Life IS Good......

...especially when Papa walks in the door and Claire and Chloe are so excited to see him, They both want on his lap immediately. This first picture is a bit blurry but it gives you the idea. The second picture is Chloe and her Papa. When he called one morning this week, she said, "Hi Papa" when I put the phone to her ear. Pretty thrilling.

Below the girls are preparing for their walk for the day. It was a gorgeous day for a stroll for them and some exercise for Grandma.

Enjoy Spring!

Happy Easter!

Last week brought some fun new experiences with the 14 1/2 month old girls. Never a dull moment for sure! Here, above, Chloe is exploring a drawer that she is allowed to open and she takes great delight in what she finds...even if she has seen it many times before. She is trying to "drink" out of the sifter which sure made Grandma laugh. Claire was watching and smiling but didn't get too involved.

New this week, among other things, was the emergence of Chloe acting as the "conscience" for both of the girls. Daddy tells the story that Claire was dripping milk on the carpet and Chloe put up her finger and wagged it and said to Claire, "no, no, no". She also did the same thing to Grandma when I told her to please shut a cupboard door that she is not supposed to be in. It was funny, and today at our house Chloe would point to the electrical cords under an end table and tell us, "no, no, no". Her verbal skills are advancing fast. She knows so many words--- spoon, Grandma, Elmo, balloon, makes several animal sounds when she sees a picture, and of course the words she has been saying for a while, Mommy, Daddy, dog, etc. etc. I had forgotten how amazing it is when babies begin to talk. Claire follows directions incredibly well, but doesn't speak as clearly as Chloe. Claire also dances and takes part in the singing games that we do with great gusto. I am convinced that Claire will do something with music.

Our Easter was great! Our family was together at our house for dinner and playtime with the girls. Aunt Suzie had dyed eggs for a mini-egg hunt and Uncle Jon brought the girls big balloons, one a butterfly and one a dragonfly. We filled the little plastic eggs with fish crackers rather than candy, and the twins were quite happy with the treasures inside. They seemed to get the idea that you pick up an egg and drop it in the Easter basket (bucket). After lunch, we also spent a few minutes with bubbles. The following pictures will give you a glimpse of our day.

Claire stopping for a snack.

Chloe and Mommy, Paula.

If you look closely, you may spot some bubbles.

I hope your Easter was blessed as well!

Pleasures of Spring

The girls had a great week, learning and growing. It really seems that each time I get to visit them they have a new word or skill. Chloe uses sign language, particularly for "milk" and Claire still speaks very expressively and talks with her hands, but we don't always know what she is talking about. When Chloe is signing, she looks you intently in the eye and watches to make sure you "get it". Pretty funny. Her facial expressions also tell the story so many times. I hope to get a picture one of these days when she is staring at me and trying to convey a message.


Above they are ready for a walk and on that walk we stopped to look at some flowers. Apparently I made some comment like, "Wow, those are pretty flowers" and so as we walked, at every flower bed we encountered, Chloe, and sometimes Claire, would exclaim "wow". Chloe uses that word quite often anyway, but now I am thinking she may have decided every flower is called "wow". We will have to work on flower recognition...that would make her Daddy happy.

We had visitors this week, Grandma and Papa's friends Bill & Cheryl. Both of the girls decided to be very, very shy. They hid their faces in my lap and arms until our guests got to the door and were saying their goodbyes. At that moment they looked up and Bill snapped their picture. I think they even gave them a little smile.

Below is two hat Chloe, Chloe in a new spring outfit, and Chloe again with Claire in her tutu.



































They got some new sandals this week and just like before, the shoes brought them lots of pleasure and fun. (It doesn't take much sometimes!) Chloe is wearing the lavender ones and Claire the pink ones. They marched and played with them for a long, long time. At one point they each had one of each color on their feet.

Here is a little film of Claire being silly, she stands on her head this way quite often and many times it is a sign that she is very tired. Chloe does it too, but not as much as Claire. The last little film is Claire, in her tutu again, busying herself with the tippy cups.

The last picture is of Claire giving Papa a kiss. She is very generous and sweet with her kisses.

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14 Months Old!

This week was full of play times, outdoor times, singing, reading books, and much love and fun. Here are the faces from this past week.

Claire lounging on their chair with her juice and blanket. Chloe sitting on her heels very intent on something

Ready for a walk. Chloe, all smiles.

Happy toddlers.

We notice how much the girls understand when you talk to them. In the following pictures, which aren't too clear, I told Claire to take Papa his diet coke. She promptly took the bottle and carried it into the other room stopping once to put it down and rest. She was very pleased with herself when that task was completed. Today I was in the church nursery for a little while with the girls, and it was interesting how Claire would put out her arms to try and catch a ball. They certainly mimic the adults that are around them. Makes us want to be very careful. :):)

Enjoy your week!

Life in the Toddler Lane

We experienced some beautiful weather this past week and on one of those days Claire, Chloe and Grandma took a walk to the University campus. It was spring break for the students so the grassy areas were available for Claire and Chloe to explore.

Later, at home, Chloe gave some extra love and kisses to her little doll. It is so precious to watch her smooch her little baby. Claire is shown "just passin' by" Grandma's camera.

Here they are sharing their chair, and the last little film clip shows them in their Hawaii t-shirts that Uncle Jon brought them. I thought they looked very cute. If I were to title the film, it might be called "Chloe Giveth and Chloe Taketh Away".

Babies Reading, Babies on the Move!

I just checked my email and this sweet picture was there for me, taken from Jon's IPhone. He visited Claire and Chloe today and I suspect, from the expressions, that they were being just a bit "coy" with him, using Mommy as their shield. Not unusual at all. He also reports they they wanted to play with the phone so they took additional pictures and downloaded some Elmo music. I'm sure Uncle Jon will enjoy that himself. :) Here is another shot of Claire.

Here is Uncle Jon with Chloe from last weekend. They are reading a book together.

This shot of Claire makes her look so grown up and so relaxed in her chair.

Next Chloe had a turn in the chair and spent quite a while looking at books.

If I have learned anything at all recently, it was that it is going to be harder to take pictures now that they are constantly on the move. The girls spent one day at our house this week. Great-Grandpa Ove was here as well and brought them beautiful engraved necklaces with their names and 1st birthday date on each. The girls will cherish these, I know. The bad news is that I didn't get a photo of them with him. They were both quite shy around him and besides they were very, very, busy investigating Grandma's house. I must do some additional baby-proofing! Here is one, not so good, picture of them playing in and around the porta crib/playpen that they used as little babies to sleep in when here. They were fascinated with it and wanted in and out of it several times. They had such fun.

We also played outside in our front yard but I learned from that experience that we must have "one on one" when we don't have a fenced yard. They moved so fast and explored things in opposite directions of course.

Enjoy your week. I am looking forward to the challenge of getting more and better pictures.

Goodbye to Hawaii, Hello to Home and Family!

Here are the sweet little faces we returned to in California.We were so happy to see them again. Even in one week they have grown and changed. Chloe's walking had improved so much and she is now officially a toddler! Here she is below.

Not long after this film was taken I put the girls' shoes on. They haven't worn them too many times and apparently are still getting used to the "feel". It is hilarious how they march around. Examples below, first Claire, and then Chloe joins in. I believe Chloe was saying, "march, march, march", don't you think so?

Chloe did a little experimenting with their toy grocery cart in this picture. It is a pretty small little space, but she managed to climb in.

They have a darling new little overstuffed chair of their very own. Here they each take a turn. Claire loves to play with blankets, putting them over her head and walking (stumbling) around. That is what she had been doing just before I sat her in the chair. Chloe gives her special smile as she takes her turn.

The girls love to stand on the couch and look out the window. They jump and squeal and get totally excited. I'm not sure what it is all about but they seem to both understand the fun.

I love it when we sometimes get to stay with the babies on Saturdays. Papa often comes along and Aunt Suzie almost always comes over. Today's outing was to McDonalds. Chloe ate like a trooper, chicken Mcnuggets, milk, and maybe a french fry or two. Claire nibbled some, but mostly just enjoyed the "goings on" around her. She loved to pick up a french fry and drop it on the floor. Here you see Papa and the girls. After lunch, Aunt Suzie, Claire and Chloe and Grandma took a walk.