One Year Stats!

At each pediatrician visit, the Dr. fills out a form with each baby's stats and developmental goals.  It always has their age at the top and this one says "1 Year - Hoorah!".  And that is so true!  We made it! 

Owen
Weight - 21 lbs 2 oz (23%)
Height - 29.5 in(38%)

Olivia
Weight - 19 lbs 2 oz (17%)
Height - 28.5 in (29%)

It is so amazing to see that they have quadrupled their birth weights!  Olivia is still too small to move into her next car seat, so we'll work on packing on that last pound!

We are done with bottles, formula and baby food.  They eat what we eat (for the most part) and have really started to enjoy whole milk.  We go through 3 gallons of milk a week in our house, which I never thought was possible considering I don't really drink it!

Owen is cruising around furniture, and walking holding our hands.  He will stand on his own for a few seconds.  He is in constant motion.  His loves lights and ceiling fans, and points them out wherever we go.  Mimi taught him how to turn lights on and off and he loves it!  Since he loves lights, his favorite birthday present is probably his glow worm.  And all of the cars.  He pushes cars around constantly.  Owen has 2 top teeth and 2 bottom teeth, and the doctor mentioned 2 more top on the way. 

Olivia is starting to take more risks.  She does pull up, but doesn't quite cruise around like Owen.  She loves to crawl over and under things, especially her new birthday chair.  She crawls in and out and then dives off the front and starts all over.  Thank goodness, she has yet to get hurt! She loves milk even more than Owen, and will sit and drink an entire cup just like it's a bottle.  She is still the shy one, but is doing better with others.  She cries almost every day when I get home, and I think it's because she realizes that I was gone all morning.  Olivia has 2 top teeth. 

They are still taking 2 naps a day, and have gotten into a pretty good routine.  They sleep around 12 hours per night.  I would say they both sleep through the night 50% of the time.  The other 50%, at least one wakes up.  Since there are no bottles to tempt us with, we have been letting them fuss a little more when they wake up at night.  I always blame teething!

It's amazing that they aren't really babies anymore, but toddlers!  I saw a Mom at the doctor's office today, by herself, with little bitty boy/girl twins.  It seems like just yesterday they were that little!  I did tell her that it gets easier!

Off to work, assist 2 babies who just got 3 shots each, and take care of a sick husband.  Hope the rest of the day is calm and quiet, but I doubt it!

Michael Clarence Manners

Our nephew, Michael Clarence Manners, was born this morning and weighs 8 lbs 10 oz, and is ~22 inches long.  All are happy and healthy.  Congratulations Erica and Luke!  Can't wait to meet the little (big!) guy this weekend!

We're 1! Party edition

1st birthday from Justin Schmidt on Vimeo.

We celebrated the twin's birthday today, of course there was cake.

 And decorations

 And presents from grandparents

 And silly little t-shirts

 And present unwrapping

 And picture posing

 And a new picnic table

 And laughing

 And cuteness

And messy faces

 And frosting

And taste testing

And way more frosting

And a cake race

Even more frosting

You've got to be kidding me

Happy Birthday!

More pictures here.

Bottle free?

Is it true?  Are we done with bottles?  They haven't had one since Wednesday, so if tonight goes well (although they did go to bed super early), then the bottles are getting packed up tomorrow!  I cannot wait to reclaim the kitchen counter and dishwasher!  Oh, and some cash too!  Trading in $20/week in formula for $3 milk - I'll take it!

We are waiting patiently for Baby Boy Michael Clarence Manners to arrive any day.  The Schmidt's are on their way here tomorrow unless Mickey decides to make an appearance! 

Kelsey, Justin and Lola also found out this week that they have a boy on the way!  I just love it that they are having a boy!  It will be so different and so much fun! 

Owen is excited to have lots of boy playmates.  He needs it, considering this is his favorite birthday present so far....

Just kidding, he does love the baby dolls (they have blue and pink ones), but he really loves the Go Cars:

Birthday party is tomorrow!  I am sure there will be lots more pictures then!

Birthday Eve

I can't believe at this time last year, I was in labor!  I remember those first few hours clearly.  Justin announcing in the news room that I was in labor.  Nurses and doctors in and out of the room, last minute ultrasounds making sure both babies were still in the right position.  Calling friends and family to let them know the babies were going to make their arrival.  It has been an amazing year to say the least!

Tomorrow is the big day, but we don't have much planned.  Just a normal day around here - with a few extra hugs of course.  And maybe some Noodles and Co. macaroni and cheese as a treat.  They love that stuff!

I also chose tonight to take away the bedtime bottle.  I'm not sure why, and I'm not sure it's the best choice since I am here by myself.  But, they are in bed, and only one is crying, so I suppose that's a good sign?  We'll see how the night goes!  They've been doing a good job weaning off bottles during the day, but the only complete bottle they have still been taking was bedtime.  I can't wait for the bottles to be gone from my kitchen counter!

More posts to come in the next few days - the Birthday Party, Easter, and hopefully cousin Michael's arrival!

1st bike ride

Owen and Olivia got their first taste of the open road today. Ok, more like the open bike path. They made it about two miles, about a quarter mile with their helmets on. The twins can take them off at will because their heads are still petty small. It seemed like they had some fun, I know mom and dad did.

Lola turns 3

The fam at the Bakalars

 

Olivia gets a snack

Owen crawling through the yard

Owen chasing bubbles

Lola had about 4 million of her closest friends over to eat pink cupcakes, drink pink lemonade, and pretty much puke up pink.  We had a great time. Here are a few more pics from the big party. The babies played hard, got lots of attention, and even tried cupcakes.  They were pretty quiet on the way home, and we found Olivia like this when we pulled in:

Hope they sleep well tonight.  

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All Boy

Our evening started like this:

 Sitting nicely on the blanket, enjoying the weather and the toys!

And then Owen remembered he doesn't like to sit still!  So he chased his shadow around for awhile. 

 And then when I finally picked him up, I noticed he'd rubbed at least one hole in the knee of his jeans.  I guess I'm just surprised he made it this long with clean jeans!

Also, apparently it was crowded at the park this morning, because I received this picture from Justin while at work this afternoon!

And what a great picture of Olivia's curls in the back!

Favorite play place

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Owen's toys

2 Front Teeth

We can also thank the grandparents for getting Owen through a teething weekend.  Mimi and I were just playing with him and realized his two front top teeth are through!  If teething were a race, Owen would be the clear winner, beating Olivia 4-0! 

Also tonight, Olivia pulled up to standing!  Just as she hits every milestone, she did it as if she's been doing it her entire life. 

Looking forward to some spring temperatures (and hoping to get rid of the wind!). 

Baltimore Recap

We are home!  We had an amazing weekend in Baltimore.  We went to visit Ryan and Jeremy and baby Caroline.  We were pretty lazy the whole weekend, and that was exactly what we needed.  The Kokemors live right on the harbor, in downtown B'More, and we walked all over Saturday and explored.  I am so jealous they can walk right out their door with the stroller to a million restaurants and shops. Thank you Kokemor family for putting up with us all weekend, and introducing us to perfect Caroline (literally, perfect! A great sleeper, explorer, and a great big smile!)

I think the Grandparents survived a weekend with Owen and Olivia.  It doesn't sound like they were the best sleepers, but overall everyone still seemed to still love them by the end of the weekend.  Olivia was very excited to see us, bouncing up and down and grinning.  Owen was a little more serious, as if he was holding a little grudge that we left at all.  He got over it quickly and we had a regular 'ol Sunday evening, grilling out, baths, books, and bedtime.


11 months playtime from Justin Schmidt on Vimeo.

Baltimore

We are about halfway through our Baltimore mini trip. So far so good. Here're a few pictures from the harbor.

Philosophies

We are en route to Baltimore. This is our first time away from the twins for more than a few hours.

Me: they went down for nap at about 10:30. I knew they would sleep until Linda got there. I thought to myself- Done with parenting until Sunday! it's almost like the last day of school before summer vacation.

Lindsay: comes home from work, catches Olivia just before nap. She says- I'm already starting to miss them.

Now this may make me sound like a bad father. However I should remind you, they both say "dada," neither say "mama". I guess I still win.

Justin

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