16 Months and goofing around....

Our family Thanksgiving Day picture

The girls are so busy and into everything! They are truly enjoying each other and often think of each other when it comes to their play. When Maia picks up her special giraffe toy, she has to go find Callie's special lion to give to her. The same goes for snacks and drinks as they have always known when one gets something, the other does too. It's very sweet the way they look out for each other and I really hope this continues throughout their lives.

Fun in the ball pit

Callie's toothy grin...4 teeth now!

Maia's "sad face"

More peek-a-boo in the barn

Maia thought she would change her own diaper....wouldn't that be nice!

Daddy playing a concert for his girls

Fall pictures

Here are just a "few" photos of the girls this Fall.... as I am always amazed to hear how many people actually regularly check our blog, I would love to know who is reading it! Please write a quick comment or just leave your name in the comment section if you've read this!

Thank you to all of our friends and family for caring so much to keep up with reading this!

Fun in the leaves

Reading together

Maia

Callia

Sliding in our living room?

C & M playing "Row, row, row your boat"

Maia "Danger" Redi

Maia

Callia

Mama & her girls

Maia is ready for Hollywood

Halloween pictures 2009

Daddy and his Halloween bugs

Costume party at our Isis class


C & M's new favorite activity...a slide!


Carrie's jack o'lantern


Jason's jack o'lantern


Watching for trick-or-treaters


Callie kissing her Rody


Maia's big smile


Sisters playing peek-a-boo


Mama and her bumblebee

Daddy trying not to get stung!

little ladybug

She's walking!!!!

Callia officially walking

The girls are 15.5 months and getting so independent (almost). They want to do everything by themselves although when they do need help, they ask for it by raising one hand in the air (like asking the teacher for help). With both girls walking, it is both easier and more difficult for me. It is nice to not have to carry them both everywhere but now I have to make sure they don't go in opposite directions!

Callia is so proud of her new walking self. While she used to spend much of her time sitting and reading books, she now spends most of the day walking around! It is very fun to watch her be much more physical. She still loves her books though and now says, "Ga" for gorilla (Goodnight Gorilla is still her favorite book). Callie has been so incredibly loving these days. She sometimes just looks up at me, smiles and says "Mamamama". She also gives real kisses! I gave her a little lion beanie baby recently and she carries that around with her everywhere. She often looks at it, roars and gives him a kiss! So incredibly cute. She and Maia have a blast together and love to play peek-a-boo in their cardboard house. Callie has actually been saying "Ba" for "Boo" when she sees a picture of a ghost.

Maia is constantly busy and I am trying to find ways to nurture her active self! Honestly, she wears me out some days because she is always on the move. She climbs on top of and into everything as you can see by the pictures and is often trying to test the boundaries of things. If I say to her sister that playdough is not for her mouth, Maia immediately puts a piece in her own mouth and looks at me for a response. Luckily, I am on to her game and don't give that behavior too much attention by just redirecting her to another activity. She is very interested and proud to help Mommy and does "chores" like sweeps crumbs off the floor (more like re-distributes) and puts dirty clothes in the hamper at bath time. Maia is so silly and has the best belly laugh. She loves to be chased, tossed around and tickled. She just loves her sister and has recently created her own version of "sister" in sign language by placing her two pointer fingers to her cheeks. The actual sign is running your thumb down your jaw line and putting your two pointer fingers together. I thought this was pretty clever.

Now that Jason's big work project has wound down, we are really enjoying more time with him. The girls have been so excited to have Daddy take them outside to play and Maia sat mesmerized yesterday watching Daddy rake leaves. We took the girls for their first swim lesson today and it was so much fun! They LOVED the water and had smiles on their faces the whole time. It is such a nice activity for us to do as a family. Now we are gearing up for Halloween tonight and Jason and I have just completed our jack o'lanterns for our annual pumpkin carving contest. Will post pictures soon....

Maia & Callia in their "playhouse"

Maia on top of the tunnel

Callia and her special lion

Callia roaring like a lion

So grown up!

Officially toddlers....


Maia stuck in the Mega blocks container


Maia the Bumblebee and Callia the Ladybug at a Twins Halloween Party


More Halloween pictures soon....

Almost 15 Months and so many new developments

Callia is getting so independent these days as she now has taken a few solo steps. Walking is in her near future and we cannot wait! At the same time, she has become a little more attached to Mommy than she was and has had a hard time separating from me at night for bedtime. Hopefully, this is just a passing phase. She has also started saying more things like, "Go", "All gone", and "Na" for Jenna, our babysitter. She and Maia are very into "their letters" and can recognize Callia's "C" and Maia's "M". The cutest thing Callia does lately is she pretends to snore. Her favorite book is still "Goodnight Gorilla" and she makes a snoring noise whenever she sees the gorilla sleeping at the end. However, now when she sees Daddy sleeping or Mommy resting, she snores too. It is extremely cute!

Maia has started saying more too. She says "Da" for pasta and "nana" banana. Having fewer words does not hinder Maia's capability to express what she wants. She points to something and nods yes if you ask her if she would like that. She uses many signs to communicate like, "more, please, thank you, cookie, fruit, songs, all done," and raises her hand when she needs help. I truly believe that without these means of expression she would be one very frustrated little girl. She is still incredibly active and has now acquired a new skill climbing onto the couch. She knows how to get down but has attempted to go head first off the couch a few times. Luckily, Mommy was close by to catch our "Supergirl".

Do you see her 3 teeth yet? Two on the bottom (below), one on the top (above)!

Maia loves to hug everything these days...usually toys she loves or pages in books. On occasion she will grace her daddy or me with some "Love".

The girls are much more interactive these days during play time. They often play next to each other at the same activity or different activities but lately I have been catching them playing peek-a-boo with each other through tunnels or this little barn. I love watching that!

Our main activities now are puzzles, always books, the new farm house, playing outside and pretending in our new kitchen (found it on Craig's List for a steal). They love to open the doors and play with the pretend food but most especially, they love to have a "tea" party with the tea set that Grandma and Granddad got for them. As usual, we are keeping very busy!

Our new "kitchen"