As I'd hoped, we abandoned formula and made the switch to sippy cups and milk (keeping only a bedtime bottle) upon the first anniversary of the babies' due date. Unfortunately, the kids seemed to hate the taste of milk; on top of that, it took me a week to figure out that the sippy cups I had were not working for them. After getting a lot of advice from my wonderful friends, I purchased a can of strawberry Quik and some Nuby straw cups. Like magic, the kids suddenly started drinking their milk! They are now drinking straight milk from their cups like pros, but we have some work to do where etiquette is concerned: The kids are still learning that stealing, banging, or throwing cups is a no-no!
The Fab Four's interests are changing, too. They have discovered books and are almost obsessed with being read to. Sometimes they will make me read a book seven or eight times in a row! I love it, though—when they were smaller, I could never find the time to sit down and read to them (gee, I wonder why!), and I worried that I had ruined their chances of being book lovers. I'm so glad I was wrong!
I suspect that some language switch must have flipped recently because, in addition to being crazy about books, the kids are also starting to talk a lot more:
Lucy was the first baby to say a word, and she continues to lead the pack. She can say, "Pepper," "dada," "mama," "night-night," "nana" (banana), "yummy," and "bye-bye." She also knows the sign for "more." Her new game is to point at objects all around the room and say, "Dat!" I assume that she wants to know what those things are called, so I tell her. Over and over.
Jude (who, incidentally, has turned into quite the clown—I need to take video of some of his antics so that you can see what I mean) is quickly catching up to Lucy. He can say, "night-night" (his word for his blankie), "nana" (banana), "dada," and "mama," and he knows the signs for "more" and "all done."
Dahlia can say, "Pepper," "dada," "mama," "night-night," and "nana" (banana). Yesterday she learned the sign for "more!"
Isaac can say, "Pepper," "dada," and "mama." He's babbling a lot more than he used to, so I know more words are on the way soon. I am still working on getting him to use signs, but I think "more" is around the corner.
The last piece of news is that we eliminated the morning nap yesterday! It had gotten to the point where, after taking a good morning nap, the boys would sleep 0 to 30 minutes in the afternoon (no fun for Mommy!). To help get us through the morning yesterday and today, we employed an hour of Baby Einstein, topped off by a 30-minute stroll just before lunch. So far, so good. Ted and I are hopeful that this change in routine will bring back some predictability for all of us. And we're excited because the schedule shift means that we might be able to start going to church again soon!
