It's the Weekend...Yeee Hoooo!

It's the weekend and that means lots o fun with the little ladies and swim lessons and activities for the big man (Joe cool pictured here with his back pack getting ready to go to the pool). Joseph is actually still a Joseph. Not a Joe. And not quite a JD yet either (though that is still the plan....he just seems like a Joseph for now). As you can tell from the prior post, he is quite the comedian. Conversations with him these days are quite entertaining. He has mastered the tricycle, and is now trying to practice pedaling his bike. The girls are working on sitting on their own, Leah can do it for several seconds and Hannah is getting the hang of it, but not to the point where I'd mark the date in the baby books. (which amazingly I am sort of keeping up with). Leah also loves to reach for her feet and grab your face and pinch as hard as she can. (who knew a 17lb peanut could cause so much pain?) Hannah is grabbing too....I had to move her hand away from Leah's face a few times while we were all on the bed tonight watching Dora with Joseph (Jay was making sure the Penguins would be captured on DVR and getting Joseph's usual dinner of chicken and green beans ready). In a surprising turn of events, Joseph requested regular milk so that he could get big and strong. But then to character, refused to drink it several times before being convinced to do so. "Chocolate drink" has actually worked very well with fooling him into having milk on a regular basis. Though I have to say, I can't really blame him for not liking the stuff. It is rather disgusting. He's probably allergic to it. (I was) Hannah and Leah may have allergies too, but who knows to what. The doctor said eczema can be an early indication of that, and they get patches on their face (Hannah actually has it on her tummy, arms and legs too). Joseph is prolonging his bedtime by pooping. Can't really hold it against him, but now that I hear splashing and whispers I should probably go check on him!

Whopper of a Quote

Joseph and Jay had an amicable disagreement today on where their race in the yard should start, which ended with Joseph saying "It's not Burger King Daddy, you can't have it your way".

I can honestly say he got that from neither of us. We're both fans of the golden arches.

Another funny conversation with Joseph outside in the yard:
Me: Do you want to come inside and go potty so you can go back outside and eat?
Joseph: No, I just want to look at poop
(dog poo in our yard)

Fun at School

The kids have been having lots of fun at "school" this month. April is focused on celebrating children, so there have been ice cream socials, family breakfasts, trikathons, and art shows. After the trikathon Joseph became quite the pedaler...pedaling all the way to the park and back (8 blocks?). The girls even dabbled in art...playing with paint and glitter with their feet and making tie dyed onesies (neither of which are activities I would ever do at home so it's nice they do stuff like that there!). Everyone (except for moi....knock on wood) has a cold at the moment, and believe it or not it did not seem to start with school, but rather with Jay. Slowly it spread to Joseph, and then the girls.....and now I'm sort of a sitting duck. (Better than a one eyed goat I suppose.) Can you find Jay? (like Where's Waldo)

Hillarious!

Leah is actually laughing too, you just can't hear her over Hannah's loud hysterics. :)

Stats of the Children

Joseph's 3Yr Stats:
Height 38.25in (75%)
Weight 35lbs (75%)

Hannah 6mos stats:
Height: 27.5in (96%)
Weight: 17lbs 6oz (80%)
Head: 42cm (35%)

Leah 6mos stats:
Height: 26.75in (83%)
Weight: 16lbs 10oz (65%)
Head: 42cm (35%)

Apparently when you turn three they are no longer concerned with the circumference of your head. Joseph has slowed down a bit in height but still seems to be on the tall side (relatively speaking). He's chatting away (we used to think he was chatty but now he's reeeealllly talkative) and today he started swim lessons all by himself (he's apparently a very skilled backfloater. All those lengthy baths have paid off). Hannah weighs almost as much as Joseph did when he was 6mos old, and Leah is our littlest of the bunch. Amazing to me that their heads continue to be the same exact size (though clearly shaped differently....Hannah's head is flatter in the back, but starting to round out a bit). One thing we didn't realize is that babies start sitting up around this time (who can remember all these details, and you know I don't read about this stuff), though twins are usually on a bit of a different schedule since they are usually born earlier. I was concerned for about a day, but now I realize it's not a big deal. Joseph actually didn't start sitting on his own until a bit after 6mos so I'm sure they'll get the hang of it soon. They do afterall have the rest of their lives to sit on their bums.

L-L-L-Leah

As in "ch-ch-ch-chia". I say the girls names to all kinds of quirky tunes and phrases (like onomato-leah). Hopefully this will not cause any permanent damage. Leah is a happy little lady (she just doesn't smile every single time we take out the camera or each time someone looks at her), and she is also quite thoughtful. She is always paying attention. She watches our every movement. And she is extremely amused by Joseph. Last night Joseph kept shouting "Arrrrrby's" in her face (one of his pirate jokes....see if you can figure that one out) and every time he leaned in towards her she exploded with laughter. (seriously, most babies would have cried given the look on Joseph's face). Most mornings she is the first one to alert us to the fact that she and her sister are awake. Not by crying, but by talking and making all kinds of mmmm ahhhhh noises. She lights up and smiles as soon as she catches you in the room, and then as you are sitting down with bottle in hand she literally goes crazy as though she can't wait one more second to get that bottle in her mouth. Yesterday she actually grabbed it from me and held it on her own while guzzling the entire 7 ounces. This gusto over the bottle is only present first thing in the morning, as she usually takes her time, twisting and turning her head all around in response to voices and noises around her. Zerberts also tend to be her thing....she doesn't do it all the time...but every now and then she sticks out her tongue and zerberts to her hearts content. Ohh little Leah.

6 Months Old!

Well by now I think we can tell who's who....can't we? Hannah and Leah are six months old today and are just as different as they are alike. Leah is a happy baby but Hannah is ridiculously happy. They take turns going to sleep peacefully versus wailing until they give in to exhaustion. They have both started rolling over...Leah as of 4/2 and Hannah soon after on 4/3. Since then, Leah has found herself rolling around quite often (though not necessarily liking it) and Hannah more commonly twists and turns in all kinds of directions (but only turns over on occasion). Both of them move all around on their backs. Leah had turned herself sideways and was all the way at the top of her crib this morning when she arose (and her body just about spans the entire width of the crib) and Hannah frequently scootches around and pulls her jiggity elephant that is attached to her crib (which we now intend to remove given the number of times we've woken up to this jiggity creature in the middle of the night). Lots of chewing on toys, sitting in bumbo chairs, playing in exersaucers, interacting with Joseph, interacting with each other, grabbing on the gingham curtains, laughing with glee, shoving hands in mouths while slurping down gerber firsts....and of course.....there are still many bottles. I can't believe we have already been through six months of formula.....and only have six more to go! Will I be happy or sad when our baby girls are one year old?

Three and Cute As Can Be!

Joseph has been so excited for his birthday for so long....and it's finally here! We made cupcakes together last night, and this morning he begged to have them for breakfast. Instead he had a waffle and half of a banana with a candle stuck in it. We then drove the cupcakes to daycare (along with his sisters) and ran them into the building during the torrential downpour that was occurring. And wouldn't you know I made it all the way inside before any of those darn cupcakes tipped over? I'm sure none of the kids realized I used my finger to smear all the frosting back on. Joseph helped me carry them to his room and again lobbied for eating them right away, but was quickly distracted by the flannels that awaited him on the floor (dinosaurs, animals, and all kinds of laminated pictures with velcro on them that stick to a flannel pad on the wall). When I arrived to pick him up he was outside playing with the big bubble wand. He agreed to leave right away so that we could go home and "celebrate" his birthday. And so I packed him into the back of the van, went and collected his sisters, and off we headed down the road, through the tree park and back to our house (Joseph's favorite route) where Daddy awaited him with balloons. For dinner we served dinosaur shaped chicken nuggets, followed by a cherry cheesecake that Jay made which was "just right" (Joseph's words). We topped the night off with Backyardigans and new puzzles (in our rain boots of course). And for the first time, tucked our little man into bed with little underwear on. I can't believe he's three!

Ha-na-na-nah

We have lots of goofy little names for the kids, but this one for Hannah is my personal favorite (let me hear you say uh). She's such a cutie. She loves interacting with people and has come to terms with being on her belly and sitting in her bumbo chair. When she's on the floor she's twisting and turning more and more....a few times we thought she was going to roll over, but it hasn't happened yet. If you rattle something in front of her she kicks her feet like crazy and gets a very determined look on her face as if she's performing an Irish jig on her back. A lot of people think she looks just like Joseph when he was a baby. And many think they are all carbon copies of me....but we shall see. Only time....and nose....will tell.