11.1.10 ~ Potty Training?

What? Potty training already? The girls are only 16 months old!!! No, we aren't officially potty training yet, but the girls are starting to ask to have their diapers changed throughout the day and are becoming more aware of their need to go potty. So, I got the crazy idea to pull out a little potty chair on Friday. They took turns sitting on the potty and playing with toys while I read books about using a potty. They were a little timid at first (okay, Camille was downright scared of the thing), but I tried to make it fun and they get a mini marshmallow for just sitting on it. I take them up to use it once a day right now just to get them used to the idea of this pink chair and to teach the vocabulary of going potty. I'm not expecting much at this point except that they sit and then we wash hands. If they sit and wash hands then they get a marshmallow.

Well, wouldn't you know it on Saturday (just the second day of sitting on the potty) Avery decided to pee in the potty! I know it's a total coincidence and she didn't know what she was doing, but she was pretty excited at my reaction. Plus, if they pee in the potty they get TWO marshmallows. Sunday they all sat. Then Monday Brelynn peed in the potty. Yay! We are a long way from being out of diapers, but this lets me know that they may be a little more ready to get started than I thought. Now, how to potty train three at once? Three chairs and have them all sit at once or one after the other? For now we're going one at a time. I can't keep them on the potty and entertained if there's more than one. But as they get better at this, we may go gang busters and do all three at once. Pray for us!

10.29.10 ~ 16 months

Another month has flown by...We had a jam packed October so far. Dinner with friends, a visit with new twin friends, photo shoots with Amy (http://www.amybphotography.com/), the Heart Walk in Seattle, playing at the park with friends, lots of walks when the weather was nice, and some minor house projects on the one weekend we were home. We didn't make it to the pumpkin patch, but we have some around the house so that's almost as good. The girls seem to be growing a bit as I can actually fit Camille and Avery in 9-12 month clothes and Brelynn in most 12-18 month clothes. Other highlights:

Our monkeys, one of Dan's shots

Communication: the girls are amazing communicators and are beginning to combine two words or two signs. They will say things like 'bye dada', 'more cracker', 'milk please', 'more please' and many more when they're prompted. Brelynn is a parrot and will say practially anything you ask her to say. Her favorite word today is 'pumpkin' and it is adorable how she says it. I quit counting how many words they each have but my best guess would be between 60-75 that they use and then they'll repeat many more. Of course, it's not easy to understand them most of the time but they're really good talkers. Wonder where they got that from?? They also know about 10 body parts and can point to dozens of pictures in books. Yay!

We wish!

 Motor: They are starting to climb and become more adventurous. Brelynn is still hesitant to walk more than a few steps on her own but she can walk holding on to just one of our fingers and still cruises along all the walls and furniture. She's taken up to three steps on many occasions. I know I say it every month, but she's so close to walking! Avery and Camille are running around, usually in opposite directions. Avery likes to climb on tables, couches, ottomans, and pretty much anything else that she's not supposed to climb on. She is so proud of herself when she gets up on the coffee table :)

Camille giving Brelynn a kiss...awwww

 Teeth: The teething front has been a bit of a battle this month. Avery is now up to her 8 front teeth, Brelynn has 6 (her front four and two molars), and Camille has 7 (her bottom four, top two, and a molar). So odd to me how they are all coming in differently.  

Avery plaing peek a boo

 Sleep: All these teeth coming in caused quite the sleeping mess in the first part of the month. Especially for Avery. She was waking 2-5 times a night again and some of them were what we think were night terrors. She would run away from me when I went to console her and she would be really confused when she finally calmed down. I didn't know it, but night terrors usually happen in the first hour or two after falling asleep and are due to a lack of sleep. Huh? My girls not getting enough sleep??? Well, it makes sense actually because they are in the midst of dropping their afternoon nap (I know kids are supposed to drop the morning nap, but someone forgot to tell my girls) so they are a bit sleepy in the afternoons now. Now we're just trying to break the habit of waking up I think. She's made it two nights...here's hoping for many more.

10.16.10 ~ Photo Shoot

Today we had the pleasure of having the lovely Amy of Amy B Photography take some pictures of the girls. We went to the Arboredum and the girls did wonderfully. There were dresses, tutus, jeans, hats, oh and monkey constumes. Amy brought some barrels and I brought bananas. The girls had a great time. Amy posted a small sneak peek on her blog www.amybphotography.com/blog (scroll down until you see the girls) and there should be more to come soon.  Here's one of our favorites...a barrel of monkeys :)

10.4.10 ~ Eagle Falls

Sunday we ventured out to Eagle Falls just past Index. This is a beautiful spot just a few hundred feet from Highway 2. Dan always jokes about kayaking through here because someone finally did it a few years ago. During the summer there are always people cliff jumping into the deep pools. The girls really wanted to explore the rocks and puddles but the uneven ground was still more than they could handle and there were a few near falls. Luckily, my mommy radar was sharp and I managed to catch most of the tumbles. The river has carved these amazing pools and curves into the rock. And the river is such an amazing green color. Isn't it beautiful?

Brelynn, Avery, Camille (all looking at a dog nearby)

Avery, Brelynn, Camille

Beautiful

one of the falls and pools

A shot upstream

9.29.10 ~ 15 months

The fun never ends here at the Ray house. Avery and Camille are walking (and running) everywhere, Brelynn's cruising on all the furniture and walls, and everyone is a parrot with lots of words and signs. Avery and Camille have about 35 words/signs and Brelynn has about 45! They can point to body parts and items around them (where's the light, fan, etc.). They are sleeping like champs at night, usually 13-14 hours (please don't send hate mail...I know I'm very lucky!) and are taking 2 shorter naps a day which usually combine to total 90 minutes. On the teething front, Avery now has her front 8 and sports a very cute 'toothy' grin.  Brelynn has her top two and bottom two and is very close to cutting molars. Camille has cut a top tooth and is working on her 3rd bottom tooth. They are starting to refuse the bottle and we've been having some struggles with drinking enough milk throughout the day, but their growth continues to hold steady. Camille is still a tiny peanut, but she's gaining weight right along with her sisters. If only we could get her above the 3rd percentile for weight I'd be happy. Here's their growth as compared to other 15 monthers:

     Avery~19 pounds, 1 ounce (5th %ile), 30" (25th %ile)

     Brelynn~20 pounds, 13 ounce (20th %ile), 30.5" (50th %ile)

     Camille~17 pounds, 12 ounces (<3rd %ile), 30" (25th %ile)

Here are the girls enjoying ravioli...
Brelynn

Camille

Avery...she really did like it!

 

9.11.10 ~ Remlinger Farm

Dan's company picnic was at Remlinger Farm this year. We took the girls and let them run wild in a grassy field with a fake heard of cows :)

Avery playing peek-a-boo

Brelynn speed crawling for the camera, not sure what Avery is doing in the background...dancing? boxing?

Camille's making a run for it

All the girls with the herd

 

9.1.10 ~ Dan Ray Photography

Well, it's official. We started a business to sell some of Dan's amazing photos. People tell him all the time that he should sell his pictures (so do I, but I don't count), but he never really thought much about it. He just loves taking great pictures. Well, a few weeks ago his sister suggested that he put his pictures on the wall at Starbuck's and try to sell them. He was interested, but that meant we had to get in gear to actually form a business. We made business cards, applied for a business license, registered our trade name, got tax ID numbers, printed and framed pictures, and made a website all in three weeks time. I'm very happy to say that Dan Ray Photography is now a legit business! Check out http://www.danrayphotography.com/ for some of his incredible pictures and to see how things are coming along. If you're in the Lake Forest Park area, stop in to Starbuck's by Third Place Books to see some of his work during the months of September and October.