Fun in the hotel

We stayed at a Residence Inn while in Houston (we just can't all squish into one room) and it was super big. The girls had lots of fun in the hotel...here are some pics:

Since we didn't have our little hooded towels, the girls used the hand towels after their baths....and they fit perfectly!

The girls ate like big girls in regular chairs for the first time on this trip.

SUPER EXCITING!!! The wiener-mobile was also at our hotel. The girls are in PJ's cause I was worried that it might leave before we could get a picture.

Part one of trip..

D had a business trip to Houston this past week, so the girls and I decided to join him. We were there from Tuesday afternoon until early Sunday morning and had a blast...though the time went so quickly. Here are some photos of the events...unfortunately it appears that I only take pictures of my children and so basically don't have any pictures of the friends that we saw (unless they made it into the periphery of a shot around the girls):

Eating at Chuy's...the girls are really Texans at heart!

Playing with our Twin Friends Carter and Olivia....and I got to visit with my friend Lesa while they were entertaining each other!


Fun with dogs...the girls started the week petrified of dogs (we were around 6 different, little dogs over the course of our visit) but by the end of the trip they were even willing to touch a dog...well Audrey would.

A DAY AT THE PARK

We met some friends at the park yesterday since it was a BEAUTIFUL day....unfortunately it seems that the girls may have gotten a tad too much sun as they now have little farmer-burns. Hopefully this is just because it is the beginning of the season and not an indication that sunscreen will need to be vigilantly applied at all times. The girls LOVED the park...Brooke especially loves the slides....Audrey is still just happy to be walking around outside.

Brooke kept climbing up the stairs to the slide, so Audrey and I have to follow! (if you enlarge the pic you can see the joy on Brooke's face!)

Driving the firetruck with their friend Lorelei (whose mother insisted that she wear a hat!)

Brooke: I think we could climb this if you would focus!
Audrey: Wheeeeeeeee!!! Freedom!


Brooke getting clean after a hard day playing!

HAPPY ST. PATRICK'S DAY

The girls and I celebrated St. Patrick's day by going to 2 different playgroups. Here are some pics of the events.

Big playdate at the library...probably 25 kids 18 months and younger


Smaller lunch playdate at our friend Arria's house

Audrey: "Wait for me Brooke!"

Brooke: "I know that all these penguins will fit!"

16 months old

Reading in the nursery...they now fill up the chair!

I am a little late on this post. The girls are now 16 months old (and they are really starting to look like little girls)!! So, what's new with the girls? They are both little movers and shakers and they LOVE to run AWAY from their mommy....frequently gathering them up is like wrangling cats. They also LOVE to walk around and be outside. Though they still do not like to touch the ground with their hands...case in point: Brooke was sitting under the tree in our front yard playing with rocks and sticks. She decides that she wants to stand up. She scoots on her tush down to the sidewalk so that she can touch the concrete to stand up rather than the ground....nevermind she scooted through dirt, mud, and grass to get there. I have purchased them little kiddie harnesses but they are still a little too unsteady for those, but I am nervous about them in parking lots as we are loading and unloading into the van.

They are so much fun...this is definitely the best age so far (though it is clear that they both have little tempers and minds of their own and so we are rapidly approaching temper tantrum zone). They like to eat with utensils...a little trick when they won't eat their food is we just put it on a fork and suddenly it is delicious! They both like to play catch...especially if they are sitting on the couch and they can throw the ball off the couch. Sometimes they will put their arms out in front of them to catch the ball...adorable! The girls love rough-housing with their Daddy. A big fan favorite is for one of them to ride on his back (like he is the horse) and chase the other around the room...Brooke generally runs toward them squealing with delight.

Playing with the vegetables in the garden

Ketchup and Trampolines

So this past weekend marked a couple of firsts for the girls. First they had ketchup for the first time...and of course they loved it. Audrey was quite delicate dipping her food into it and Brooke just dove right in.


Our other first for the weekend was being on a trampoline. The girls really just sat on it and bounced themselves up and down about a millimeter by flapping their arms....Darren on the other hand was crazy doing flips (when the girls were not on it!)

The Girls

Here is a picture of the girls at 15 months old...


Here is a video of Audrey walking...this was taken on Sunday (5 days after starting to walk) She is an even better walker now.

SNOW

Sunday night/ early Monday we got about 6 inches of snow! D and I were much better informed this time and immediately shoveled off the sidewalk and driveway...hooray no slippery ice this time!

I took the girls outside to enjoy the snow...this time in extra layers of clothes and no snow suits so that they could hopefully move. Brooke did not like the snow and Audrey just seemed thrilled to be walking around outside (her first). Here are some pictures of the snow.

15 month updates

We had our 15 month appointment this past week. For some reason it was just so hilarious to me...picture 2 babies in nothing but their diapers running around exploring everything and doing lots of dancing for some reason and then add a doctor trying to tell you very important things. It was just funny.

Brooke popping up in her tunnel

The girls got good reports though I was given suggestions about how to increase their vocabulary. The problem is not how big their vocabulary is, but that we can't understand it. They seem to know just what each other is talking about. (We have for sure interpreted that hair bow is gaa gaa for both of them) They handled the vaccines very well and Audrey had her last liver function test...hooray! Getting blood from a baby is just no fun at all.

Audrey: But why are you selling this? I'm not too big.

We have to go back in 6 weeks for a weight check cause Audrey has not gained any weight, not even an ounce, since December.

Brooke: I just woke up from a nap and it is time to eat...life is good!

They have just been so super cute lately. Brooke is in her scrunched up face phase again and will give you kisses (basically she makes little noises with her mouth as she approaches and then presses her mouth on your cheek) and Audrey is now an almost exclusive walker in just a week. I will have to publish another video cause it is too funny - very much a marching mummy walk. Since the visit she has also started very clearly saying baby (sounds like ba-beee), daddy, and mommy (mommy is really her least good of those words which is irritating).

Audrey is such a good driver!

We went to Pei Wei for dinner last night and the girls ate their chicken with chopsticks...we left them hooked together and put the little meat pieces on the bottom kind of stabbed and held between the two sticks. (no camera though which was a bummer) They each finished all the meat from their own kids meal (none of the rice) so I am unclear how this kids meal is going to be enough for them when they are older!

Stats:
Brooke:
height 32.5 in - 95th percentile
weight 23 lbs 3 oz - 50th percentile
head 46.36 cm - just over 50th percentile

Audrey:
height 31 in - 50 to 75th percentile
weight 20 lbs 5 oz - just over 10th percentile
head 45.09 cm - 25th percentile