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!

Bath Time for Two

Ah, bath time! With Roger and I playing the role of "two single parents (as my friend Erin so appropriately put it) bath time is done solo by me and thus solo for Ada and Emmet. Since I'm on break and Roger is doing some more day time hours so we can both be home at night we were able to do dual bath time. Ada and Emmet LOVED this! Especially Ada who is very much "into" her brother right now. I had to post some pictures!

Emmet is scootin'!

It is official....Emmet has joined Ada in the "Scooting Club" We've been anxiously awaiting this development, as has Emmet. He's been trying so incredibly hard to keep up with his sister and up until now all he could do was swim (rather ferociously) in place. The other day (just like with Ada) he was trying to chase Matdie's ball and low and behold he covered some ground! So for the last 2 days he's been practicing! We're so proud! I have both on them on video using their new found skill but alas I have absolutely NO idea of how to get the video from the recorder to my computer and onto here. Someday (maybe when they're 18) I'll have figured it out...for now you all must imagine!

Christmas with the Marcin Family

We had a nice visit with the Marcin crew on Christmas Day. Everyone was able to come, which was so nice! "Everyone" included: Bill, Alexis, Grandma, Jodi, Christian, Curtis and Cantrel. Jodi brought all of the food....yum, yum, yum and so generous! We had such a nice visit!


Ada and Emmet with cousin Christian

Grandma Barb with Ada. Daddy with Emmet.

Ada with cousin Curtis. Emmet with cousin Cantrel.

Uncle Bill with an overtired Emmet. Alexis with sleepyhead Ada and Cantrel with a very interesting camera.

Christmas morning

We had a great 1st Christmas morning with Ada and Emmet. After they had their breakfast we played Christmas music and opened presents. They did a great job after all of the practice they had from the two days before. Several times I was overcome with an enormous feeling of love for my family, as well as, the ever familiar "when/how did I get here?" feeling...my memories from my own childhood Christmas celebrations are still so vivid that I'm still shocked that I now have children of my own and new memories to create. How blessed am I?

As expected Ada and Emmet had more fun with the wrapping paper than our gifts!

Mommy looking on while the babies try to open their "Alphabet Drum"! We also got them some "Counting Maracas", stacking rings and books. So far, the books are the biggest hit...this makes momma happy!

Christmas with Grandpa and Crew

We spent Christmas Eve with Grandpa & Julie, Greg & Gina, and Kirby and Anna. Emmet spent his entire nap time in his crib babbling and playing so he was NOT very happy that afternoon. We let him take a short snooze later but the poor little guy was all goofed up. Ada turned on the charm for the cameras (not mine of course, so we're waiting for some copies from other cameras). Ada enjoyed opening presents, and wearing a santa hat from Kirby and Anna. Emmet tolerated most of our activities. After the babies went to bed we had dinner at Greg and Gina's and played Pictionary for the rest of the evening. We had a great time!
Here are Ada and Emmet wearing the santa hats and looking at books given to them from Anna and Kirby.

Christmas with Nana & Crew

Our very first family Christmas picture! Nana and Pops took this picture during our celebration with them on Saturday the 23rd. We celebrated at our house with Nana, Greg, Gina, Pops, Shane (Pops' son) and Kelby and Andrew (Pops' grandsons). They brought the food, Greg and Gina made drinks and we opened lots of presents! It was so nice to spend some "quality" time with family! As usual I was so busy I didn't get as many pictures as I had intended. I hate that!

I did get this adorable picture though...Emmet and Uncle Greg ("Mini Me" and "Big Me") playing with cards from Nana.

Our 2006 Christmas Tree

Time to wake up Daddy!

First attempts at x-mas pictures

So, I attempted to take some x-mas pictures today in the outfits that Julie gave to the babies. I did this while Roger was at work...I should have waited for his assistance. Trying to get both Ada and Emmet to look at me, give some sort of smile AND hold the camera steady while I'm wearing a stocking on my head to hopefully elicit some laughs is next to impossible. I think we'll try again tomorrow but for now my these are my favorites...I actually really like the one in the middle but the bottom one is funny! Decisions, decisions...you will all have to wait and see which picture will become our holiday card!

Ada is scootin'!

As of yesterday Ada is officially scooting! While playing catch with the dog yesterday Ada discovered that she could chase the ball (and the dog) too! What an amazing development! She's not up on her hands and knees yet but she's doing the "army crawl". She also took several steps while I was holding her hands. She was so excited.

Emmet's preferred mode of transportation continues to be rolling. I walked away for a minute last night and returned to find him under the desk eating my shoe, so he gets around too. He's got a modified army crawl going on, which involves rolling up on his head and shoulder then scooting his butt up in the air. It's not quite efficient yet so rolling is his first choice.

Everyday I am amazed at the changes that occur with these two. I LOVE MY BABIES!

Thanksgiving

It was the babies first Thanksgiving! I only have one picture to post right now (Aunt Gina & Ada who would not look at the camera, above) as the batteries in my camera pooped out. I'll post some more from Nana soon. We went to Nana and Pops house for some YUMMY food. Uncle Greg and Aunt Gina came, along with Great Aunt Barb, her friend Frank, cousins Pat and Sam and Pat's girlfriend Allison. The weather was beautiful so we all went for a walk after eating. By the end of the evening Ada and Emmet were CRANKY from skipping a nap (we thought they would sleep on the walk but apparently the scenery was too exciting to sleep through). Emmet eventually (after some loud screaming and a bottle) fell asleep on Nana in the rocker. Ada snoozed for a bit with Pops while watching the movie Cars. The food was delicious and it was nice to get out of the house and spend some time with family.

Mommy & babies

Daddy took a picture of mommy playing with the babies....swimming in the sea of toys in babyland!

Pre-Thanksgiving

We had a nice visit from Great Grandma and Grandpa Arenz along with Great Aunt Kathy and Great Uncle Jack the Tuesday before Thanksgiving. Grandpa and Julie came too! Kathy and Jack were visiting from Georgia. It was so nice to spend the evening with family that we don't get to see very often. We all some time to spend with the babies before they went to bed and then we all went over to Greg and Gina's (they own the other half of our duplex) for dinner. Julie made delicious ribs. We brought the baby monitor of course! Kathy and Jack brought and ENORMOUS bag of clothes from cousin Jenna for Ada. We're so lucky!

Crazy outfits and those hats!

"Don't you love our wacky outfits?"

"Hey, what's that thing on your head?"

"You're lookin' kinda goofy yourself!"

Emmet is sitting!!!

We are proud to report that our little man has figured out the whole sitting thing! It's amazing how different the babies are from eachother. Ada has been sitting independently for a month. In Emmet's defense though, he did have the Torticollis to contend with that has slowed his physical development. It's so nice to see him sitting up!

Babyland

We created "babyland" this weekend. The only thing to add will be some sort of gating to keep them contained once they start movin' and groovin'. They really liked scratching and banging on the new mats.

Emmet and his toys

Emmet had fun emptying out the toy bin! Here is he surrounded by his favorite toys.