Professional Pics

This summer we did a professional photo session.  Here are the best shots.  The babies were 8 months old.

Josie's follow up appt

Today we had Josie's 8 month follow up appointment at Credit Valley Hospital (it's based on her due date). The occupational therapist was very impressed with her fine and gross motor skills.  She also gave us some tips to help James learn to go from lying down to sitting and from sitting to standing.  The Paediatrician said that Josie is perfect.  We obviously agree.  

Earlier this week I spent two days in Peterborough.  The twins loved visiting with their cousin Brianna.  Here are some pics from the Peterborough Early Years Centre.

James and Grandma Charlotte.  

James is awesome so I guess Brian must be pretty awesome too.

We had beets for dinner tonight!

Bath time at our house.

Standing!!

I will post a proper update tonight but I am just so excited I had to share this.  Today James stood unassisted for about 15 seconds.  He did this multiple times!

Babies on the move

In the last week we have watched Josie progress through the stages of learning to crawl and she is now on the move.  James is still mostly crawling with his tummy on the floor but he is experimenting with regular crawling and I think he will have it mastered soon.  

Josie has also learned how to pull herself up on things.  This is amazing but also scary because she has a lot farther to fall now.  

The twins had a great visit today with Auntie Vickie.  She was very impressed by how mobile they've become.  

I'm not sure if I have posted this yet but the twins continue to say dada, A LOT.  This week they have also started saying mamamama but not yet in the context of referring to me as their mama.  I'm working on it!

Clean up

We got a little carried away when we were cleaning up the babies toys today. :)

Fun Fall Weekend

We had a great family focused fall weekend.  Friday night we went to Ikea for dinner.  James had difficulty focusing on dinner because he discovered his shadow. 

Saturday morning I took the babies to Amazon Indoor Playground where I met some other Etobicoke moms.  A lot of the toys were too advanced for the twins but they loved the ball pit and as usual being the mom of twins made me a mommy celebrity.  

We also spent lots of time in the twins new playroom (aka our new sunroom).  They love the carpet.  

The babies continue to grow up right in front of us.  

Sunday we went to visit Melissa and Gethin at their new house in Erin.  

All-in-all it was another great weekend.  

9 months old

Wow!  I can't believe my babies are 9 months old.  They have grown up so much in the last month.  They are now sitting up, army crawling, have 2 teeth and they have both said their first word: dada.  They are so much fun right now!

We took them for their 9 month check up today. James is now 16 lbs 6 oz.  He is in the 15% for weight and the 50% for height.  Josie has grown a lot this month and is up to 14 lbs 3 oz.  She is in the 3% for weight and the 15% for height.  This is a really big deal because she has always been below the 0.1% for weight until now!

I did a little photoshoot with them this afternoon.  They don't look like babies anymore :(

Today I had some moms and babies from my online baby group over.  There were 12 moms and 13 babies!  All the babies were born between Dec 2013 and March 2014.

We survived week 1 without Brian

Not only did we survive but I'd say it was my best week alone with the babies so far.  Brian and I worked over the summer to get the babies on a nap schedule and it has really payed off. 

 it also helped that I had my mom and Marsha visit on Wednesday and Thursday because that meant that my mom came with me to our Wednesday baby group and also to James' eye appointment and both babies chiropractor appointments.  

We took James to the eye doctor again to confirm that his different sized pupils were not affecting his vision.  The doctor said that James' eyes are working perfectly!  We also took the twins to their third chiropractor appointment.  Josie has some stiffness in her pelvis but it is James who seems the most in need of adjustment.  He has a tight right shoulder and some tightness in this upper back that may be making crawling challenging or uncomfortable for him.  We have been going for 2 weeks now and we have definitely seen a development in James' crawling.  He is managing to pull and push himself all over our living room now.  

We also FINALLY had a visit from Uncle Mike.  

Josie had another milestone herself this week.  She said her second word: dog.  She said this about 20 times on Thursday while looking at Tramp and Xena. 

On Wednesday morning we also had a visit from my friend Holly with her 2 month old twin boys Hunter and Hayden.  It is so great to be able to swap experiences with another twin mom!  

Today the twins took their first trip to Waterloo to attend a bridal shower for Auntie Jenn.  They were very well behaved all afternoon.  

Church on Sunday! 

Josie's first word!

Both babies have been babbling a lot lately and there have been a few times that we have heard them say "dada".  We've never really known if they knew what they were saying...until now.  It's a bit hard to hear because James is screaming in the background, but that's life with twins!  Our little ones are growing up so fast!

Our last weekend of summer holidays :(

All good things must come to an end and this summer has been full of good things.  We spent our final holiday weekend at Castle Erie.    JJ had a great time playing with their cousin Emily and as always they loved all the time they got to spend with Grandpa Dave and Grandma Jane.

Both James and Josie have grown up so much this summer.  It amazing how quickly they learn new things.  This weekend Josie learned how to use her feet to pick up her toys while she is in the jolly jumper.  It amazes me now smart and resourceful she is - she must get that from her mother.  Lol.

James has also become quite the little crawler.  He still hasn't quite put all the movements together yet but he manages to get himself across the room using a combination of army crawling and rolling.  I think we need to start baby proofing our house!

 

 It has been so amazing having the summer off with Brian.  He is such a great dad and our kids have really grown up in these two months because of all the quality time we've gotten to spend with them.  Every morning Brian got up with the babies and played with them downstairs while I pumped.  He would also give them breakfast if I wanted (or sometimes needed) so extra time to sleep in.  He was genuinely interested in making there time fun and teaching them new things. He spent all day with them (with the exception of a few golf games) and even got up throughout the night to feed James.  It's going to be a while before JJ can appreciate what a great Dad they have - but one day they will look back at their childhood and realize how lucky they are.


Here are a few more pictures from Lake Erie.  Thanks for an amazing summer JJ.  I am so proud of all you have accomplished already and I thrilled that I get to spend every day being your mom.  You are growing up so fast.  I love you more than you'll ever know.