The month began with a visit to Danny's Marker at Sunst Hills Memorial in Bellevue for his birthday. This time both kids were awake and we let them out to explore. There was a tractor near by which was of particular interest to Cody... but the highlight was Grandpa's usual six pack of PBR. Cody and Callie played with the cans as if they were the best present ever. Please try not to judge that my children are enamored by beer cans, just understand that their Uncle DT would have been proud! Of course, Callie also HAD to have her Piggie with her. She simply adores all stuffed animals and must have one at her side most of the time, especially when she is tired!
After the cemetary, Cody, Callie, Grandma Nancy and Grandpa Wayne and I headed up to the cabin. We stopped in North Bend for a quick bite to eat at the Mexican Restaraunt. Just had to snap a shot of Cody and Callie behind this lifesize poster...again excuse the beer motif and enjoy the humor in the photo :)
The next day, April 3rd, we all headed to the Old #3 for lunch... There were a few local, regulars in for lunch. Callie and Cody sure managed to make everyone smile, in true C&C form! Cody in particular loved all the hats pinned to the ceiling while Callie was mesmorized by the one dollar bills stapled to the wall and taped to any flat surface. I am sure one day they will both have a dollar on the wall and a hat on the ceiling, if they are anything like their mom :)
After our bellies were satisfied, we then headed to the Brick for the traditional toast to DT!
Cody and Callie had a ball running around the bottom floor of the tavern. I honestly cannot believe I allowed them to crawl and play on that floor, but I guess on this day I wasn't about to argue... and I suppose that is what hand sanitizer and hand wipes are for, right! When we arrived at the Brick, there was a group of moms out to lunch with their daughters. Callie immediately cozied up to the girls and tried to make friends. She just had to see what they were up to. She just sat right down and looked at them like they were the coolest girls ever. This girl is not afraid of anyone!
April also brought our second Easter with the kids! The Easter Bunny went all out with the baskets for Cody and Callie this year, filled to the brim with new Sesame Street plates and bowls, Easter Bunny stuffed animals, books, bunny ears, candy, and other treats. I think that Cody had more fun going thru Callie's and vise versa. Guess next year we should let the Bunny know to just bring one big basket and forget separating everything out!
Once we had opened our baskets and gifts and had our yummy Easter breakfast, we headed over to Grandma and Grandpa Tyrrell's for some egg hunting and dinner. We were so happy to see our cousins Kennadi, and twins Faith and Hope, along with Auntie Anne and Auntie Susan. Our cousins were so gracious to us. After they had found all of the eggs, they took them all out of their basket and "hid" them in the grass for Cody and Callie to find. It was so sweet to see all the kids interacting and sharing candy, gold fish crackers and what ever else the Easter Bunny hid in their eggs. Cody and Callie had their first taste of jelly beans and I am pretty sure they loved every minute of it.
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| Cody and Callie love Grandpa and his tractor! Brrrrrrum, mmmm,mmmm,mmmm! |
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| Callie appears to have had one too many jelly beans! |
Cody and Callie received a wonderful surprise in the mail from their cousin Lauren in California. She hand made Cody and Callie their own fleece blankets. The had a fantastic time opening the box and cuddled up in the blankets right away. Thank you for such a sweet and thoughtful gift, Lauren. We love you and love our new blankets! They currently sleep on them every night in their cribs.
Mid April, Grandma Nancy and Grandpa Wayne headed off to Texas for two weeks. Which brought a great opportunity for Grandma Lauren to come stay with us for a week and give Mommy some much needed help with these active toddlers. Cody and Callie just adore their Grandma Lauren and love all that she does with them - reading, playing, feeding, and giving them all the cuddles they could possibly want. We had quite a busy week of activities. Grandma Lauren came to preschool, joined us at My Gym, we went to the Tulip Festival in Mt Vernon, drove down to Aunt Anne and Aunt Susan's in Shelton, went to the park... it was a week to remember and it went by entirely tooooo fast.
My GYM in Bellevue! Love, Love, Love this class. The kids love it too. it opens with circle time, warming up, a new skill, then free play, and some gymnastics, then swings, separation time, back to circle time for songs/games, then story time and closing song. The routine is great and the kids just thrive from the energy in the room. The owner also has twins and he is a great resource and encouragement.
The Tulip Festival in Mt Vernon. We chose to visit the Roosengarde. They had wonderful fields and displays for what seemed like miles. You could even see Mt Baker in the distance on this clear day. Inside the gates of the Roosengarde there were many displays. Cody and Callie really wanted to pick the flowers and enjoyed feeling the pedals and looking inside the blooms. There were so many colors and varieties... I am sure they were a little overwhelmed. I know I was! We also walked out to the fields for some photos... There was a sign in the fields that read "Please do not walk between the rows", but seeing as though Cody cannot read, he simply walked freely between the rows before I could stop him. It was so cute, I had to shoot a couple pics before my Catholic guilt got the best of me and I promptly fetched him from the middle of the row. Love Cody's free spirit and adventure and really who was going to say a word to a little boy and a Mother of twins!
We all played in the backyard with the kiddos and Andrew was teaching the kids how to play fetch with Tucker. After a little while, we headed to the beach for a little exploring, rock eating, and putting our toes in the water. Callie ran around with the wind in her hair, immediately walked into the water and put her hands in. Cody, for the most part, was more interested in the rocks on the beach and playing with Ty. It was so fascinating to see their little minds taking it all in. All these new experiences, shaping them moment by moment. Of course, they were all smiles until Cody fell partly into the water. I think it was more the taste of the salt that confused him rather than the cold of the water itself. And I am certain their is probably a similar photo of me on that beach, with the exact same reaction. I am so thankful for Anne and Susan and their hospitality. They are always so welcoming to us and accommodating to the kids. I have some wonderful memories of the beach and know that Cody and Callie will too! Thanks for having us Anne and Susan!
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| Cousin Tara stopped by with her son, Tylan. |
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| "Grandma, what will happen if I put my hand in?" |
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| Ty showing Cody the cool things to find on a beach! |
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| First dip in the Puget Sound, ahhhhhh! |
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| Cody, moments after taking a nose dive in the salt water. Poor Guy! |
OK, so now for some comedy... Our sweet little Cody seems to have developed what some might call a hat fetish. Now, we are not talking just any hats... he is determined to find the most unique items to put on his head, along with a few other "normal" hats, of course. Callie tries to keep up every once in awhile, so you will see a couple pics of her as well.
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| BUCKET! |
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| TUPPERWARE |
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| TAYLORMADE GOLF HAT |
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| This sweatshirt was what Andrew wore home from the hospital when he was born. Grandma Lauren brought it up for some pictures of Cody in it. |
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| CALLIE'S PINK SUNHAT... NOT REALLY HIS COLOR! |
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| WEARING THE BUCKET AGAIN! |
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| AND AGAIN! |
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| WEARING HIS HAT FROM AUNTIE KATIE AND UNCLE BT! |
We also have started to spend a few days a week at the elementary school playground. The school is just a block away up our hill and is the perfect setting for a mom of twin toddlers. There is ample space to run, it is never crowded and I don't have to worry much about them running in opposite directions, getting kidnapped, or running into a busy street. It is perfect for us and I am thankful for how close it is to the house! They love the slides more than anything. The smaller slide has lost their interest somewhat... other than attempting to walk up it with the soccer ball in hand. These days they would rather climb to the top of the play structure and slide down the twisty slide. They are always all smiles when they are at play and, to my amazement, I never have to ask them to leave. When they are ready/tired, they walk over to the stroller and climb in... no screaming, no prompting, just an easy transition to head home. I am sure that this phase will pass all too soon and in time, we will leave the playground kicking and screaming. But for now, I will savor our simple, enjoyable adventures up to the playground!
COSTCO with Grandma Nancy and Grandpa Wayne:
A trip to Costco has never been so fun... we needed to pick up a few essentials, well, to be honest, it is always a few essentials on your list when you arrive, but never just a few essentials when you leave... how does that always happen? I digress... Anyway, before we headed into the massive warehouse of goodies, we had to have a famous Costco hotdog. Grandpa, Grandma and I all got one thinking that we would simply share ours with Callie and Cody. By the time Grandma walked over to get napkins and returned to the table, C&C had devoured Grandpa's hotdog in its entirety... He got NOT ONE BITE for himself, just a bunch of mustard and ketchup smears all over. We bought Grandpa another hotdog and headed in the front doors. Grandpa drove the cart and Grandma and I darted from aisle to aisle to snag our essentials! We made it to check out with one extremely full cart... again, how does that happen? Anyway, C&C were such troopers that we celebrated with a little ice cream afterward. When we purchased the ice cream, the cashier asked if it was for the twins... she had watched them inhale the hotdog earlier and wondered if we wanted two ice creams instead of one. No thank you, but funny that you remembered seeing us earlier. Guess we are now those people that everyone else stares at. Hopefully, at least, we make them smile!
In other news, we also had our 15 month check-up with the pediatrician on April 19th. We saw our back-up pediatrician, Dr. Shih, this time because our primary, Dr Spanier, was booked. But we love Dr. Shih... she has twins too and I feel like she really gets it. She was amazed that I was still nursing and really praised me for the effort. Cody and Callie spent most of the appointment exploring the exam room. They didn't really even fuss when being examined. We also had to do a round of vaccines which, all things considered, went fairly smooth. I opt to split up the shots and only do a max of two at a time. It just seems like so much for their little bodies to take in at once. I mean really, what is the harm in waiting a week to get the other vaccines, right? I won't go into the whole vaccine issue here, I just want my kiddos to be healthy!
Anyway, here are the stats at 15 months:
Cody:
Weight - 20#5oz less than 5%
Length/Height - 30.5" 25-50%
Head - 19" 75% !!!!!
Callie:
Weight - 17#13.5oz less than 5%
Length/Height - 29.5" 10-25%
Head - 17.75" 10-25%
The pediatrician is very happy with Callie and Cody's progress and ultimately we didn't have too many concerns to discuss. Just continue with current nutrition, nursing/pumping, reading to them, playing with them and exposing them to as much life and adventure as we can. I may be biased, but by the looks of the photos above, and taking into account how busy and active we have been, I think we are doing pretty darn good!
Bring it on May!
Thank You so much for sharing. We get to see your beautiful kids as well as you Dad & Mom. This is exactly why I am on Facebook. LOVE IT !!!!!!
ReplyDeleteCousin Katie
Wow, Katie, you did it again. What great journaling. You tell such a wonderful story.
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