Bittersweet

My babies have officially reached their 1st birthday. I have found this very  bittersweet. We have traded the beeping of machines to the beeps and sounds of toys. We have gone from trying our best to teach them to eat to hiding while we eat. From dying to hold them to dying to put them down (Not really, I just have to sit down!) We have seen all the pieces we have taught them come together into a bigger picture. I love seeing them grow but don't feel they should be as old as they are. We have worked daily to try and teach them new things and had to be patient. Now it seems they do different things everyday, most of which we have no idea where they came from! They all started so small and now seem so big. I hope to post updated weights and lengths after our 1 year appointment on Tuesday.

Ryan: He is now Walking with very minimal help but still refuses to give up the security of at least one finger to hold on to. He is making sounds and says mama often (my favorite!) He also says dada and babbles a lot. He has 2 lower teeth and has just cut an upper tooth.

Tyler: He is walking while holding onto two hands and has experimented walking while holding one. He will do it but prefers to have two. He is still basically saying mama and dada but only rarely. He hasn't started to much with language. He does have 2 bottom and 2 top teeth and loves to use them! Don't stick your finger in there, you may lose it!

Emily: She will walk while holding on with one hand but not alone. She has several words...mama, dada, hi, bye, baba, dog, no (only heard this one 2 times, thank goodness!) She loves to experiment with different sounds and I foresee a very vocal child in my future! She has 2 bottom and 2 top teeth and has some swelling on either side of them so I am sure we have more coming!

All of them can stand unassisted for 30 seconds and more. Much more for Ryan and Emily. They are all learning to wave now and eating chopped foods now instead of having it all pureed. That is good news for my food budget. Baby food isn't cheap.

Their birthday party was a success. They were not really into opening gifts but loved to play with the toys once I opened them. They did however, LOVE the cake! Emily totally demolished hers. The kids loved all the attention and handled the chaos much better than I thought they would. Here are some pictures cause I know that is what you really want, not all this blah blah!