The Home Stretch to Turn One!!!

Less than two weeks and Claire and Chloe will be one year old. The weeks have flown by, and this week was no exception. Here are a couple of pics of the girls from the last few days. Claire is working on her walking skills in the first picture, and Chloe is playing with one of her favorite toys. It is a soft cloth bird house that has little stuffed birds that you can take in and out. She loves it and maybe she, like her Papa, will love birds as she grows up.

Yesterday, we watched a DVD that the girls got for Christmas from Aunt Suzie and Uncle Eric. It is entitled "All Creatures Great & Small". It is a beautiful, beautiful, video with wonderful music, animation, and live animal pictures. It is made and produced by Kurt Warner's organization. Below you see Chloe on her Papa's lap taking it all in. I didn't get a picture, but at the same time Claire was on my lap "rockin' out" to the very serene music which includes the hymn "All Things Bright & Beautiful". It was rather funny.

We have been experiencing unusually warm weather in the afternoons. Paula and I took the girls and the dogs for a long walk on Saturday afternoon.

Lastly, here is a little snippet of Claire doing her walking. She is steadier every day and is walking more each day.

Sniffles x's Two!

This past week brought the first illness for the girls. They have each had a drippy nose at some point during the past 11 months, but never a full blown cold. They were both pretty miserable. Chloe didn't let it stop her from her investigations, however, as you can see from this shot. She stands on her tip toes and has been known to stand on a stuffed animal or anything handy to make herself taller.

Claire had a little harder time coping with not feeling well, and slept nearly the whole morning that I was there. She would wake up but wanted to go right back to sleep. When Daddy came home at noon to check on his girls, she perked up remarkably and actually ate some chicken noodle soup and yogurt. Daddy was the best medicine she could have received. It still amazes me that neither of the babies have been to the doctor for an illness, only for their regular checkups. They have a wonderful nurse Mommy that has really kept them healthy. We are very thankful.

A day or two later, when they were feeling lots better, Papa stopped by. Here are the girls at his knee jabbering and enjoying his full attention. They are always happy to see him.

Also on that day, they were very active. Here is Claire practicing her walking.

Both Papa and I celebrated a birthday this past week. We are so very thankful for our good health and our wonderful children and grandchildren. Two more January birthdays to go, Claire & Chloe's Uncle Jon, and then 5 days later Claire and Chloe turn one! We still have much to celebrate!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

Our New Year always starts off fairly busy. We have several January birthdays and yesterday we celebrated at the Italian Cottage, one of our family's favorite local restaurants. The girls were very good, as usual, and we had a very good time. Here is Chloe with her Daddy and Claire with her Uncle Jon.

As we left, Chloe put on her funny hat for the ride home. She points at everything now making comments and jabbering. She is full of fun and good humor.

Below, I am going to add a cute little video from last week that shows the girls playing.

I'm looking forward to some time with the girls again this week and waiting to see what new and exciting things take place.

11 Months and Counting!!!!

Claire and Chloe are now on the countdown to their first birthday. Each day brings some new skill or development. It is amazing to watch. I think when you are the parent, you miss some of the "awe and wonder" of it all, or at least I think I did, or have forgotten . Maybe it is because you are so busy with the day to day responsibilities of caring for the child (or children). But, as grandparents, you can just "enjoy the ride" and take it all in.

The past few days we have been working on parts of the face, among other things. Both of the girls can point to their nose, or yours, if they are in the mood. Chloe has some more words in her vocabulary. The ceiling fan has interested both of them recently. Chloe will point and say "fa"...she can't quite get the the "n" sound. Today Claire decided it was time she join in the "high five" club. She had not been at all interested in taking part previously, while Chloe has "high fived" for a few weeks. I love that they seem to have different interests and progress at their own speed.

They each point to their individual pictures that are on the wall, when asked. Both girls, today, at different times, sat with a book in their lap jabbering as if they were reading. Below is a sequence of pictures that show them interacting and at play.

Yes, we have a climber on our hands. As you can see Chloe climbs on chairs, horses (above) or whatever is handy.

Here is a video of Chloe playing on the chair and Claire entertaining herself nearby. And, following that, a video of Claire walking and pushing the little Dora the Explorer car.

Here is wishing you a Happy and Blessed New Year!

A Very Merry Christmas!

Claire and Chloe experienced their first Christmas celebrations and made our Christmas so very special. Christmas Eve was spent at Uncle Paul and Aunt Patty's house. Their cousin Alexa was a wonderful source of help and entertainment. The first pictures show Claire and Chloe in their booster chairs waiting patiently for some Christmas Eve delicious dinner.


Alexa spent lots of time sharing toys and tending to the babies needs. Here are Alexa and Chloe playing with Alexa's stuffed horse.

Claire got a turn with the horse and immediately knew that the potential to make it a "rocking horse" was there.

Alexa also shared one of her doll's with the girls.

And just before going home Claire had a little cuddle time with Cousin Lisa.

On Christmas Day, Claire and Chloe came to Grandma and Papa's house. Here they having a little Christmas brunch.

And opening gifts.......

And CLIMBING on their new musical chair that they are supposed to sit on....







Christmas 2008 is over but our memories will
last a long, long time.

Happy Birthday Paula!

The highlight of last week, (and boy did it fly by!) was a little celebration for Paula's birthday. The family went to La Hacienda, one of our favorite restaurants. Here is the birthday girl/mommy in the traditional La Hacienda photo opportunity. Also shown are Mike (aka Daddy) and Claire and Chloe. The girls were perfect and enjoyed refried beans and cheese among a few other tasty items.

Later in the week, Papa and I had the opportunity to watch the girls while Mike and Paula attended Mike's work Christmas party. It was so fun to play with them and get them ready for bed. Most of the evening involved Claire chattering non-stop to Papa. Most of the time she had her pointer finger in the air pointing and talking about something. Unfortunately whenever I tried to get the camera out, she would be distracted from her chatter. During that time she also discovered her shadow on the wall, and was fascinated by it. We laughed and laughed.

Chloe was very interested in her picture that hangs on the wall and repeatedly would look at it and tell Papa something about it. Chloe now has two very clear words which can be understood. Dog (pronounced "gog") and bye-bye. Often the bye-bye comes after the person has gone out the door. While the babies had their last bottle, we played their Christmas DVD which has beautiful Christmas music and Christmas scenes. Included in the DVD is even a piece from the Messiah, the girls love it. Chloe fell asleep quickly but Claire lingered listening to the music and smiling up at Papa. Eventually, she too, dozed off.

Here are a couple more shots of the girls from last week as well as the traditional Santa face cookies that our family has made for many years. I can't wait for Claire and Chloe to be able help with the decorating. Maybe even next year!

Munching and Taking Turns

This past week brought lots of activity from Claire and Chloe. The weather was quite cold so we didn't venture out much. They have lots of things to keep them busy. Here they are seen playing with their "old" activity saucer which is used only occasionally now, to keep them safe and out of trouble for a very short time when needed.

Below there are a couple of still shots of the girls munching at lunchtime as well as a little movie that I couldn't resist adding to the blog. Claire was acting a little shy with the camera, but they were enjoying their carrot wheels, a toddler finger food. The carrot wheels and apple wheels keep them occupied for an amazingly long time.

As Christmas approaches, the almost one year old babies, are seeing their first sparkling lights, hearing Christmas music, hearing stories about Christmas and playing with their own nativity set that Mommy and Daddy got for them. What a neat way to learn about the birth of Jesus and what it means to us. Here you can see the pretty little tree that is in their home but safely out of their reach.

One of their books is a book called Silent Night. The book plays the song and has little lights that blink around Baby Jesus' head as the music plays. The next two movies show the dynamics of learning to take turns. They couldn't possibly get the concept yet, but in time they will.