Pillow Fight and More

I think the twins have been EXTRA cute lately! So - here's a few more photos.

They both fell asleep on our bed after their morning feeding. When I went in to get them after they woke up - this is what I found. The pics don't show it very well but Peytine was getting in a few licks of her own. Of course they weren't really hitting each other but the back and forth action was pretty funny.

PILLOW FIGHT!





Here are their new shirts from Auntie Kristi - notice that Elijah now has 4 teeth with another one coming in. Poor baby has been getting one tooth after another. Peytine still only has two on the bottom but is working on getting some on the top too.



A few developmental progress notes: We have been teething times two at our house since just before Thanksgiving. They got their first two teeth in succession one day apart for each baby and each tooth one week apart. Elijah has been popping out teeth one after the other ever since but Peytine so far just swells up, her cheeks get hot and red and she drools copiously - no more teeth yet. They are both sitting up on their own with minimal intervention. They are very actively rolling around on the floor and will roll to get a toy that they want to play with. They are showing signs of crawling soon and can both "walk" when you hold their little hands. They make lots of fun sounds including ma-ma-ma and da-da-da. Elijah's sounds are a little clearer than Peytines but she is catching up. Peytine waved "bye-bye" for the first time last week and has been very interested in waving at her self - having just discovered that the hand belongs to her! She is also trying very hard to hold her own bottle - Elijah would much rather lay back and have someone hold it for him. It is so fun to watch their personalities. They really adore each other too and entertain and laugh at each other on a regular basis. We also still catch them holding hands in their crib. They are growing and changing every day and bring such joy to us.

On the legal front: the next court hearing is February 9th. The official state plan is still "return home" to their biological mom - basically they have to have that on the paperwork for a certain amount of time unless the commissioner/judge decides she doesn't get any more chances. She has been showing up for the one hour visits with them every week but has not engaged in any of the other services she has been court ordered to do. We are still waiting to find out about paternity - in typical state agency fashion, the child suppport enforcement agency won't allow the Department of Child and Family Services (DCFS) to have the information from the paternity test without a court order. Even if the bio-Dad is identified and doesn't engage in services, the State is required to try and find any family members of his that may be interested. So - it's a wait and see game but we are hoping to know something more definitive before the end of the year. By law the state is supposed to have a permanency plan in place by the time they have been in state custody for a year which will be the middle of September. It could still be several more months after that before an adoption is final even if the plan at that time is for us to adopt them. We are of course hoping for a speedier resolution than that but are just trying to be patient for now and enjoy the babies. Patience may be difficult but enjoying them is easy!