Toddler Beds: Night 1

We converted both the kids beds to toddler beds. Jack did so good...he cried for about 15mins, but did really well staying in bed. Mackenzie played a lot. At one point we heard her coughing/choking so we went to check on her....she was in Jack's bed eating a book (needless to say we put the books up), Jack was just laying there...maybe even asleep, but he woke up when we opened the door.

At about 10:30 Mackenzie started crying-we knew she was tired. She cried until about 10:50. At about 11:15 John and I went in to see where she landed....our bets were on the floor in front of the door. But, this is what we found

My little escapee

Mackenzie has finally done it-climbed out of her crib. I am super nervous about this transition to a toddler bed. John will be converting Mackenzie's bed to a toddler bed tonight, we are still trying to decide if we want to transition Jack right now as well, or wait with him (they share a room). Pray for me ;-)

Its been a while....

I havent posted since Feb! my bad...

Things are going well-we are finally getting settled into our home and new town.

Babies toddlers are now 20 months old...I cant believe they will be 2 in just a few short months! They are both growing and learning a lot. Mackenzie is about 21lbs now and Jack weighs in at around 23lbs. A month or so ago we started sending them to daycare once a week-its been interesting. They have had good days and bad days, as to be expected.

Jack is talking quite a bit-he says and signs a lot of words. He enjoys dancing, watching Yo Gabba Gabba, cars, and playing outside.

Mackenzie has just started saying a few words in the last month or so, she also signs the words she says. She enjoys watching Yo Gabba Gabba, playing in the sandbox/outside, stacking blocks, and puzzles.

Puzzles, Stacking, and Blocks

Some of the twins favorite current activities include puzzles, stacking/sorting, and blocks. Mackenzie is pretty good with the blocks, unfortunately one of her brothers favorite activities is knocking down towers of blocks :-).

UPDATES!

Wow, I just realized I havent posted anything since halloween?! Yikes.

Well, a lot has happened/changed in the last few months. We moved from Ohio to South Dakota where John is pursuing his phd at the University of South Dakota.

We bought our first house-which was/is a bit of a fixer upper. So far upgrades include all new flooring throughout the house, new paint throughout the house, new furnace, a few new light fixtures, new window treatments, and a new kitchen-new counters, cabinets, stove, and dishwasher. We arrived in SD around Dec 1 but we werent able to move into our house until about 2 weeks later due to all of the work being done. Its been about a month since we'ved moved in and I still have a lot of boxes to unpack.

John started classes a few weeks ago and is enjoying them so far. I've still been staying home with the kids but will hopefully be going back to work, part time, in the spring.

The babies are doing well. They did have a fairly rough time adjusting. A few days after we got to SD Jack spiked a fever of 104 so we took him to acute care where he was diagnosed with pneumonia. Mackenzie had a weird stomache bug for about 5 days where she would be fine all day but around 2 am she would wake up and throw up a few times, then go back to sleep and be fine again until the next night at 2am. John spent 2 weeks sleeping with Jack on the couch so he would hold him upright most of the night and I spent two weeks sleeping with Mackenzie. Once we moved in we took Jack back to the doctor to make sure the pneumonia was gone. It was, but he then had a double ear infection.
After about a week of living in our house the babies finally started acting like themselves again.

At their 15 month check up Jack was 22lbs and Mackenzie was 19. I cant remember how tall they were.
Mackenzie is a very active little girl. She loves to climb, run, and just be busy. Her favorite activities for now are stacking rings, puzzles, blocks, looking at books, and playing with balls.
Jack is a pretty active little boy as well, but not quite as much so as his sister. He too enjoys climbing-the other day I found him standing on the kitchen table. Someone had left a chair pulled out and he climbed right up onto the chair and then right up onto the table. His favorite activities for now are looking at books, push toys (lawnmower, corn popper, ride on car), knocking over what his sister builds with blocks, and cars.
Jack does say a few words-mama, dada, ball, and he will mimic me if I tell Mackenzie "no no". And he definately babbles a lot. When he babbles to us we act like we're having a conversation with him and we must say "yeah" a lot. So now Jack says "umm...yeah" a lot. Which is very funny and cute, especially if he gets the timing right and does it after you asking him a question.
Mackenzie is a little behind in communication-she sometimes says mama and dada. She prefers yelling (not in a mean or negative way, just-ahhhhhhh) to babbling. She seems to be too busy to talk.

Sorry I dont have any pictures to post. I actually just found my camera like last week. Hopefully in the next few weeks I will post some pictures of the kids as well as the house (before and after).

Happy Halloween!

I asked John to pick up some bear costumes for Halloween....

Just kidding :-). The twins didnt have Halloween costumes or go trick or treating this year, but they are ready for some football today!

Mackenzie has a new trick as well...

Before nap-showing off her Harley Davidson outfit
After nap-she has taken to taking off her socks and pants every time I put her down for a nap (unless she is utterly exhausted, then she just lays down and goes to sleep), she seems quite proud of this as you can tell.

Jack showing off his Harley Davidson outfit :-)

What Jack learned today...

Today Jack decided he was ready to practice his climbing. He managed to climb onto the coffee table as well as onto a tote in our living room (yup, we have a few totes in our living room right now...working on packing-so please excuse the mess).

Reading and Playing

Over the weekend we got out the kiddos swimming pool and bought a bag of 100 balls to make a ball pit-they both enjoyed it, particularly Jack
The babies really do like to look at books-unfortunately I've had to throw away quite a few as they eat them/destroy them

13 months

One of the twins favorite things to do is push each other around the house on their ride on car

1yr old!

We made it through the first year...hoooray! We definately had our ups and downs, but overall it could have been a lot worse-especially since it was just John and I.

We had the babies 1yr check up last week and Jack was 22lbs 7oz and 29.5in. Mackenzie was 18lbs 3oz and 28in. Jack jumped to the 50th percentile for height and weight, Mackenzie pretty much stayed the same in her percentiles. Both babies are healthy and doing great.

Jack is walking all over the place now...although he still has a bit of a waddle because he doesnt quite bend his legs, but he's working on it. He waves if you say "hi" or "bye" and loves playing peek-a-boo.

Mackenzie practically runs everywhere and is learning to bounce and jump while holding onto something-she loves to practice in her crib. She too loves to play peek-a-boo but mostly prefers to just carry around the blanket we play with instead.

They both say mama and dada and babble a lot. They interact with each other all the time and like to laugh with/at each other. They both eat and drink well...although Mackenzie still doesnt care for fruit-texture thing.

We had some 1yr pictures taken so I thought I would share a them...

Jack walks!!

Happy early birthday from mommy and daddy

John and I decided to get the twins a chair for their birthday. We got the actual chair inserts off of ebay for a good price, so we just had to buy the slip cover. And of course once John saw this one we had to get it :-) and we even got it personalized for free.
Unfortunately, Jack has already had an incident with the chair. John set it up and it was just sitting in the middle of the living room. Jack was excited, climbed right up onto it, and fell right over the side (over the arm rest) causing him to have a run in with our entertainment center. He has a mark near his eye and a nice scratch on his forehead. Last night the bump on his forehead was the size of half an egg, and I'm pretty sure it freaked us out more than him. We were trying to clean him up but he just wanted us to let go of him and stop holding him so he could go play on the chair.

Some people have asked what they can get the twins for their birthday. We made a wishlist at http://www.toysrus.com/ if you just click on wish list and enter my name it should come up. Of course thats mostly a dream list :-) and the twins dont need much...a card for their memory book from you would do just as well! But, they do enjoy toys and books, and we are saving up for a toddlerish outdoor playset so giftcards are always nice.

11 months old!!

Babies are 11 months old today...time has gone by so fast-I cant believe we will have 2 toddlers in just one month.
They are both doing well and are very active. Mackenzie is practically running around the house with Jack crawling as fast as he can behind. Jack is working on walking, but will only pracice while holding our hands-if we let go he will sit down right away (even though he CAN stand) and give us a sad face.
They both say Mama and Dada, and I'm pretty sure Mackenzie's next word will be "no" as she hears it often.
They are both eating mostly table foods now-although Jack is working on finishing off the last of the purees we have. Jack will eat pretty much anything you put in front of him, but Mackenzie is a little bit picky-right now she loves peas but refuses any fruits...pretty sure its a texture thing and hopefully she will overcome it soon. They both get a little bit of whole milk a day and really like it; they also like water and Jack likes juice.
Here are a few snapshots I took today...

Buchtel Park

There's a park in Buchtel?! You might ask. Why yes...beside the gas station in town there used to be a run down "playground" but the city recently renovated that area and put in a very nice playground! The babies enjoyed the swing, Mackenzie enjoyed the bridge and climbing in the tunnel (although dad didnt particularly enjoy following her through the tunnel), and Jack just enjoyed practicing his walking on the ground with mom.

Yes, this is often how we communicate with one another

Often Jack and Mackenzie communicate via screaming...so it can get very loud in our house-and this can go on all day :-)
do notice Mackenzie's outfit which she is swimming in-grandma got it for her in Okoboji, its size 12 months. I had to break out the summer 12 month clothes because I'm pretty sure she wont fit in them next summer and I wanted her to be able to wear them...thankfully there are only a few outfits :-)

PS-sorry the video quality is so bad...dont know what happened

Trouble Makers

Climbing/crawling where we shouldnt

Jack and Mackenzie found their way to the yogurt bites and somehow managed to open them...

10 months

Babies are 10 months old now...I cant believe it! They will be 1 before we know it!

Mackenzie is mastering the art of walking and loves it. She tries to walk everywhere she goes, often falling halfway to her destination. She has quite the personality...very outgoing and friendly-she is definately the louder of the two. We've even started seeing a few small "temper tantrums" which mainly occur when John or I take something away from her, oddly enough when her brother steals a toy its no problem though...yet. She is definately a strong willed child and prefers to do things herself. Because of this it is being reccomended to us by Mackenzie's occupational and speech therapist (who are helping with feeding issues) to give her her own special spoon so she can learn to feed herself-oh the mess! The therapists decided that she has a slight aversion to liquids and the spoon...as well as people trying to feed her, so its best that we let her do it on her own. So, we are introducing lots of table foods (of which her favorite is sandwiches) and letting her play with it or eat it or do whatever she will with it.

Due to Mackenzie's issues Jack also gets lots of table foods too-which he does enjoy, however he sometimes gets lazy and prefers that we put it in his mouth for him; other times he gets too excited and puts as much food possible into his little mouth. As you can see in the picture above wearing a bib full time is back in for Jack due to some wicked drooling that we havent seen for quite a while-lots of teeth coming in! You can also see the bruise under his eye...he had a slight run in with the bouncy seat-poor boy. Jack has a personality that is a little calmer than Mackenzie, he will gladly sit on your lap and read books or sing a song. He is a little more shy and doesnt take as kindly to strangers, but once he has some time to warm up he can be a friendly little guy.

Jack crawling, pulling up, and smiling :-)

Mackenzie walks!

9 month stats....and Mackenzie walks!!

Babies had their 9 month check up last week. Stats are as follows
JACK
Weight-18lbs 3oz (25th percentile)
Height-29in (25th percentile)
Head size-big (90th percentile)

MACKENZIE
Weight-16lbs 8oz (dropped from 20th to 15th percentile)
Height- 27in (20th percentile)
Head size-dont remember, but in the 15th percentile

The pediatrician said they looked perfectly healthy and she's hoping Mackenzie's weight gain doesnt slow too much or that she atleast doesnt lose any weight. Within the next week or so we will be referred to a feeding therapist for Mackenzie, hopefully we can get her bottle issues straightened out as I dont really want to be feeding my 1yr old whole milk (or pediasure) via spoon! This has gone on for way too long as it is.

Also over the weekend Mackenzie decided she was ready to take a few steps!! She will take 2-3 steps, pause, then 1-2 more, then fall...but its a start! This week she's even been braving it without my help...pulling up on the couch, turning, then trying to walk to wherever she wants to go.
Jack has started pulling up on everything and is starting to cruise around the furniture too-I will have 2 walkers before I know it!!

Hoping to post a video this weekend of the kids playing, Jack pulling up on things, and Mackenzie walking!

Swimming!

Today we bought a baby pool for the twins so that they could atleast get outside for a bit in the hot humid weather. They actually really enjoyed crawling around and splashing in the pool! And I think they just enjoyed being outside for a little while too; plus they looked super cute in their new swimsuits!

Washington DC

Last week we had some company come out! John's mom, dad, sister, brother-in-law, and of course our 2 cutest nieces all came out for the week. Once they arrived we spent a day in Athens and then headed to DC for a few days. Overall the twins did pretty well-being in a car seat for a day, stroller for 2 days, and car seats for another day.

Us with the babies at the Smithsonian

Dad and the babies at the Museum of Natural History

The twins at the tomb of the unknown soliders

Grandpa and the twins

Me and the babies at the WWII memorial w/the Lincoln memorial in the background

9 Months Old!

Today the babies turned 9 months old...I cant believe how big they are getting! We dont have their 9 month appt until next week, so unfortunately I dont have any stats to report, but I do have some pictures to share!

A few weeks ago we switched from our infant tub to the big kid duckie tub. Unfortunately Jack didnt care for it too much but Mackenzie loved it!

8 months old!!

Babies are 8 months old today...time is flying by! I would post some pictures but Mackenzie has had a cold the last few days and Jack is has started to catch it today...so we dont have the happiest babies today :-(.
They are both doing well. Mackenzie is crawling everywhere and getting into everything. She pulls up on anything she can. She loves to pull up in her crib and walk around it...this makes bed time interesting. Her reflux seems to be controled but she still has eating/bottle issues. She hasnt had a bottle in quite a while and we end up having to spoon feed her her formula, fun fun! We've been seeing an occupational therapist and hope to get these issues under control-we'll see! At her last weight check she weighed 15lbs 12oz.
Jack is going to be crawling before I know it. On his belly he goes in circles and he has lately been trying to army crawl. But if there is somewhere he really wants to get, he will just roll! He, fortunately, has no eating problems and love loves solids...he could eat solids all day if we let him :-). At his last weight check he was 17lbs 10oz.
They are so fun to watch and play with. They love to interact with each other as well. They dont mind strangers as long as we are right next to them. They enjoy going to the park and watching the big kids...although now that Mackenzie can crawl she often tries to join them.
All in all things are going well and I cant believe I have 8 month olds!