Good and Tight

Oh yeah, now I remember the other Rosemary-ism I wanted to write down. When someone sneezes she yells "Good and Tight!" That's her translation of gesundheit, and frankly I prefer it to the original. Now we all say it.

Also, Rosemary has pretty good diction, enunciation, all that. But there are a few words that she still says (I hope for a long time still) in funny ways. I don't think she hears the difference. Blanklet. Instresting. Brestest - that's breakfast to the rest of us. This last was the topic of a funny conversation between Rosie and her fun friend Marley, discussing sleepovers.

Rosemary: And then we can wake up and have brestest!
Marley: Breakfast?
Rosemary: Yes, brestest.
Marley: Do you mean breakfast?
Rosemary, looking thoroughly exasperated: Yes, that's what I said. Brestest. 
Marley, mystified/exasperated, turns to me: Well then why didn't she say breakfast?
Rosemary, moving on to more important topics: Coo coo! Doo duh dooo!

Life is Good (Away from Home)

A recent quote from Rosemary: "I don't want anyone to tell my grandparents not to spoil me." This was said out of the blue, just after a lovely week of sugar cereals with Grandma Nancy and before this current week we're in, where she is in the Berkshires with Grandmama and Baba. We forgot to pack her sneakers, and I just got a call from Max asking whether it would be okay for them to buy her a pair of Dora sneakers with lights that flash when you walk. As if I would rain on that parade! I will say that it has gotten progressively harder and harder to get Rosemary to get herself dressed. For her to wear anything it must have high ratings in two critical categories: "Fancy" and "Feel Good." I know, this is true for us all to some degree, but Rosie now takes it to extremes. Dresses cannot have low backs or thin straps. (I think something tickles in the wrong place? Proto-Victorian standard?) Skirts must have ruffles, glitter, ribbons, sequins, rainbow stripes - preferably two or more of the above. Pants? Well, pants cannot be pants. They must be a dress. With a high back. And ruffles, glitter, ribbons, sequins, and/or rainbow stripes. Leggings may be acceptable in certain circumstances, but only rainbow-stripe leggings.

She has a pair of purple crocs with little pink hearts with little fake gems. One of the hearts fell off. I called Zappos and asked if I could exchange the pair. They said never mind, they'd just send out a new pair. Grand! But guess what? It turns out the new two-hearted pair is somehow not as good as the one-hearted pair. And the one heart shoe (the left shoe) of the one-hearted pair is somehow better than the left shoe of the two-hearted pair, because the heart of the one-hearted pair is missing a gem, giving it that special je ne sais quoi. All this to say, that that crucial high rating for "fancy" is wildly unpredictable, and if something gets put on with alacrity, then that is a good, good thing.

So after I said yes, please go ahead and get the shoes, Rosemary got on the phone and said, "So you said you will like my new Dora shoes that light up when I walk?" and I said, yes, I will really, really like those Dora shoes that light up when you walk.

A few other recent quotes/updates from Rosemary:
I asked whether she'd like to help me mash up a banana to give to the babies. Rosemary said, "You're going to give them banana? A human banana?"
We have a pink water balloon that has come home from the playground 2 times. I don't know what its future will bring.
Hm. Seems like there were some other things I wanted to post but now I can't recall what they were. To be continued, perhaps.

Wind Up

The babies have a nonstop hobby. They are working on crawling. Sure, they still like all those other things: eating (Maggie), catching strangers' attention (Sylvie), rocking the exersaucer (Sylvie), stretching and barrel rolling to get to a toy (Maggie), stretching and barrel rolling to the stereo equipment and then adjusting the volume (Sylvie), watching Rosie like hawks (both). But now they both spend the majority of their time trying to get up on all fours. Neither one can crawl just yet, but these videos - which I think I took on Saturday? - are already out of date. Now both girls can stay up on all fours (increasingly hands, not just elbows) for 15 seconds or so. Every day they seem to add about 5 seconds. I watch with a mixture of supportive excitement and slight dread. Mostly excitement, because I love them more than I love doing anything that necessitates leaving them alone for more than 15 seconds. (I know, I know, time for baby gates.) I just love this phase - watching them rock back and forth, back and forth, until they propel themselves forward or tip over, then trying to do it again. It's unusual that they are both working on the same thing at the same time.

They still don't sit up, or really show any interest in it yet. I realize this is probably because I forgot to help them do this. Once they started rolling, they adapted pretty well to tummy time, so they never minded hanging out on the mat on their bellies. I guess they'll get there soon enough.

Meantime, it's a quiet week here while Rosemary visits Grandmama and Baba in the Berkshires. I can hear the August cicadas outside, the Mr. Softee ice cream truck (we live by a playground so it's constant), construction (always seems to be some going on), and I suppose also the BQE freeway traffic too, if I really pay attention. I have some freelance work I took on, so I'd better wind this up now and get back to that. 

Really? Six Months?

Sylvia seems to be a chatty, chatty lady, more so than her sis (the twin one, that is, not the big one, who IS an inveterate chatty lady). We have found her up on her elbows in her crib, "talking" to Magnolia - who is usually asleep or on her way in that direction. It's all low moany vowels so far, not much in the way of consonants, usually uttered as she smiles at you in an amused sort of way. Now she's added some louder sounds, which are gleeful though they sound alarming. Meantime Maggie mainly reserves her vocalizing for sounds that *are* meant to be alarming, telling you how unbelievably hungry she is, even if she is eating as she's saying it. 

Both girls are mobile, but only a little bit. They both roll-roll-roll across the floor, fast, until they run into a piece of furniture. Maggie can easily grab a toy and noodle around with it. Sylvia likes to spin on her belly like the hand of a clock. Maggie has her two bottom teeth coming in.

Most important: Maggie regularly sleeps through the night! There, I said it, I've jinxed us, she'll wake up 3 times tonight. But really, she's done it I think almost every night for the past two weeks. This probably has something to do with her aforementioned hungry-all-the-time. Sylvia still gets up once, but that's no biggie.  

I have a delightful video of Sylvia talking and gazing fondly at Magnolia, while Magnolia looks all blasé about the whole thing, but I can't seem to upload it. Alas. You'll just have to come visit and see them in person.