Monday, January 3, 2011

10 months!


I am in awe when I think about how much both of you have grown and changed over the past month. You truly are little sponges absorbing everything around you. I love you more with each and every day and it was such a blessing to have 2 weeks off of work over the holidays to be able to spend so much quality time with both of you!

You both started saying “Dada” about 3 weeks ago. Daddy said that is all that he wanted for Christmas so we had been practicing a lot. You both over delivered and gave Daddy his Christmas gift about 2 weeks early :) You both occasionally say “Mama” but I’m not sure it is in reference to me. Lexi – you actually say “NaNa” to me a lot, but I’m not sure if that’s what you are calling me or if it means that you are hungry :)

You are both unstoppable and you are in to EVERYTHING. We had to do some major babyproofing within the last month. You are such quick crawlers now and are pulling up on everything and reaching for everything – especially things that you aren’t supposed to have. Breakables have been moved to higher shelves or into the basement, cabinet locks have been installed, or “Kenzie & Lexi friendly” items (i.e. Tupperware) have been moved to accessible shelves and cabinets. I read in one of my Twin books that multiples often require a higher level of babyproofing (i.e. “multiples-proofing”) because they constantly have a partner in crime there to conspire with – and we are definitely starting to see this play out.

You have both become such wonderful little eaters over the past few weeks, and love trying new and different finger foods. Among your favorites right now are quesadillas, grilled cheese, meatballs, and polenta. We are going through a bit of a “teething” explosion at the moment and you both have multiple teeth that are about to pop through. Kenzie – right now you have 3 teeth on the bottom and one up top with several more about to come through. Lexi – you have 2 on the bottom and 2 up top, but it looks like 4 more are about to show up.

Kenzie – You are our little risk-taking explorer. You are constantly testing the limits and don’t quite understand the meaning of “no” yet (or choose to ignore us). You are constantly crawling over to play with Tobi’s food and water bowls or the laptop cord, etc. Your favorite thing (besides dancing) continues to be taking things out … and you are constantly looking for new places to do this …. Diapers out of the diaper caddy, tupperware out of the cabinet, etc. While it took you a lot longer to start crawling, we think you may be the first to walk. You are very steady on your legs and can stand unsupported for up to 20 seconds. You are very brave and are always seeking to try new things – like crawling through the tunnel that you got for Christmas. While you are very laid back and more passive, you can also be very sly – like when you quickly snatch whatever your sister is playing with or grab her hairbow out of her hair. You do it so quickly and nonchalantly that we probably wouldn’t even notice if it weren’t for your sister’s cries. You are going through a phase where you love to “test” everything with your tongue – the glass on the back door, the stainless steel of the fridge, the stone of the fireplace hearth, the fuzzy textures in your touch & feel books, even Tobi’s nose! You are so huggable and love to giggle. We love you oh so much!

Lexi – You are our thinker and more of a calculated risk-taker. You seem to understand what “no” means – you used to get upset when we said it to you or your sister, but now you seem to be learning from Kenzie that the limits can be tested. You will follow Kenzie to Tobi’s bowls or into whatever mischief she seems to be getting into. Your favorite things to do are looking out the window and climbing. You love exploring things by watching them intently. You also love to climb – you will climb up onto your new chair, over the arms onto your sister’s chair and up onto the couch – and then you will slither your way back down head first. You also love to climb through the different shelves on the kitchen island and up onto the dishwasher door whenever it is opened. While you are very good at walking with your push toy, I think you are a bit more timid to try standing or walking without holding onto something. You also DO NOT like your tunnel at this point in time. In general, I think you like to be very certain about something before you try it. You love to be picked up, and will frequently follow me around and pull yourself up to standing while holding onto my legs (while I am making dinner, doing the dishes, etc.) asking to be picked up. Your hair continues to be wild and crazy - Uncle Andy actually gave you some natural baby styling gel for Christmas and even that can't tame it. I love it! Your smile is contagious – there is nothing better than to see your entire face light up when we come into the room. We love you to the sky & back!

My heart is overflowing. I am so lucky to be your mommy. I can’t believe that in 2 short months you will be one year old! xoxo

Sunday, January 2, 2011

the watcher & the dancer

Mom gave me a book for Christmas titled "The Wonder of Girls - the world through a girl's eyes" and in it there is a quote by Louise Glueck that says, "Of two sisters, one is always the watcher, one the dancer." Lexi has always been our watcher, studying everything so intently…




... and over the holidays Kenzie has emerged as our dancer.

It started when Randall was playing music on his iPad, and Kenzie began swaying back and forth while holding on to our coffee table. She was quickly encouraged by all of the attention and praise that she was getting (from her parents, her aunt & uncle, and Omi) and began dancing more vigorously – shifting her weight from one foot to another. Then in mid dance Kenzie lowered herself to a squatting position and Aunt Inken sang, “She hit the floor, next thing you know... Shorty got low low low low low low low low.” We all started laughing and of course this further encouraged her. The entire week, whenever we would sing, ”Shorty got low…” Kenzie would lower herself to the ground and grin up at us. She is quite the ham! Now, whenever there is any semblance of music … someone humming, a jingle in a commercial, a musical toy, etc. Kenzie immediately starts dancing no matter where she is – in her crib, her high-chair, her car seat, mid crawl. She is a dancing machine!

Here is a little clip of Kenzie dancing while eating.


I love my watcher & my dancer! I love how different they are, but at the same time how they like to mimic one another. They keep us laughing constantly. In the same book I mentioned above there is a quote from US Today, which says, “The average child laughs 400 times per day. the average adult 15 times... What happened to the other 385 laughs?” I can tell you that Kenzie and Lexi increase our daily laughs well above the adult average. We are so lucky!

Saturday, January 1, 2011

happy new year!


Goodbye, 2010! Hello, 2011! 2010 was an amazing year and I can't wait to see what 2011 has in store for us. I am anticipating great things!


Kenzie & Lexi gave us a great New Years Eve gift by BOTH sleeping through the night for the very first time! We moved Lexi back into the nursery in anticipation of our Christmas visitors so that we could actually use the guest room as a guest room, and they have been doing so well. The first few nights, while they would wake one another up, I think they were actually comforted knowing that the other was nearby. And now (for the most part) they are able to sleep through the other ones cries.


Here's to K&L's New Year Resolution to make it a habit to BOTH sleep through the night! Happy 2011 to all!