Happy 1st Birthday, Maia & Callia!

Callia & Maia relaxing on their "big girl chairs" in the aftermath of the birthday celebration


The girls' special butterfly birthday cakes

It has been an incredible year and Jason and I feel so lucky to have spent it with our two incredible daughters. They have made so many changes and continue to bring us so much joy and laughter. We had a huge 1st birthday celebration in our backyard and the girls had a great time! They loved seeing so many of their favorite people and playing with some of their young friends and cousins. It was a "bug" themed party and the kids got to eat "Crazy Bug" mac & cheese and cupcakes in the shape of a caterpillar and a butterfly.



Callia is doing so well...still incredibly sweet and happy. Still reading her books although now when she sits down to look at them, she does what we call "speed reading" by flipping the pages very fast! She is signing "more" and doing the hand motions to "Itsy Bitsy Spider". She has become more physical and keeps right up with her sister. They love crawling through tunnels to find friends or each other. Both girls are pointing at everything lately and trying to communicate what they want to us. It will be fun when they start talking to hear their little voices.

Maia is forever making us laugh. She makes the most funny faces and is communicating very well using gestures. She used to make a caveman grunt for "yes" when we asked her a question but I taught her to nod her head instead. She basically nods using her whole body...so cute. She is standing up on her own, very often and has taken about 5 steps at most before realizing what she is doing and then she falls. Walking will come very soon, I think. Maia's new favorite thing to do is "beep" Daddy or Mommy's nose (Daddy taught her that). She also points to her belly button when asked.

We have started putting Callia and Maia to sleep in their room at the same time and they seem to like it better than going to bed separately. Sometimes we hear them "talking" to each other but there is hardly any crying. Both girls are calling me "Mama" now which I just love!

The girls adore their daddy and give him quite the reception when he gets home from work. This morning they both blew him kisses and it was the first time Callia had ever done that!

More birthday pics:

Maia eating her first cake

Daddy & Callia attempting the birthday hat...not so much

Mommy & Maia

Maia posing for the camera

playing with water toys

First Father's Day

Since this was Jason's first Father's Day, the girls and I decided to take him out for a nice brunch. Callia and Maia were so happy to be somewhere other than our house since we have had all of this cool, rainy weather. They were so charming and friendly with the waitstaff and other customers that we decided we should let them out of the house more often :)

Maia & Callia made Daddy a shirt with their hand prints. It says, "Dad 2 (squared)".

They love their Daddy!