Tigers & Tulips & Family, oh my!

We returned last week from a wonderful family vacation to Seattle.  We stayed in a hotel and thankfully, the babies did A LOT better than last time we traveled.  They slept well, adjusted to a completely busy schedule and were in good spirits! 

Our first day, we went to the Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium in Tacoma with Uncle Brian (my brother), Auntie Susana and Cousin Gen.  Emerson's favorite part were the sharks, fish and other sea creatures, while Mallory enjoyed the "ditties" (kitties, aka tigers).  She repeatedly said, "ditty" while we were at the tiger exhibit. 

On the second day, we went to the Skagit County Tulip Festival in Mt Vernon.  Before heading to the tulip fields, we met for lunch with Uncle Brian, Auntie Susana and Cousin Gen.  My sister, Kym and her daughter Indi also joined us from Bellingham as well as Craig's brother, Lyle and sister-in-law, Michele who live in British Columbia.  Needless to say, we took up a very large table.  We enjoyed visiting as we passed babies around.  Indi is just a week younger than Mallory and Emerson, so it's always fun to have them all together.  The tulips were AMAZING!!!  Fields and fields of thousands of tulips....gorgeous!  I commented that it looked like a quilt made of flowers.

After such a successful travel experience, we may just have to go on another adventure soon.

Swimming Lessons

We started our 8 week long Saturday swimming lessons this weekend.  The kids did great!  We arrived early and allowed Mallory and Emerson to play in the very shallow area of the pool before our instructor arrived.  Neither one of them hesitated or fussed when we set them down in the water.  The point of the lessons is to teach Craig and I swimming skills to then teach the kids.  Emerson took especially well to the new skills of kicking and reaching as he motored his way around the pool with Daddy.  Mallory enjoyed splashing (even when she got water in her face) and being thrown up out of the water to "pop goes the weasel".

Craig and I were unsure what to expect, but it ended up being a fun morning for us too.  We are looking forward to the next 7 lessons.

In the dressing room before the lesson....can you sense Emerson's anticipation?

Videos!

Thanks to my husband, who is obviously much better with technology than I, the videos are uploaded!  There is one of Emerson crawling and one of him throwing the ball.  I just edited the "Amazing Emerson" post from a few days ago, so you will have to go back to that entry to watch them.  Let me know if you have trouble viewing/finding them.

9 month check up

We took the kids to the doctor yesterday for their 9 month check up.  After asking him our long list of questions (hey, they were all good questions), they were weighed and measured.  They are both following a perfect growth curve, but obviously, since they were preemies, they are still small for their age.  Our next appointment is at one year.  Here are their stats:

Mallory:
26.5" long (30th%)
17# 2.5oz (40th%)
44 cm head circ. (65th%)

Emerson:
27.5" long (48th%)
18# 0.5oz (25th%)
47 cm head circ (95th%) *he has a Crowell head :-)

Amazing Emerson!!!

Our son is amazing.  I'm not just saying that because I'm his mom.  He knows how to throw a ball.  Amazing. He's 9 months old.  I know I shouldn't brag so much, but we are proud.  If he's given a ball, he will very delibrately throw it and he will repeat this action several times in a row.  Are you thinking MLB pitcher?!

Emerson is also our first crawler.  He started crawling on Saturday (while Nana was visiting).  Such a happy moment!  I captured it on video, added below! Today, while Gpa was visiting, he figured out how to crawl out of the family room.  He crawled into our entry way and sat in front of the fish tank, admiring the swimmers.  For those of you who haven't been to our house, that was a long crawl.
So proud.

Happy St Patrick's Day!!

We had a traditonal, very tasty St Patrick's Day meal of corned beef, carrots, potatoes, cabbage and soda bread.  We followed it (several hours later) with a chocolate cake with mint frosting.  I'm pretty sure the cake wasn't a traditional Irish recipe, but it was pretty good.  The kids got in on the meal by feasting on carrots and potatoes that had been cooking in the crockpot all day.  Mmmm....they loved it!

Happy St Patrick's Day!

Snip, Snip

Based on the title of this post you all probably think Craig had a vasectomy. Nope...Emerson got his first haircut today!!  We picked daddy up from work to go with us, in case it was a disaster.  We took him to "The Hair Zoo", a salon that specializes in kids' cuts.  He sat and was buckled onto a seat that was shaped and painted like a zebra!  So cool.  His stylist did a wonderful job even though he was wiggly and busy chewing on the bucket of toys she gave him, while she was trying to cut his hair straight.  They also gave us a certificate with a little piece of his hair on it, and an envelope with more hair. Such a neat place.  Not only does his hair look much better, he was in a great mood the whole time.  What a trooper.

BEFORE

His sweet zebra seat



AFTER



Updates

A new, favorite picture

Oops!  I let the blog slide again.  Shame on me.  We are all doing great, with the exception of colds for everyone.  Craig is actually recovered, but he passed it to the kids and I.  Yuck.  Both Mallory and Emerson made it just over 8 months without any illnesses though, so we are happy about that. 

Emerson got his first tooth about a week after Mallory, and his other bottom tooth has also made an appearance.  Mallory also learned how to clap around the same time.  She thinks it is the greatest thing and she enjoys clapping along while we sing "Pat-a-cake". Cute.

If you look carefully, you can see Mallory's teeth!

I turned a year older at the end of February and enjoyed not one, but two birthday celebrations! My dad came on my actual birthday to watch the kids while Craig and I went to lunch.  I then spent the rest of the afternoon shopping for myself and enjoying a coffee.  It was quiet and so nice to know I had as much time as I wanted.  My dad also cooked us a fabulous homemade Chinese food dinner and Craig (who doesn't bake) made me a german chocolate cake.  My second birthday celebration was with my mom and Scott. We went out for Mongolian BBQ and frozen yogurt during the day.  My mom made us my favorite meal, beef stroganoff, for dinner.  Craig and I then enjoyed a date night out at a Spokane Chiefs hockey game.  After all that fun, I decided turning 32 wasn't so bad.

Teefers!

Surprise! Mallory has 2 bottom teeth! We have been keeping an eye on her gums since we discovered, several weeks ago, that they felt rough.  It's been weeks.....and today when I looked, there they were! Now we are just hoping she keeps them to herself.  We don't need bite marks on baby brother.

I will work on getting a picture as they get bigger.  Of course, it could be impossible.  I'm determined though.

Photos Galore!

We take TONS of pictures of our kids, which I'm sure is no surprise to any of you who are parents.  Several of you don't have Facebook, so you don't get to see them.  Here are a few of our most recent favorites.

The token naked pictures

Tummy Time!

Cell phone pic, so not great quality.  Mallory modeling her swimsuit.

7 months old!

This is the picture of total relaxation

Bundled up for a snowy day

Trying out the sippy cups



A Little Chat

Mallory and Emerson are twins, but they are not alike at all. Mallory is a social girl. She's smiley and happy most of the time. As long as her needs are met (on her terms), she's content. She can play by herself for a long time. Emerson is a serious baby. He is introspective and is slow to warm up to new people. He is a great eater and a content baby, but he's not overly expressive, unless he's unhappy. He tends to need nearly constant entertainment. Regardless of their very different personalities, they have one thing in common...they can be loud! I took a little video of them "talking" a few days ago. They really enjoy each other's company and have recently started taking toys from the hands of the other. Craig and I decided that when you're a twin, you learn the hard knocks of life early on.

Are they identical?

Every parent of multiples has been asked numerous silly questions by strangers who approach them in the grocery store, at a restaurant, in a park, or any other public location. It is impossible to go out with both babies and not be bombarded with people asking questions. However, some of the questions are so ridiculous that it's hard to come up with an answer. A couple of months ago, Craig sent me this link and this is EXACTLY how these uncomfortable conversations go. For those of you who missed it when I posted it on facebook, here you go! Enjoy.

http://twentytwowords.com/2010/11/24/how-people-talk-to-mothers-of-multiples/

Toricollis

Emerson has torticollis, which is a twisted neck. In a resting position, his head tilts to the right. We have been aware of this issue since he was 4 months old. His pediatrician pointed it out to us and suggested we try some stretches at home. The stretching helped, and his neck has improved. At his 6 month appointment, his pediatrician referred us to the physical therapist for additonal help. We went to see her (Jenni) today. She gave us some things to do at home and ideas for ways to set up his play environment to encourage him to strengthen the muscle of the left side of his neck. We are hopeful that physical therapy will help, but there is a part of me that feels really bad for Emerson. As a mom, it's hard to think about anything being wrong with my little "baby man". In his case, the toricollis is from a lack of space while he was growing in utero. Not surprising that it is more common with multiples. We will see Jenni again in two weeks, and we hope she will notice some improvement.

Little Friend

The kids and I went on our first playdate last week. Knowlton and his mom, Deb, invited us over to play for a couple hours. As soon as we arrived, Knowlton, was very excited to see other babies at his house. He reached out and touched Mallory and Emerson several times, as though he couldn't believe they were there to play with him. So cute. Knowlton is 11 months old, and officially Mallory and Emerson's first friend.

Unfortunately, I took only one picture before my camera battery died. The one I took is Knowlton checking Mallory out. Future (older) boyfriend? Hmmm, time will tell.

Resolution

I've never made a new years resolution. I never wanted to disappoint myself by not following through with a promise I had made to myself. However, I'm making a resolution this year, 2011, to be a better blogger. I know I won't disappoint myself because I can do this.

I haven't blogged since August. That's sad. I could say I've been busy, which wouldn't be a lie. Our lives are very busy with two 6 month olds in the house, however, that's a lousy excuse.

We recently looked back at pictures of Mallory and Emerson from the last 6 months and it's hard to believe how quickly they're growing up. We are enjoying each stage of their lives and look forward to everything that's ahead.

In mid-Decemeber we introduced rice cereal and baby food. So far they have tried: sweet potatoes (both like them), avocado (both like it) and bananas (surprisingly, they aren't fans). Mallory eats quite a bit more than Emerson. He seems a little less sure about eating off a spoon.

They both roll, babble (loudly) and they are getting very close to sitting unsupported.

We hope there are still people reading our blog...you haven't all given up on us have you? Please leave a comment if you're still reading!

Happy New Year!! Here's to many blog entries in 2011!