Almost 18 (months)

So we're closing in on a year and a half for Z & E. They both started walking late (Z on July 1 E on July 4 at 16+ months). They still walk like little gorilla's with their hands in the air, but walking nonetheless.

They're signing like crazy (car, boat, mama, more, please, egg, cookie, cracker (ad naseum), raisin (ad naseum), cheese, sandwich, swing, cat, dog, horse, bunny, pig, eat, flag, ice cream...) and speaking a lot too (mama, dada, Nana, Zeidy (pronounce ZeeZee), Papa (my dad), Barbara (my mom - which Z often quacks like Donald Duck for no apparent reason), ca' (meaning car or cat depending on the sign that accompanies it), Zack (pronounce "Jacques" by E).

They demand their favorite songs be sung ("ahhh" and the sign for "A" for the Alphabet song; Baaaaa for Baa Baa Black Sheep; Cat, Dog, or Bird for versions of "Two Little Birdies / Sitting on a Wall / One named Peter / One named Paul" "Two little kittens / watching a fish / one named Moira / one named Wish" "Two little doggies / Living side-by-side / One named Bandit (our neighbors' dog) / One named Heid[i]" ( D wrote the cat & dog version); All the Hippos go Berserk (Z waves his hands palms up and yells); the sign for "Bunny" for "wake up little rabbit and hop hop hop" etc)

They eat lots of things - still mainly with us feeding them or their hands- but particularly like hummus, Peanut butter, thin omelets, the aforementioned raisins and crackers, yogurt in the morning, chocolate Ice Cream (which they sign frantically while saying "brrrr!")

They love reading - often fighting over books. They love the dog - who smartly avoids them most of the time. They're stingy with kisses for me & D (they kiss Heidi whenever possible - grrrr). They like swimming, though we haven't done it that much. They like it when I make their bears talk (their bears have Belgium accents and complain about the problems with Capitalism...really) If you ask E most questions her answer is typically shaking her head "no" (esp. if she has a dirty diaper - if you ask "E do you need to be changed?" she shakes her head and turns to run away!)

Although they definitely know Z's name, I'm not sure that they know E's. This may have to do with the fact that D & I are more likely to call them Z-man and E-bear than their real names. We also call them both Peanut Butter, Facey-Face, Bunny (usually E), and Buddy (usually Z).

Probably won't post very frequently on this blog anymore, but will continue to put pictures, possibly videos, and the odd milestone-y post.