Last post as 1 year olds!

We have been spending our time learning as much as we can.  The girls love to color.  Every time Catherine goes up and down the stairs she counts.  She can only do "one, two" by herself but she picks up after a hint or two and can go all the way to 13 (that's how many stairs we have).  She loves to play hide and seek with the blanket.  I don't think she realizes what it does to her hair.  If she did she would probably do it more often.  She loves to get your attention and make you laugh, it makes her laugh even more.

Both girls have rediscovered the joys of wearing sunglasses and even wear them out.  For some reason the girls do not wear the purple ones upside-down, but the pink ones always end up this way.  I can't decide if this makes them look cuter or sillier.  Probably both.

Our hair is becoming an issue.  I want to try to pull it back into pony tails or pig tails or clips, but they never let it stay more than 5 minutes.  I'll keep trying though, hoping that the more I do it, the more they'll get used to it.

Samantha is getting better at her colors, and she loves to use crayons, the more the better, and especially with her hat on.  Yes, they both seem to prefer their right hands.  Dave is still holding on to hope because they won't necessarily settle on a hand preference for a few more years.

Samantha is obsessed with shoes!  She loves to put them on and I can't believe she could actually walk around in these big snow boots but she does.  She brings me my slippers, even if I don't ask her to, and when we met the characters from PBS she kept pointing at their shoes.  She's got my big feet, so I guess she can accessorize them to 'own their bigness'.

Dave took the girls to a trampoline playhouse in Durham and apparently everyone had a blast!  They were a little skittish at first, but quickly began to explore and run amok, especially once the big kids left.  I see some future gymnasts!

Dave said they were exhausted and very happy.

Samantha is our little smush, giving kisses and hugs when you don't ask for them.  She just seems to know when you want one.  We just hope that she will one day realize that sometimes the reason I am in need of a hug is because of her inability to take no for an answer. :-)  The girls also like to snuggle in bed like big girls.  We're being hopeful that this is a good sign they will want to transition to a big girl bed.  For now, sweet dreams!  Our next entry will be their birthday, 2 years old!

PBS and the museum

Today it was a very good thing we had extra help.  Characters from the girls' favorite TV show, SuperWhy, were at the Marbles Kids museum and boy was the museum crowded!  As soon as Samantha saw Rita Roo she got excited and kept calling out her name.  Catherine was a little more timid, approaching only when Rita Roo wasn't facing her.  Then suddenly she went right over there and posed like this:

So after that she was so excited I had to distract her so other kids could get in.  I said "Hey, let's go meet SuperWhy!" and she ran right up and got to be first in line.  Samantha was very interested in the character's shoes, probably because she had never seen ones that big before.  But the stinker wouldn't pose.  No, our sweet little girl just kept giving them hugs.

Then we went through the rest of the museum and played around.  We walked the plank, tried to slide down the stairs that should have, in Catherine's opinion, been a slide, played with blocks and lincoln logs and fairy wings, and had an exhausting time.

So much fun!  We had a wonderful time and we have more pictures to post soon.  We've been playing with hats and sunglasses and crayons.

The beach in January

That's right folks, the beach in January.  I was so excited to get there and it was a perfect day.  The girls didn't run towards the water nearly as much as they usually do when wearing the appropriate clothing and, amazingly, didn't get upset when they weren't allowed in. We did take them to the indoor pool the next day to make up for it.  They love it!  Their most favorite part is jumping into our arms.  Poor Catherine gets so cold that we take her over to the hot tub.  I sit on the edge with my feet in and she sits on my lap.  Just the steam is enough to warm her up and I splash some warm water onto her suit and she stops shivering.  I would say she really needs some meat on her bones but I have a feeling that she's just like me and is always going to be chilly.

Drawing with shells.

Oh the talking going on in this house!  Catherine tries so hard to say everything you do.  Samantha does too if you ask her, and when she does talk she is so serious about what she says.  Catherine, on the other hand, runs color commentary to herself.  We're also so proud of all the new things they can do since Christmas.  They can go up and down the stairs without help (downstairs makes us so nervous but they insist on trying), they point to all the correct letters when you ask and they can name them too, and their attempts to draw straight lines with crayons are getting better.  They love to color and often do it with both hands.  Samantha is mostly right handed and Catherine mostly left handed, but often Catherine will color with both simultaneously.  

Sea foam!  It must be the little Mermaid.

We pretend cook and eat, shaking and stirring in ingredients, rolling and cutting cookie dough, and they make the silliest slurping noises.  More and more they play with each other, read to each other, get each other toys, and one of their favorite things still is to chase each other around the house.  They make us smile and laugh more and more every day!

Christmas 2012

Yes, this was our tree.  We were going to Nana and Grandpa's and didn't want the fuss of a tree this year, so we got out my Gram's LED tree and got a wreath and brightened the house up.  Every time we turned it on the girls would say "Oh WOW!"

We couldn't believe how generous everyone was for Christmas and the girls had a blast playing with their new toys and seeing family.  It was a wonderful break, we wouldn't have changed a thing!

This is our new kitchen set that fits INSIDE our new tent!  It is 5 feet tall and Mommy and Daddy can lay down inside it.

Mmmmm!  Ice cream is so yummy, especially when shared with Grandpa.

Nana helped us play with Heidi, she's still a little too strong for us to play tug of war by ourselves.

We went to the park with Aunt Mary Anne and got to play on the slide, one of our favorite things.  We also got to wear our new hats, which are so cool!  Mommy has a matching one, too.

Samantha was chillin' in the car on the way home from visiting more family in Wilmington.

Then we came home, relaxed, and went to the science museum, woo hoo!

This is one of our favorite exhibits; the sound garden, where we get to bang on all sorts of things and make lots of noise.

There's a butterfly on my jacket!

Bye bye, see you soon!

Thanksgiving weekend

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend with our family in Fayetteville.  The girls were on their best behavior, though they didn't eat a whole lot of turkey and potatoes.  

After Thanksgiving we went to Nana and Grandpa's house.  Catherine helped Grandpa do yard work, raking pine straw and putting it where it belonged by the flowers.  She's such a good helper!

We danced and sang and laughed.

We tried on new hats.

We went to the aquarium.  The girls had their first boat ride on the ferry.  It was a lot of fun, but so windy that they preferred to be inside jumping off of the seats.  They both had a blast at the aquarium, I didn't think they could go through there so quickly, but they did it looking at every tank and saying 'oh wow!' or 'fish!' and then moving on.  Their words are starting to come fast and furious now.  Catherine asks 'where are you?' and they tell Heidi to sit and stay.

Megalodon is so big and we are so small.

We practiced our dribbling skills.  Catherine is going to be a point guard and Samantha is going to be a soccer star.  They will both be architects too.  They've already started making Duplo towers with Grandpa.

We're looking forward to a wonderful holiday season!