Sophia and Ethan are pulling up! One of their favorite activities these days is to stand at the gate...
Look, no hands! Ethan and Sophia standing at the gate... Steve recently joined a Dads of Twins group. The Zimmers had us all over for a backyard BBQ. It was fun to meet other parents and twins! Ethan chomps on an apple core with his three little teeth (two lower, one upper)! Ethan and Sophia at the gate... Waiting for Dad-Dad to come home... Ethan sees Dad-Dad! Sophia with Joshua at our weekly twins group... Joshua and Sophia... Sleeping on the walk home from our twins group... "Did I really just do that??" - Sophia pulls up all by herself for the first time... Our proud little girl! Gram-Gram came for a visit this weekend. Sophia and Ethan enjoyed a story with Gram-Gram. Gram-Gram also brought lobsters for the grown-ups. What a treat! :) Sophia... Look at those baby blues! :) The Fortich-Meiers (Hazelle and Daniel and their kids, Kaili and Toby) from California came to visit for the day today. It was so good to see them - they are among our closest friends. We wish they lived closer! Steve and Hazelle fed Ethan and Sophia... Daniel and Steve sat with Sophia and Ethan... Toby (now 3 years old!) and Hazelle enjoyed the water park... Kaili (going into 4th grade!) had fun making "George Washington" hair! Kaili... 08.12.08 :: Ethan eating an apple core, Sophia playing with a rattle
The big news this week is that Ethan and Sophia got their first rides in shopping carts. Because most shopping carts have only one seat, one baby needs to be carried while the other one rides in the cart. Ethan graciously offered to ride in the cart while I carried Sophia in our ergo baby carrier. Ethan absolutely LOVED his cart ride. He beamed through the store, smiled at people, babbled, and grooved-out in the cart. Meanwhile, Sophia snuggled next to me and chewed on the ergo strap. Later in the week, we went to Costco and both Ethan and Sophia rode in a double cart. I am loving the newfound freedom to actually use a cart again! It also feels great to be able to leave the stroller in the car!
Aunt Jo-Ann came for dinner on Wednesday night and had fun playing with the kids. I gave her the update on our journey into cloth diapering. She thought my waxing about cloth diapers was hilarious! I am still having so much fun with it - and with 56 stairs between me and the washer/dryer, it's also turning out to be a new workout program for me!
We went to see Dr. Benjamin on Thursday for our 9-month check-up. Both Sophia and Ethan are healthy and growing well. Sophia is getting more and more mobile - while she's not officially crawling, she is rolling to where she wants to go. Ethan started clapping this week and is working on getting more teeth. Their 9-month stats are below:
We got the go-ahead from our pediatrician to start meats and protein. So far, Ethan and Sophia have had cereal (rice, oatmeal, barley), sweet potato, butternut squash, spaghetti squash, potato, peas, spinach, broccoli, green beans, swiss chard, carrots, bananas, peaches, apples, plums, pears, cheerios, zwieback toast, and gerber puffs. Today we added chicken, egg yolk, and tilapia (fish) to the mix. We were a little surprised and very glad that they enjoyed all three of the new items. The only things we need to avoid now are shellfish, raw honey, egg whites, and peanut butter... We're so excited that Sophia and Ethan can start to eat what we're eating!
Ethan enjoys his first ride in the cart... While I don't have a picture of Sophia in the ergo (I need to get some shots of that - we have 2 ergos and use them a lot!), I thought I'd include a picture of one to show what it is... It operates a lot like a backpack and puts the baby's weight on your hips instead of your shoulders. I still carry our kids in front, but it is possible to use the ergo to carry a child on your back, piggyback style.Ethan and Sophia in their new car seats... Ethan's car seat has a sports theme, and Sophia's has pink butterflies... Aunt Jo-Ann came for dinner on Wednesday night and had fun playing with the kids. Ethan posed in his new cloth diaper while Aunt Jo-Ann made rabbit ears... Aunt Jo-Ann, Sophia, and Ethan... Later in the week we went to Costco. Ethan loved riding in the cart again. Sophia tried riding in the cart for the first time and while she liked it okay, she didn't find it to be the transcendent experience that Ethan had described to her... Sweet Sophia, movin' and groovin'... Ethan is not a big fan of tummy time... but he is starting to scooch around the rug like Sophia... 08.05.08 :: Sophia is getting so mobile! She even crawls under the couch…
08.06.08 :: Sophia jumping in her jumperoo and Ethan dancing in the exersaucer. Apologies for the wobbly shot of them, but I was dancing too! :)
My older sister Elaine and her children, Ben and Sarah, came to visit on Tuesday. We had so much fun! We went to the park down the street and then to the sprinkler pool. I cannot believe that Ben is starting 1st grade and Sarah is starting 4th grade in the fall! I can remember when they were no bigger than Sophia and Ethan! Time flies...
Sophia continues to roll and is getting more and more vocal. At our play group this past Friday, her friend Elin was making duck-like noises. Sophia thought this was cool and is now making duck-like noises herself! Meanwhile, Ethan is getting the hang of the jumperoo in his own way, and is also clapping (possibly inspired by Amalia, Elin's twin). We finally decided to break out the "real" highchairs this week and while the trays are still a little high for them, Ethan and Sophia seem to enjoy their cushy new seats.
The cloth diapering experiment is going very well. Both Steve and I have been surprised at how easy it is and am feeling great about the switch. For those who are in the know about these things, we're trying the fuzzi buns pockets , thirsties all-in-ones, bumgenius pockets, bumgenius organic all-in-ones, along with the unbleached Indian prefolds, imse vimse covers, and thirsties fab fitteds (also go inside the cover). Oddly enough, we're finding the "old-fashioned" Chinese prefolds with imse vimse covers to be the best/most absorbent/easiest so far - followed closely by the bumgenius organic all-in-one diapers (they have absorbent cotton inside)... I don't know why, but stuffing the pocket diapers seems very cumbersome to me - and the synthetic fabrics are leaking more than the diaper/cover combos. We decided to order a bunch of the unbleached Indian prefolds, a few more covers, and some of the bumgenius organic all-in-ones for when we go out (much easier for traveling!).
The Cousins: Ben, Sophia, Sarah, and Ethan Sophia... Ethan...Sophia... Ben fell in love with a little dog who was walking with his owner in the park... Ethan, Sarah, and Sophia... Sarah and Sophia... Ethan, Sarah, and Sophia... Sarah, Ben, Sophia, and Ethan ready for the sprinkler park...
Ben and Sarah playing at the sprinkler park... Sarah and Ben (and Elaine with the towels in the background)...Auntie Lainey with Sophia and Ethan... Ethan and Auntie Lainey...Ethan and Sophia being fed by Steph and Sarah. Sarah was like a seasoned pro! Sarah also fed Sophia her bottle...Ethan and Sophia enjoy bottles with Steph and Sarah... Ben enjoyed roughhousing with Steve... Auntie Lainey, Steve, Sarah, and Ben...Ben and Sarah...Ethan after a particularly messy meal displaying his pureed prune artwork... A close-up of Ethan's first pureed prune finger painting... We've started giving Sophia and Ethan soft-cooked sweet potato in these handy mesh bags. The bags allow them to experience food without us having to worry about them choking - food must be small enough to fit (squish?) through the mesh. Ethan is determined to get that sweet potato and takes a bite... Sophia is unsure at first... ...then she digs in! Our second play group was a success... Amalia and Elin enjoyed standing at the gate... Amalia, Elin, Joshua, Maya, Sophia and Ethan... Maya also enjoyed standing at the gate... Kerstin feeding Amalia, Jessica feeding Maya and Joshua... Joshua and his big blue eyes! Sophia has developed a new game. It's called "Pull Ethan Over and Play With His Face". It's great fun for her... ...and Ethan doesn't seem to mind... most of the time... Sitting in our new high chairs... Super Dad (aka Steve) carries both babies at church... 07.31.08 :: Ethan dancing (and standing) in the jumperoo
Steve recently joined a Dads of Twins group. The Zimmers had us all over for a backyard BBQ. It was fun to meet other parents and twins!
Ethan chomps on an apple core with his three little teeth (two lower, one upper)!
Ethan and Sophia at the gate...
Waiting for Dad-Dad to come home...
Ethan sees Dad-Dad!
Sophia with Joshua at our weekly twins group...
Joshua and Sophia...
Sleeping on the walk home from our twins group...
"Did I really just do that??" - Sophia pulls up all by herself for the first time...
Our proud little girl!
Gram-Gram came for a visit this weekend. Sophia and Ethan enjoyed a story with Gram-Gram.
Gram-Gram also brought lobsters for the grown-ups. What a treat! :)
Sophia...
The Fortich-Meiers (Hazelle and Daniel and their kids, Kaili and Toby) from California came to visit for the day today. It was so good to see them - they are among our closest friends. We wish they lived closer! Steve and Hazelle fed Ethan and Sophia...
Daniel and Steve sat with Sophia and Ethan...
Toby (now 3 years old!) and Hazelle enjoyed the water park...
Kaili (going into 4th grade!) had fun making "George Washington" hair!
Kaili...
