Around here...

I have extra time on my hands now that the craziness of the holidays and 1st birthdays are over so maybe I can blog more? We will see.  The girls are back to being good sleepers.  We had some bumps along the road like early wake up times or waking in the middle of the night but we worked it out.  They still take a morning and afternoon nap (which I love) and sleep around 11 hours a night.  They go to bed at 7 and wake around 6-630. We are weaning them off formula and onto whole milk.  Once we have done that in a few weeks we will get rid of bottles.  Be gone bottles!

The coolest part of having twins (for me) is the development of interaction between them.  At first, they have no clue that each other exists.  Then, it's like who is this other chick that takes up half your time?  Now, they will hug and kiss each other, try to touch each other's faces and engage in parallel play.  They are constantly by each other's sides doing the same activities, but not really engaging with each other.  As a behavior analyst, I love watching their interactions with each other and analyzing if they are developing social awareness faster than they would as a singleton.  I think they are, but probably not any faster than those who have siblings.

I am the toy police pretty much 24/7.  It doesn't matter if we have two of everything.  If Brooklyn has a baby doll, Ivey wants THAT baby doll, even though she has the same exact one laying on the floor next to her.  If Ivey has something that looks cool, Brooklyn HAS to have it.  Right now we tell them they aren't allowed to take the toy and redirect.  And repeat. And repeat again.  I know they don't have the self-control necessary to restrain themselves yet, and I can't wait for when they do!

My favorite thing is to watch them when they don't know I am there.  Baby A will crawl to an area and stare back at Baby B.  When they make eye contact Baby A will take off to a play area and Baby B will follow. And they will giggle and laugh the whole way.  They spend about 75% of their free time within one foot of each other doing the same activities by choice.  I can't wait to see how their friendship and sisterhood develops.

Trying to pull Xmas lights down

See saw at Gymboree

This is considered a hug

Brooklyn is the unwilling recipient of a piggy back ride

Our favorite toy: the window

Let's get smashed

This past Sunday, the girls turned ONE! I know, I know. It flew by.  They have grown so much this past year and really have become little ladies.  Ivey was born weighing 3.2 lbs and 15.5 inches and at her 1 year appt she was 23 lbs and 30 inches.  BK weighed 3.2 and 17 in at birth and was 22 lbs and 30 inches at her 1y appt.  Currently, both girls are crawling and cruising everywhere.  We expect that they will learn to walk within a month or two.  Some of their motor skills are still delayed from being premature, but we are super happy with their progress and feel that the gap between where they are and where they "should" be is insignificant at this point.  The vocal skills are growing daily.  They both say "Mama" "Dada" "Uh-oh".  Brooklyn can also say "up" "nana" and Ivey can say "moo" in response to what does a cow say. They will also imitate some words like "baby" and animal sounds but not consistently. Ivey does touchdown and I have a new goal of teaching her Praise jesus with only one hand because I think that would be hilarious.  They learn something new everyday, it's so amazing to watch.

I have been taking them to music classes, open gym time and story times at the book store.  They love music (as almost any baby does) and enjoy interacting with other babies.  I do these activities as much for them as I do for myself.  It's hard in the winter time because we don't go on as many walks as I would like, so it's nice to get out of the house and interact with other moms and have a reason to shower in the morning.

The girls had a great Christmas and spent time with J's family and my parents.  My mom was able to come down and stay for almost a week and then my mom and dad came back the day after Xmas for a few days to celebrate I&B's birthday.  We had a lot of fun preparing for the party and just spending time with the girls because they are entertainment all by themselves.

Here are some pics from the party.

Monthly pics

Ivey face planting onto her cake

Brooklyn decided to pick up her cake and smash it! That a girl

The girls buddies made it to the party

Mrs. Claus waiting for Santa to come home

Caution: taking twin girls in public dressed like this will cause a commotion

Fabulous