~ Sophia and Claire are 1 ~

Can you believe it, Claire and Sophia are ONE!!!! It looks like we have all made it in one piece.

This year has been a blurr in many ways but has been full of many amazing memories. Since my last post so much has happened.

First I want to give you the girls latest stats.....

Sophia
Weight: 21 pds 13 oz 60th percentile
Height: 30 1/4 inches long 87th percentile
Head Circ: 46 1/4 cm

Claire
Weight: 20 pds 5 oz 40th percentile
Height: 30 3/4 inches long 92nd percentile
Head Circ: 45 1/2 cm

Both girls are crawling everywhere and boy are they fast. They get even faster when Mommy or Daddy is chasing after them. Sophia is starting to walk. She has taken 5 steps multiple times and then falls into your arms with a big smile on her face. I assume in the next month she will be walking at full speed. Claire is not as steady on her feet. She pronates her feet really badly and because of this she does not have good balance. We have had her fitted for some braces that insert into her shoes and those should help stablize her feet and help her to use her muscles correctly. The orthopedic brace speciaist we saw couldn't believe the amount of flexibility she has in her feet and says she will be just fine. I assume that once we get her braces, she will be walking shortly after.

The girls love walking behind their push toys. They push their grocery cart and wagon all over the place and get so frustrated when they hit a roadblock such as the wall, coffee table, couch, etc. They just want to keep going.

The girls love climbing up the stairs and are quite good at it. They wish we didn't have the gates holding them back. Claire was our first little monkey. I turned my head for a minute and found that Claire was sitting on her music table in the middle of the room. She was so excited although it scared me to death. Since then I have found her on the coffee table, ottoman, etc. Sophia has learned quickly from her sister and has decided to become a monkey herself. They love to climb on everything.

The girls are really talking a lot. I don't think I can even remember all the things they have said in the past month but I'll name a few.....BALL, MOO, BAAA, APPLE, DOGGY, GEORGIE, I WANT TURKEY, UH-OH, CUTE, WELCOME, NIGHT NIGHT, NANNA, PAPPAW, DUCK, ALL DONE, HI DADA, MOMMY, DADDY and many more. Aunt Abby is happy to tell everyone that Claire said her name first. It is so cute to hear her say Abby. Sophia is still up for grabs so all of the Aunts and Uncle's can start working on her : )

The girls love nodding yes and no to your questions. I believe they even know what you are asking. When I give them options of certain foods for lunch or dinner they give me a yes or no nod and when I have given them something they have said no to, they won't touch it. So smart!

The girls are solely on table food now and boy does that make a huge difference. It is so much easier to have them eat with us and to go out to restaurants. They love meat, cheese and fruit especially. We have had difficulty getting them to eat vegetables. Claire will eat them sometimes but Sophia is just like her Mommy and refuses them 90% of the time. At least she eats lots of fruit! They love to have waffles and especially Pappaw's pancakes for breakfast and have taken a liking to muffins, cottage cheese, pizza (definitely my children), chicken, pork and any pasta in marinara sauce. Unfortunately they think their bowls of pasta and marinara sauce should end up on their heads. It is so funny to see. They have been head to toe red so many times. Good thing bath time is right after dinner.

Matt and I have both celebrated our first Mother's Day and Father's Day. I get a full Saturday to myself which I can't wait to cash in. I need a day of sleeping in and Mommy time. They also made me cute little flower pots with the girls handprints coming out of them to look like the flowers. So cute! Daddy got Purdue football tickets for him, his brother and best friend. In addition we get to attend a game with our friends Erin and Andy. For those of you who know me very well, it was a HUGE step for me to spend money on PU tickets. Anything for my wonderful husband!!! We felt honored to celebrate the fact that we are the parents of two beautiful and amazing little girls.

The girls love the water. They have been spending time at Nanna and Pappaw's pool, in their baby pool and on Morse Reservoir with Aunt Shan and Uncle Chris. They are definitely not scared and love to put their faces in the water (they do it daily in the bathtub). It is adorable to watch. On Father's Day Claire actually dove off the raft she was on and into the water. It didn't seem to phase her so I took it upon myself and dunked both girls in the water. They were surprised but actually enjoyed it. I am so glad they are water babies!!!

I have taken the girls on numerous outings. They went to their first fair and loved the animals. They even made the right animal noises when we saw the cows and sheep. They had a pig come right up to them which they thought was pretty funny. We went with some friends to Trader's Pointe Creamery and got to see the dairy cows and have great ice cream. It was a really hot day and the girls were thankful for the cold treat.

We continue to play music for the girls a lot. They love to dance to the music and will even say la la la la la!!!

We went out to dinner at Sahm's one night and the girls wanted to drink out of cups with straws. It was funny to see them do it for the first time. They weren't quite sure how to swallow while sucking on the straw. Instead they would stop sucking and a mouth full of water would come streaming out. By the end of dinner they had it figured out and now they love the sippy cups with straws.

The girls are still sleeping wonderfully. They sleep 11-12 hours each night and nap up to 3 hours each day. I am so thankful we have them in a good schedule. It makes for two very happy girls and parents! They are attached to these awesome tag blankets my friend Janelle bought them and their little bunny's. We can't go anywhere without them.

The girls love swinging. When we go to Nanna and Pappaw's it is a requirement to get on the swing set. They get huge smiles on their face and giggle a lot. Because of this we bought one for our backyard.

Claire decided to give us a really good laugh one night. We let the girls play around without their diapers and we payed the price. Claire sat up, leaned to the left and let out a steady stream of farts followed by a smile. Then she proceeded to head to another spot on the floor and poop. She is definitely her father's daughter. HA!!

The girls love giving kisses although their cousins have found it quite interesting. They can't kiss without sticking out their tongues and licking you. It is so funny! When you tell them to show love they blow you kisses which melts our hearts!

I guess Matt and I are doing something right because it is adorable to see how the girls treat their baby dolls. We have twin cabbage patch dolls that my sister Meghan and I had growing up and the girls got two sets of baby dolls for their birthday. They are so gentle and sweet with them. They hold them, kiss and hug them and love to put them in the bouncy seat and bounce them up and down. I guess we are showing them what love is.

Sophia and Claire's hair is getting so long. They are even getting little curls which really come out on humid days. We get a kick out of their hair when they wake up in the morning or after a nap. We say that Claire looks like Justin Bieber and Sopia looks like John Bon Jovi. I try to keep their hair pulled out of their eyes with bows and clips but they always want to pull them out. If they only knew how cute they looked with bows in. I am hoping they get over this little nuisance.

Lastly, we had a Candyland Celebration for the girls 1st birthday party. I wanted it to be the best 1st birthday party. Some day the girls will really appreciate it when they see pictures. They had a beautiful cake that looked like the Candyland board game. We had candies hanging from the trees that I made from lanterns and cellophane. We also had candy cane's lining the path into the back yard. We had homeade lollipop cookies and jars and jars of candy for the guests to take home with them. The girls loved having all their friends at the party. They got a sandbox from some friends and it was a hit with all the kids. Everyone wanted to sit in it and play. They got so many great gifts. They got a water table, picnic table, baby dolls, blocks, beach toys and towels, books, clothes, swimsuits, lawn chairs and so much more. We are so blessed to have so many friends and family celebrate with us. Matt and I got the girls a baby pool, swing and a slide. The girls still aren't sure about the slide but I am sure by the end of the summer they will love it.

The day of their birthday we started out having a muffin with a candle in it. The girls weren't sure what to do but smiled a lot and loved the muffin. They got to have ice cream for dinner and the sugar made it difficult for them to go to sleep that night. They had such a great few days of celebration!