I was asked some tough questions the other day. The Hubby and I made “the decision” of who
would be taking care of the kiddos if something were to happen to us (God
forbid!). She in turn came back at us
with questions of her own, such as “When are they going to be allowed to date?
What kind of school do you want them to go to? Where?” and the all important
“Do I have to take the dogs too?” It
started a few conversations with the Hubby and it really got me thinking- they
are little people now! They aren’t my babies anymore, but they are SO MUCH FUN
now!
Since it has been awhile since I blogged – the most
important news of all is that they are now one year old! In fact, I am so late that they will be 13
months old in just a few days. They have
grown so much in the last few months that I could hardly track all the
“progress” they have made. Both babies
are full speed crawling around the house right now. They pull up on anything and everything and
walk along, they bravely move from table to couch also – but they don’t let go
but for a split second. They can both
stand alone for a few seconds and are SO CLOSE to walking, but they must have
my confidence. Ha ha. They don’t seem to
trust themselves to try it on their own and always want to make sure that they
have a hold of our hands. They do love
to walk around though with assistance and you would never even know that Landon
had any “issues” or that he was “behind” in his development. In fact, he seems to be steadier on his feet
because he is more slow and meticulous about it whereas Riley puts her little
head down and charges forward. (So which
one of them is like me and which one like the Hubby?) They love to push toys around the house, and
usually it is not a toy that is intended for walking. Their activity table ends
up all over the house along with laundry baskets and empty boxes… the actual
walking toys stay in one spot most of the time.
We took a big trip back to Illinois/Wisconsin in the
beginning of July. They did great in the
car with a little help from the portable DVD player and Mickey Mouse
Clubhouse. We ended up staying at 7
different places so you can imagine there was a lot of packing and unpacking
and only minimal items lost. On their
actual birthday, the Hubby was in a wedding so we celebrated it up at the hotel
and my parents so graciously agreed to
keep track of the babies for a few days so we could enjoy the wedding
festivities. Unfortunately, the weather
was not so cooperative so the day was not spent exploring downtown LaCrosse as
planned and instead they got to see LaCrosse Wal-mart. J We visited some of the
Hubby’s family in the Chicago area after the wedding as well as some friends in
Wisconsin. The babies saw the World’s
Largest Six Pack and went on their first Brewery Tour. In their short life they have already been to
10 states, the baby book is getting full! My parent’s hosted an amazing First
Birthday party for them while we were back in the ‘Burg and it was great to see
all the family and friends together. It
ended up being a beautiful day and we were able to enjoy the outdoors – which
was perfect for their first cake. They
seemed to enjoy it and Riley ended up needing a quick bath before we could move
on to the presents. J They weren’t so much into the opening of the
presents as they were the wrapping paper and the tissue paper, but they had fun
nonetheless and received some great gifts.
We started the journey back the day after the party and stopped for the
night in Kentucky. By this time, they
were very tired of being in the car – and we didn’t blame them at all- so we
stopped short of our goal for the night and took them for a swim in the hotel
pool.
So, let’s see… Riley just got her 6th tooth. She now has 4 top teeth and two bottom teeth
and we have begun saving for braces.
This girl loves to eat! She will eat everything and will not let you sit
anywhere near her with something to eat if you do not share. She loves yogurt, bananas, PBJ sandwiches,
Veggie Straws, and pancakes. We switched
her to milk from Soy Formula after the trip and she has been doing well with
that. I do also give them some juice
once a day, but it is REALLY watered down and there is probably more water than
juice, but they don’t seem to mind.
Riley is impressed with everything and you can hear her constantly
saying “OOOOOO” and she puckers her face just as you are imagining now. She has started pointing at things and will
guide your hands to toys if she wants you to play with her. She will try and pull you up if she wants to
walk. Some amazing friends got them a
slide for their birthday and when we put it together she “oooo” ed as she
turned the corner and saw it and made several trips down the slide on her
belly. (Our basement is now a large toy
room, but no worries all the beer signs are still on the walls.) She loves to play with anything will wheels
and will keep the wheeled item in her hand when she is crawling in an effort to
crawl faster. Riley still loves to
giggle and be tickled on her sides and feet.
She loves to explore and try and pet the dogs, Jasper is more
willing. Some of her favorite toys
include the dog food bowls, my make up, Little People zoo animals, the turtle
water mat, anything she can climb on, and her pink buggy car.
Landon is doing great! He has about two more sessions of
physical therapy and then we will be on a home program with check-ins every few
months to make sure he stays on track.
He was impressing everyone at the last session and in all technicality
took a few steps on his own, but hasn’t even attempted since. He also loves to eat and we haven’t found
anything he won’t eat, he is a bit more meticulous about it though. If you put a bunch of different items on his
tray he will pick out what he wants and eat one item at a time while his sister
just shoves it in! J Landon also loves to dance and he has several
favorite moves – recently a head nod/side to side head as well as arms waving
in the air. He will dance to any music
and there have been times I didn’t even hear the song until I looked over and
saw him dancing. He continues to love
Doc McStuffins and Mickey Mouse Clubhouse.
Landon has 7 teeth – there is bottom tooth still holding out so he has
his four front ones on top and only three on the bottom. He loves to jabber and talk and wave his arms
around while he is talking. His favorite
toys are anything with balls, anything he can put a ball into, the dog food
bowl, my broom, and his red buggy car.
They both loves those cars and we take them for a “drive” almost every
night. The cars remain in the living
room and there have been a few occasions where I walked back into the room to
discover them just sitting in their cars watching the television.
We had another birthday party here in Charlotte with a
Mickey Mouse theme and it was a lot of fun! We appreciate so much all of the
love and support from family and friends and it makes my heart feel full to
know that there are so many people out there that love our children. Our next fun trip – Disney World!
Now for some picture overload since I am so far behind on putting up this post!
