Playing together VIDEOS

Chance and Grace are really enjoying each other now, as you can see from these videos of them playing on our bed after bathtime. (Finally, the benefits of twins are showing! All of those sleepless nights were/are worth it . . . :-)

Fangs and the Water Bowl

During the second week of January, Gracie started growing her "fang" teeth. We've been trying to get a good photo and snapped one last night after her bath, though the pic is still kind of far away. Another pic is below, but you can only see the L "fang" tooth.



They really needed baths last night after they splashed in the dogs' water bowls--of course, they had a fantastic time getting soaking wet. Be sure to watch the short VIDEOS below too, esp. Gracie's response to the water getting in her mouth.

BUSTED!


Chance joined the fun:

New House

Today, we visited the new house to try out paint swatches. (We don't close until Feb. 14, but we've been able to go inside regularly.) The twins crawled around everywhere, enjoying the free space to roam. BTW, yes, that's Chance sucking on a pacifier now--we don't know why a 9-month-old suddenly decides to use a pacifier; perhaps twins learn these things from each other. Grace has taken a paci since birth, and they do copy each other regularly. Their interaction is wonderful to watch!

They both really liked the doorstop, of course.
We tried to coax them down the hall to pick out their bedrooms (behind Daddy), but instead, Grace crawled toward the master bedroom. Hmmm . . . that wasn't an option, Grace! :-)

The new house finished on the outside.

Mommy Took a Nap!

Yesterday, for the very first time EVER (well, since the twins were born), Mommy took a NAP during the day while the twins slept. Yes, they slept AT THE SAME TIME for 2.5 hrs. They fell asleep on the way home from Mother's Morning Out (9:30-noon), where they didn't nap, even though they have colds (Mommy does too). And because they aren't using as many bottles, Mommy didn't have to wash bottles during their nap. Of course, Mommy didn't get to take a shower until that evening, but the nap was wonderful, esp. since Daddy was out of town for work and Mommy had been up during the night with them.

9-MONTH WEIGHTS.
At their 9-month check-up on Friday, Jan. 18, the twins WEIGHTS were: Chance: 18.6 lbs.; Grace: 15.5 lbs. (5th percentile). They're healthy and took the shots well, though Chance had a slight fever the next morning.

Mommy somehow accidentally deleted some January photos from our camera's memory card, so we don't have new pictures. But here are pics of our house being built--we will close on Valentine's Day!!

New Year's in Colorado

After less than 48 hrs in Charleston, we left on New Year's Eve for DIA, the flight from Atlanta allowing the four of us (Aunt Amanda, Chance, Grace, and Mommy) a row of seats to ourselves. (Daddy couldn't come because he was working.) We thought it was funny when the steward asked the folks in the row in front of us if they wanted to move to the exit row and they responded with a hearty "yes" before the question was even out. :) During the flight, the babies slept, and Mommy even watched a movie, which she hasn't done since she was 8 months' pregnant! (Not an Oscar-winner, mind you, but a movie nonetheless.)

Grammy Sharon met us at the airport, and somehow we transported everyone--and everyTHING--home by about 1:30 am. The next day, Grammy held a joyful Open House to proudly introduce us to her friends!




Chance loved his Aunt Gill (holding him in the picture above). Aunt Haze (Grammy's sister) also came to the Open House too and met the twins for the first time. (We're so glad you came, Haze!)

After a family Christmas dinner, in which EVERYONE sat at the table AT ONE TIME (including the twins!), we opened Christmas presents. Grace sat on her Uncle Sam's lap to open her gifts, much to her delight.

Grammy showed Chance the snow, which he then wanted to crawl around in (but couldn't because we didn't have a snowsuit).

PHOTO BELOW: Aunt Gill, Chance, and Mommy play on the floor with the two dogs: Jack and Bovril (the latter name comes from a sandwich spread commonly used in South Africa, where Gill is from).

PHOTO: Gill and Sam reading stories to the twins.

Gracie's runny nose -- the twins were pretty "gooey" all week. In Aunt Gill's beautiful South African accent, though, "You have a snotty nose" sounds desireable. :-)

Chance, Aunt Amanda, Aunt Haze, and Mommy had brunch with Aunt Haze before we left town, then toured her offices at the Laser Aesthetics Group (http://www.purplehazelaser.com/).

Grace and Chance "argued" over a cell phone. Grace won, mainly because she yelled louder and Chance gave up.





We visited the Butterfly Pavillion in Westminster, CO, (http://www.butterflies.org/) where Chance and Grace were introduced to Rosie the tarantula -- Mommy, an arachnaphobe, literally stood about 10 feet away and let out a loud "yelp" when the spider neared Grace. We think that Mommy's yell, not the spider, made Grace cry.














Mommy, Chance, Uncle Sam, and Grace watched the release of new butterflies.

Surf and Snow, Same Day

Before Aunt Amanda and Mommy flew to Denver, CO, on New Year's Eve, we went to the beach in Charleston. With temps in the low 70s inland, the beach temps were in the upper 60s, a splendid day for a quick trip to the sand and surf--a first for Chance and Grace! We let the twins feel the sand between their bare toes and touch the cold water too. Later that evening, we saw snow in Colorado . . . icy sidewalks and snow in the neighborhood made stroller rides a bit of a challenge that week! We missed the warm weather. :-)

Christmas in New York (State, Not City)

The twins are now seasoned travelers, at the wee age of only 8 months. We stayed one week celebrating Christmas in Mechanicville (i.e., Albany), New York, at Grandma and Grandpa Boespflug's house. [We flew after 6 pm at night, and the twins essentially slept the whole time. yay!]

Then, Mommy and Aunt Amanda flew with the twins to Parker (i.e., Denver), Colorado, where we spent the first week of 2008 at Grammy Sharon's house--which will appear in the NEXT blog post.

At Grandma and Grandpa's condo in Mechanicville, 9 adults, 2 infants, and 2 dogs stayed together in a 3-bedroom, 2-bath living space--and enjoyed it immensely, believe it or not! :) Here's what happened:

Chance meets his Uncle Matt (Jenny's brother) for the first time!

The brand-new girl cousins meet (though apparently Daddy is entertaining Cousin Shayne off-camera).

Gracie opens her first gift with her Daddy's help.

Aunt Sue helps Chance play with a toy on Christmas (btw, that's Snickers in the foreground, Buddy in the background).


Uncle Bob holds a comedic Chance.



Shayne, 6 mos. old, kisses her Daddy's nose.

Boespflugs and Baumgartners (L-R: Matt, Shayne, Jessica, Jenny, Chance, Eric, Grace, Amanda)

Daddy gives Gracie a taste of his Fuzzy Navel (just kidding)!

The Cousins!

Aunt Jessica, Cousin Shayne, Daddy, and Grace.

Hmmm . . . so, THAT'S where Gracie's hazel-colored eyes came from! :)

Grandma Boespflug holds Grace at the Albany Museum when we stopped for a quick lunch.

Grandpa Boespflug and Chance deep in play in the children's section of the museum.

Chance crawls into the tunnel at the museum.

Chance seems to be exiting the tunnel . . .

. . . not quite. Chance definitely does not want to go all the way through the tunnel. We tried to coax him three times. Maybe Daddy can diagnose this odd behavior.

Daddy wanted this weird picture of his girls with a giant fly at the museum.

Uncle Matt holding both of the baby girls at once--whoa!

Chance trying some of Mommy's ice-cream birthday cake from Cold Stone Creamery (dark chocolate peppermint with marshmallows and nuts and chocolate cake!! Thanks, Manda!!)

VIDEO of Grace and Grandpa on the eve of Mommy's birthday--it's quite a conversation between the two of them. (Mommy was already wearing her PJs, a robe, and was heading to bed: after a gift of a "date night" with Daddy that included dinner at a posh nearby restaurant--the grandparents and Aunt Amanda also babysat the twins--Mommy hoped that sleep would also be a nice gift for her birthday. No such luck.)

At the airport, Grandma and Grandpa make Gracie laugh out loud. :-)