Merry Christmas!

Christmas Eve

Hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas. We spent the week at my parent's house & had a blast! Drew enjoyed the 'truck'(a Chuckwagon--you'll see in the slideshow) & spent a lot of time riding around the property. Ava, though sick, still seemed to enjoy all the attention & gifts.

On Christmas Eve, Menaw joined us for dinner & opening of a couple of gifts:

12 month stats

Ava & Drew had their 12 month doctor's appointment today, so we were able to get their height & weight checked. It looks like we have some tall, skinny babies. :)
Drew 22#1oz (45%), 31in (80%)
Ava 21#7oz (65%), 30 7/8in (90%)

The doctor said that Ava is right on track developmentally for a 1 year old, while Drew is a little ahead of the curve(b/c he's walking). It was a very good visit--except for the shots, but the video in the car seemed to make it all better! :)

Winter ONEderland

We had Ava & Drew's birthday party Saturday evening at our house. They seemed to have lots of fun. They didn't really seem to know what to do w/ the gifts...but, they sure have loved playing with them since! And they did enjoy the cakes! :) Here are a few pics from the party:

Ava at 12 months

Pulling up, but not cruising yet
Says momma, dadda & dog(but this can refer to anything ;))
Actually has a temper!--most often directed at mommy.
Has her own little 'games' she plays: throw & chase, roll & chase, 'crawl' the line, hand dancing
Thinks Drew & Daddy are HILARIOUS!!
Still loves to sleep...preferably in 'the big bed'
Favorite foods: ANYthing & EVERYthing...especially cheese & meat
Least favorite foods: hmm, good question! ;)
Miss independent. Likes to play alone & can get cranky if interrupted. :)

Drew at 12 months

Is walking--more or less.
Says/waves 'hi'
LOVES to clap...responds to "clap for___"
Will 'find' Ava, when asked "where is Ava?"
Plays peek-a-boo
Mocks ANYthing you do!
Favorite foods: bread, grapes, bananas, pineapple
Least favorite foods: pretty much everything not listed above
Prefers to feed himself
Thinks the day should start at 5am!

Happy Birthday Ava & Drew!!

1 YEAR OLD!! It's been a wonderful day. And a little exhausting:

1st, we had our birthday breakfast...blueberry pancakes. Mmmm...yummy! :)

Then we opened some presents:

Got our 1 yr pictures taken:

Ava & Drew did NOT enjoy the portrait session....I was VERY surprised that ANY of the pics turned out decent. But, we were actually able to get several good ones. I was pleasantly surprised by the turnout & as we found at 9 mos, the quality is very good. Thank you Picture People!

We turned the carseats around. (yay)

After a birthday dinner at Kerby Lane Cafe, Ava & Drew were ready to play some more(some pics were in the slideshow above), then time to crash in their cribs. Hopefully they will get a great night's sleep & be ready to party tomorrow! ;)

This looks like a good pillow...

Picture with Santa

Well, we did it. I didn't really plan on it, but we decided on Saturday to give it a shot. And we actually only stood in line for about 45 minutes...so it wasn't TOO bad! :)

Ava seemed to be quite comfy w/ Santa. She cozied into his lap & grinned the whole time--unfortunately all the pics show her chewing on her sleeve. Oh well.

Drew didn't really care for it! After trying to throw himself on the floor, we were able to get a couple of decent pics where he doesn't look too upset!

'You really think I'm going to drink that....'

Today was the day...the switch from formula to milk. And the day we get rid of the bottles. YAY!








The tasting of the milk went about as well as expected. Some 'ick' faces & a little spit out.












Pushing it away when we tried again.....

In the end, Ava actually drank about an ounce. She 'accepted' at least 3 more drinks. Drew, on the other hand, wanted nothing to do with it. I couldn't even fool him by going back & forth w/ water! He would look in the cup before taking a drink & promptly shove it away if it was white! ;)

And as far as getting rid of the bottles goes....so far, so good. They usually have one just before the morning nap & didn't even really fuss when it never came! Hopefully, that's the end of that. We'll see how bedtime goes.....

Snack time!

Drew tends to wake up from the afternoon nap quite a bit earlier than Ava most days. And he can't quite make it all the way to dinnertime w/o a snack. I've taken to letting him eat some puffs on the legs of the dining room table(in the corner of the playroom). Probably a bad habit, I know, but I see no sense strapping him into his chair for the 5 mins it takes him to eat! And he seems to love eating under the table! :)