LIFE IS CONSTANTLY CHANGING....

I begin this blog with simple words that we all live on a daily basis...life is constantly changing. I just re read my last post and needless to say there has been a lot of change!! We are nearing a year since our beautiful girls have blessed our lives. And with that we have become much busier!! I know it has been a really, really long time since I have posted and I apologize. We used to keep our computer in the living room, but since the girls are so active we had to move it upstairs. To download 1 picture on this blog can take 10-15 minutes so it has been hard to get to it.

Both girls are doing so well. At their 9 month appointment Caroline was 17lbs and Juliette was 16. This is the largest size difference they have ever had. Both girls have 2 lower teeth. Caroline started getting them back in July and a week later to the day I noticed Juliette had some popping through too. At this point these are the only ones they have, but I have a funny feeling we are working on some more. In the last post they were not crawling, but have now blown past crawling right on to crawling very well, sitting up, pulling themselves up on things and walking along holding onto things. Just this past week I have noticed both girls briefly standing freely and they are getting stronger and stronger by the day. It will be interesting to see if they walk before their 1st birthday or not.

We were using their earrings to tell them apart, but back in August when we went on a short vacation Caroline's right ear became red, swollen and had drainage. We had to take her to an emergency clinic in Louisiana where they helped us get it out and it started doing better. A short time after that Juliette accidentally got hers caught on the loops hanging off my mom's couch pillow and yanked one of hers out. So neither of them have earrings now. I guess it was meant to be. I will wait and let them decide if they want to try again when they are older. So many people ask how we tell them apart now. Well, for now the extra pound that Caroline is carrying around has helped. She continues to be a chunky monkey, chubbier in the face and legs and Juliette continues to be my skinny Minnie.

We are moving slowly on food advancement though. I had a little bit of a hard time getting Caroline to like the 3rd stage foods or whole foods. I would give her a cheerio and it would come right back out. I give her chicken and veggies with chunks of carrots and it comes right back out. I think she is starting to like it a little bit now. They finally got the hang of picking up cheerios and putting them in their mouth, but I am having a hard time getting them to pick up other things like cut up bananas, avocado, etc. I have gotten Juliette to drink out of a sippy cup with spout, but Caroline still wants to chew on it and hasn't figured out she can get water out of it. They both love water though.

They can both say dada, this was both their first word. They babble, giggle and laugh. Juliette loves to play peek a boo and dance and she just started saying mama. Caroline likes to wave a lot and at times it sounds like she says hi to people which is always so surprising to them. She also likes to dance, but not as much. She is a traveler, she has become very curious and rarely stays in one spot. For instance, when changing Juliette's diaper I have to watch C real close because she gets into places and things she should not be. Juliette on the other hand will stay in one place where I sit her (most of the time) and play with the toys until I am finished with C.

Sometimes in the mornings I let them watch Sesame Street, particularly the last 20 minutes when Elmo comes on. They both dance and get excited when they watch it. Caroline especially loves Elmo. Sometimes they also watch Veggie tales. They mostly like the introduction song and Junior the Asparagus. I like to read them books and sing to them. Their favorite song is the itsy bitsy spider. My grandma was singing it to Caroline today and she was doing the spider with her fingers. I am hoping to get them some more books, music cds and videos for their birthday and Christmas.