On with the post...
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All is well in Zoe's world. Most days, she's happy to be a 'big girl' and help with little tasks around the house, like making dinner ...
... or pulling Mitchell on the sled on a rare above-freezing day. 
On those days that it isn't above freezing, we try to find things to do that are a) inside and b) cheap! The Chelsea Library fits both criteria. They have this great little playroom that the kids love.
Currently, one of Zoe's favorite activities is practicing writing her letters. She says she wants to do it perfectly. She's also convinced she can read. Granted, she's doing pretty well with letter sounds and is beginning to sound out simple words, but it'll be a while before she's occupying Mitchell and Alyse with board books. I can't wait for that day!Speaking of Mitchell and Alyse, they recently had their nine-month check ups. All is well and only one shot! I also learned something: I used to think Zoe's slight build was due to one too many respiratory illnesses in a row when she was an infant, but now I attribute it to genes (and not mine). Rich always says he had to fight to keep weight on until he discovered beer and nachos. I guess the kids take after him.
Mitchell weighed in at 17 lbs., 15 oz. and is 29 inches. That's the 20th percentile for weight and the 75th for height.
Alyse weighs 16 lbs., 10 oz and is 28 inches. That's the 10th percentile for weight and the 75th for height.
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Zoe was 16 lbs. 3 oz. and 28 1/2 inches at her nine-month check up. See a pattern here?
Mitchell's favorite activity is trying to stand up using anything as a prop, including his sister's head. He's still content to zoom around on his belly, combat-crawl style. When he's on the hardwood, he drags his legs and reminds me of a penguin sliding on the ice. I'm convinced he's going to have massive shoulders by the time he's walking. He also has a mouth full of teeth (four on top, two on bottom) that he's discovered are great for biting into things, like mama's shoulder and sister's foot. Luckily, he also has become such a love and gives slobbery open-mouth kisses whenever asked.
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Alyse finally became mobile (not counting the rolling) and actually beat Mitchell to hands-and-knees crawling. She's slow, but effective. She's more focused on communication than her brother. For quite a while now she been clapping and waving and is working on expanding her vocabulary, which currently contains one more word than Mitchell's. It is this word that she utters about a hundred times, from the moment she wakes to about two minutes before she drifts off to sleep. That word is "YEP!" She will demonstrate her formidable 'yepping' skills in a video at the end of this entry.
Now a couple more recent photos.
The kids like crawling through this tunnel. Here's Mitchell after spotting the camera.
Dziadzia stopped by for a visit before taking Zoe to a U of M women's basketball game on Sunday. He and Alyse played with her toy ... until she spotted the camera.
Zoe after the game, which she kept referring to as the football game (her sports-writing daddy loved that).
And now, some video for no other reason than I finally downloaded them to our computer and thought I'd share a couple. I have the hardest time getting candid photos of the kids and capturing anything spontaneous on video. They stop what they're doing and grin like The Cheshire Cat as soon as either appears. .
Here's a time I was acutally able to capture something as it happened, thanks to Busia. It's from the beginning of January at the exact moment Mitchell figured out how to clap when Busia sang Pat-a-Cake to him.
And here is Alyse doing what she does best ... yepping!
And here is Alyse doing what she does best ... yepping!
Take care,
ZMA's mama
ZMA's mama
Zoe enjoying some birthday cake on Uncle Tommy's lap. She has him sooooo wrapped!
Zoe has been trying to keep busy amidst the chaos in the house. Here's a picture of her jumping into her little pool on a sweltering afternoon. We had to watch each jump and she named them, accordingly. This one was something like a "Super Duper Flooper jump."
She's still quite into her 'art projects.' Here she is creating a masterpiece while demonstrating her tongue rolling talents. Oddly enough, this is how I often held my tongue while concentrating as a child. I also have a lovely picture of her crossing her eyes. Are you laughing, Mom?
Having to deal with one new sibling must be hard for a kid, but two at once? For the most part, she's adjusted well. Sure, there's been some days...but she does seem to genuinely love her babies. On Sunday, with Daddy picking up an extra shift, Zoe turned into Mommy's helper. Both babies were insisting on being fed at the same time (as they often do), so I asked her if she thought she'd be able to give Mitchell a bottle all by herself. She quickly replied, "I can handle it!" The best part was that Mitchell loved it. After the meal, Mitchell didn't want to move. He poked at Zoe's face and pulled her hair, laughing the whole time. The miracle was that she put up with it and laughed back. It was precious!
That same Sunday, I decided it was time to stage three-month pictures of the babies. They are almost 16 weeks. Ideally, I'd have a professional do this, but having almost missed my window, I thought I'd try to take some on my own. Far from pro quality, but I managed some cute faces!
On that same note, we still haven't managed to get Zoe's three year picture done. It's still in the plans, but Zoe decided I better take one of her anyway...in case I forget! 
*SIGH*
I'm realizing more and more that though it's going to be a challenge raising two the same age, it's also going to be amazing to watch them grow up together.
Seeing a cute photo op, I plopped Alyse in cousin Sid's arms. He was decidedly less enthused about holding a baby (I believe his exact words were, "Could you take this baby NOW?"). Despite that fact, Alyse tried to charm him with her sweet smile.
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