The Little Girls

I am still learning who these little angels really are. What I can tell you is this. Ashley, for being the tiniest little thing (weighing only 4 lb. 13 oz. at birth – not bad for twins actually but the tiniest baby I’ve personally ever seen), is so strong and full of energy! She is an interesting little person! She too had reflux and I think maybe only slept through the night 1 or 2 times in her first 8 months. Miraculously, once the reflux went away, she started sleeping at night. Yea!! She also had to be held during the evening hours until she was about 6 months, much like her older sister Kaitlyn and other colicky babies. What’s really funny is for the longest time she really had no desire to move. Then something happened. It’s like she realized once she moved there was a whole world out there waiting for her to conquer, and she never looked back. She has moved ever since she was maybe 10 months old?? And she never stops!! My step-dad said so profoundly that Ashley has two speeds – asleep and running! So true! Anywhere we go with her, if she is out of that stroller she is gone. If you let her get out of arms reach you will shortly be running to catch her. She also climbs on everything. Her favorite is the kitchen table. Of course, then Reagan learns from her example and it becomes a climbing relay for me to have to put an end to.

Ashley talks up a storm. She talks and yells her jibber jabber to everything. It is hilarious. What is also funny is that she can learn phrases very well. At a year old she said “How are you” all the time and learned to sing “E-I-E-I-O,” but her favorite word right now is “no.” She also was forever the most smiling little baby I had ever seen. So easy to get a picture of her. But now she is more interested in everything around her so that has changed. She squirms all the time. She is finally starting to show me some love. You’d think after all the holding and sleepless nights she’d love on me more but she just wants to be on the go. She is not afraid of climbing on anything, but she can get startled from time to time when someone approaches her unexpectedly. She also makes the biggest splashes I’ve ever seen in the bathtub and does not seem to mind getting water in her face. She loves shoes and also loves hurling toys (including very large ones) to the floor. I see a lot of similarities between her and Kaitlyn and I’m wondering if she will also be a “spirited” child. We will see! She takes a lot of abuse from Reagan who is currently going through a biting phase, but Ashley is usually instigating something. She likes to take Reagan’s toys or other beloved items and run away with them. But Ashley is my little doll. She looks just like the baby dolls we have lying around the house. And she is a funny little thing. When she gets mad or hurt, she doesn’t want me. Instead she wants to push her head around on the hard floor with her butt in the air and do weird rolling around things. But hey, fine with me if that’s how she wants to deal with things. But she is warming up. It will be fun to see who she will become.

Reagan, what can I say? She has been an utter joy. She has been a great baby. She has generally slept well, except when she doesn’t feel well. She’s very content and easy-going. Truthfully, Mackenzie was much like this too but with two differences. Reagan does not seem to have Mackenzie’s temper, nor is she clingy like my first two were. (In fact, my first two would compete with crying and clinginess. It was as if clinging to me were an Olympic sport and whichever one got picked up won the gold medal. Ugh!! So glad these two do not do that!) But…Reagan can be a little clingy at times, but generally you can just hold her a while (just enough to get your baby-fix), and then she will get interested in something and let you go. LOVE her! She is so snuggly and cuddly. She has always loved to hug and just this week learned to kiss. I praised her big time for kissing Ashley, in hopes that she will do that instead of bite her. So now she is kissing both me and Ashley and then looking at me for gratification. She loves to be held. She is very ticklish and she giggles a lot. She loves for people to mess with her and she’s just such an endearing spirit. She also has these twinkly little eyes that just light up and sparkle when she smiles. Other than her biting I have not had too many challenges with her yet. She is a terrible sleeper at even the slightest hint of a cold, but when she’s healthy she usually sleeps like a champ. She loves her blanket and her binky. I’m a little worried the binky is messing up her teeth but I can’t seem to take it away. It’s so nice to have something that soothes an upset child! None of my others took them and I can only imagine how nice it would have been. But then again I never had to break them of it and the other three don’t seem to have any problems with their teeth. Hmmm. Still, she loves her “bee-bee” (blanket) and her “uh-oh” (binky – she calls it “uh oh” because she’s always dropping it on the floor) and I don’t have the heart to take it away. Otherwise, I don’t really know what Reagan is going to bring into our family except a lot of joy and love.