Packing or Playing?

Thanks for the help packing, Kaden.

One of these things is not like the other...

Notice anything different about these two pictures?  (Besides the fact that our garage door is up?)

The zoo

Last weekend we made a trip to John Ball Zoo.  This was our first trip in 2012- hard to believe!  We waited until August to go (not that we've really had another opportunity) because we could get in for free with our Children's Museum membership.  We love that membership- it has so many perks, and is so much better than a membership to FMG!!  

Kaden of course, loved the zoo and never stopped talking and asking questions the entire time.  The girls did great, too, taking in all of the sights, and they even fell asleep in the stroller from all of the excitement!  We chose the perfect Saturday morning to go; the weather was beautiful- not too hot, sunny, and breezy.  We're thinking we'll make another trip before August is over since it's free fun entertainment! :)

Kaden plays the bongos

Happy girls as we walk around the zoo.  Apparently Makenna decided she wanted to eat her shoe :)

Proof that I actually take part in all of these activities with my kids.  Usually I'm the one behind the camera! :)

All tuckered out.  The girls took a snooze while we ate our picnic lunch :)

Daddy and Kaden taking a break for lunch

Combing the goat's hair

Yee haw!

Little Cubs fans!

Go, Cubs, Go!

Growing up in this household, the girls are destined to be Cubs fans.

I was going through some bins of Kaden's old clothes to take to Once Upon a Child and came across these onesies.  How convenient that there were two of them! Perfect opportunity for a photo shoot! :)

Smiley Makenna

Maya

I love how her blue eyes coordinate so well with the outfit! :)

Trying to get a good shot...

Snack time

Snack time is kind of like feeding animals around here.  Sometimes I put a snack in a bowl for the girls, but it usually ends up just getting spilled or dumped all over the place.  Most of the time I'll just put a bunch of cheerios or puffs on the floor and let them attack.  It works better that way.  And let me tell you- they don't miss a crumb.  Sometimes it feels like we have a dog in the house.  The girls will go on adventures underneath the kitchen table looking for crumbs, and will take care of eating any foreign object on the floor.  If only they were old enough to differentiate between which objects were good to eat, and which ones weren't! :)

Makenna- clearly our messy eater.

Maya- clearly our neater eater.

Early readers

Every morning after I get the girls dressed, they head right to their bookshelf and proceed to pull all of the books down and start looking at them, eating them, throwing them, etc.  All good habits of early readers, right?

Marshmallow painting

Thank you, Pinterest, for giving me good ideas to keep my busy 4 yr old entertained this summer!

Notes from the crib: 10 months

I cannot even believe that my sweet little babes are already 10 months old.  It saddens me how quickly they are growing up!  These little girls melt my heart, make me laugh, and bring so much joy to our family.  I'm so thankful I get to spend everyday with all three of my kiddos!  I'll turn it over to them now...

10 months old!  Maya (L) and Makenna (R)

They don't want to sit anymore, so I gave up and took their pictures standing up :)

Hey, it's me, Maya!

Hey there!  I'm another month older! :)  I'm still a little peanut, and my mom thinks it's just adorable!  We had our 9-month check-up when we were 9 1/2 months, so I'll just give you those stats now.  I weighed in at 16 lbs, 8 oz (19%), I'm 27" tall (20%), and my head circumference falls in the 50th percentile.  Yup, I'm little alright.  Mom isn't used to this, because our brother was always off the charts for his size!  I'm still fitting comfortably in 9-month clothing and 6-12 month stuff, in fact some of it is too big for me.  Mom is planning on my fall wardrobe being 12-18 month size, so she's hoping I grow quickly!  Speaking of quickly, I get all over the place very quickly.  I crawl SO fast, and now I've even started to let go when I'm standing up by things and will stand up unsupported for a few seconds without falling.  I have no fear and will pull myself up on anything.  Most of the time that Mom is near me I pull myself up on her legs and beg to be picked up.  I use Daddy's leg hair to pull myself up on him, but he doesn't appreciate that so much.  Mom guesses that I'll definitely be walking before I'm a year old.  Mom says it would be strange seeing such a little peanut walking around this place! :)  It wouldn't be a typical "notes from the crib" unless I shared that I'm still the feisty one.  Happy or mad and nothing in between, rarely.  I love to eat table food and have really begun to try more foods over the past month.  Mom has been giving us real food for the first time ever.  We still get baby food fruit and rice cereal for lunch and baby food for dinner, but we try lots of table food.  My favorites are peaches, strawberries, cheese, bananas, and bread.  I love to snack on puffs, Cheerios and yogurt bites during the day.  I still drink very well out of my sippy cup.  I only nurse when I wake up, late morning, afternoon and before I go to bed.  We'll be working ourselves into more food and less nursing over the next few months.  Mom says that she'll have to start working out when that happens since feeding us is her workout right now- ha! :) I love our older brother and love to crawl all over him when he plays on the floor with us.  I also love to crawl under the kitchen table and over the bottom of the chairs.  I'm a crazy girl.  Sleeping is still hit or miss these days.  I don't nap for very long.  My morning nap is usually 45 min-1hr, and my afternoon nap is only 30-45 minutes.  I go to bed at 7:30pm, and usually wake up once during the night still.  Mom would really like it if I slept more during the day.  She doesn't get much of a break.

And me... Makenna!

I am irresistibly adorable.  Mom can hardly stand it.  Even though we're identical twins, Mom can easily tell us apart.  She doesn't get how people think we look alike.  I guess she just has that mother's instinct since she spends every.waking.moment with us.  As you can see in the picture, I have more chub going on in my arms.  I'm such an easy-going, content baby.  I hardly want to be held anymore, even though mom tries to squeeze in cuddles whenever she can.  I've even started to show less interest in cuddling when I nurse and will only nurse for a few minutes at a time.  I'm mostly just curious about whatever is going on around me.  You can hear me babble all day long.  I like to say "uh oh" all of the time, Daddy, baba, and sometimes I say Mama!  This makes Mom very happy!  I have the sweetest smile that is very contagious.  Just try not to smile when you look at pictures of me smiling.  Do it.  Now.  See?!?!  I told you you couldn't do it!  I've started really crawling around over the past few weeks.  I've always army-crawled to get where I want to go, but now I actually look like I'm crawling.  I do get frustrated that I can't get around as quickly as my sister can, but she's had more practice than I've had.  I've also just started pulling myself up on things, so just a few weeks behind my sister in that area.  I'm my own person, developing new skills in my time, and Mom is perfectly okay with that! My official stats are 27.75 inches tall (47%), 18 lbs 8oz (51%), and my head circumference is in the 50th percentile.  My sister and I are exactly 2 lbs apart, which has been pretty consistent since we were born.  9-month and 6-12 month clothing fits me perfectly, and I'll probably be in that size for a few more months yet.  I've also enjoyed eating more table foods, just like my sister.  I tend to make more of a mess than my sister when I'm eating.  Mom says that to be honest, sometimes she doesn't want to feed us table food because little pieces of food (some of which stain) end up ALL OVER the place- mostly because there are 2 of us.  However, Mom still gives us plenty of yummy food, and I'm sure we'll be trying a lot more in the next few months.  I, too, love to snack and love it when Mom puts a snack out for us on the floor.  We attack it like seagulls at the Jersey Shore.  If you've been there, you know what that's like.  Your sandwich will be snatched right out of your hand if you're not careful.  I'm getting much bigger, which is noticeable in my car seat.  My legs definitely stick out of the infant carrier, and Mom and Dad hope to graduate us to our Britax carseats when we turn 1, even though we probably could move before then.  Mom is also holding on to the snap and go stroller because it is SO much easier to just snap our carseats in there when we're sleeping and go.  Mom isn't looking forward to having to take us out of our carseat and strap us into a stroller whenever we run errands.  We'll just have to stay home more I guess.  I don't mind staying home, I love playing with my toys, pulling books off of bookshelves, eating everything I see on the floor (even carpet fuzzies!), and playing with my sister and my brother.  I think life is pretty good as a 10-month old!  I'm still in size 3 diapers and will be for awhile, and I sleep better than my sister.  My naps in the morning are usually a good hour, and my afternoon nap is usually longer than my sister's, also.  Mom tries to grab my sister as soon as she wakes up so she doesn't wake me up.  I'm not usually crabby, but if my sister wakes me up before I'm done sleeping, it's not a pretty sight for anyone around me.  I sometimes still wake up once during the night, not always, though.  In fact, I'm sure one of us will be up soon, so we better end this post.

Talk to you next month!  Wonder what new things we'll be doing then! :)