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Because randomness is all I have today:

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In the last 24 hours, the dogs have:

• thrown up half-digested kibble up all over the sofa
  
• stolen a diaper -- a POOPY diaper -- and chewed it up, also all over the sofa
  
• pooped on the floor, because it was too cold out for their dainty selves
  
• peed on the floor, ditto on the dainty selves
  
• thrown up more half-digested kibble on the living room rug
  

Anyone want three standard poodles, gently used? Alternately, can anyone give me instructions for re-upholstering a sofa in poodle hide?

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At 14 months, the girls are not really talking very much. They say Mama to me, Da for Daddy (inconsistently), uh-oh, "da" for dog, bye-bye, "ba" for ball and book, and "da" or "dit" or "dere" for pretty much everything else.

However, their understanding of language is accelerating. Yesterday, I asked Claire if she was hungry, and her face lit up and she RAN to the kitchen. I've not made any effort to teach her "are you hungry?", or tried to say it repetitively. Apparently, though, I say it often enough for her to pluck it out and realize what it means. It's the first ambient-language phrase I've really seen them understand.

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One of the other things that we are becoming very clear on is the concept of "mine". We have this green plastic tupperware box, ostensibly for toy storage, but in reality it's primarily for sitting in, and sometimes putting on one's head. It is quite clear to Katherine that the box is HERS.

Claire is the dominant twin in most regards, and Katherine generally allows her toys to be taken away without much complaint, but she defends that box with life and honor. If she sees Claire get in the box, she immediately gets furious even if she isn't currently playing with it. If she's in the box, she cries whenever Claire comes near, and I've seen her head-butt Claire to make her go away. The only thing Claire is allowed to do with the box is to turn it over and stand on it. Why that's different, I don't know, but the bottom line is that the box is Katherine's.

It's so amazing, watching them turn into people.

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Did I mention that they are climbing?

Katherine only took her first few steps about a week ago, still mostly gets around by knee-walking, and doesn't even seem particularly interested in the whole idea. And yet she'll turn that stupid green box over, use it as a step-stool to get onto the sofa, and stand there teetering and crowing over her achievement.

Claire's even worse -- she is trying to climb up the outside of the stairs. She hangs on to the baluster and tries to stand on the part of the treads that sticks out past it. I give her two weeks at most before she figures out how to start scaling it.

Like little monkeys, they are. Or, rather, like little monkeys with a shocking disregard for gravity.

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I'm in the 2ww at the moment, and I think I had what could have been implantation cramping last night. I'm going to be a little bit disappointed if this cycle doesn't work out.

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The great stroller debate is over, and I bought the Jeep Wrangler SBS. Even leaving aside the question of price, I actually liked this stroller better than the more expensive models I test-drove. It doesn't fold as easily as the Combi, but it does well enough; it drives easily one-handed, fits through my front door, and is lightweight. The major downsides are the lack of storage space and snack trays, but neither of those meant a lot to me anyway. I think we're going to be pleased with it.