9 months!

Harper
The Harpernator has a few new tricks up her sleeve: When asked what noise a bear makes, she roars! She loves to clap and give high fives and dance to anything that has a beat, including dad's coffee dosing (if you know what this is you and Michael have probably bonded over love for espresso).  Seriously, she loves to dance.  Usually she rocks back and forth until she gets close to doing the Humpty Dumpty.  Sometimes she does the Humpty Dumpty and it makes her sad.  She can be a sensitive soul.  If something makes a loud noise or almost falls over, it is scary and sad.  Sometimes she does not like it when Allie loudly bangs her toys.  She does, however, love Allie and thinks she is hilarious.  She gets a good belly laugh whenever Allie tries to crawl over her because she thinks Allie is trying to tickle her.

A few days before she turned 9 months old, here are her stats:

28 1/4 inches long (76th percentile in height)
17 lbs. 3 oz. (23rd percentile in weight)

So apparently she is "long and lean" though that does not come to mind with those rolls, belly, and big baby bottom.  She has two teeth (I think the first one came in at 8 months and the second one was not far behind) and she uses them to bite mom.  This is very bad. She gets very excited about nursing but may not get to do it much longer if she keeps using those chompers.  She likes real food well enough, but is also fine if Allie wants to eat most of her share.

Allie
The Allie-gator is a bird!  Also known as the Alliebird, she continues to cackle with delight at the next plan she has concocted.  She stands up on her knees, raises her arms in the air and makes noises like a mad scientist.  It is hilarious and adorable!  She also enjoys making bear noises on demand.  She will deign the lucky few with a wave.  Her crawl is more of a prance or strut with hands extended high and booty swishing side to side.  At first she led the A&H gang on their explorations around the house, but now she is starting to follow Harper around more often.  I usually find her doing chin-ups on the side of her crib in the mornings and after naps.  Changing her diaper should be an Olympic sport.  She likes to babble dah's, mah's, and bah's.

Allie's party trick. Can you tell she likes it?

 The Allie-gator is also very hungry!  Mealtime can be frustrating because mom does not have 4 hands.  She wants to feed herself -- no more of this baby bird stuff where mom feeds her!  I still have not found a food she won't inhale.  Meals have become much more enjoyable now that she feeds herself, as long as I can keep the chunks of food coming.  She is supposed to wear her eye patch for an hour a day but unless I successfully distract her, she often rips it off within five minutes (and looks very happy about this victory).

Her stats a few days before 9 months:
28 1/4 inches long (76th percentile in height)
16 lbs. 14 oz. (19th percentile in weight)

What we eat: hummus, avocado, almost anything mom is eating, chick-fil-a nuggets, lots of fruit, turkey, cheese, grilled cheese, oatmeal, yogurt, squash, animal crackers, golden grams, cheerios, and of course, blueberries.  I love that we are moving past pureed food and baby-food jars!

Who knew I could love two people this much?  Sometimes it floors me that God loves me even more than I love Allie and Harper.  Each day has sweet moments where I can't get over how amazing they are.  I have to be honest and say that many days there are also moments when I wish they would stop demanding more and more from me.  I basically have everything I've ever wanted and yet I still struggle with contentment in my role as a mother.  Part of me wants to be more than "just a mom," and the other half is afraid I wouldn't be able to handle the stress being a working mother.  That fear and uncertainty of what I would do outside of the home keep me where I am for now.  And it is a GREAT place to be! It just goes to show that I will always groan inwardly to be brought into the freedom and glory that is and will be mine as a child of God.

3 Girls in Tears

Today I realized that it is been a long time since both girls have been fussy at the same time.  I realized this because this afternoon they whacked me over the head with a 2x4 and it brought back memories of the 10 week old middle of the night scream fests.  Both ladies woke from their nap on the wrong side of the crib and the decibel level elevated until all three of us were in tears.  When I started crying, Allie stopped and looked at me like I had gone crazy. Her face read, "What the hockey stick, you aren't allowed to cry, too!"  After about three minutes of rotating who got bounced and patted, I resorted to breastfeeding off schedule (this shows how desperate I was because I have become quite the stickler for only 4 feedings a day).   They decided that they would bite me instead of nurse for comfort.  That was the end of that.
Even though I had already taken them on a run in the morning and a long walk at midday, the only option left besides wearing two baby carriers was to get out in the 90 degree heat for the third time today.  Sure enough, they calmed down by the time we got to the elevator and were happy as long as the wheels were rolling.   I wonder if there are many strollers that have gotten as many miles as mine?  I should be a twig by now with the amount of walking these blueberries demand of me.
I am thankful that I seldomly have moments when both gals are inconsolable.  70% of the time they are like this:

Happy Harper (she loves to dance, as you can see, to anything remotely resembling music):

Happy Allie:

Happy 4th!

Harper and Allie had a happy Independence Day.  They were happy to stay up way past their 7pm bedtime to see the fireworks.