Dies of Cuteness

Aunt Brynne delivered again for Christmas.  These hats and booties are just too adorable.  Unfortunately, the girls have started trying to remove anything placed on their heads as soon it's put on them.  This does not bode well for us as their hair is finally growing, and we might start needing to use clips and/or headbands to keep it out of their eyes.

They also love to pull their socks off and chew on them.  I'm not sure why socks taste so good to them, but socks are among the favorites in our house.

Pancakes!

We've continued to introduce the girls to more foods, and they have shown us that they are definitely ready for more finger foods.  I made the girls pancakes for the first time last week.  Harper loved them, but Tannah kept throwing them on the floor.  Apparently she doesn't like pancakes made with no sugar or salt.



She does like yogurt though.  I mix in some fruit so it tastes a little sweeter.  This was yogurt with applesauce.

This picture looks sweet, but I think that Tannah was probably trying to steal food off of Harper's tray, and Harper was blocking her.  Ha!  Tannah tends to take whatever she wants from Harper.  Harper often just rolls with the punches and lets Tannah take things, so I always like it when she stands up for herself:)

Nine Month Well Baby

The girls had their nine month well baby appointment this afternoon, and I'm pleased to report that they are both doing fantastic (except for the fact that they both have ear infections (again, still, who can keep track anymore?).  They are both growing, but it seems like Tannah might have hit a growth spurt that Harper hasn't hit yet because Harper is back to being my little peanut.  Here are the stats:

Birth

Harper - 6 lbs 6 oz (30th percentile), 21.5 inches (75th percentile)

Tannah - 7 lbs 7 oz (60th percentile), 20.5 inches

2 months

Harper - 11 lbs 2 oz (40th percentile), 23 inches (75th percentile)

Tannah - 12 lbs 4 oz (75th percentile), 23.25 inches (80th percentile)

4 months

Harper - 14 lbs 2 oz (50th percentile), 25 inches (75th percentile)

Tannah - 14 lbs 14 oz (70th percentile), 26 inches (95th percentile)

6 months

Harper - 15 lbs 11.5 oz (45th percentile), 26 3/4 inches (80th percentile)

Tannah - 16 lbs 1 oz (55th percentile), 27 inches (90th percentile)

9 months

Harper - 16 lbs 14.5 oz (30th percentile), 27 3/4 inches (50th percentile)

Tannah - 17 lbs 10 oz (50th percentile), 29 inches (90th percentile)

Nine Months!

My babies have now been outside of me longer than I carried them.  How did this happen?  Sometimes I look down and them, and it seems impossible that they were so tiny just nine months ago.  We don't have our 9 month well baby appointment until tomorrow, so I don't have the official stats yet, but they are definitely not tiny anymore.  They are growing big and strong.  And beautiful.  They are so, so beautiful!

However, they are not becoming any easier to photograph for these monthly pictures (as you can see by the pictures below).  I used to take about fifty pictures to try to get one decent one.  I only got five pictures in today before I gave up because Harper would not stop eating her sticker.

This picture really shows Harper's eyes.  I'm amazed that they still haven't turned brown like Tannah's.

At nine months:

• Both girls can crawl and pull themselves to standing.  Tannah has started cruising around furniture.  Both girls stand holding on with just one hand.  When Harper first started pulling up to standing, I was her favorite anchoring spot.  She was so proud of herself when she stood up.  It made my heart swell with happiness to see her sweet face looking so proud and happy.
• The girls are still babbling away.  Their favorite sound is still "da" (much to Wei-Yand's delight), and they still just laugh at me when I try to get them to say "ma".  They've been experimenting with their volume levels, so we have a range from adorable whispers to ear piercing shrieks.
• They love toys that make noise.  We got some great new ones for Christmas including music table, an Elephant ball popper and a Simba rocking horse.
• They are in size 9 month or 6-12 month clothes.
• We just moved up to size 4 diapers.
• They sleep from around 7 pm to 6:30 am, but are still generally getting up at least once per night.  Mama is tired, and we're approaching the time when we're going to have to put an end to midnight feedings.
• Tannah has four teeth.  I feel like we've been waiting for Harper's bottom two teeth to pop through forever, but they still haven't made an appearance.
• We've started giving the girls more finger foods.  They got to try pancakes, cheese, and toast this month.
• We've started seeing a little bit of separation anxiety.  Tannah was showing a definite preference for Mommy and Grandma this past month, but Harper is still very laid back and will pretty much allow anyone to hold her.
• The girls have started giving "kisses".  This basically amounts to an open-mouthed slobbery press of their lips against our faces, but I think it's about the sweetest thing ever.
• Tannah initiated a game of peek-a-boo with my dad this month.  It was so cute to see her hiding her little face in a pillow, then peeking out at him.

They are such sweet little girls.  Every month with them brings more fun and more new adventures!

Family Time

One of the benefits of spending a whole week in Michigan was that we got to spend some time with my aunt and uncle and their family who live in Switzerland.  We usually end up heading out of Michigan on the day that they arrive.  The girls got to meet some more of my cousins:

Tannah and Emily



Zach and Harper

Tannah and Katie

My aunt takes excellent pictures, and she got a new camera for Christmas, so we also got some great pictures of the girls.

Snoopy was one of my toys when I was little.  It was another toy that my mom saved for the day that she had grandkids.

It was really nice to get to spend some time with them.  I'm hoping that we'll be able to get to Europe for a visit before they move back to the U.S.!

Christmas

The girls were up bright and early on Christmas morning, but we waited to open presents until late morning because my sister and her fiance were driving up from Chicago.  This is what Christmas looks like when you add three people to the family:)

The girls got to open their new Christmas pj's on Christmas Eve, and my mom was thinking ahead, so she washed them before wrapping them.  Here they are taking in the piles of presents waiting to be opened.

Another Aunt Brynne present.  So cute, but I need to figure out how to keep hats on their heads.

Simba was one of the favorite new toys.  You can see my Christmas present in the background - a sewing machine.  I have lots of ideas for projects, but now I just need to find the time:)

My parents hosted Christmas dinner for a big chunk of my mom's family.  My younger cousins had a great time playing with the girls.

We had a wonderful Christmas, full of family and fun!  The girls handled being away from home for over a week and being passed from family member to family member remarkably well.  They definitely made this my favorite Christmas yet!

Happy New Year!

 2011 was such an amazing year.  It's hard to imagine that 2012 can come even close to matching it, but I know that this year is going to be full of fun and more adventures.

We celebrated Christmas with my mom's family on New Years Eve, and as usual, the girls were a hit.  They handle crowds and new people really, really well.  As we approach nine months since they were born, I'm amazed by how much they have grown and changed this year.  I can't even fathom how much is going to change over the next year, but I plan to enjoy all of it.  Here's hoping that 2012 is even better than 2011!

This smile kills me.