to anyone else, but it is neat to see. Over the past few days, I've taken different storage bins and as I was picking up their toys, I would hold the box out to them and they would pick up something and deposit it in the bin. Now of course, as soon as we were done picking up, they'd go over to the box and pull toys back out, but that's okay.

The Race to 20!

We're still waiting for the magic number - 20 pounds. We took the girls into the doctor's office yesterday, just to be weighed, nothing else. The assistants will do that for free if you just come in.
Ella is 19lbs, 3.4oz
Emily is 19lbs, 14.4oz

That was naked of course, no diaper or anything. I know Emily is 20lbs with clothes on. Ella might take another month to get there. We'll see.

Ella is WALKING!!

Oh my gosh, it went quick - from standing on Thursday to walking this weekend. Ella is moving across the room now, and sometimes even comes back to us like a boomerang. :) She's so happy when she does it. And it's so cute, too, because she holds her arms up, bent at the elbow. I guess it's for her balance, but I'm surprised she doesn't hold them more outwards. Actually, as I write this, I think the real reason is to protect herself when she falls forward. She hold her arms up, bent at the elbow with her little hands in front of her, somewhere around chest/neck level. She smiles, laughs, and giggles the whole time. We have it on video. :)

For the past few days, Emily has tried standing up and walking. Today was cool because she was holding onto the baby gate at the kitchen, and Ella was walking back and forth between the two gates. My mom was here, and we could see Emily thinking about walking herself. She was holding the bars with one hand, and we could see her loosen her grip, then tighten it again, and repeat that a few times. She finally committed and let go completely, but fell down immediately in a squatting position. We cheered for her, and I bet she'll be walking in a week. We know she can, since she was doing some walking last month.