Drew's tunnel

Lately, Drew has had more fun playing under the exersaucer than on top of it. He'll crawl through it to get across the room rather than going around it! So, I decided I'd make it a little more fun for him....I built him a large tunnel with a comforter, the exersaucer & the crawl through aquarium. He's been having lots of fun it it today!

Ava has enjoyed watching from the background:

And, of course, where there's a camera....

you'll find Ava posing away! :)

Morning at the zoo

This past weekend, we went to Lindale for my mom's birthday 'festival'. Since the mornings have been cooler lately & they have a very nice zoo in Tyler, we decided we'd take the twins. They seemed to enjoy it....though I'm not sure they had any idea what was going on! :)

Watching the giraffes: They really did enjoy the penguin exibit, though Ava seems a little more interested in her foot. Break for food!
Pretty cat!

Drew's 1st steps

Well, they're not the very 1st, but pretty close. And he does need some assistance--but he's so cute & concentrates so hard. I feel like it won't be long now...

9 months ALREADY?!?!

When I think about it, 9 months seems like a long time--it certainly seemed to take forever when I was pregnant with twins! But, it really seems like just last week that we were bringing them home from the hospital. Of course, the first couple of months are a blur...and from there, they got busy rolling, sitting & learning to crawl....guess it really is true that "time flies when you're having fun" because we've certainly had a lot of fun for the past 9 months. And I know it's only going to keep getting better!!

We had their 9 month check-up today. They were both great, even when there was some waiting. We celebrated their 9 mos by getting Sonic grilled cheese & fries--their 1st Sonic ever! They really seemed to enjoy it!

Ava:

*20#7oz (5#8oz at birth)

*29 in long (19 in at birth)

*sitting unassisted

*occasionally attempts to pull up

*will stand with assistance

*loves to laugh & 'model' for the camera
*'talks' to anyone & anything that will listen--but, *especially her brother

*very independant

Drew:

*21#7oz (6#7oz at birth)

*29 1/2 in long (19 1/2 in at birth)

*sitting unassisted

*crawling

*pulling up

*cruising

*standing alone on occasion

*loves outside

*thinks his sister is a toy

*drinks from a 'big boy cup'

*more dependant on mommy & daddy than Ava

The whole family: :)

Pictures & Shoes

On Tuesday, Noni & Dandy(my mom & dad) helped me take the twins for their 9 mos pictures. We used Picture People at the mall & LOVE THEM!! I just wish I'd known about them for the 3 mos & 6 mos pics, but oh well.
The idea there is that you have a 40 min picture session, then see your pics w/n 15 mins & go home w/ prints! We ended up having to wait quite a bit longer, but I'm not even upset as the pics turned out SO GOOD! Drew & Ava were wonderful. Very little fussing, even w/ the long wait.
This is the frame I got:
Aren't they adorable? :) Ava, always the little model, did not disappoint with beautiful smiles. Drew, being a little more reserved, took a little while to warm up, but we ended up with some great smiles from him, too.

While we waited for our pictures, Noni & Dandy took the twins to Stride-Rite to get them fitted for & buy some shoes:

Drew is our resident 'big-foot'. At only 9 mos, he is already wearing a size 5M.

He seems to think they are more for playing w/ than walking on...he especially likes to chew on them!

Ava is a petite little girl(well at least her feet are petite ;)), wearing a size 3.

She's just not quite sure what in the world I put on her feet! :)

Our little Aggies

Water with lunch?

Drew WILL NOT drink from a sippy cup. I have been trying since he was 4 months old & he absolutely refuses it. So, he usually drinks from a 'sippy w/ straw'(not sure what it's really called), or a 'big boy' cup. Now, I don't let him actually hold the big boy cup all by himself(I'm not crazy--yet!), but he does help me. He holds the sides & I hold the bottom.

Well, sometimes when he's being 'difficult', I'll just set it on his tray & wait for him to make a move for it. Unfortunately, he's a little quicker than I give him credit for. Today, he managed to knock it over(all over the tray & floor) before I could move! Rather than immediately cleaning it up, I let him play. Both Ava & Drew found this hilarious!! By the end, both babies, both chairs & the floor were pretty wet. It's amazing how much 4 oz of water can cover!

Nice hair...

As Drew's hair gets longer(you can actually tell he has some now! ;)), his bedhead gets worse & worse...especially after a really good nap like he had this morning!

Morning at the park

This morning, we went with our friends Katie & Warner to the park near their house. It was a nice walk & then we got to try out the baby swings for the 1st time(why I haven't thought of this before, I have no idea!).

Ava was ok with the swing at 1st...even smiled around her paci, but then decided she preferred the safety of the stroller:

Drew was a big fan of the swing. I was even able to get a few smiles out of him! He seemed very interested in how it was put together....guess he gets that from daddy! :)

Ava had a little more fun swinging with mommy on the big swing.

Now, we're ready to go home & take a nap!! All in all, it was a wonderful morning & we'll definitely have to check out the park in our neighborhood for a baby swing soon!

Thanks, Katie & Warner, for sharing your swing with us! :)

Workin' on the car...

You'll notice, at the end of the video, that Drew has some issues with personal space! ;)

Let's play outside!

Ava & Drew love to be outside. I try to get us out whenever it's not 100 degrees--so, not that often! ;) Today was a beautiful, high 80, so after lunch we decided to spread a blanket and enjoy the great outdoors.

Ava had a great time--of course anytime she can smile for the camera, she's happy. Plus, she thinks the dogs are hilarious, so much of her time was spent laughing at them(& no, they weren't doing anything funny!)

Drew was being a little more reserved. Usually, he tries to take off across the grass, but was content to sit by Ava & look at Freckles.

Once Drew decided he wanted to sit in my lap, I knew it was time to go in. Even at 80 & breezy, it was too hot for me with a baby in my lap! :)

As for the dogs, they're still a little unsure of these 2 new creatures in their life. So, after some closer inspection--& Ava's screaming--they decided to retreat for other parts of the yard!

Yes, you MUST wear your diaper!!

Ava has learned how to undo the velcro on her diapers(we use cloth diapers)...fortunately at this time she did have a prefold underneath, so there were no 'accidents'!! As you can tell, she thinks it's quite funny & doesn't really see the problem!

Just Because...

Silly Times with Drew

Drew & I got to have some special one-on-one time today. Ava isn't feeling well, so she napped a little longer than he did. I don't have lots of time when it's just me & ONE baby, so it's kind of fun every now & then! But, with Drew, I have to constantly be coming up with things to do. He doesn't like to just sit & cuddle or play with one toy for more than 2 minutes. So, here's an outline of our 45 mins alone:

1st, we went outside & played in the grass & with the dogs. I didn't attempt a picture, as both dogs & Drew were likely to go after the camera! Drew really enjoy feeling of the grass...and only attempted to eat a couple of handfuls(I caught it just in time). He didn't seem to interested in the dogs today...until he heard Freckles' collar jangle.

After that we came inside & played drums on the laundry basket....followed by an attempt at capturing the camera:


Then a little jumping *outside* the jumperoo:
We then decided it would be fun to put Drew IN the laundry basket....we did some zooming around the room, which was met with much laughter!

Now we'll stand up in the basket. We also had time for some rolling around on the floor, pulling mommy's hair & trying to get into the pantry unnoticed(not sure why that is always his goal these days).

Drew's a lot of fun to play with & I enjoyed every minute. Especially the random hugs he would give me in the middle of play. Even though he's extremely independent for the most part, he still never fails to let me know how much he loves me!

Feeding Twins

Not an easy task now that they are eating solids. With bottles, it was fairly simple: get in a comfy position, babies in bouncy seats, bottles in mouth. Now it takes planning! After much thought, I've decided that it is easier to feed them at the same time--no listening to the other cry/scream in another room...no wondering what the other baby is up to/getting in to.

So, after about 10 mins preparation....putting food, wet rags, bibs, sippy cups on table, getting babies in chairs, bibbing babies...it's time to eat.

Feeding them together does have it's downfalls. There is one more BIG distraction to contend with: EACH OTHER! They generally spend most of the time looking at, reaching for, smiling at, spitting food at, etc each other:

Much of the time not spent on each other, is spent in other, non-eating ways:

Then after about 20 mins of trying to convince them to eat(picture much begging, pleading, silly songs, goofy dances & a few silly, frustrated screams from mommy) & peas on the floor, carrots on the chair, oatmeal on their faces & a little bit of everything on me... it's time for the best part: the Nilla wafer. Each baby gets about 1/2 of one in pieces on their tray--it keeps them happy & calm while I clean up around them.

Repeat at each meal time(breakfast, lunch & dinner).