Latest Happenings

This will be a long post, as usual, since we have three months of updates to go through. Luckily, since the twins are now officially two, the rate of development is slowing (though sometimes, like with coherent language development, it can't happen fast enough for us).

Thanksgiving

We went to the Outerbanks for Thanksgiving this year with Mike's extended family. JJ and Alexis had a lot of fun playing on the beach... even if it was pretty cold. They played in the Atlantic for the first time (though not on purpose: while trying to get some photos for our christmas card, a wave came up and knocked them both over and promptly ended the not-so-successful shoot). They also got to meet their second cousins, and enjoyed following 6 year old Shaun around. Shaun was fond of getting them to try to say the word "vegetable" since at that time it came out like "Bee-ball". The twins were fond of poking Shaun's nose. The house we stayed at had a sound-proof media room equipped with two extra-long raised sofas. It was where we spent most of our time, as we could keep the twins' corralled there and, more importantly, not bother the other guests!

Christmas

This year (2009) was the twins' first Christmas in Utah. And it was, sadly, our last "free" flight with them. All-in-all Alexis has been on 9 flights in her first two years, while JJ logged 8 (as I took Alexis with me to visit my sister Heather when she had her baby boy Travis). Now that we'll have to pay for 4 seats (plus have a new lap child in a few months), we'll likely be traveling less--much to my chagrin! Christmas was especially fun this year since JJ and Alexis could really enjoy sledding and walking around in the snow... They loved it (JJ more than Alexis). The snowsuits my parents bought them last March still fit them (they are little munchkins), so they were always kept warm. One highlight was going with my entire family to the Utah Zoo one evening. The Zoo was all lit up for Christmas and we found a little playground that they could play with their cousin Devin at. The playground had an extra-long enclosed slide. Since they were wearing their snowsuits, it had the effect of minimizing the friction on the slide... causing them to literally propel down the slide while laying on their backs. At first their squeals seemed to indicate extreme fear, but we realized they may be future x-gamers when they clamored back up the stairs for another ride again, and again, and again. We also took them to see the lights at temple square and we wish we remembered the video camera because we've never seen them so happy for so long, even though it was below freezing. They definitely had the Christmas spirit.

2nd Birthday

They turned 2 on January 23rd and since we don't celebrate much of anything... I baked them very mundane individual cakes, which they didn't eat much of. We're learning that JJ has much more of a sweet-tooth than Alexis. They both are good about not over-eating sweets, but Alexis is just fine with a taste and really doesn't care much for chocolate--not sure how she could be my child! JJ was pretty efficient at blowing out his candles, but even though Alexis has learned to scream at the top of her lungs, she really wasn't able to focus that lung-energy at her cake. The next day, we had their "play-date" friends (and my "play-date friends") come over for cupcakes and pizza (and football). They had a lot of fun and Alexis did a little better (with some help from Claire) blowing out her candles.

Other Things

JJ started calling Alexis "Dee Dee" a few months ago and it's stuck. So even though he is capable of saying "exis" now, he chooses to keep the nickname Dee Dee. They have developed more language, but it's not articulate nor expansive. They are two, after all. I have started noticing that they understand a lot more spanish than I thought they did, and are even using their sign language as a bridge to communicate. So they'll use the ASL sign for both "thank you" and "gracias" or "milk/leche" or "please/por favor". But while they are definitely making strides on verbal communication, nothing compares to how good they are at whining. It's pretty amazing (and infuriating).

They still love going for walks and for a while I was able to leave the stroller at home while we walked around the neighborhood. Then they decided to consistently run in separate directions. Additionally, Alexis decided that our "hold hands to cross the street rule" included just her and JJ holding hands: no adult needed. So now I bring the stroller and buckle them in if they don't follow the rules. It's a great deterrent--so i don't see us giving up the stroller anytime soon. And since #3 is on her way, I'm looking into trading our Bob in for a triple.

Speaking of #3.. it is a girl and we're thinking about the name Samantha, though Mike prefers the name Hannah. We have a few more months, so we'll see. The pregnancy's been really good so far and in fact, until I started getting markedly larger about a month ago, both Mike and I would literally go days forgetting that we were going to have a third. But she kept growing and started kicking in force, so now I can't go one hour without forgetting. We think she'll do just fine making her place in our family.

Finally, we took the plunge and bought a minivan. We tried really hard to avoid it, but since we'll have three carseats and a triple stroller, there really weren't many other options, esp. since I didn't want a mammoth Suburban or Yukon XL. We figure we'll use the minivan for a couple of years until JJ and Alexis are onto boosters, then we'll go with a three row crossover. We can't wait!

Three months of photos and videos are on dropshots now... we don't take as many anymore so it's not that bad!