Zoey's Diary: 13 Months
Hi Hi Hi!
Today Mommy said I could tell you all about our last month. It was our first month in Albuquerque, and we had so much fun, although I've overheard Mommy saying unpacking and setling in has been hard. But Daddy keeps her on schedule and things are pretty much put together. They got our swing up the very first day, so we're happy!
I have this thing about teddy bears lately. I've got four or five little ones, and any one will do. I grab them and hug them, laugh and smile. Mommy and Daddy always put me to bed with a Teddy and a Back-up Teddy, just like they put Luke to bed with a paci and a back-up paci.
Grammy and Grandpa were here with us the first few days...that was fun! Grammy has taught me how to blow kisses and what to do when she says "Zoey, can you look up at the ceiling?"
We're such big kids when it comes to eating now. We eat like crazy! One of our favorite things is cuties (you know, those little oranges), although Bubs just sucks the juice out and throws the rest on the floor...Daddy says he is a cutie vampire. We feed ourselfs (with what Mommy says is mixed results). If the meal's potentially going to be really messy, we strip down to our diapers first:
Bubs likes to put his foot up on the table and kick back sometimes:
And Easter happened during the past month! We put on the cool outfits Mommy's friend Jane gave to Mommy and Daddy at their baby shower. Mommy made waffles and Daddy made cheese and ham and green chile grits for breakfast (which Mommy said were actually pretty good...Mommy doesn't usually like grits.) AND we each got a chocolate bunny! All I can say is, yum! Mommy watched me take my first few bites and said "A chocoholic is born," whatever that means. (Oh and Mommy wants me to tell yu we only got a few bites of bunny in one sitting, not the whole thing.)
So that's it! We are so excited for warmer weather and to get outside and to explore our city and play on the weekends now that Mommy and Daddy don't have to spend all their time unpacking.
Love,
Zoey
Dear Zoey and Luke: Your First Birthday
Dear Zoey and Luke,
You turned one on March 15th. In some ways, it's hard to believe your first year is behind us, also it was all such a blur, also we really treasured every moment, spent lots of time together as a family, got so much joy out of those 365 days, I don't feel like a second was wasted.
We were in the middle of moving to our new home in Albuquerque on your birthday, so we tried to keep things simple.
Your dad and I had a late night putting together your new climbing/sliding toy (your dad did all the work, I just handed him tools)...it was so fun to get you up the next morning and watch you rush into the empty living room to discover it:
There was lots of unloading of boxes/furniture morning and mid-day, but mid-afternoon we took a break and went outside for you to open presents. You were so excited to see presents!
Grammy and Grandpa were here from Colorado, and Grandma Charlotte who is moving in with us. You got trucks and dolls and LOVED your gifts! (And a play cell phone, which you can't get enough of. You already know exactly how to hold it up to your ear, it's hilarious.)
I wanted to get a picture of the two of you together, and you briefly humored me:
And then: cake! You each got a cupcake, Zo yours was pink because you are such a girly girl, and Luke yours was lemon because you have this thing about lemons. Cupcakes went pretty much as expected, including the need to hose off the whole patio in the end:
Luke, you got sick the evening of your birthday, poor thing, we ended up in urgent care after you threw up over and over, but it wasn't anything serious.
We had such a lovely time. Next year, we'll be more settled and can do more, but really, what more could a kid ask for other than your favorite people, a few toys, a cupcake, and lots and lots and lots of love.
Happy Brithday my sweets! We loved sharing it with you so very, very much.
Love,
Mommy
Zoey's Diary: Road Trip!
Hi Hi Hi!
Today Mommy said I could tell you about our road trip--you know, the one we took when we left Colorado and moved to New Mexico.
We did it in two days so the drive would be easy, even though it was only 7 hours total. We left about 10 in the morning and took the scenic route to Moab, had burgurs and fries at Milts (which Mommy says has the best burgurs ever), spent the night in Farmington, NM at the Economy Inn on main street (not the nicest Mommy said, but at least it had some character...you should have seen the cool light fixtures in the room) and had dinner at Three Rivers Brewery (Bubs and I had lots of avocado, yum).
The next day Mommy barely took any pictures, she was so anxious to get there...except she did get the great shots below of me and Bubs reunited with our Daddy in front of our new house. We are sooooooo happy to be back with our Daddy! The scenery was beautiful that second day, though, especially the Jemez Mountains, which are not too far from where we are living...Mommy says this summer we can go explore and maybe even go camping there.
Oh, and Grammy did the whole trip with us, even sitting in the back with us some when we got fussy (and reading us the new books she got us for the trip). Soooooooo fun to have her with us. We love our Grammy! We miss her!
Mommy says we are great little road trippers. We can't wait to go out on our next adventure!
Love, Zoey.
Luke's Diary: 12 Months
Hi Mommy's Blog Readers!
I'm a little late with this (because Mommy can't seem to get organized), but I'm FINALLY here to tell you about our last month!
The month before we turned one, we spent with Grammy and Grandpa and Mommy in Colorado, while Daddy was starting his new job in Albuquerque. There are so few pictures of us with Grammy and Grandpa, though! Mommy says she'll make sure that doesn't happen again when we get together to visit.
It was still cold, but we spent time outside a lot of days. One of the funnest things was riding around in buckets with Mommy or Grammy pulling us:
We spent a lot of time in Grammy garden too. It's beautiful, even in the winter:
Mommy always says to me and Sissy on days like today: "Babies, you are EXTRA cute today!"
It was fun playing inside, too. Mommy had taking care of the two of us down. And Grammy and Grandpa helped her a TON!
We started brushing our teeth this month:
One of our favorite things was to climb into a little cupboard space Grammy made for us...so fun!
We have tons of fun together, Sissy and I. One of our big things is to be "Bubs-a-sarous" or "Sissy-a-sarous", which means Mommy says, "Hey Bubs, want to be Bubs-a-sarous?" and then she picks me up and helps me lunge towards Sissy and goes "Rawr!" really loud like I'm a dinosaur. It makes me and Sissy laugh and laugh!
Grammy's been teaching us animal sounds. She'll say, "Sissy, what does a cow say?" and Sissy says "oooooo!" and everyone gets excited. She can also do a dog: "ar ar!"
More outside time:
And pushing a chair around the kitchen...that was fun...
I never wanted to eat unless I had my foot hooked just so...
And I have this total THING about lemons. All I have to say is, YUM.
And I'm climbing like crazy. Mommy's friend Sandy says both me and Sissy are going to be excellent rock climbers! (PS you can't see it, but my climbing was supervised here...always, always supervised...)
And, Mommy let us help her make veggie enchiladas one day. We loved helping her cook.
Wrangling two kids at bath/PJ time was kind of challenging. We're kicking and splashing in the bath some nights like crazy! Mommy would bring us into her room after the bath and we'd chase each other before she could catch us to diaper us...we made Mommy laugh so hard!
Oh, and Zo started walking this month! And I took a few steps, too!
And somersaults...somersaults are another big thing. We'll get in summersault position ("Head down, butt up," Mommy will say), and then someone helps us flip over...it's so fun.
We turned one in Albuquerque on March 15...Sissy'll tell you about that later in the week. We loved our month at Grammy and Grandpa's! Mommy says if we feel half as loved and taken care of by her and Daddy as she does by her parents, we'll be lucky kids.
Bye!
Love,
Luke
Grace in Small Things, March 7, 2013
Hi Everyone! Happy Friday!
A few things that are good in my world:
1. A little field trip with the kids to see baby chicks at the local co-op (it's pretty agricultural around here). And their first pizza after, which they loved. (I sent the last picture below to their dad, who called me and said, "Stop doing fun things with the twins without me." It's been brutal for him being away from them for so long.)
2. Our upcoming FET...completely paid for by insurance (except for a small deductible). I can't tell you how incredibly fortunate I feel. Everything we've done up to this point we've paid for 100%. I love my husband's new job.
3. Raining today...love the smell of rain...
4. A cup of hot tea and all cozy inside, dogs napping at my feet...
5. And...we are leaving Monday to officially move to Albuquerque! So excited! My mom and I are driving down, taking two days to make the trip easy on the kids. Close on the house Wednesday, get the keys Thursday, movers come Friday (and it's the kids' first birthday Friday, too).
Hope everyone has a great weekend! Thanks for spending some time here this week.
XOXO
The Monday Snapshot: Daddy's in Albuquerque Edition
Hi Everyone! Happy Monday!
As many of you know, my husband is in Albuquerque and we (me and the kids) are with my parents in Colorado until the whole housing situation sorts itself out (which should be mid-March, fingers crossed.)
Until then, thank goodness for FaceTime, especially popular at the dinner hour.
First, it's Luke's turn (note my pink cell phone at the bottom of these photos):
And then Zo's:
Zo has started asking for her daddy, by the way. She'll say da-da-da-da and we'll FaceTime my husband for her, much to her delight...
Can't wait until this is no longer standard operating procedure. Being apart like this is hard...
XOXO
Note: This post is part of PAIL's Monday Snapshot series...click here to see this week's installment.
Sweet
Last night, I was feeding Luke and Zo their before-bedtime bottles, on the carpeted floor, one kid on either side of me.
Luke finished first, and was quickly up tearing around the room (funny, both the kids are so high energy right before bed, but as soon as it's time to sleep they go down no problem.)
Anyway, mid-tear Luke came over, crawled into my lap, put his head on my chest and snuggled into me and just sat there, very still and close. And then a minute later he was down, back to his wild ways.
It's hard to explain what makes this so different from anything that has happened before. I mean, my kids cuddle with me all the time...I think what it is is that it's usually me picking them up and them reciprocating...this is the first time either of them has initiated anything like this. Just so completely out-of-the-blue mine for that minute...so much love communicated through his little body.
It's so cliched, but this is what they mean by moments that take your breath away. I'll remember it for the rest of my life...
XOXO
Zoey's Diary: 11 Months
Hi Hi Hi!
We turned 11 months old last Friday. We are so close to our first birthday, which Mommy says is going to be fabulous! Here's what we've been up to the past month:
We spent lots of time with Grandpa and Grammy and Grandma Charlotte. In fact, Mommy and Daddy went to Albuquerque without us to find a house and our grandparents took care of us. We had such a good time! Although I overheard Mommy say she's a little worried that we aren't afraid of strangers, are happy in anybody's arms. Because at this age that's supposed to kick in and she said she's worried is she being a good enough Mommy? I say we're just lucky we get so much love.
Also and lately, we never go back to our house anymore, Mommy says because we're moving, and we are at Grammy and Grandpa's all the time.
I am shaking my head BOTH yes and no these days, not just no.
Oh and check out my teeth! I have all the front ones now, but for a long time I had the bottom front and the top sides...Daddy said I looked like a staple remover!
Have we told you about the Baby Stopper 5000? Mommy says it's good we have an engineer as a daddy...he built this to keep us from going up the stairs unsupervised:
We are climbing up on everything! But we also know how to get down: feet first.
Bubs and I love to play together. We are both talking up a storm too, or at least that's what Mommy says.
Nothing better than sleeping with Daddy, that's how Bubs and I feel. Daddy says when we get to our new house in Albuquerque we'll all do afternoon naps together on the weekends. That will be great! Oh, another thing...when we sleep really well Mommy says we are Sleepasaurases. Or Napasaurases. I giggle at her when she says that.
We're starting to eat chunks of stuff, like banana. We love it! And Mommy has been giving us grades for eating...like if we throw all our food on the floor she'll say, "Sorry, guys, gotta give you a D for lunch." But mostly she says, "Good job guys! A+ all around!" Grammy says there is a lot of grade inflation going on, whatever that means.
Oh and here's Bubs after trying beets for the first time. Yummy!
Oh and the Roomba at Grammy and Grandpa's is so fun!
And we're starting to take some steps, both of us, but mostly we're all about speed crawling. And a lot of time together...we like to follow each other around.
Oh and last week Mommy helped us make Valentines...they turned out really cute!
So that's it! Everything is great! And Mommy says we will be in our new house in Albuquerque in time for our first birthday. We can't WAIT to find out what this Albuquerque thing is all about!
Love,
Zoey
Luke's Diary: 10 Months
Hi Mommy's Blog Readers!
We turned 10 months old last week, and today Mommy said I could tell you about what we've been up to the past month!
Lots of back-and-forth to Grammy and Grandpa's...we're trying to get as much visiting in as we can before we move to Albuquerque! (But Mommy says we'll still see Grammy and Grandpa all the time, so not to worry.) Grandpa always bounces me up and down on his knee all the time and says, "Hey Luke, want to ride to Texas?" Mommy says Albuquerque is on the way to Texas, so I already feel like I know where I'm going!
I'm big on pacifiers all of a sudden. (After having no previous interest at all in them.) Sissy could care less.
Grandma Charlotte was here over Christmas...she's so fun to play with. And Mommy says she's going to move to Albuquerque with us...we are so excited!
My new thing is I loooooooooove the dishwasher! Sissy does too, but not as much. I like to climb inside it if Mommy will let me. She's always hurrying to get everything out, especially the glass things. I don't see why, I'd be more than happy to help!
Here are some pictures of us playing at Grammy and Grandpa's:
Mommy can't carry us both downstairs any longer, so when we wake up from naps or in the morning, one of us will wait in the crib while Mommy takes the other downstairs. We are both pretty patient:
Here are a couple early-morning pictures of Sissy. She is standing on her own lots, and even took a couple steps for Daddy while Mommy was out of town! (Mommy's friend Kim said that that happened because Sissy missed Mommy and was trying to find her.) I don't really stand on my own or walk yet, but I do cruise all over the place holding on to furniture or my scooter.
Speaking of us being mobile, apparently something HAD to be done to keep us off the stairs, although I don't see why, both me and Sissy are EXPERT stair climbers! Mommy and Daddy went to the home improvement store and got wood and white plastic lattice and Daddy made an L shape that fits over the bottom 3 stairs and gets bungee-corded into place. Mommy says it's good to have an engineer husband. They call it the "Baby Stopper 5000."
And here are some pictures of me patting my dog Dexter, and playing with the little scooter Grandma Charlotte got us for Christmas. Oh and by the way, I've REALLY started talking. At the beginning of the month I was more making clicking sounds...Mommy said I was probably a dolphin in another life. Now my thing is making really animated ascending "hut" sounds that make everyone laugh and imitate me. I've also started doing some things with vowels and consonants like Sissy has been doing.
And here are some pictures of us with Daddy. He's still with us every day, but not for long because he got a really good job! That last picture is Daddy helping me drink sparkling cider to celebrate! We'll still see him in the evenings and on weekends...we'll have sooooooooooo much fun on the weekends. We will miss him, though. Mommy said we are so lucky to have had our first 11 months with him and that most babies don't get that so I am trying to be grateful and not sad. Anyhow, now I can brag about how my daddy works for Sandia National Labs doing all sorts of cool national security stuff! I hope me and Mommy and Sissy get to visit him at work! That will be fun!
So that's it! Everything is great as always around here!
Love,
Luke
P.S. Mommy asked me to ask if you would pleeeeeeeease vote for her blog on Top Baby Blogs (she's just going to be asking this week): just click here and then click on the owl on the left of the page that pops up. She says you can vote once per day and to say thank yooooooooooou!
A Day in the Life... (Nine Months Edition)
Hi Everyone! Happy Thursday!
Today I thought I'd give you a glimpse into a typical weekday of ours...I love reading these posts by others, and I wish I had more, but alas, the only other one I have is from when the twins were two months old. These pictures were shot last Monday and without further ado...
Wakeup is at 6 AM sharp and it's almost always me getting up with the kids (a relic from when the twins were up most of the night and my husband took the night shift, with me taking over at 5 AM). Generally I don't mind getting up that early. Sometimes the kids wake up before that but if that happens usually they'll play (somewhat) quietly in their crib.
Once they are up, I take them downstairs one at a time (they are too big for me to carry both any longer), and stand them up against the coffee table in the living room. Luke has a thing for pacifiers lately...we're letting him have them when he wants them. Ideal is one in his mouth and one in his hand. That's one of our two boxers on the couch in the background...the kids and boxers looooooooove each other:
Next comes diaper changes...there is a lot of squirming going on during diaper changes these days, especially on Zoey's part...
After diaper changes I go into the kitchen to make bottles for the kids and a cup of tea for me. The kids crawl into the kitchen to be with me, and then follow me back to the living room:
They drink their bottles lying on the couch, one on either side of me, generally a dog or two close by:
After bottles we go play in the playroom. I'm embarrased by how dirty the rug is in there...I though having a dedicated place for the kids where the dogs couldn't go meant I could do a white rug, but no way. When we move we're replacing it with something that won't show the dirt.
The playroom starts out clean, gets progressively crazier as the day wears on:
After a while in the playroom, it's time to get dressed (usually around 7:30 or so). I dress them in the living room...getting dressed is not a favorite activity...the free twin usually walks around the coffee table, plays with the clothes about to be put on/PJs just taken off:
After the babies get dressed they spend some time roaming around the living room/dining room, which is pretty well child-proofed, although I wouldn't leave them alone in there. They love walking in circles around the coffee table, interacting with the dogs:
Then, it's time for breakfast, generally oatmeal and fruit. Haven't gotten around to changing out the X-mas placemats yet. Breakfast is served with one spoon out of the same bowl. The kids are always enthusiastic about breakfast. While they eat and after, I put my i-POD on shuffle and we listen to music....not kids stuff but just whatever comes up. The kids love music.
After breakfast, more playing...a favorite activity is both kids walking around with one little scooter. We often read books during this time too...I go often and get a stack from the library so there's always something new.
At 8:45, another bottle:
Then at 9 AM a nap, often until 11 AM although if they wake earlier I get them up.
After they go down for their nap, I shower/dress and then sit down to work (although I generally do a quick voice/email check first thing in the morning just to make sure nothing urgent is happening on the East coast where a lot of my clients are based).
After the kids wake up from their nap, they usually hang out with their dad, although last Monday their dad was under the weather, so we packed up and headed to Grammy and Grandpa's. (I had a full day of calls scheduled, otherwise I would have worked less and watched the kids more.) We're over at my mom and dad's every Wednesday, and the kids go by themselves on Friday afternoons. It's about a 15-minute drive from our house to theirs.
I had a call right away when we arrived, but when I have calls where I have to listen more than talk (like this one where one of my clients was explaining to their writers changes to how graphics are being handled) I do the call with a baby in my lap:
At Grammy and Grandpa's there are toys galore:
And I take lots of little breaks to interact with the kids:
The kids ate some lunch of their own, sat with us during our lunch, and then another bottle and another nap at 1 PM. There can be some resistance in going down for the afternoon nap. Again I work during naptime.
Sometimes--trying to make it always--I'm done with work for the day after the afternoon nap (which ends at 3 PM, or sooner if they wake up), but this day I had a lot going on so Grammy and Grandpa watched the kids. But first, a wake-up snack of puffs with Mommy:
4:30 we packed up to go home...this time of year that coincides with the last of the light:
Dinner at 5 PM:
Followed by a supervised climb up the stairs (the kids love to climb):
Followed by a bath. The kids love baths so much...there are usually a bunch of rubber duckies in the bath with them so we call their baths "Ducky Baths," as in: "Are you ready for your ducky bath?!? Let's climb the stairs and make it happen!"
Followed by bottles, snuggles with Daddy, and a 6 PM bedtime.
So that's our weekdays...this example ended up being a lot less Daddy-centric than normal, but otherwise pretty typical. (Actually, that's probably a good thing...I would have driven my husband crazy following him around with a camera all day, LOL.)
XOXO
Monday Snapshot: "Kitten Pile" Edition
Hi Everyone! Happy Monday!
I traveled to San Francisco for work last week, and my husband, bless him, sent a steady stream of photos my way. (Must remember how nice this is for when he goes back to work.)
I had a long meeting Wednesday, after which I checked my phone for messages/texts, and found this with the caption 'Sleeping like champs:'
I laughed and showed it to my friend Wendy, who I'd driven to the meeting with.
"Awwwwww," she said. "They're like a little pile of kittens."
The kids are in one crib right now because we don't have room for two, but I'm not so sure I want to separate them even when we do have room. They sleep curled up together all the time...it's the cutest thing...
XOXO
This post is part of PAIL's Monday Snapshot series...click here for more.
Monday Snapshot: I Should Have Seen This Coming Edition
The good news is, he got down the same way he got up...easy-peasy. :)
Happy Monday!
XOXO
P.S. This post is part of PAIL's "Monday Snapshot" Series...click here for the rest of today's installment.
Luke's Diary: Our First Christmas
Hi Mommy's Blog Readers! I'm here to tell you all about our first Christmas! It was SPECTACULAR!
We did it over a couple days, and Uncle Ben and his girlfriend and our cousins Bodie and Bailee came, and Mama's Uncle David, and Daddy's best friend Tim, and Grandma Charlotte and Grammy and Grandpa. Everyone was so happy to be together!
Look at our outfits for Christmas Eve...aren't they awesome?
Shoes off for naps, just like always:
Here's Sissy and Bodie...Bodie loves us soooooo much!
And here's Bailee...she's super cool too!
Grandpa's been wearing this button the whole holiday season...I didn't get it until my mom explained, "Noel."
There were some presents on Christmas Eve...and me and Sis agree, the wrapping is just as much fun as the presents:
Look at the jumpy chair Uncle Ben got us! So fun! Especially for Sissy, who is jumping all the time anyways:
And Mommy's best friends Danielle and Jason sent this crazy bally rampy musicy toy...Grandpa and Bailee put it together for us:
It snowed all day but was especially pretty at night, with the lights Mommy and Daddy put on our fence sparkling:
And we saw Mommy decorate the table for Christmas Eve dinner, but Daddy said we weren't old enough this year because it was past our bedtime. Next year, he said. But we did hear everyone had a super good time, and there were crackers, and an awesome meal Daddy cooked with beef tenderloin and leg of lamb and vegetables out of Julia Child:
The next morning, everyone got up and went over in PJs to Grammy and Grandpa's. First we did stockings:
And then more presents, yippee! Sis and I had some help opening:
Check out the piano Mommy and Daddy gave us! It makes LOTS of noise hehehe...
And the bath towel made to resemble a shark:
While we napped, Mommy and Grandma Charlotte and Grammy and Mommy's Uncle David went for a walk. Mommy said it was BEAUTIFUL out, but too cold for babies:
And then, more presents! Here's the red wagon Grammy and Grandpa got us...Grandpa saw two kids riding in it when he and Grammy were in Amsterdam this fall and chased them down the street so he could find out where to get one. We looooove our new red wagon! Mommy says all spring and summer and fall we'll get to ride in it.
And here's our dino bouncer Grandma Charlotte gave us...you put balls in and they bounce up and down...it's sooooooo cool!
So all in all, it was a GREAT Christmas! Like Grandpa Steve said as we were leaving to go home, "One of the best ever."
Love,
Luke
Dear Luke and Zoey (Your First Visit to Santa Edition)
Dear Luke and Zoey,
Today was a Friday. We got up at 6 AM like usual and had bottles (well, I had a cup of Lady Gray tea), oatmeal with fruit (a slice of cheese for me), put on some super cute outfits and then played in the playroom until morning naps, earlier than usual because you had your 9-month well visit with Dr. Tarpey at 9:45. She said you guys are doing great and you are growing like crazy...Zo, you're now in the 83rd percentile with height, and Luke, you're in the 31st, which I was so glad to hear because last visit (and all the ones prior) you were at 1% and I've been worried about your growth. Not anymore.
After Dr. Tarpey, we had lunch with Grammy and Grandpa and Grandma Charlotte and Daddy's friend Tim who is here visiting us for the holidays. You tried to eat paper napkins and we gave you each some puffs and we all marveld over how cute you guys are.
And then after lunch, we all went with you to see Santa. The line wasn't very long but you got hungry in line so we made up emergency bottles and fed you and Luke, that wasn't enough but we had some puffs left and that made you happy. And then you were both on Santa's lap, calm and happy as could be. Grammy's been telling you all about Santa so that you'd be prepared...that seemed to have been a good strategy. :)
Santa's coming in four days...get ready!
Lots of love,
Mommy
Zoey's Diary: Nine Months
Zoey here--Hi! Hi! Hi!
(By the way, my way of saying "hi" these days is smiling a big smile, shaking my head back and forth no, waving one or both hands up and down, and saying ay! ay! ay! ay! ay! at the top of my lungs. I'm talking A LOT...Luke not so much (actually, he makes a lot of squeals and clicking sounds instead of the ba ba ba ma ma ma da da da I do), but Mommy says he's got more advanced motor skills. Oh, and I've learned to pout, too, although I don't pull that move very often.)
Anyway, we turned nine months old on Saturday...Mommy and Daddy helped us celebrate by taking us to brunch where we sat in high chairs and ate puffs and scrambled egg whites...it was super fun.
Early in the month, we spent a week at Uncle Ben's for Thanksgiving. It was really fun, although we started getting sleep trained there and that wasn't so fun, but it's all good now. Here are some picutres from our trip:
Mommy tried to feed me some turkey at Thanksgiving dinner...I wasn't having it! Luke and I are eating really well, but we're not much for texture. Or meat.
Luke and I each have some new powers. We're crawling at super-speed, and just starting to stand without holding onto anything. (I did it first, Luke a day or two later). I can wave hi and bye when someone asks me too, or I do it on my own when I get excited like when I haven't seem Mommy for a little while and she comes back. But Luke can eat puffs better than me, picking them up with a thumb and finger and popping them right into his mouth. And he started climbing the stairs first (only under supervision is this allowed, although we try to sneak off and do it on our own whenever we can), but I'm doing it too now. We are speedy. We take our ducky baths upstairs and we'll crawl from the kitchen through the dining room and living room and up the stairs super quick, me screetching the whole way because my ducky bath (you know, the bathtub full of warm water and rubber duckies) is my favorite part of the day. Here we are after ducky bath in our PJs, climbing on the stairs:
We hang out in our sports car walker sometimes too, and on our new couch if supervised, and in the bouncy seat:
And we go to Grammy and Grandpa's every Wednesday...we have so much fun over there!
We get along so great, too. It seems like one baby would be so lonely. We sometimes steal each other's toys, and cry, but generally we just have the best time together. We are still sharing a crib and sometimes before we go to sleep we sit in the crib and giggle, giggle, giggle. And we're always side-by-side at home and out. We're so lucky we're twins!
So that's it! And I know month ten is going to be great...Grammy's been teaching me about Santa Claus and I can't wait!
Love,
Zoey
Dear Luke and Zoey: Christmas Carolers Edition
Dear Luke and Zoey,
Today we spent the day at Grammy and Grandpa's, because Daddy was traveling (Kansas City, out and back in one day). But we hurried home right after your dinner (carrots and rice cereal), because some of Mommy's friends were christmas caroling around the neighborhood, and promised they would stop by.
I just had time to get you into your PJs and a warm hat each--Luke, your brown-and-orange plaid lumberjack hat with the earflaps, and Zo you wore the white-and-gray striped knit one with the pink-and-red flower--before the doorbell rang.
I took you outside, one on each hip, arms around you, it wasn't that cold and there were ten people in hats and scarves and coats with candle-lit lanterns, the white icicle lights on our black wrought-iron fence sparkling in the background, stars overhead, and they sang--oh, they sounded beautiful, harmony and everything.
You were mesmerized.
A magical part of your first Christmas--a small part I will never forget.
Love,
Your Mommy
Luke's Diary: 8 Months
Hi Mommy's Blog Readers!
I'm here with the eight month update! I'm late because I though I could do the update at Uncle Ben's, but once we got there Mommy told me the pictures were all on our computer at home. Anyway, better late than never, right? Right!
We had a really good month going from 7 to 8 months. We're getting so big! Here's Sissy in a top Mommy had when she was a baby:
And me, dressed like a dude as my Daddy says:
One new thing...Mommy has started giving us baths in the upstairs clawfoot tub. Our Grandma Charlotte was here all of October and she got us rubber duckies...Mommy had some for us too so even though you can't really see it in the picture, the bathtub is crazy with duckies. Mommy says it's a ducky armada, but I don't know what that means. What I do know is me and Sissy LOVE baths, and LOVE the duckies!
I don't really like it when it's time to get out, though:
I don't cry much, though...usually I'm super happy-go-lucky, and so is Sissy. We're both crawling now (although I crawled first by a pretty wide margin). Zoey did the "scoot-scoot" (pulling herself forward on her arms while laying on her tummy) for a while to get around...one time she spit up and then pulled herself right through it and then continued to scoot around. She ended up covered with dirt and dog hair...Daddy said she was impersonating a Swiffer Wet Jet.
And, we can pull ourselves up to standing--Grammy says we're doing it super early. And Zoey is talking like crazy, bababababa, mamamamama, and making "ptt" sounds and dadadadada. She also giggles like crazy. I'll giggle too, some (especially if someone wants to play peekaboo with me or tickle me), but I'm more of the strong, silent type myself.
Speaking of peekaboo, Sissy and I played with each other one day, a chair in the middle of us blocking our view. We'd peek around and see each other and laugh and laugh, and then pull back where we were hidden, and then do it again. Mommy said that was the cutest thing ever.
After Grandma Charlotte went home, Grammy Peggy and Grandpa Steve came back from their trip. We even got to spend some nights over at their house with Mommy while Daddy was travelling for work. Grandpa Steve is so much fun. He calls me "Cool Hand Luke," or "Cool Hand" for short, as in, "Hey, Cool Hand, whatcha up to?"
Grammy has been giving us cold carrots to gnaw on (we can't bite anything off so they are safe). Oh, and we have teeth I forgot to say! Sissy has two and I have one!
Anyway, Sissy and I generally are good at passing things like the carrot back and forth, but once in a while we get frustrated with the other for taking something that we think is ours and things end in tears.
Oh, and it was Daddy's brithday near Thanksgiving, and Mommy wanted to make him something from us so we made turkeys out of our handprints. Arts and crafts projects are fun!
So all-in-all, a really good month. We're going to be nine months so soon! Not too far until our first birthday! But Mommy says please grow up slow...I mean, she wants us to be healthy, but she wants this time to last so much, she says it's so wonderful and we pretty much agree.
Love,
Luke
Monday Snapshot (Which I'm Guest Hosting!): Colorado Babies
Hi Everyone! Happy Monday!
SO excited to be guest-hosting PAIL's "Monday Snapshot" series this week...thanks for having me, PAIL! Click here to check it out.
Back home after a week at my brother's in the Colorado mountains (also the house where I grew up)...we had a great time, except for the part where the babies didn't sleep...the first half of the trip was tough because of that. BUT, we started sleep training and that is actually going pretty well...will talk more about that soon.
Love this photo of the kids taken there a few days ago...feels SO like Colorado to me.
Hope everyone has a great week!
XOXO
A Twin Tale
Hi Everyone! Happy Friday!
So we have just one crib right now, and are trying to put off buying a second until we know what's happening with my husband's job search/our potential move.
In the interim, my husband, engineer that he is, custom-installed a breathable bumper so that each kid has a side--we joke that they each have their own cubicle--so they have their own space and are less likely to wake each other up.
Our daughter, Zoey, is awfully easy to put to sleep at night--solids, bath, bottle or breastfeed and she's out.
Luke, on the other hand, doesn't really want to go to sleep. Often, I'll sit with him in the dark in my office, him on my lap while I finish up the day's work...he'll drift off like that. But the past few nights we've been trying to transition him into being put down with his sister.
Last night, Zoey went to bed no big deal like always. We put Luke down and he screamed and screamed (oh, breaks my heart...so awful). It lasted about 15 minutes and after that, silence. I peeked in to check on him, and wouldn't you know, Zoey had leapt the barrier and was over on Luke's side, the two of them curled up together.
My husband says she went over to say, "Hey, quiet it down over there! Some of us are trying to sleep!"
I like to think she went over to give her little brother comfort and love. :)
Hope you all have a great weekend. Thanks for spending some time here this week.
XOXO