Farewell to Grandma and Grandpa for a little while

My parents left for their yearly trip to the Homeland that they skipped out on last year because of the girls' births. We all will miss them.

It's an exciting time for these two as they are getting more comfortable walking. Vanessa is the ambassedor saying "Hi!" to almost any one wherever we go. Annie sometimes takes the shy role.

New Year's came and went with the girls' sleeping. We all slept in the smaller room in the smaller bed so they could sleep with a humidifier on. I have since moved it to their room and they are back to sleeping in their own cribs.

These booties are made for walkin'...

Wow, the girls have been taking what Chris calls "falling steps" towards me for a while but today Annie definitely took some strides across the living room area. It's a happy moment but a little bittersweet as it is an example that these times go so very fast. Nessa is not too far away from walking either.

They are definitely comprehending more of what you say now and it seems they are starting to mimic sounds. They are ever so chatty and they really love to dance to music. I'm pretty sure they know the word 'milk' as they know to go lie down in their boppy pillows when the bell rings (to signal the milk is done warming). Nessa definitely know the sign language signs for 'milk' and 'more'. Annie does the signs sometimes but not as consistently as Nessa. I think Annie is trying to verbalize things more - Nessa grunts when she's unhappy.

Annie has taken to just sit with me sometimes watching tv, which I love and makes my heart melt. Nessa has definitely become attacked to Tyson, the stuffed boxer dog, which totally melts Chris' heart.

It is so amazing watching these two sweet girls grow right in front of your eyes. I don't have any pictures or videos to share as I was just in the moment.

No new pic tonight but I'm posting another photo from the other night. I think it captures what I'm trying to do every moment I'm with them...cherish and love them. With the terrifying ordeal in Connecticut, if anything unexpected were to happen, I want to know that I tried to focus on the important things, which have nothing to do with money and are indeed priceless.

Sleepy time for our 13 month olds!

Time seems to be gaining speed as you see how fast the girls are changing. Annie is almost ready to walk...she just needs the confidence. Nessa doesn't care to walk at times...she seems to prefer crawling still. Hopefully, they walk before Grandma and Grandpa leave for their Philippines trip. We sure are going to miss them!

They are chatter boxes when they are in the mood and they are starting to sleep through the night in their cribs! More so for Annie as Nessa still wants to be in bed with Mommy and Daddy. It's a tough call as they are babies for such a short time but sleeping a little longer is helping Mommy's sanity.

A Year in the Life!

The girls' first birthday was last weekend! It was a pretty large gathering. We invited people who have been part of our lives for a long time and those that have been part of our journey to parenthood.

For one thing I know, people just can't help but love Annie and Nessa. With Thanksgiving next week, Chris and I are thankful for so very much. Our girls have brought a joy to our lives that we have never experienced before. Although at times cranky, needy, and a bit exasperating (aren't all babies?) they are pretty happy and absolutely love to dance!

At their 1yr checkup, the girls are still tracking the same. Generally, in the 70-80 percentile in weight, 40ish percentile in height and head circumferance.

I can't believe it has been a year already. I plan on learning more from them in the next year to come!

Happy Halloween!

Costumes on babies are so cute. We flew down to SF on the actual day of Halloween so we had two pairs of costumes. They were adored everywhere we went!

Unfortunately, they acquired hand foot mouth disease and had fevers which was not fun at all. It was a draining yrip but we were able to hold a small birthday party with Chris' family.

When they are not cranky, their personalities are so entertaining! Vanessa can be a bit of a ham in the limelight but it's still cute right now. Annie is quite the escape artist and wants to climb everything!

On a random note, the SF Giants won the world series? In strolling around Burlingame, I had them in orange and black. People loved them even more.

Growing up?

Just had to do a quick post tonight as it was a dream to put them to bed tonight - especially Nessa. I was prepared for a lengthy screaming fit as I laid her in her crib and I haven't heard a peep in the last two hours!

It might not last the whole night but I have to celebrate or acknowledge the moment while it's here. It was totally textbook!

If this is the growth they are heading, I might be what's truly holding them to be in their own room. Pondering thought.

Annie joins the world of the crawling!

It's been a few months since the last post and the girls seem to have gone through so many changes! They both definitely have teeth coming in at the top. It is a constant reminder how fast they are growing up! Today Annie finally learned to crawl properly. Vanessa advanced from army crawling around labor day weekend while visiting Chris' family.

It is so very interesting how their personalities are developing. Annie is just out there with her feelings and she's gets very focused on music, art, pretty things. She can stay focused on one thing for a while. Nessa on the other hand loves to perform for you - she has her bag of tricks: you ask her if she's cute and she coyly tilts her head to the side and she squints for 'beautiful eyes'. She is also always moving. She never stays with one thing.

They often are interested in what the other twin has. Their interactions with each other are fun to watch. I definitely think there is some psychic dialog or something. You can see it when they look at each other.

Their 1st birthday is fast approaching and we're trying so hold a fun, but modest celebration. We are going to gave a small one in the bay area, too. Both families want to have such an integral part that this is what we ended up with.

The next big challenge will be walking now. Nessa has no interest at all as she moves pretty fast while crawling. It will be interesting to see how Annie does now that she's crawling. She loves holding on to people's hands to walk. I thought she'd skip crawling all together. I like them to be able to stand by their birthday - we shall see!