She drinks!!

Seriously, how cute it Ella?

Ella looks like she got into a fight with her spaghetti....and lost

Alex is just happy he has a full belly

Helen had a good time too

Climbing the stairs for nap time (no more three trips up and down the stairs!)

Alex hanging out in his chair

Sweet Helen

She drinks!! Last Monday we got rid of the bottles and went to sippy cups. Helen and Alex took a day or two to adjust but then were fine. Ella refused to drink from hers. She refused to drink milk out of her sippy cup but then would go in the play room and guzzle water out of one. Grandma, in her infinite wisdom, suggested just giving her a regular cup. After 6 days of a sippy cup strike, I gave her a cup and she took it and drained the whole thing. When I then put a spill proof top on it, she was fine with it and would drink it that way too. I have no idea why that made a difference but she is now as happy as can be with her cup. I'm sure she thinks she "won" this battle though.

I promise they usually look happier than this.

Could Helen be any cuter?

Ella only looks bald here because the girls have started wearing clips in their hair. It's not easy getting a clip to stay in when there is not a whole lot to work with but mommy is optimistic that someday we will even graduate to ponytail holders!

The girls were playing with the magnets on the side of the fridge and Ella is trying to run away with a few

Helen is happy to stand there and put them all back in order. Alex comes along and throws them all on the floor - Helen picks them back up and puts them where they belong. There is a whole lot of her mommy running around in that girl!

I bought these really cute Valentine's t-shirts at Old Navy thinking how precious it would be to get a picture of the three of them. This was as good as it got. Not exactly what I had in mind but it was almost impossible just to keep them all on the couch at the same time!

I thought Ella was never going to drink out of that cup. I don't know how much milk we wasted for a week trying to get her to drink it. I will be glad when she can talk so she can just tell me that she wanted the grown up cup to drink her milk instead of me trying dozens of different things to guess what was going to make her drink it. Thank goodness we cleared that hurdle though - now they are all drinking regular milk - it is so much cheaper than the formula!

Helen and Alex are taking more steps. They can go 5 or 6 steps now without falling. Probably won't be too long before all three are toddling around. It is so cute to watch them walk - it is funny to see how easily Ella walks around when she is so tiny and looks like she should still be crawling. Alex finally figured out how to clap the other day. So now when I say clap clap clap, he actually claps! Small progress but it is good.

I can really see their brains soaking up so much information. I have to be careful about what I say and do now because they are starting to imitate little mannerisms that I did not even realize I do. When Helen coughs, she pats her chest. Probably because that's exactly what I do when I cough!

The time outs are being met with mixed results. The other day Alex and Helen landed in the time out pack-n-play at the same time. Well, to them it was time for a wrestling match. So they were rolling around wrestling and having a great time. Not exactly a meaningful time out but at least they were getting along and having fun!

The fun never ends and while they are getting more curious and more into things, they are also listening more too. The other morning I walked downstairs with both of the girls. I put Ella down and told her to walk to her chair. I carried Helen in and after I had strapped her in I turned around and there was Ella standing right by her chair waiting for me. Who knew they would actually listen to me?? I better enjoy it while I can :)