It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

I have always loved taking photos of the twins - this blog is certainly proof of that.  

Recently a friend lent me her professional photo back drops.  I added a few of my own and have taken it upon myself to take countless photos of my babies and my friends babies. 

Here are the best ones so far. 

The countdown is on

It's only 2 weeks until the twins first birthday party (even less until their actual birthday).  I have been busy this week getting everything together for their big day.

I am having a hard time reconciling the fact that it's been almost a year since our twins made their early and rather unexpected entrance into the world.  I am amazed at how far they have come.  This year has been the slowest and fasted of my life.  What amazes me the most these days is how much the twins seem to love each other.  They follow each other around the house constantly.  They share toys (most of the time) and they even give each other hugs and kisses.  It's so sweet to watch.

Josie has recently become obsessed with climbing in and out of her bumbo chair.

This afternoon James didn't want to go done for his nap.  Instead he spent 30 minutes doing laps of his crib.  No fussing.  Just laps of his crib until he finally fell asleep.

They play together all the time now.  Here they are in their pool.

And here they are about 10 minutes later at their book nook doing a puzzle.

Baptism Professional Pics

The baptism was such a blur of excitement that we didn't get any pictures of the babies.  So I had a few professional ones done.  Here are the best ones. 

So many signs and sounds.

James has really taken to sign language lately.  He now signs more, all done and dog.  He can also wave, blow kisses and clap.  He also knows how to point to things when we ask like buttons, our noses, our teeth, etc.  I am pretty sure he has also added the word HI to his vocabulary.  It's fascinating how much he is comprehending.

Josie is also making big progress.  She is starting to stand unassisted.  She signs milk and more and loves to wave and clap.  She is also pointing to lots of things and reaching with both hands to be picked up.  It amazes me how social she is.  She will pretty much let herself be held by anyone and she is almost always full of smiles around familiar and unfamiliar people.  

They have both recently started giving us kisses.  This pose came about organically I did not prompt them at all.  It is very clear that they love each other very much.  Now we just have to work on kissing with closed lips and on the cheek :)

Winter at the Cottage

This past weekend we went to the cottage with Grandma and Grandpa.  We took the babies for their first winter walk in their new snow suits.  James lasted about 5 minutes before he started to fall asleep so we had to turn around.

I have lots more pics but they are still on my camera.  I will post them soon :)

Here is James with his GREAT Grandmother.  They both adore their great grandma.

They are on the move - James is practically running with his walker.

Jojo loves her grandma.

 Jojo also loves Maggie.  She is definitely the most patient dog.  She just lays there and lets the babies put their fingers in her mouth or use her fur to pull themselves up to stand.

Playing house.  They are at a point now where they follow each other around and play together :)

A day in the life

Today we really turned the living room into the babies play room.  Josie loved climbing on all the pillows on the couch.  They are playing together so much now.  They push their car together, play house together, crawl to the baby gates together.  It's really cute to watch them.  

Yesterday we went to the Turtle Creek Early Years Centre for a baby group.  Afterwards we were playing in the main room and Josie decided that she wanted an up close view of the doll house.  This is what happens when you are 11 months old and only 14 lbs.

11 month photoshoot

I finally got around to editing their 11 month photo shoot pics.  I took them on November 11 and it was so warm that we even did a few in the back yard.  The pink dress that Josie is wearing is one that my Grandmother Lackie made for my cousin Brenda when she was a baby.  She died 2 years before I was born so I love it that Josie has a little something from her.  It's still a bit big - but will probably fit perfectly this summer.

11 months old!

I had the babies weighed today at the Dr's office.  James is 16 lbs 9 oz.  Josie is 14 lbs.  they haven't really gained in the last 2 months as a result of their increased mobility and their being sick.  The Dr is not worried because they are meeting and exceeding their milestones.  I took this picture Saturday night.  James sure is the big brother.

We will do our 11 month photoshoot tomorrow.  I'll post pics as soon as I can :)

Josie's first sign!

Today Josie successfully did her first sign, "milk"!  We have been showing the twins a bunch of signs: milk, more, all done, mama, dad, etc.  today was the first time that one of the babies used a sign.  We think that James has signed "eat" before but we are not sure.  Today Josie was definitely signing milk!

Today we also tried Asparagus for the first time.  They seemed to enjoy it.  They have been really interested in food they can feed themselves lately - all part of growing up.

Happy Halloween

This week we celebrated JJ's first Halloween.  We did this by inviting 11 babies over for a party.  It was lots of fun.  

This week both James and Josie learned how to push their walking toy.  They will be walking on their own soon!  Josie also learned how say "hurray" during, "If you are happy and you know it".  She has also started to mimic sounds that we make.  Today she was repeating the word "soft" when I was helping here feel a soft blanket.

James had a rough week this week.  He has a really bad cough and has lost his appetite. He has also been puking a lot.  He has had the cough/cold for over a month but it got really bad this week so we might need to take him to the Dr soon.  His cold hasn't really affected his disposition though.  He is still a happy little boy.  He has mastered clapping on demand this week and using the fireplace, ottaman and couches for cruising.  

On Thursday night Grandma Jane came over to help me put the babies to bed while Brian had parent teacher interviews. James and Josie certainly enjoyed the visit :)

On Thursday we had a new fridge delivered.  The babies got an early snack so that I could keep them in their high chairs.  They clearly liked it!

This week was really hard for me.  Zac, an autistic teenager that I have worked with every Saturday and in the summer for the last 8 years, unexpectedly passed away last Friday. His family asked me to do his Eulogy at his funeral on Wednesday.  He was the sweetest little guy - very calm and content.  I really thought that he would be in my life and the twins life for a very long time.  I wanted James and Josie to grow up knowing Zac and knowing how much I loved him.  Needless to say it's been an emotional week.