08-01-11

So much to catch up on from these last few weeks. A couple of weeks ago we took a vacation. Richard and I took the whole week off and spent the first half with the girls. We took them to the Yellow River Game Ranch and besides being hot...they loved it. They would feed the deer saltine crackers. We have it on video and it was adorable. Granted, I had to keep them from eating the cracker before giving it to the deer. For the duration of the trail, I had to give them a cracker when I gave an animal a cracker. So I would say that half my crackers when to the girls and the other half went to the animals. But really didn't show any emotion at all when feeding the deer. I guess to them is was another dog and nothing special. No fear! This "no fear" concepts is quite scary if you really think about it. Quinn seems a bit more reserved before taking the leap but she still takes the leap. Brooklyn is all in and has no reserve and not an ounce of fear in those tiny bones.

For some reason, they don't get why we make them stop diving on the couch. I have caught Quinn in the process of diving OFF the couch. No fear and no concern is a bad combination. It is truly dangerous when you add the efforts and encouragement of your twin sister.

During that week, we took a trip to Walmart. The greeter stopped Richard as he was leaving and pointed to Quinn and said, "She is the one always in trouble." Then she pointed to Brooklyn, "She is the one that will always be in trouble because the other one will drag her along." Richard told her that she couldn't be more right. My thought is, if that woman just now laid eyes on them and knew that Quinn would always find trouble and take Brooklyn with her, then Quinn has a long road. My mom said that Quinn does have that look about her. I must agree!!! She just always looks up to no good.

We did have fun with them and enjoyed our time together. But Quinn and Mommy seemed to bang heads a bit. The girl was just acting so bratty. If she did not get her way, she would express her anger with a tantrum. Lets just say that I saw my fair share of temper tantrums in three days to begin to lose my patience. Mommy needed a break. Richard actually said, "Don't know why you are getting frustrated, she gets it honestly." That is his way of saying that I act the same way. I have a short fuse to my temper box. I admit to this being true. But I don't lose my cool when absolutely everything doesn't go my way. Dang it....my child acts like me.

The last half of the week, Richard and I took a trip with other couples to Hilton Head Island, SC. My parents watched the girls for a couple of days. I pre-warned them that Quinn was a terror and apologized ahead of time. Turns out, that girls knows how to work the system. She was an angel compared to Brooklyn the monster. Apparently, Brooklyn chose those couple of days to release her built up payback on Quinn. Mom said that Brooklyn would walk up to Quinn and yank her down by her collar. "HORSE COLLAR!" She was bound to give Quinn payback. Knowing how sly that girl is, she probably waited for that moment when Momma and Daddy weren't there to execute her payback plan.

Although we needed the adult time, we sure did miss those precious girls. When we got home, Brooklyn had decided crawling was beneath her. We now have two walkers that are practically running. Brooklyn stomps around with her arms tucked up and holds her chest. We call her T-Rex. She could imitate a baby T-Rex perfectly. Just imagine and two foot girls with short arms, almost flapping them like wings, and pulling her knees up and slowly putting them down, T-Rex. Quinn looks like Frankenstein when she walks around. She balances herself by holding her arms out in front of her. With her slight waddle, she would be a perfect stand in for baby Frankenstein. And with all the bite marks on her arms, she wouldn't need too much time in hair and make up.

We are starting to give them big people food. So this weekend I made some black eyed peas, carrots and pasta for them to munch on for lunch. Last night, I tried it out and Brooklyn seemed to love it. Quinn wasn't so sure at first. Then I realized that Brooklyn really just loved putting the black eyed peas and carrots up her nose. I had to suction her nose with the nasal syringe. Although it was hilarious and messy, it was a work out. They actually displayed signs of being picky eaters. I finally just started feeding them from their tray. It eased my mind knowing I was putting it in their mouths. They were just fingering it for the most part. But time will tell and I believe they will be big eaters. They are going through a growth spurt and act like they are starving. But we are trying this new big girl food and if I can get them used to feeding themselves, we will be on the road to something wonderful. Oh and Toby will be loving life. He usually gets their leftovers...the food that ends up on the floor.