Snow, 1*, and Walking

JJ and Alexis are now one-year-adjusted (03-16).  A number of other NICU families we know had  "adjusted" birthday celebrations and since on their actual birthday we celebrated rather lamely, we decided to bake them cakes and have a very last-minute and casual party. We're grateful to JJ and Alexis' friends that came on such short notice!  They definitely seem more like one-year olds now than they did two months ago.  Many people don't understand the "adjusted" lingo and mindset, but for us thinking of them as their adjusted-age has been very helpful.  We're glad to be through the first year--they've come a long way from their tiny 4.5 and 3.25 lbs selves!

We headed to Utah earlier in the Month and had so much fun.  JJ and Alexis went snowshoeing (albeit in backpacks) and sledding for the first time and Mike and I got to spend a couple of days sans babies up in Park City.  We lucked out on weather--one day we skied it was in the 40s and crystal clear, the next day was a 2-foot blizzard.  Both days were awesome--we'll definitely be doing yearly trips to Utah in March.  JJ and Alexis seemed not to care very much that we weren't around for a couple of days--they had a lot of fun with their grandparents, aunts and uncles and cousins!  We already scheduled our next trip for Memorial Weekend--we can't wait!

Well.. it finally happened.  They're both walking.  Alexis has been taking steps for well over a month, but the past couple of days just decided that it's not that big of deal after all.  Yesterday she perfected the sit-to-stand.  I swear she would just fall down on purpose to practice more.  JJ isn't walking as well yet, he's taken 4-5 steps but prefers to use his walking toys.  They're all over the place now and we can tell that they really enjoy each others' company more and more as they get older.  A few toy fights have happened so far, but still they seem just to move on very quickly.  Recently, as Alexis has been practicing walking, she grabbed JJ's shirt to steady herself (he was using a walking toy) and they walked around the kitchen like that with JJ holding a toy, Alexis holding JJ and occasionally JJ stopping to swat at the back of his head since Alexis would occasionally pet his hair as they walked.  

They're also both very verbal although they're not speaking too many real words yet (at least not audibly).  They do like to mimic each other and us.  They're finally learning how to go down the stairs backwards but they don't seem to have safety as a high priority :).

We're also working on eliminating bottles--this is a slow and torturous process, the whole bottle-vs.-sippy debate makes as much sense as all the other parenting dilemmas. 

All the Utah and 1* Party pics and videos are uploaded onto Dropshots now.