Orock Obama!!

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Fall Fun!!!

Hello, Mommy has been a really bad blogger, but we have more adventures to tell you about. GnG are sooo big now and taking in so much around them. We try to get them to experience something new every weekend. This weekend was full of fun. On Saturday we went to the Taste of Bethesda, a huge outdoor festival with lots of good food, activities for kids and entertainment. GnG enjoyed the African Drummers and the Irish dancers. Grant even got on stage and danced and Irish Jig. On Sunday we went to the Elioak Farm to pet the animals, enjoy a hayride and play in the various play areas. We had a ball and the weather was perfect. GnG were amazed they could get so close to the animals. Here are some pics from our weekend.

19 Months!!

Dear GnG, Mommy has been really, really bad, I'm so sorry I haven't written to you in several months. Well, happy 19 months! The last few months have been truly amazing, you are so grown now and I just love to watch you grow. I don't even know where to start. You both have grown so much in so many ways.

Grant, people always say you're a happy baby, I agree, you have the best smile and you're so huggable and kissable :-). Where do I start with you, lets start with vocabulary, you say so much now and you even said your first sentence at 17-months. You said "share car" to Gabby, you like to tell her to share, but in your mind share means "I'm taking your toy, you've been warned." Your vocabulary is phenomenal...you're saying at least 20 words loud and clear and you even count from 1-12 with great clarity. Recently you've begun to say Gabby, you love to tell her to stop, and it's so cute. You're acting like a big brother already. We go to the playground several times a week and your favorite thing to do is to walk up the slide and slide back down. At the library you're a hit, the librarian has begged us to come back for story time just so they can see you dance in front of the class. You have no problem making friends and you get along with kids of all ages. I'm so surprised to see how well you play with older kids.

At your last appointment, you weighed in at 26 pounds and 34 inches. You look like such a big boy now. I'm just amazed at how fast you're growing. You love to dance and you love to run, run, run...it's so cute, your run is more of a skip sometimes, I don't know where you got that from, but I love it. You're lovable and huggable, but getting you to sit down and cuddle is really hard to do...Your daddy and I really cherish the moments you sit in our lap quiet and still. I love to feel the heat from your little head on my chest. It feels so good to hold you close for more than a minute.

We love you Granty G!!! You're an amazing boy.

My dear Gabba Gabba, my little lady, you are so loving, cuddly, beautiful and passionate. You have grown so much. Your vocabulary gets better every day; I would say you're saying a good 10 words with good clarity. Your absolute favorite word is Elmo. Upon awakening your first thought seems to be Elmo. Once you said Elmo 100 times in a row (okay, maybe not 100 times, but close to it). You're a VERY picky eater, it's frustrating because one day you absolutely LOVE something and the next day you hate it. You are still a featherweight, at your last visit to the pediatrician you only weighed in at 19 pounds and 31 inches.

Ever since your super bowl walk you haven't sat down. Your new found independence has really gone to your head :-). You hate to sit in the stroller and you hate to hold my hand when I let you walk. This my dear has made outings extremely difficult for us. You are very passionate; you throw a tantrum like nobody's business. Don't get me wrong, you're a doll 98% of the time, but you know how to let us know you're not happy. Well, I guess I don't blame you. Grant likes to take your toys all the time, so I think I'd be upset too. You LOVE the playground, especially the swings. I was so surprised to see how outgoing you are on the playground; initially you were more outgoing than Grant. You don't really like the library, but you love it when they blow bubbles. You are such a character...you have this face, we call it the "evil eye", basically you screw up your face and look at us as if you're saying "what is wrong with you!!!" It is sooooo funny! You also have this smile that is hilarious; I have a couple shots of you showing your pearly whites below.

You're a wonderful little girl, I love being your momma and I love it when we cuddle. Love, your momma :-)

Addicted...

This past weekend I had a "girls weekend" with some old roomies from college. I had a great time, but I missed GnG so much. While enjoying a night out with my friends, I got a text from Chris with the above picture attached. My heart literally melted. I wanted to go home immediately to hug my babies. I'm so addicted to GnG.

Gender Differences...Innate or Learned? That Is The Question.

I have a very unique opportunity to raise a boy and a girl at the same time, so I often wonder how much my beliefs of how girls should act versus boys impact how their personalities will develop. I try to treat them the same, but I find that Gabrielle is a lot clingier than Grant. Is she clingy because I treat her more gently because she is smaller and female? Is Grant more outgoing and active because I encourage him to be more independent? This is all food for thought.

An interesting thing happened recently that supports that gender differences are innate and biological. GnG recently participated in a research study looking at their ability to imitate behavior seen in a video. The video demonstrated how to put a rattle together and shake it. Grant didn't quite get it right, but he came very close. Gabrielle put it together perfectly and even shook it afterwards. The researchers said they weren't surprised, because the girls in their age group usually get it right. Who knew?!

So, gender differences are both innate and learned, I just need to make sure I do my best to provide them with a wide range of experiences so they can be well rounded children, at least that is my hope.

P.S. Photos courtesy of Aunty Colleen and her new camera.

Little People

GnG, Happy Valentines day. You two have filled my heart with so much love. I can't believe how fast time flies. You are now little people with your own little personalities. It's so hard for me to believe that you just came into this world a little over a year ago. You're now 15 months old and you do so much already.



Grant you are amazing in so many ways. You've been walking for 5 months now and you just started to climb onto EVERYTHING. This is a little scary for me, but I know you're having a ball. You love to run and somehow you learned how to skip. I don't know who taught you to do this, but it's the cutest thing ever. You LOVE to dance, especially to the 5 little monkeys song. You also like to hum to your favorite songs, like twinkle, twinkle little star, the itsy bitsy spider and the 5 monkeys. You love to count, especially as we go up and down the stairs. You favorite number to say is TWO. You say it with such great enunciation. In addition to saying two, you love to say shoes, juice, cup, and car and make animal noises like moo and grrrrr for most other animals. You love to pretend to read and you are always bringing books to mommy and daddy to read to you. I love that you like books. You're still not into cuddling, but you've grown fond of your blanket. You hold that thing like it is your best friend. You love to play and you love to tackle your sister. You love her, even though you treat her rough. I catch you giving her kisses all the time, even though you have to tackle her to the floor to get the kiss. At your 15 month visit to the Pediatrician you weighed in at almost 24 pounds and you have approximately 11 or 12 teeth. I can't get a good count since you won't let me close to your mouth. I love you soooo much.



My dear Gabby, you are the most precious little girl ever. You're still very petite and so sweet. You're becoming quite a daddy's girl these days too. I see how you light up when you see him. You're also very fond of your brother, I see you look at him with adoration. You seem so thoughtful beyond your years. You've been walking for almost 2 weeks now; you made your big walk debut on Super bowl Sunday. I will forever remember that moment. I'm so glad we caught it on tape. You're walking very well and sometimes you try to run to keep up with your brother. You and Grant are so much alike, I guess that makes sense considering you are together ALL the time. You also love to dance and sing. You have the coolest dance that I’m still trying to get on tape. You spin around like a windmill on your knees. It looks painful to me but you do it with such ease. You also love to count as we go up and down the stairs; your favorite number to say is seven. You say by bye, Di da (thank you), mama, dada, ook (book) and juice. You love to talk; I think you just like making new sounds. At your last appointment you weighed in at 18 pounds 2 ounces and you now have 8 teeth and 3 molars coming in. You're not a happy teether by the way. I love you my Gabba Gab.

Walk, Climb, Pull, Tear, Destroy......

These are the days I was warned would come, the days that their goal would be to seek and destroy. I can't take my eyes off them for one second. Now that Gabby is walking Grant has decided he has to do even more than the usual walk. He only runs now and he also climbs. Today I left them in their playroom for just one minute, when I returned I found Grant sitting on the bed. He pulled one of his toys close to the bed and used it as a stool. How clever for him and scary for me. What am I going to do?!! Please pray for us :-).




They both have mischeif written all over their face in this pic.

Super Walk

Superbowl Sunday was more than just a game day, it was the day that Gabby took her longest walk ever. We had some friends and family over to watch the game and Gabby decided this was her moment to shine. Before this day she had taken no more than 5 to 6 steps; but on this day she pretty much walked across the room. She has been walking ever since. We are so excited...you can tell from all the howling and cheering in the video :-).

Jelly In The Belly? I Think Not!

We've been testing new snacks lately and here are pictures from the day we had jellied crackers. GnG really enjoyed this treat, can't you tell by the mess?!

Happy New Year!

New Years has always been bittersweet for me, I just don't like saying goodbye. But instead of looking back and feeling sad about saying goodbye to the year, I looked back on what a great year it has been, especially with GnG.

This year started off really tough with two newborns. There were many sleepless nights, lots of poopy diapers(we still have these), tons of bottles to sterilize, struggles with breast feeding and pumping, extra weight, and the list goes on..... While that time was very difficult, I have no regrets. Every sleepless night was worth it. My precious babies are growing so fast and I'm enjoying every minute. I look forward to the year ahead for all that GnG will learn to do, say, etc.

I have so many people to thank for all they did to help us make it through this year. You know who you are :-). Here are some of my favorite pics of the year.

We've Been Elfed!

Click this link:
http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=1529272625

Boys Will Be Boys...

Grant is all boy. He is rambunctious, strong, outgoing, curious, fearless and loving all at the same time. He loves to play rough, for example, he loves for us to give him a little push so he falls to the floor. Okay, that sounds really bad, but it's not :-). Just a little push and he will burst out in laughter and fall to the floor. Thank God he has a nice fluffy butt to fall on.

Recently he has started to engage Gabby in his roughhousing. He usually grabs her from behind and takes her to the floor. She used to cry, but I think she likes it now. Grant was caught in the act...here are some shots.

Coming Soon.....Another Walker!!!

New flash!!! Last week Gabrielle took her first step. Yippeeeee!! She has been "pretend walking" on her knees for several weeks now and every once in a while she stands up for brief moments. Poor little princess is afraid of falling. Well tonight she took 3 steps!!!! She was so excited! I'm sure the weeks to come will be very interesting for Lil Miss Gabby.

Stay tuned....

Rock Star Babies

GnG are huge fans of music, so several months ago my mom bought them a pretty nice electronic keyboard. Yes, I know...way too advanced for GnG, but we occasionally allow them to play with it….Supervised of course. If unsupervised I fear the keyboard would just be keys scattered around the room. Tonight they seemed bored, so we pulled it out and this is what transpired. The video is a little dark, but still cute..Enjoy!

Hump Day Cuties.....

Gabby doesn't like it when I comb her hair..check out the look on her face below. She appears to be thinking "Why! mommy, why!?"

Grant, looks so relieved that he is no longer tortured by the big bad comb.

Black Friday Cuties...

The day after Thanksgiving is known as "Black Friday" because it marks the beginning of the holiday shopping season. Well, being the adventure seekers we are, we actually set out on a trip to the mall, not for the sales, but for a much needed hair cut for Grant. Today was the day that Grant got his very first hair cut. We have been debating how to go about this for several weeks, so we finally decided to let the professionals do the job. We went to Cartoon Cuts since they specialize in kids. Grant screamed bloody murder through the entire cut. It was very difficult to see. We intended to simply even out his fro, but it turned into a full blown cut. I must admit I miss the fro already, but I know it will grow back soon enough. Grant looks like such a big boy now. Here are some pics of his new coif. Also below watch a great video of GnG singing a tune :-). The cuteness factor is off the charts.