Adventures at the Children's Museum

Since I was on Spring Break this past week, Nana took Friday off and we bundled up the babies (yes, it was FREEZING) and headed downtown to the Children's Museum. It is always quite a production getting out the door, especially in the cold weather. Neither Ada or Emmet were happy about being shoved into their bulky winter coats, which they can't move in, and strapped in the stroller to walk from the parking ramp to get to our destination. BUT, they did enjoy their time in a new environment. They were mesmerized by all of the people and kids and probably would have been happy just watching what everyone else was doing. I'm so glad we went and look forward to spending some more time there as Ada and Emmet get a little older!

Ada and Emmet in the museum's version of "babyland".

Emmet, Ada and Nana look on as some kids work a contraption on the wall near us.

Ada checking out the cool toys.

Emmet the explorer.

more museum pics

Emmet rocking in a cow. Nana and I were both surprised how quickly he caught on a was able to rock himself. He was incredibly pleased with himself!

Ada having some words with a cow. Really, she was looking at a little girl sitting on it.

Ada also enjoyed rocking on the cow.

Ada's first steps

Last weekend at Aunt Gina's birthday party Ada decided to take some unassisted steps between Daddy and Nana. She can only do two steps in succession but she is just pleased as punch with herself. This has become a favorite game of hers lately too. The look on her face when she reaches her destination is amazing!

Sibling love

Here is proof of the kisses and affection I mentioned in a previous post. Doesn't it just make your heart melt?

Our 1st playtime outside

It's hard to believe that we were actually playing outside a couple of weeks ago. As I write this it is probably 25 degrees outside and the wind is blowing. Yes, it is spring time in Wisconsin! Ada was courageous and was happy to explore. Emmet was a little more cautious and definitely did not enjoy touching the grass as is evident by the first picture. We're so looking forward to the warm weather returning, Ada and Emmet spend a lot of time staring out the patio window...I imagine thinking that very same thing.

The House

We got Ada and Emmet "The Laugh and Learn House" for their birthday. They absolutely love it. It has provided some great fun for all of us. It really is a very cool toy. The door opens and closes, window goes up and down, light switch turns the light on and off, the doorbell rings etc. Along with all of the working parts is a voice stating what's happening (i.e. up, down, open, close, on, off) and of course it plays lots of music. I was hesitant because of it's price tag but do not regret the purchase at all!

Our Real Birthday

On March 20th (Ada and Emmet's birthday) we had a small family birthday celebration at breakfast with blueberry pancakes, which they loved!

Where do the minutes, hours, days go???

I'm afraid I have fallen so far behind in my posting. I am on Spring Break this week and was bound and determined to accomplish so much, including updating the blog. Here it is Thursday already and my to-do list is not even close to being completed. I did however spend some quality time with Ada and Emmet, which I love, love, love. It's such a treat for me to be home for extended periods of time. It does make going back to work difficult but I realize how lucky I am to have the schedule I do.

Where do I begin? On March 23rd we had Ada and Emmet's one year well child visit.

Emmet's stats are:
weight: 22 lbs 12oz (49%), height: 30 inches (57%), Head size: 45 1/2 cm (24%).
Ada's stare are:
weight: 23 lbs 6 oz (83%), height: 30 inches (78%), head size: 45 cm (76%)

The doctor was pleased with their development. We expressed our concern about Emmet not crawling yet (still just army crawling) but she was not worried. She said that if at our next appointment (15 months) he's still not crawling then she would have some concern. Ada started crawling about a month ago and she is a speed demon! They both took their shots with lots of crying and tears of course. We have the green light to feed them pretty much everything we eat and to start whole milk and wean from formula and bottles. So far, they are no longer having a morning bottle but rather a sippy cup with milk. It took them quite a while to decide they liked milk but they're doing well with it now. Just today we pulled the afternoon bottle. They had a sippy with milk instead. The bed time bottle will take a little longer to get rid of.

Every day I can't believe my eyes at how big and grown-up Ada and Emmet appear. They are looking less and less like babies and more and more like toddlers. They are very much into exploring everything and the reactions they have are precious. Ada is a "momma's girl" (not to say that she doesn't adore her daddy) but she has become a bit of a clingy monster lately. She is pulling up on everything and enjoys attempting unassisted steps between people. Her newest phase is to pull up to stand in her crib and jump like crazy. This is all fine and good except that she doesn't know how to drop down yet and this result in crying and screaming until someone comes to lay her down. This sometimes happens 5 times during a nap and usually results in Ada and sometimes both of them not getting their nap in. Emmet is army crawling all over and loves rolling balls all over the kitchen and dining room. He loves laying on his back and looking at books independently. He spends a lot of time staring out the patio window ,I imagine longing to go outside again. They both are enjoying their big birthday present - The Laugh and Learn House.

One of the best new developments is the interaction between the two. Emmet keeps trying to kiss (or bite?) Ada and nuzzles his head into her every chance he gets. Ada likes petting Emmet's head and squeels and giggles with delight when Emmet crawls towards her. She likes to "hide" and peek around corners waiting for him. They both like to say goodnight to eachother with nuzzles and sometimes slobbery kisses. I just love this!!!

I can't believe they are a year old already! I continue to be amazed at the amount of love I feel for them...it is overwhelming and spectacular! I'll add some pictures tomorrow but for now I need some sleep!

Our 1st birthday party

We had a great birthday party yesterday for Ada and Emmet. Their actual birthday isn't until tomorrow but we had a small party yesterday for them. Neither napped very well in the morning (go figure) so they were a little "off" and not at their "best" during the party. Ada loosened up after a little while. Emmet preferred to snuggle with Nana and then enjoyed reading books by himself for a while. After everyone ate lunch we opened presents. It's all such a blur as we did it quickly with squirmy babies on our laps! Emmet decided he had had enough of it all (that and I attempted to put a party hat on him...bad idea) and broke out in tears. He cried through singing Happy Birthday and blowing out candles but the tears dried up quickly when he got his very own piece of cake! He repeatedly said "mmmmm" while he ate the frosting. Ada was quiet but appeared to enjoy her piece of cake just as much. Neither Ada or Emmet went crazy with it, no cake in their hair or on the floor. I think they were just too tired. We visited a little while longer and then it was nap time. They were happy to be in their cribs, snuggled up in their blankies for some quiet time. The day was busy with a lot of commotion, which they are really not used to. Overall it went well and we were so happy to spend the day with family and close friends. Everyone was so generous and Ada and Emmet are having fun exploring their new toys and books. THANK YOU!!!!!

After party fun with grandpa!

After the party Ada and Emmet watched grandpa play frisbee with Matdie! They loved this!

more pics

Birthday Party Pics!

Pictures from mommy's birthday

Mommy and babies pose for the camera above. Below, takin' a walk in the beautiful weather (sunny and 50's).

Grandpa comes to play!

We had a great time playing with Grandpa last week. In the top picture Grandpa is army crawling with Emmet (butt down soldier!) In the bottom picture Ada and Grandpa play fetch with Matdie, while Emmet looks on. Fun, fun, fun!

Playdate!

A week ago we had a playdate with Troy, Andee and her son Diego and Erin and her son Joseph. It was a crazy fun-filled event with babies galore! Joseph is 3 days younger than Ada and Emmet. Diego is 2 months older. It was so much fun to spend some time with my friends, which doesn't happen often enough. Having all of the babies together was a riot. At one point they were ALL crying at the same time - LOUD!!!! In the top picture (which I stole from Erin's blog!!) clockwise from the top is Diego, Emmet, Ada and Joseph. In the bottom picture Andee reads to Diego and Emmet while Joseph plays with tupperware. Troy is safely on the couch in the background! Troy is such a trooper to have put up with all of the madness! Our next visit will just be adults only...no babies!

You fed your baby chili?

After our outdoor adventure the babies were delighted to have some chili! They loved it and luckily there were no reproductions of scenes from Mr. Mom.

Snow, snow, snow!

During our last huge snow storm we decided to take Ada and Emmet out for an adventure. The fun lasted for about 5 minutes before they were both crying and ready to go back inside! I would imagine that next year will be another story!

Fun with Nana

During a recent visit with Nana, Emmet was bound and determined to get the camera from her. So determined that he literally climbed right up her!

Visit with Grandpa & Julie

We had a nice visit with Grandpa and Julie a few weeks ago. They brought lunch for mommy and had some snuggle time with Ada & Emmet.

Way behind!

I have fallen so behind on my updating. Where does the time go? I will post some pics from last month and most recent but will have to save the written update. I will say though, that we have all recovered from "The week of the stomach flu" here. Emmet came down with it on Monday morning, Ada in the middle of the night on Tuesday, me all night on Wednesday and Roger on Thursday night. I missed almost an entire week of work! We all recovered in time to celebrate my birthday! Below is a list of why I loved my birthday this year...

1. It was SO SO SO much better than last year when I was uber uncomfortable, miserable and praying to not go into labor on my birthday!

2. Spent the day with my terribly adorable babies, husband, Greg and Gina and Mom and Doug. Mom made an awesome pasta salad and angel food cake and brought croissants and cantaloupe. YUMMY! I was spoiled with gifts (an iPod Nano, a new Nalgene water bottle a fleece vest and some $$ from dad). Spoiled rotten!

3. We are all feeling MUCH better after our run-in with the stomach flu and I was able to clean/decontaminate finally.

4. The weather was BEAUTIFUL! Sun, sun, sun and 50 degrees. We cracked some windows (helped with the decontaminating!) and went for a walk. AHHH! Fresh air!

5. I finished my homework (for class tomorrow night) and therefore don't have anything to do tonight! YIPPIE!

6. Oh and daylight savings time...love the extra hour of daylight! Hoping the babies can get on a later bedtime/wake-time schedule. We'll see. I'd love it if they'd sleep until 6:30/6:45am so I can work out (using my new iPod) without having to get up at 4:30am...which by the way, won't happen.

So, for now I will try to get some pictures posted. 8 more days until Ada and Emmet turn 1!!!!

Nap Strike

Ada and Emmet are NOT napping lately. It took them an hour to fall asleep for their morning nap today and they never did fall asleep for their afternoon nap. For their afternoon nap I took Ada upstairs and lay her in her crib. I went back downstairs to get Emmet. When we walked into the room Ada is SITTING in her crib. This is a first! To top this off I discovered why they aren't sleeping. About 2 minutes after laying Ada back down and leaving the room I hear belly laughs and giggling...this is becoming the norm lately. So, I decided to peek in. Ada is up on her knees, practically standing up reaching over into Emmet's crib. Emmet was reaching back and they were playing with each other's hands. I was laughing too hard to keep a sober face trying to say "it's nap time, time to sleep". Also, lately I have been noticing that Emmet's stuffed animal from his crib has been ending up in Ada's crib. I had assumed that Ada had been reaching through to steal it (she steals everything Emmet has) but Nana saw Emmet pushing it through the railings into Ada's crib yesterday. I think this all is hysterical and I love how they're interacting with each other, however the non-napping is not so funny. Needless to say we lowered the mattresses and Roger decided to separate the cribs. They were butted up together. The separation makes me really sad actually. I was sad when we put them in separate cribs too. Emmet screamed forever tonight (very unusual) when we put him to bed...I am convinced it's because he was separated from his sister and the room is rearranged a little. So sad. I'm a mush bucket! I am proud however that Ada figured out how to get to sitting from laying!

10 Month photo

Here is our 10 month photo. Ada was more than willing to sit pretty and look at the camera. Emmet was bound and determined to come get the camera out of my hands. Roger and I are absolutely loving this age but I just can't believe how much they've changed and how big they've gotten! Where did my little 5 lb peanuts go???

Brrr...it's cold!

It's been darn tootin' cold out so there has been no outdoor excursions for the babies...not that we take many during normal weather. So, they've been experiencing winter from our patio window. Sometime this winter season I'd love to take them outside to check out the snow but with below zero temps it won't be anytime soon. I was even off work yesterday - the district closed school due to the extreme temperatures! Lucky me!

Ada

"Sweet girl"
"I'll get you my pretty!"

Emmet

"Mama, mama, mama, mama"

"Oh, I'm okay now"

Playing guitar with Daddy!

 

We love books!

I love that both Ada and Emmet really enjoy looking at books. A few months ago it used to be all about eating them but things have changed. They have been turning pages (as long as I get the page ready) for a few months. Ada is starting to figure out how to open books all on her own and Emmet is giving it a try too! And I'm pretty certain that Ada was trying to say "book" today. Her version sounds more like "ook" and "gook". So sweet! Emmet has certain pictures in certain books that he lean down really close to take a good look! And don't they just look so sweet when they're looking at their books?

Play date

We had a little play date with my old friend Joanna and her baby Silas. I met Joanna when I moved to Fort Atkinson when I was going to UW Whitewater. We became fast friends. Joanna has a way of making me laugh so hard my sides hurt. Silas is exactly a month younger than Ada and Emmet and has an older brother Calvin. Calvin stayed home but we had fun playing with Silas. Silas is already crawling and pulling up...made Ada and Emmet look like little, I mean big, turtles. Emmet enjoyed trying to chase Silas around. It was great to see Joanna as it's been a couple of years. Jo-Mama, I miss ya!

Happy New Year!!! We’re looking forward to all the adventures we are sure to encounter in 2007. I’ve been intending to do a “big” update for the last couple of months but have not had a chance. So I’m buckling down and bound and determined to actually do it!

Ada and Emmet seem to change before our very eyes on a daily basis. Some of the new developments are:

- Teeth Count: Emmet 8 (4 top, 4 bottom), Ada 2 (bottom left, top right)

- Both are official scooters now. Emmet will not sit still, if you sit him down he is immediately on his tummy going somewhere. They both love to chase the dog, which Matdie is not so happy about. No real crawling yet, soon maybe?

- Ada has pulled herself up to standing twice. The last time she fell down and hasn’t done it since.

- Ada LOVES to clap. She even claps when she’s mad.

- Emmet just figured out the whole clapping thing. He is VERY proud and stares intently at his hands in awe while doing it. So cute.

- Both will reach for mommy or daddy, we LOVE this development!

- Emmet LOVES to give “High 5’s”. Ada will do it too, just not as enthusiastically.

- Both are waving with the ever so adorable fingers going in and out, in and out. Ada will raise her arm up, Emmet prefers to do the subtle wave leaving his hand/arm wherever it was to begin with.

- Both adore reading books. They get so excited when they see me pulling out the books. My favorite part…they both love to turn the pages, this is adorable! Their favorites right now are "I Love You Through and Through" and "The Foot Book".

- Ada’s new love is the “walker”. If she can’t be walked around with someone holding on to her hands the next best thing is the walker. She is almost dangerous in it too…no care for toes, dogs, toys, or her brother. She loves the freedom and enjoys pulling out the Tupperware from the kitchen drawer. And yes, this means we have yet to baby proof! What are we thinking?

- They have tried almost all of the pre-made baby food. They’ve recently tried yogurt, which they are coming around to, toast, banana slices, cheese, kiwi pieces, peaches, cottage cheese and mashed potatoes. Favorites right now are toast, baby food pears, sweet potatoes, and Gerber puffs. Ada has been self-feeding for about a month now and Emmet has been trying…really preferring someone to do it for him. That is until yesterday! He’s figure it out and enjoyed jamming about 3 too many chunks of toast in his mouth tonight. This of course is terribly messy, but fun!

- They currently have their first colds. Poor babies, they are all congested with runny noses. We attempt to suction out their noses, you can imagine how much they like that. It’s brutal really and requires one of us pinning them down so the other can suction. By the way, nothing and no one can prepare you for the heartbreak you endure when your child is sick. They’ve graciously shared their cold with mommy too!

- They continue to get their monthly Synagis shot, which is the vaccine for RSV. They hate it, we hate it and I’m pretty sure that’s where they picked up their colds.

- Emmet’s stats from 9 month appointment: 21 lbs (52%ile), 28 ¾ in long (60%ile). We have noticed within the last few weeks that Emmet is “crooked” again and are concerned about the Torticollis returning. He also has a lump on his back/ his back looks asymetrical. An x-ray shows a slight curvature in his spine. We have been referred back to Physical Therapy, as well as, to an orthopedist for further evaluation. I’m heartbroken and worried but have faith that all will be fine.


- Ada’s stats from 9 month appointment: 21lbs 8oz (98%ile), 28 ¾ in. long (81%ile). No real concerns about Ada at this time. Yea!

- We finally moved from the infant car seats/carriers to the convertible car seats. What a transition! It was so much easier having the infant carriers and our trusty “Snap n Go” stroller. It is so much more work now and requires using a stoller that is not nearly as efficient as the Snap n Go. We will adjust though…it’ll just take some time.

- Emmet’s eyes are still a beautiful blue and Ada’s are a gorgeous green/hazel.

- They are finally growing some hair! Emmet’s is still a strawberry blond and Ada’s is a lovely auburn shade. I’ve always wanted my hair the color hers is right now.

- They whine and cry when mommy leaves for work in the morning, especially Ada. She likes to watch mommy get ready in the morning, although this is more about getting into things in the bathroom than “watching”.


- I am almost ashamed to admit that they both love the Baby Einstein video and the fact that they recognize the music from the other room (they literally perk up) shows that we probably use it too often. It certainly is useful during times when a shower is needed or during bedtime so mommy can get each down to bed while the one left alone downstairs can be occupied and happy.

- Both Ada and Emmet are afraid of new/unfamiliar people and places right now.

- Ada has the following sounds (mama, dada, baba, nana, ooh ooh, ahhhh)

- Emmet has the following sounds (mama, aaahhhhhhh in various pitches and volumes)


I started this three days ago and had to add several things tonight. It’s amazing how much can change in just three days time!