Saturday, January 30, 2010

Halloween

I'm obviously way behind on posts here, so I'll play a little catch-up.

Halloween this year was pretty fun!  Last year the girls were just 6 weeks old or so, but this year they were ready for costumes!  We got them little puppy and kitty costumes and had fun.  They came to the office where both their parents work, and had some fun running around there.  Then on Halloween itself, we went to a local outdoor shopping center with friends of ours for trick-or-treating.  The girls didn't get to have bags or baskets, but we let them eat the candy that they carried around in their hands.  Maddie found a particular affinity for tootsie rolls, while Jasmine sampled more of a variety.  M&Ms were also a hit.

with friends Aidan (Batman) & Kellen (The Dark Knight)

After the shopping center, we joined Mel's cousins family for an event in their church parking lot with a bunch of costumed kids running around.  In both places, the girls seemed to pick up on the energy of the kids around them.  They didn't really get trick-or-treating, but they loved seeing all the kids in costumes, and being able to reach into buckets to take a piece of candy!  By the time we got to this event, they were pumped up on sugar and just ran around smiling and laughing.  It was a blast.  We got some cute pics with them and their 2nd cousin Troy (dressed as a dragon), who is 5 months older.

with cousin Troy the dragon

You can see a bunch more pictures from Halloween and see the evidence of sugar intoxication yourself here.  Ooh, and let's try a slideshow:




Saturday, September 19, 2009

One-year-olds!

The twins are now one! Hard to believe it's been a year already. We did plenty of reminiscing on the 11th and 12th about what we'd been doing the year previous...

Lots of stuff going on now. I still need to organize my pics, but thought I'd jot down some updates and add some pics (and links to videos) later.

The girls had a great time on their birthday weekend. Mel and I took that day (Friday) off, and we also had three visitors: Grandma and Grandpa Pierce, and Mckaela! Both girls loved having all these great people around! There was always at least one person holding them or giving them attention -- reading, playing, etc. Mel and I took advantage of the free babysitting as well. During the weekend the girls went to the zoo, got their first haircuts, had a birthday party at the park, and went to the swimming pool (one with lots of very shallow areas).

For their party, I had decked them out in little tutu-like skirts -- the first time I have dressed them up in something truly girly! One of the skirts is orange, and the other is brown though, so it wasn't tooo bad. I'll post pics. Their birthday clothes came from their gift from Great-Grandma. We had a few friends with babies or kids join us for the party, and it was a blast. The girls walked around, ate crackers and blueberries, played with the other kids, played with their new toys, and ate cupcakes.

In other news, they are both babbling quite a bit these days, especially Jasmine. She likes to make a combo and repeat it, like "beuda-beuda-beuda" and "tumba-tumba-tumba". They both do a lot of pointing now, while saying "dat?" or "ah?" or something like that. They're starting to try to say words like "dat!" for cat, or "p-tss" for pictures. They're also getting into songs with motions like itsy-bitsy-spider and when-you're-happy-and-you-know-it.

Also, we turned the car seats around! It's great to be able to turn around and look at them, and they seem to enjoy being able to see where they are going, and interact with us more.

We got through their 12-month doctor check-up which went well. Maddie as 90% for height and 70% for weight; Jasmine is greater than 95% for both, but she is getting closer to the curve. The doc says she is more like an 18-month-old size-wise. They are both healthy. Jaz is growing some molars to accompany her 8 front teeth -- two have broken the gums. Maddie is happy with her 6 for now -- 4 on top and 2 on the bottom.

We are having a lot of fun with them these days. They get giggly, proud, curious, focused, cuddly, and adventurous. Sometimes frustrated and whiny. But it's a wonderful experience!

Saturday, August 29, 2009

First Steps

The girls are know officially toddlers! A few weeks ago they started taking their first unaided steps, and it's been pretty fun. Mel's created a video montage.

Early August Pics

August has been a pretty fun month. The girls have been going to swim class, exploring more things around the house, chasing the cats, and learning to walk! Here are a bunch of pics from August.

We had a heat wave at the beginning of the month, so we draped wet dishcloths on the girls.
The best toys!


Playing at home.







Ooh, a sleeping kitty cat

Now he's awake!


At the Zoo, Maddie & Mom

Jazz & Dad

Rahr!

Inside "Zoomazium" - an indoor area for tykes