My subscription to totsites has expired and I don't think I'm going to renew it.  I don't use it enough to justify paying for it  I don't think it'll get deleted, so all of the pictures and videos will still be there, but I doubt I'll be using it much anymore.  I prefer to stick to writing the occasional anecdote and posting the occasional picture.  This site is just too much pressure for moms like me. Haha. 

Our new blog will be on blogspot and from what I've heard, you can sign up for rss feeds that'll send the updates right to your email.

http://kranzman.blogspot.com/

Perhaps the biggest change is the muppets are now in toddler beds.  Avery fell out of her crib a few nights ago, so we promptly made the transition to beds.  I was a little nervous that they'd be climbing out of bed in the middle of the night and crying at their door, but the transition was as smooth as it could've been.  The very first night was a little upsetting to Avery, so I rocked her for a bit to help her get to sleep.  After putting her back into bed, she didn't make a peep the rest of the night.  After the initial shock of it, both girls know to go lay down in the beds after their bedtime story.  We heard them giggling for a few minutes, but they were asleep within ten. 

The second night of toddler beds, I peeked in to find them both sleeping on Avery's bed.  I wished I would've snapped a picture, but I was afraid to wake them and figured it wouldn't be the last night.  Now, I'm going to be checking in on them, hoping to find them cuddling so I can snap a picture. 

I've really noticed an interest in dramatic play the last few days.  They've been into their babies here or there before, but lately, they're really into dressing up and caring for their babies.  Grandma and Grandpa bought them each a baby and baby carrier that works as a backpack, cradle, or carrier.  The girls both thought they were pretty cool with their babies on their backs.  Likewise, they  prance around rather proudly with their sunglasses.  They like to alternate between wearing them on their heads and on their faces.  It's apparently up to me to figure out which way to put them without upsetting the little princesses.

I'll be going to visit friends in Indiana without the girls this weekend. It'll be the first time I'm away from them for more than one night.  I know they'll be fine as they'll be with their grandma and grandpa, but I'm going to miss them loads.

It's hard for me to believe that it's been nearly two months since I've updated.  It seems like yesterday to me. If it weren't for the enormous strides the muppets have taken in the last two months, I'd probably insist it weren't true.

Their large motor development is the most noticeable change.  We left their last OT appointment with instructions to work on walking up and down stairs (with help) and jumping.  If I didn't know better, I'd think the girls were challenging their therapist because they were both walking up and down steps within the week, followed shortly by attempts at jumping.  Neither one of them can get their feet off of the ground yet (though, Emmaline did get air once or twice), but they know to squat and then stand up quickly, all while saying "jump", of course. 

Yesterday, I took them to the Children's Play Gallery, which is an indoor playground/learning center with cool climbing structures, dramatic play toys, sandbox, and other developmental equipment.  I was pleasantly surprised to see them climb up the rather steep ramps holding on to the ropes.  Although they've been climbing up steps to play structures for a few months now, the ramps are steep and there is only slightly raised grooves for footing.  I expected them to crawl up the ramps, but they weren't having that.  Emmaline tried to run down the ramp without holding on (like we do on Grandma's and Grandpa's backyard hill), but I had to put a stop to that.  Typically, I figure if they're brave enough to try it, they're ready to do it, but that was an accident waiting to happen. 

They've both added some words to their vocabulary.  Emmaline says "shoes" frequently now, but only gets out the "sh" sound.  Took me a while to figure out what she was saying.  I was relieved and pleased to find out it was "shoes" and not the other "sh" word.  :)

Avery's favorite word is still "no", though it's much less  of a "nah" sound than it was two months ago.  Now it's a firm and unmistakable "NO".  If I ask her what the sheep says, she might respond with a "baa", if she's in the mood, or she might respond with a "no" and an adamant head shake.  She never was much of a performer.  Has to be on her own terms. 

They're also saying "jump", "car", "door", "story", "star", "kitty", and a few others. 

Emmaline learned the monkey sound.  It's my favorite "word".  Oooh, ooh, ahh, ooh or some version of that. 

Kenny and I took the girls swimming at the Y last week.  I think we're going to have to start some swimming lessons here soon.  They both took the water like little fish and were far too brave for their own good.  They both walked right in and paid no attention to the water level. 

We also inherited an inflatable water slide that is, apparently, one story high.  We haven't inflated it yet, but we have a picture of it.  It's enormous.  They'd be too small to go on it alone this summer, but Kenny and I can go down it with them.  In the meantime, I think I'll invite some bigger friends over this summer so it gets put to good use. 

My last update mentioned puzzles.  Since then, they've both become pros.  They figured out how to turn the pieces to get them in and can now figure out, within a few short minutes, any wooden puzzle I put in front of them. 

Avery's really into dramatic play lately.  Well, they both are, but Avery more than Emmaline. If I sweep or vacuum, she runs to get her broom and vacuum.  She also loves to feed her baby and "cook" her play food on her Little Tikes stove. 

Emmaline likes to dress up, hence the picture of her with my bra wrapped around her shoulders. We're going to the Jackson rummage tomorrow and I have a whole  list of things for which to keep an eye open, including dress up clothes and kitchen stuff.

We did go to our 18-month check up with the Occupational Therapist.  We went in April, which means they were actually 20-months-old, but Children's watches their development based on their adjusted age and will continue to do so until they turn two.  Naturally, their development was all over the board, but Dr. Bear didn't have any concerns as there were no significant delays and there were many areas in which both girls were advanced.

I'm terrible at this.  Hopefully, the good mom award has little to do with blogging.

Since the last update (months ago), Avery started walking and talking (a little) and Emmaline has started adding to her words.

Avery says "me" when she wants something and "baby".  Sometimes she'll say "nah, nah, nah" when she doesn't want something, but that's becoming less frequent.  Mostly, she makes a kind of gurgling sound to communicate.  

Emmaline says "cup", "cracker", "pup pup" for puppy (I suspect that one will stick as Kenny and I have both started referrring to dogs as "pup pups"), and her favorite word, "stuck".  Everything is "stuck".  She's stuck in her carseat, stuck in her high chair, and stuck in her crib.  The puzzle pieces are stuck when they won't go in the right way.  You get the picture.  It's very cute.

Avery is really into reading her books.  She'll sit on the little couch grandma and grandpa bought her for Christmas and look through book after book.  I love watching her little facial expressions, especially when she gets a surprised look on her face and says "ooh". She's become a super social toddler and just loves big kids.  We visited our friends Jenn and Taylor (11) and Avery reached for Taylor the second she walked through the door.  Possibly the cutest thing she's started doing is pouting.  If she's told she can't have something, she looks down and pouts and won't let anyone look at her.  I try not to encourage it, but darn if it isn't the cutest thing in the world.

Emmaline is really into her puzzles.  I'm so impressed that she's figured out where all the pieces go.  She often gets frustrated when she can't get the piece to fit, so we're working on turning right now.  Emmy is a little more like her dad; it takes her a little longer to warm up to people, but once she does, she's a little charmer.  She loves "pup pups" and can point out a dog in the tiniest of photos. 

Both girls have clearly entered toddlerhood.  I spend a good part of my day as a referee.  True to form, they always have to have the same toy or the same book.  That's all easily dismissed when I hear them giggling at each other.  They're favorite group activity is playing peek-a-boo around their bookshelf, which is light enough for them to move around.  They also seem to think that wrestling with each other is great fun; that is, until one of them inevitably gets hurt.

As for mom and dad, we're looking forward to summertime activities with the girls.  We did take them on one bike ride, with the bike trailer, this season.  We're excited to take them on some longer rides.

I'll try to upload some pictures soon.  I've been uploading pictures frequenly to Facebook, so if you happen to have a profile, add me as a friend.  I'm better about updates there.

The girls are getting so big, so fast, in size and personality. It seems they're now officially toddlers ... with attitudes and all.  Lucky for them, the sassiness is still pretty cute at this stage.  Cracks me up when one of them looks me right in the face before throwing food off of their tray.  

Emmaline is walking all over the place.  She hasn't quite figured out how to get herself to standing without pulling up on furniture, but she does do a lot of squatting down to pick up toys and standing back up again.  She pulls up, walks across the room, falls, and then crawls straight to another object and starts all over again. 

Avery still isn't showing any interest in walking, but this is most likely because she's too busy climbing.  On Sunday, I found her in the bedroom sitting on the diaper box and trying to use it to climb onto the diaper table.  I'm not sure why it shocked me because Friday she climbed onto a preschool chair and stood up to play with a dollhouse.  She fell before we could get to her, but she's a tough little thing. She didn't cry at all, just crawled over to me for a quick reassuring hug and then went right back to the chair. 

They're both really into climbing into buckets, boxes, laundrey baskets, etc.  Recently, Emmaline fell in head first - like the good mom that I am, I helped her, but only after I ran to get the camera.  It was far too cute to pass up. 

We've also started learning how to drink from a regular cup.  I give them about a half an inch of milk in a small dixie cup to keep manageable for them.  I admit I was a little surprised that they took to it as well as they did.  Naturally, there were a lot of spills and more milk ended up down their shirts than in their mouths, but the impressive part is that they knew exactly what to do.  Even more impressive is that Avery held the cup with just one hand.

We're spending our Christmas up north in a beautiful log cabin.  The muppets will get to go on their first winter hike.  I'm hoping they'll get so some Northern Wisconsin wildlife, from a safe distance, of course.  I'll take lots of pictures.

We just came inside from our first real time in the snow.  I took them out briefly last winter and touched the snow to their hands, but this is the first time we bundled up and sat outside in the snow.  They were fascinated with the snow and were happy as long as I had at least one glove off for them to play in the snow, but clearly didn't care for being immobile in those enormous snowsuits.  I'm sure it'll be more fun for them once they're walking.  In the meantime, I got to ooh and ahh over them in their adorable snowsuits and attempt to entertain them with a pint-sized snowman and flying snowballs.

We have a potty chair in our living room right now.  We have it for future use, but the girls love it so we let them play with it.  It sings and lights up and apparently, is great for climing in and out of.  I took action shots of Avery climbing in the toilet seat, if you scroll quick enough, you can see how she did it.  I'm amazed by her agility and determination.  She's not showing much interest in walking, but she's really into climbing.  We have one of the push walkers that are meant for walking practice; Avery climbs it.  I wish we had the room to have a Little Tikes climber inside.  Instead, she climbs into buckets, drawers, and apparently, potty chairs. 

Emmaline has decided that any creature that crawls on four legs is a 'pup pup'.  She's also taking more steps and has started letting go on her own.  She's given up crawling on all fours completely now, only using the method to get up enough oomph to get to her knees.  It hurts me just looking at it, but she gets around well.  She's really into looking at books and other quiet activities, though I just glanced over and she, too, was trying to climb the push walker.  I was really impressed watching her play with the shape sorter; she tries out each shape and even occasionally finds the right one.  Saturday, I noticed that she was getting all four of her top teeth at the same time.  Poor thing.  She's doing really well with it though.  Aside from waking up several times Friday night, you'd never even know they were bothering her.

... to brag about my amazing Emmaline who is on the verge of walking and said her first word (besides 'mama' or 'dada').

Last week, Emmaline took a few accidental steps.  Over the weekend, she started taking purposeful steps and just yesterday, she took four steps to get to me.  Mama and Dada were quite proud!

She also said "puppy", though it comes out more like "pup pup" and it's a whisper.  Her dad and I were pointing to the puppy and repeating the word during dinner one evening.  She said "pup", but we couldn't tell if she was making the connection until the next day when she pointed to the dogs and said "pup pup".  So excited!

Avery might not be showing much interest in walking or talking quite yet, but she is my very sweet and loving girl. Ask for a kiss or a hug and she'll shower you with affection.  Her kisses are open-mouthed and slobbery, but I can't get enough of them.  I melt when she crawls over to me to give me an unsolicited kiss.  And here I thought she was never going to be a cuddly, affectionate baby. 

Clearly, I'm not good at keeping up with this.  Fortunately, journaling the milestones and events in their lives isn't nearly as important as witnessing and partaking in them.

Since I last updated, both girls have begun pulling up and cruising along furniture like pros.  Emmaline has even started letting go and standing momentarily.  They're both practicing walking with their push toys and with the help of mom or dad.  Not quite walking yet, but they'll do that when they're ready.

Avery finally got some teeth in.  Oddly enough, she's getting her two top teeth (at the same time) before her bottom teeth.  She's going to look so dorky-cute when they come in completely.

Emmaline got the second bottom tooth, shortly after the first came in.

I thorougly enjoy this age.  It's just so much fun to watch them and see how much they're digesting and learning.  Emmaline points at everything, says "dis" and then waits for you to give it a label before moving on to the next item.  She'll do this until you give up and stop labeling.  She hasn't said any words yet, but it's clear she's digesting what you say.  I suspect the words will come out with a bang when she finds them.   

Avery is really mimicking the things she sees.  The most adorable example being the hugs she gives her baby.  She squeezes her tight and then puts her chin on top of baby's head.  Too darn cute.  I'm also amused that she clearly knows what the cell phone is for (opens it up and then puts it to her ear), but has no idea what to do with the traditional toy phone we have.  No landlines in this house.

Their personalities are really starting to shine through.  As suspected, Avery continues to be independent and adventurous, paying little attention to where mom or dad are.  The other day I took the girls to the park for a playdate and Avery wasn't the slightest bit hesitant to crawl off on her own.  Emmaline is a bit more cautious and needs to sit with mom and observe before jumping into it.  She does, however, do plenty of exploring once she reaches her comfort zone.

I'm happy to say that both girls are getting more and more affectionate and cuddly.  Neither of them were much for rocking and cuddling unless they were nursing until recently, which made me reluctant to give up that bonding time.  Fortunately, they've both begun laying their heads on my shoulders, giving kisses and hugs, and just last night, holding my face to give me a kiss.  Awww.

They're now officially "big girls".  We're on our third day of no breastfeeding.  Avery isn't noticing much, but Emmaline's not exactly happy with the cup of milk alternative.  She's handling it better than I thought she would (she REALLY likes nursing), but is still asking for it whenever she's upset. 

Saving the best for last:

The girls went trick or treating for the very first time.  They were dressed up as Thing 1 and Thing 2 from The Cat in the Hat and looked soooo adorable.  They even left the hats on, which really surprised me.  Their dad and I took them for a quick walk around our neighborhood for Watertown's trick-or-treat, but it was cold and windy, so we resigned ourselves to passing out candy at home.  Fortunately, we were able to do more trick-or-treating at grandma's and grandpa's on the actual night of Halloween.  They weren't sure what to think of it all, but it was a lot of fun for the rest of us.