Happy 9 Month Birthday!

December 12, 2013 by
It’s official! The twins have officially been out of me longer than they were inside me! In contrast to my torturously loooooong pregnancy with them last year, the past nine months they’ve been out in the world have flown by at mach speed. 
I remember being pregnant with them around this time last year and how hot I was CONSTANTLY despite the cold weather (Cali standards, remember?) I would have all the windows open day and night (and sometimes the air conditioning on during the day), even if it was 40 degrees outside. Poor Jake basically lived in his snowboarding jacket and beanie 24/7. 
Despite the messes and general craziness, I have to say 9 months is my favorite stage yet! The girls are crawling, standing, interacting, laughing all the time and soaking up everything around them. I love to open up a book and see them come crawling toward me to sit on my lap, or watch them be absolutely enthralled with the sound of a metal measuring cup on a pot. The look on their faces when Jake gets home is so precious; I love to see them flap their arms and laugh in anticipation of being picked up and put on his shoulders. Jake says his favorite part of each day is snuggling the girls on the rocking chair as they fall asleep every night. I know they cherish their daddy-daughter time too!
Amelia had way too much fun with her spaghetti today. 

I think Bandit and the floor are getting a more balanced diet than these two clowns. They are pretty much refusing to be spoon fed at this point and only want to feed themselves, even though they aren’t very good at it yet. I have absolutely no idea from whom they get their stubbornness 🙂

My goal was to make cupcakes to celebrate their birthday today, but I got too busy cleaning up after the girls’ messes to attempt more chaos in the kitchen. Instead of cupcakes, I indulged in some Trader Joe’s Dark Chocolate Sea Salt Carmels as the girls jealously ate their carrots. BWAHAHAHA.

Samantha checks to make sure her diapers are in stock. 

Happy birthday to me!

Amelia loves to find lone socks on the floor and carry them around in her hand or mouth. When there’s no socks to be found (which doesn’t happen very often…baby socks on the floor are pretty much a given, kind of like popcorn on the floor of the movie theater)  she pulls one right off of her sister’s foot. How convenient! Also note the mismatched socks. I’ve definitely given up any pretenses of matching clothes, let alone socks at this point, considering Amelia went through three clothing changes today.

For no reason whatsoever, Samantha decided to climb in the laundry basket all by herself. This was all too tempting of a situation for Amelia to resist. 

Babyland’s 3rd Law: What goes in, must come out. TIMBER! 

It was a pretty low-key birthday, but the girls didn’t seem to mind. They’re chill like that. 
Lots of love, 
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Filed Under: Milestones, Year One

8 Month Photos

December 6, 2013 by
And just because I needed more photos on this blog…more photos! Shout out to Future Me reading this in twenty years…no, I did not spend every waking hour dressing up and taking pictures of the girls! The only reason I get any photos at all is that I carry my phone or camera around with me all the time so I can quickly snap some photos before preventing the girls from emptying the trash can/putting shoes in their mouths/throwing food/Facetiming random people/creating an atom bomb, etc. 
I took these on the girls’ 8 month birthday, but they weren’t being very cooperative. We started out in these outfits: 

Samantha was not feeling it. 

As you can see, there were no smiles to be found, so I postponed. 

The girls were in slightly better moods the next day, but were not overly enthusiastic.  

Pretty in pink. 

Amelia had just started crawling, so getting any non-moving pictures at all was impossible.  

We call her “highly distractible” for a reason. 

Amelia is my looney tune!

Samantha watched from the crib as she awaited her turn. 

Such a goof. 

Samantha’s turn!

Whoa there!

Let there be light. 

The ultimate test: the twins together!

I literally snapped over 200 pictures and hardly got a single nice one of both girls. 
One for Samantha’s high school graduation slide show!

I WANT TO BE IN FRONT. 

Weird how their poses look almost identical here. Future speed skaters? 

This pretty much sums up my day…running after the twins who are crawling in opposite directions. 

Or preventing one twin from squashing the other/picking up random papers on the floor. 
Or stopping them from ripping off each other’s bibs, etc. 
Same thing goes for bows. 
Or stopping them from slamming each other’s heads on the floor.
Too late. 

YOU CAN’T HANDLE THE TRUTH!

THIS IS RIDICULOUS. I CAN’T WORK UNDER THESE CONDITIONS. I’M CALLING MY AGENT!

Peace offering. 

For the sake of having cute pictures for posterity, I guess we’ll tolerate each other.  

I’m older and wiser. 

I’m younger and sillier!

OOPS…got distracted again. 

And…I guess we’re done. 
Minus the cute dresses and posed photos, that’s our daily life in a nutshell!
Lots of love, 

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Filed Under: Milestones, Year One

Happy 8 Month Birthday!

November 12, 2013 by
Another month has flown by and with it, another birthday anniversary spent getting weepy over old photos!
How were they ever this small? 
Our neighbors, Diana and Phil, had their first little girl last week and when we went over to see baby Maya, I couldn’t believe how teeny tiny she was, especially compared to ginormous Samantha and Amelia who Jake and I were juggling between us. Surely the girls were never THAT tiny?

When I asked how much Maya weighed then (a week post-birth), our friends replied that she was just under seven pounds. As I held little Maya, I couldn’t fathom how eight months ago, Amelia was more than a pound lighter than her and Samantha was several ounces smaller as well! Maya felt like a paperclip in my arms…it brought me back to the days when we could hold both girls at the same time like it was nothing.

I die. 
When I went upstairs to see Maya’s cute nursery, I asked Diana if she was ok with me carrying Maya up the stairs. “Of course! You could probably handle carrying four newborns with what you’re used to!” she replied. Some days, it seems like carrying four newborns would be easier than handling two twenty pound monkeys!

Then (Amelia left, Samantha right):
Now (Samantha left, Amelia right):

In some ways…

…not much has changed!

 To celebrate their birthday, the girls tried a homemade chicken puree with peaches for the first time. Because that’s EXACTLY what everyone wants to do on their birthday anniversary, right? I must say, pureed chicken looks absolutely disgusting. I kept having visions of spoon feeding chicken and beef purees to Jake when he’s 90, using the same plastic spoons and bowls I use for the girls. Not a pleasant thought. I should probably keep the Babycook around until then anyway, just in case I can get some more use out of it when we’re old and decrepit!

I don’t blame Samantha for hating her first taste of chicken. 

Amelia, on the other hand, loved it and begged for more.

Didn’t your mother teach you to chew with your mouth closed? Geez, Amelia. 

Samantha teased Amelia all day long about being the first one to start crawling. She would crawl over to a toy across the room and then taunt Amelia endlessly as she played.
        

Poor Amelia felt so left out!

She was a little angry at times too!

She tried to show Samantha how cool it was to be able to roll over onto the grass. 
But Samantha wasn’t buying it. 
Amelia tried crawling with all her might.

But could never quite catch up with wherever Samantha had gone to next. 

Eventually, Amelia decided to stay put and relax by reading her favorite book. 

Such intrigue! Such drama!

Unfortunately, now that Samantha can crawl, it’s easier than ever for her to jaunt on over and steal whatever Amelia has at the moment. 

Samantha goes in for the steal!

But…(sob)…it’s…(sob)…my…(sob)…birthday!
Jake likened Samantha’s newfound crawling ability unto the U.S. having all the nukes. It’s a zero sum game now that she has all the tricks up her sleeve! We need Amelia to start crawling too so that the balance of power is restored and a detente resumes. I applaud Jake for this very apt analogy…except for the fact that one of the girls would have to be Russia. Sometimes I wonder what it would be like to be inside Jake’s mind for a day!
Anyway, happy 8 month birthday, girls!

           

Lots of love,  
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Filed Under: Milestones, Year One

Samantha Crawls!

November 11, 2013 by

Although Jake claims that Samantha’s first crawl forward happened last week under his watch, I am marking down Samantha’s official DOC (date of crawl) as today (one day shy of her 8 month birthday!) since I was there to witness it.

 

Samantha’s first crawl forward:

By the end of the day, Samantha was going crazy with the whole crawling forward thing. It was as if a light clicked on and she thought to herself, “This is awesome! I can check out those shoes in the corner I’ve always wanted to take a look at! I’m not so frustrated anymore!” Amelia, on the other hand,  burst into tears whenever she saw her sister crawl to us since she hasn’t mastered the forward technique yet.

I am afraid…very afraid! The house is only 10% baby-proofed as of right now and I can’t enter a room anymore without worrying about every little thing that needs to be modified. Goodness knows Samantha will be going straight for all the outlets, plugs, wires, and cupboards she can get her hands on!

Lots of love,

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Filed Under: Milestones, Year One
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