We've got a crawler on our hands!

Playing after breakfast

Sorry, it wasn't sideways before posting!

At their first birthday party-

Brooke on her feet and about to fall- she has had one bruise, one fat lip and one good bump since beginning to crawl- hello emergency room, it's us again!!!

If I can actually write a post once a month we will be doing good! I remember from when Elle was a baby that just when you get a little comfortable with the routine that it all changes but this is insane. Brooke began crawling on Christmas night. Just an inch or so but it counted. She is quite the handful and it's an awfully good thing she has a helmet on these days. She crawls, pulls up on things and climbs. When she is in her crib she stands up and then screams that she can't get back down, she looks like she is riding a roller coaster- hanging on for dear life and just wailing.

The changes for all 3 are miraculous and wonderful. Marleigh has her 2 bottom teeth coming in and loves to show them with her big smile. She is getting up in the crawling position but hasn't gotten the whole moving thing yet. Brooke has one bottom tooth coming in and Sophia fusses some like she is getting one too. Everyone can sit really well, except for Brooke who rarely does it- no need to sit when you can move. They are realizing more and more that each other is around and tend to look for one another after their bottles. We think they are so content playing since they are never alone. They laugh when they see each other and it's just darling. They are beginning to notice each other in their cribs too. I have all 3 upstairs in the nursery and the downstairs area is a playroom. I will have to include pics when we get everything decorated. I have planned the nursery and playroom for years and it's so exciting to finally have it all!!!!

They are about 16 and 17 pounds now but much smaller in size than other babies their age. There are 2 other babies in our playgroup that are relatively the same age and they are much bigger. We went to our first birthday party, it was so cute that the girls got party favors! Our neighborhood is booming with babies and in 5 years our bus stop will be crowded. The couples are all fun and nice but soooo young!

Solid food feedings are going well, everyone is eating cereal and veggies. I won't introduce fruits until they eat green beans really well. Right now I am making their baby food and it's pretty easy. Dave said I didn't need any more chores to do but when I told him it saves money and it's so good for the babies he agreed it was a good idea. They eat sweet potatoes, carrots, butternut squash, zucchini, and peas. I tried to make my own cereal but NO one liked it and it just wasn't worth the effort. It can take up to 15 trys to get use to a new food and re-training them on cereal just isn't worth my time. Commercial cereal is FINE.

We are really thrilled with our babies, they are even tempered about most things. They don't fuss when they need changing or during the changing; they like bath time; enjoy eating bottles and solids; never fuss in the car; play well etc. No one takes a binky so that's one less thing to wean them from down the road. Some days are crazy with short naps or teething but for the most part things are terrific. Honestly if they start to nap for a long time and regularly I'll go crazy with joy. Their sleep habits are the only tough thing we have. They sleep well and all night but their naps can be short and make for a long day or a super early bed time. Early bedtime means early start the next day- not good for mama. I perfer them to wake around 8am, today was 6:55 and boy was I a fuss! Thank goodness Dave was home since we had a bunch of snow and helped out for the first hour.

I do have help during the week now, can't remember if I mentioned it last time. It's been wonderful now that Elle's birthday and Christmas is gone and now I can get out and do what I want and not constantly shop for gifts that had to be wrapped. My focus now is getting the playroom and nursery decorated. Also, with Brooke crawling I literally can't leave the room unless she is "caged" so gone are the days where I could run the vaccuum or wash the bottles while they played. Those chores are for nap time and when nap time is only 30 minutes, 3 times a day... not much gets done!!! Mary is a huge help with so many things, the babies, cleaning bottles, organizing, straightening ect. It's like having another me only she is much more motivated while working- I tend to complain a lot.

Despite the long post, I can't remember all the things I wanted to chat about so if I remember soon and have time you'll hear from me again.

Happy New Year to all!