Space.

Call me crazy, but I have a hard time remembering to give my girls space. They're only seven months old, but I really do believe it's good for them to be left alone to explore for a while, without my breathing down their necks. For instance, they're playing right now on their little playmat behind me and entertaining themselves very well!
I have left them with a few toys before to go do my dishes or some other chore. Every now and then, when I leave them alone, I hear Amber giggling at something. By the time I'd rushed back to see what she thought was so funny, I'd missed it. For the longest time I couldn't figure out what she was laughing at. So yesterday I spied on her while she thought I was off doing my own thing. And there Avery was, trying to grab Amber's face, but she couldn't reach her (because I'm too smart to keep them within arm's length anymore!), and Amber just thought it was hilarious. I tried to get it on video, but wasn't quick enough. One of these days! They've started to talk to each other, too. And smile at each other. It's sweet.
I'm going to get out the pots and pans one of these days, but while they are still learning to grip things and pick them up, I've been experimenting with a smaller-scale activity. I take all their bottles (bottles only, not the nipples) and put them in a shoebox. We have different colored bottles, which, I think, is more interesting to the girls. I put the shoebox on their mat and let them play! Amber loves to dump the box (usually hitting her sister in the head in the process). They practice picking up the bottles and putting them down, manipulating the box to turn over.
I think it's really good for them. They're learning and exploring on their own. They don't want someone in their faces all day.
That being said, there is a lot of things they're learning from personal interaction. Today Mom swears she saw Avery trying to wave. And Dad swears she was dancing when he sang to her. I'm pretty sure I saw both of those things too! It's amazing everything they're learning.
Below I've added a video--You can decide for yourself if Avery's started dancing! She does this on a regular basis, but was interrupted in this video by Dad coming home. :)

Food food food.

My little sweethearts are growing at an unbelievable rate. If they keep going like this, they'll be taller than me by the time they're five. Thankfully, though, I can still honestly call them babies. And their entire lives still center around mealtimes.

I LOVE FOOD!

It's amazing how much they've learned, and it's really hard to believe they're working on solid foods now. But they are! We've been doing spoon feeding for a while! I make my own food, mostly, with the exception of meat. Everyone raises their eyebrows at that, like I must really be a supermom to be able to make my own babyfood, but really anyone who can push a button on a blender can do it. It's much cheaper, I know what my girls are consuming, it's fresher, and it must taste better. 

We started with oatmeal. I just microwave-cooked it like I would for myself, with no added sugar or anything. Then throw it in the blender and puree. If you have constipation issues, add something fibrous, like pears or avocado. 

Now they only have oatmeal for breakfast. For lunch, they have a veggie and a protein. The key with the veggies is to overcook. You lose some nutrients that way, but you also don't choke your baby! I puree (or my mom prepares it for me. Thanks, Mom!), and then add a store-bought small jar of protein (chicken or turkey or beef).  

Storage is tricky. Mom gets the credit for this one. On Pinterest you'll see a lot of storage in ice-cube trays, but that didn't really work out for me. Having twins, I prepare 4 Tbsp of food for every meal, which is about 3 ice cubes. Mom prepared some sweet potatoes for me, brought them over in a muffin tin, and froze them solid. After they froze, we stored them in a Ziploc freezer bag. Easy peasy. (No pun intended.) Now i can measure how much i want to thaw for each serving, and it takes up less space in my itty bitty freezer. 

Now for dinner we're doing something new. We are working on picking up food with our hands! So we cut up bananas, avocados, thoroughly cooked carrots, etc. Then we put them on the tray and let the girls play! They haven't figured it out yet. 

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I stumbled across an awesome activity to help the girls figure it out! By the end of playtime, one out of my two girls was picking food up, realizing she was holding it, and getting it into her mouth to eat! I was so impressed. What was this amazing activity? Potato flakes! They can eat it. It can't hurt their eyes. And it's fun! First I poured the flakes onto their trays dry. We made it snow, we mixed it with slobber, we tried to pick it up. What fun! Then we added some lukewarm water, and it was a whole new game. I let them squish it, throw it, pat it, and eventually they figured out they could eat it! It was all very educational. And messy. But worth it! ANNND it's a wonderful way for them to amuse themselves while I clean the bathrooms. Or eat lunch. (Or throw myself on the floor and take a breather, let's face it.)

Anyway, it really is my goal to write more, but you all know how it is!

I feel I should add that I am having surgery the first week of May to correct my hernia, and in doing so, my diastasis will improve as well. I'm really excited! As my buddy Michele put it, it will be great to be anatomically correct again! 

Thanks for your prayers!