Aunt Manda's Spring Break

Aunt Amanda came to visit us during her Spring Break for 7 fah-bu-lous days!

Of course, we went to the SC Aquarium (thanks to Grandpa's gift of a membership), and the twins played in the "boat" for a few minutes.

We also went to The Little Gym (http://www.thelittlegym.com/), which usually Chance only attends while Grace is at Mother's Morning Out, but because Amanda was with us, Grace could go too! (At their age, one adult must be present with each child.) But Grace also has her own fun activity: she goes to Kindermusik on Thursdays while Chance is at Mother's Morning Out.

Notice that we're all wearing green because we went on St. Patrick's Day!

One night, we dressed both babes in their monkey pajamas (given to them by Aunt JuJu/Julie). Chance and Amanda ate dinner together, then the kiddos played and goofed around till bedtime.

What a comedian!

The next morning, Grace woke up early but then wanted to go back to sleep--which she enjoyed with Aunt Amanda!

Oh, how we wish Aunt Amanda lived nearby. We miss her very much!

Biting

The twins used to play well in a crib together, making each other laugh (which we captured at length with our video camera--too long to post on this blog), but recently, Chance has started biting Gracie's finger. In his defense, we think she started this behavior by putting her finger in his mouth (which she likes to do with everyone), but then today Mommy noticed Chance pulling her finger to his mouth--OH MY! Mommy caught them doing both in this video.

Happy Easter!

The twins, Mommy, and Daddy enjoyed a trip to the Lowman Home for Easter, where we not only attended the Easter Sunday service to celebrate the resurrection of our Savior, but also sat with Grandad and Grandma Baumgartner during the service! The twins received a blessing from the pastor during Communion, and Grace waved and said "bye-bye" to everyone who passed by our pew as they returned to their seats following Communion. (After she took a nap on Daddy's lap during the sermon, she was in a quite a good mood.)

Grace, who only fit into a 9-mo dress instead of a 12-mo, wore a necklace given to her by Aunt Patricia (for her baptism) and a large bow in the little bit of hair she has. Neither she nor Chance liked wearing shoes very much but endured it nonetheless.

Daddy and Grace both wore seersucker.

Our photo prop came from the table decoration at the Lowman Home.

The twins played with Aunt Carla back at the guest house after lunch.

Chance's First Haircut

Daddy and Chance got haircuts about a week ago. Chance's first time getting an official trim with a hairdresser (at 11 mos old, the hair on the back of his head was beginning to hang over his shirt), he was less than impressed. As you can see from the photos--and especially in the VIDEO below--he quickly realized that this was an experience he did NOT enjoy! But his haircut makes him look very handsome (in Mommy's biased opinion). :)

Grace Spectacular

Grace now loves to clap. So adorable! :)

Grace is still our little gymnast, as seen in how she likes to climb through her carseat in this video.

This week, the play area at the mall was miraculously EMPTY, so the twins played for about 20 minutes. Grace loved crawling through the "log" tunnel and onto this clock, but Chance kept trying to crawl out of the play area to the electronic kiddie ride--that boy wants ACTION!

Pickles and Gracie's Animal Sounds

Chance and Grace by made messes while "eating" pickles this morning. Now their hands are somewhat green, and they'll smell like pickles all day. But when you have twins, you do whatever it takes to entertain!

This morning, Mommy also finally videoed Gracie making animal sounds. She says "cocka" for "cockadoodledoo" when asked "What does a rooster say?" Yes, we know that it's essentially "poop" in Spanish, so Daddy is teaching her to say "poo poo" after "cocka." She also says "woof woof" when asked "What does a dog say?" but you may not be able to hear it very well on the video. She started clapping the Fri. before last. She claps quite often now, esp. to "Patty Cake"; last night, because she didn't want to go to sleep, she sat up, turned to face Mommy, clapped, and said "cocka!"

Sippy Cup and Standing

Well, Chance ended up with the flu too, though it was short-lived. Unfortunately, it restarted his "gastrointestinal issues" and thus hasn't been sleeping well (and neither have Mommy and Daddy). We discovered that Grace is slightly anemic (probably from breast milk, though she only received about 50% in these last couple of months). Her sickness has turned into a bit of upper-respiratory illness, but she seems to be feeling well nonetheless. In fact, she started using her sippy cup correctly this week (i.e., she actually drinks from it)--and she's very PROUD of it! See picture and VIDEO below.

Both Chance and Grace are standing by themselves already (without any assistance or props), but neither of them have taken any steps. Mommy is probably the only mother alive who is NOT in a hurry for her kids to walk; after all, it's challenging enough to keep up with twins who crawl in opposite directions! :)