I forgot to mention the other day that we now have a "stander". Lilly has started crawling to things and pulling up on them to standing. It's so funny watching my little girl do that. I don't know if I mentioned earlier this week they went to PT and OT to check for developmental status. They said they were both great for their age, doing just what they expect them to do.(They only expect them to be at 6 months because they were 2 months early.) Alex is starting to try to crawl. He can scoot around a little.

Decorating for Christmas

Julian was a big help hanging the ornaments. He also like being able to climb the ladder.
Attempting to get everyone together. (Notice my foot trying to hold Alex up)
A family of 5's stockings this year.
Lilly attacking Alex. She is all over the place and he actually doesn't care when she climbs over him.

Thanksgiving

We had a great time spending thanksgiving at my family's house in Connecticut. The babies did well being away from home. It is always helpful to have extra adults to hold babies. We did figure out that Lilly hates to drive for long distances. She gets very upset being tied down to her car seat, so we had to stop a couple of times to give her a break. We enjoyed seeing everybody and friends came over to see the babies and Julian. Julian had a great time getting to play with my mom's neighbors twin boys. He played all day long and hated to leave them. I wish we would meet some close friends for Julian to play with here as well. He loves to play with other kids. We had to convince him to leave by telling him his frogs missed him and needed him to feed them.

Once home, it was time to do the unpacking and getting things put back together from being out of town. We put up our christmas trees and Julian did a great job helping mommy hand the ornaments. Now, we are getting ready for Christmas. It will be so exciting to spend christmas with our "big" family this year.

Big Events Today

Today is a milestone. The babies are 8 months old today. They are doing great. Lilly is finally over 13 lbs. That makes mommy so happy. I know it seems small for an 8 month old, but she started at 2 lbs, so we are making good strides. Alexander is over 17 lbs, and a little more needy than his sister. He would be very happy if someone would just hold him and feed him all day long. Lillian is crawling and little independent. She is such a happy baby. Alexander is starting to copy is sister. He gets on all fours and tries, but not quite there yet. They have started to eat solid foods, and actually doing very well with that. So far, we are up to bananas, applesauce, sweet potatoes, and peaches with rice cereal. We just pray this streak continues.

My big boy Julian, lost his first tooth yesterday. Such a big event in his life. He is no longer my baby anymore. The tooth fairy came last night. They leave much more than when I was little. It made me a little sad to see his tooth gone. The baby teeth are on the way out. I also had a great parent teacher conference yesterday. He is doing great, and makes me smile everyday.

At the bird house, Julian raised his hand every time she asked a question, and he got to be the one she demonstrated on. He loved it. Chris and I were wondering where he got his personality trait that is so NOT shy.
So hard to get a natural smile these days.
I love my big boy. Mommy and Julian. It was just he and I for so long.
Posing on the bear statue.
Posing outside the reptile house. Julian's favorite.
Notice he wanted a picture of him with the crocodile behind him.

We had a great weekend this week. Friday, I met Chris at our pediatrician's office because the babies had to get part of their 6 month vaccines and the flu shot. I made him go with me to help, so that both babies could get comforted after the shots. Chris dreaded it all day, and had to sit down while the nurse gave them to the babies. But he got home with me at a regular time which was nice. Saturday, I got out for a little therapy shopping and a trip to target and chick-fil-a. That was the best day for me. Then Sunday, we woke up and got ready to head to Philadelphia. Anne graciously agreed to watch the babies while Chris and I went to the zoo with julian. We had a great time. It was a beautiful sunny day(in the 70's) and Julian got one on one time with both of us at the same time, which is rare these days. He had a great time, and it reminded us how easy a family of 3 was (especially with an independent 5 yr old) We'll take those special moments when we can get them. We then had a great dinner at Anne's and spent some time with Lorena and Joey also.

We are looking forward to Thanksgiving, and then Christmas. So much coming up.

Alex's serious look. He is trying to put this toy in his mouth and getting frustrated.
Going to pick Lilly up after a nap. Makes me so happy to be greeted like that.
Waiting for the bus. Julian's not into pictures anymore.


Well, Lilly has said "da da" I tell chris it is just the next set of sounds that is coming out and she is not using it to directly refer to him. I hate to burst his bubble. They continue to keep progressing and doing new things. I love to go pick Lilly up after a nap or in the morning. She is so happy when she wakes up and just sits there and smiles at you. Alex on the other hand is a little more cranky when he wakes up and wants to be held immediately. Julian continues to amaze us with some of the things he says. I also know more about dinosaurs than I ever thought I would. He even corrects me most of the time with pronunciations of words. Too smart.

Well, Chris comes home late tonight, and we survived another week on our own. We do get into a grove and it does get easier the longer we are by ourselves. With the time change, the babies are ready for bed by 6 and are getting up by 5-5:30 am. As you know, I am not a morning person, so this time is very hard for me. Thank goodness, they are very good in the morning and will play some without being entertained by me the whole time. Night time is still a challenge alone. Getting babies fed and put to bed when they want it at the same time is interesting. Julian really is a big help and does the best he can to help me out during that time. He really is a good big brother and loves Lilly(sister) and Alex.

Both babies are working on crawling. Lilly does a good job of getting to where she wants to go, and Alex is on his way. I am excited because Lilly is finally in 3-6 month clothes. That makes me feel better. Now she just needs some new clothes to fit her slightly bigger size. Alex continues to get bigger by the day. I am just working on getting him used to eating solid foods with a spoon. He is doing much better with that.

Julian is doing great in school. Everyone that talks to him comments on how smart he is. We have our parent teacher conference next week, that will be interesting to see how he does for the teacher.