12.5 months

Ryder has taken his first steps- 1, 2, 3 at a time before falling. The most he has taken at one time is 6. He can walk for a while if holding our hands.

Today he stood up from sitting without using anything for support. He stood there for quite some time before falling.
Ryder can put the shapes into the proper holes of the shape sorter, but he does need help finding the right hole. He can focus on this for some time, and is quite proud of himself when he drops the shape in the hole.

Chase is cruising much better. He is focusing on talking, words attempted are bubble, tickle, shoe, pooh (as in Winnie The), flower, hat. He says a few other things that are not understandable. He does not use the above words regularly but does use them in context. Chase can play peek-a-boo now and will put his little hand over his face then pull it away to reveal a grin!!

Mom-ument!

Lately, Chase has been a bit clingy. Charming and flirtatious, he will still go to others with a smile on his face, however every opportunity he has to be near me, on me, with me he siezes. I am aware that this will not last forever, in fact tomorrow he could be on a daddy phase. Despite how sometimes it can be a nuisance when he won't let me put him down, I am aware I need to cherish this time for as long as possible. I need to savor every whimper and point in my direction and smile with delight as he puts his arms out for me. I need to capture these times and bottle them up because a time will come when he wants nothing to do with me. He will choose his friends, his girlfriends, eventually his wife over me and as any good parent, I will need to let him. So for now, I will let my baby boy cling to my hip, or my leg, or my hands.

911

It seems almost as if it is a rite of passage, part of the journey from innocent baby to adventurous toddler. It seems ridiculous and yet almost typical, as I hope my kid is not the only one. Regardless of all that, Chase or Ryder or both called 911 yesterday. This is not surprising being that the phone is their favorite toy. Perhaps it is my fault, only indicating I am using it too often in front of them. When I bring out the phone they both grin and squeal, pointing to it as if some magical force will bring it to them. I often put the caller on speaker and the boys get so excited to hear the phone talk, and then they attack me going after all of the buttons. This is usually when I either; 1. mute the call, 2. turn the speaker on or off 3. hang up on the caller. It is not uncommon that all three things will happen in no particular order. When I am feeling nice I let them play with the phone for a minute more (or until a tug of war between them breaks out) and then I take I it away. Yesterday I let them play with it and somehow they managed to hit on, dial 911 and let it ring. I took the phone away, hit the off button as I always do to clear whatever they had hit, and unknowingly hung up on the 911 service. It was not until they called back that I had any idea. Apparently, I was not too convincing that everything was ok in our household (if Chase mad-dashing for the steps while Ryder uses the entertainment unit as a climbing wall is considered ok) since 5 minutes later a cop was at our door checking up on us. I apologized for the inconvenience, thanked him for responding so quickly in case I ever do need emergency service and sent the police officer on his way. He was very kind and told me, wouldn't you know, it happens all the time.....shew....I was hoping it was not just my kids.

Children's Menu

I have always considered myself a bit of a foodie. A celebration can be made about food as easily as food can be made of a celebration, at least in my opinion. Dining out was a part of our culture, food tasting was a part of our practice, letter grading the courses was our ritual. It was a bit of a game for us and we loved it. At home we considered ourselves to be gourmet. We would try new recipes and host sit down dinners. Fine dining, fancy foods, delicacies....we loved it all. A children's menu was always ignored, as were the things listed under casual fare. That was stuff we could get at home, or on the run. However, as it turns out, we have really been missing out. I forgot how good kids food can be....grilled cheese is delicious, no matter who makes it, wheat or white it is just delicious. Chicken fingers, wow!! Cooked to perfection, tender meat, breaded nicely and you can't beat the bbq sauce used for dipping but that is whole another story for those who know my love for that sauce. Macaroni and Cheese is a true classic, so much so that it has even been taken to a gourmet level by using fancy cheeses and throwing in some lobster. But, in its simplest form, Mac and cheese is wonderfully tasty. Of course, pizza you can never go wrong with, and hot dogs, well, they are just good!! Disgusting as you may think they are, fact is, they are good!! Gourmet will always be just that but if you happen to have a 12 and under with you ordering from the kids menu is a guaranteed good meal.

Window Sill-y

When we first bought this house I imagined myself reading a book perched upon the bow window in the living room. I pictured it softened with pillows and brightened with colors and myself upon it, book in one hand, wine in the other. This has yet to happen, the pillows, the bright colors, me reading a book. I imagine it will be some time before this fantasy becomes realized, perhaps just after I complete my never ending to-do list.
The boys seem to have taken a similar liking to this window, though their ideas of what to do on the sill are different than mine. In only 12 months time they have realized this fantasy many times. They love it up there. They bang on the window, they crawl the length, back and forth. They pull on the curtains, point at the sky, at the birds, at the flowers. They wave to oncomers and passersby. Oh what fun. They laugh and giggle and coo with delight with each action and the laughter bangs off the glass similarly to thier palms. Now that they have learned to climb from the floor to the couch and the couch to the ledge all by themselves, I will find them sitting, standing, launghing, banging on the ledge being ever so window sill-y.

1 is for fun!!

I am simply amazed that a year has passed by. Amazed that my premature newborns are venturing into toddlerhood, amazed that their once preemie sized diapers are now 3's bordering on to 4, amazed that they are no longer breast fed or even bottle fed. I hold up the outfit they wore on their bris and I am amazed that it was once so big on them. I am amazed that this was the quickest year of my life and yet it has impacted me more than my first 31.
I am amazed by every little thing the boys do and am amazed by what they still have yet to learn. I am amazed by the beauty of my sons, by their demeanor, by their laughter. There is nothing about them that doesn't amaze me, as I know every mom can understand.
I was emotionally effected by the onset of their first birthday. I was saddened by how quickly time has passed, that the world of twinfants was a thing of the past. I am not sure if there will be more kids for us, and if not, then my world of babies just flew past me. I was saddened by the thought that every year will pass just as quickly and before I know it my babies will be men. But, of course I am also delighted. Delighted by the toddlers that are blossoming before me, delighted by boys they are becoming.
The first year of a child's life is wonderful. Every day is a new day and sometimes overnight you can be presented with what seems like a whole new child. I am not yet sure what the second year has to offer but I am eager to find out. I have a feeling, going simply by this first week of age 1, that 1 is fun!! In the last week and a half the boys both seem to be advancing exponentially, Chase in particular. THey are learning to walk, to speak, to communicate, they are broadening their sense of humor and find everything funny, and best of all, they are really starting to discover each other. I can now say that the first 12 months of a childs life is wonderful and thrilling and fast and as each day passes I am learning what thrills the next 12 months will offer, but I have a feeling 1 is fun!!!

A letter to my sons on their 1st Birthday!

Dear Chase and Ryder,

I can't believe you are one year old (and several days at the time of this letter.) I am blown away by how fast time has passed us by. My little tiny baby boys are thriving toddlers, and though I revel in your development, I am astonished how far and how quickly you have come.

When we found out we were pregnant (12-05-05), it was the best day in our lives to that point. We felt such a rush of joy and I knew that feeling would never leave me. There was no way I could know at the time, however, that the joy I was going to feel in the months/years to come was infinitely more special. I had loved you already and you were just 4 weeks into development. When I held you for the first time, your skinny little bodies no bigger than my forearm, I understood immediately that the love you have for a child is beyond measure, the depth is greater than ever imagined. I knew everything would be different from that moment forward.

This year has been quite the adventure. Every day there was something new for you to learn and something new for us to marvel at. Your first smile, laugh, coo. Your first burp, hiccup and poo. Your first food, crawl, stand, walk. All of it is precious and sweet and wonderful.

We transitioned you from Formula in bottles to Milk in cups. It was quite the easy transition for both of you. We simply ran out of formula started with milk and you hardly noticed. Up to that point you were not great with the sippy cups, but when you picked it up on that Thursday morning it was as if you had been using them forever. We never looked back, and despite the emotional breakdown I had leading up to your first birthday I was not sad to put those dr. browns bottles away.

Baby food is history as well. You remain to be fantastic eaters and table food is all you eat. Most days you eat what we are eating, but since we do not always cook for ourselves sometimes we make you special meals. You will never go hungry around here, even if Mommy forgets to eat. Chase you eat so quickly we often can't cut the pieces fast enough. You love everything and are particularly fond of all fruits. Since you gave up your bottles you both eat a lot more food.

Ryder, your top molars are coming through and as a result you are drooling incessantly. You suffered terrible diaper rash last week, which led us to believe you were teething and have a runny nose this week, but generally you remain to be your happy little self. Chase, you are working on your two front teeth, though they have yet to break the skin. As of your first birthday you had just your bottom two teeth.

You went to the doctor today for your one year check up. Chase you outweigh your brother by almost a pound, which is not surprising since you are quite the little eater. You weigh 20 pounds 2 ounces, which means technically you can be turned around in the carseat (yippee!) But, since Ryder only weighs 19 pounds 5 ounces we will wait a few more weeks and turn you around together. Chase you are also taller at 30 inches and Ryder is 29 3/4 but you both have the same size head. In many ways your weight is considered light (less than 10th percentile) but since you were born at just 4+ pounds, your gain has been substantial.

Chase we think you may be left handed. You tend to favor this hand for most activities, except eating for which you use both hands. You have become increasingly more active over the last few weeks and love climbing everything and have become quite good at it. Ryder you are getting ready to walk. You can now stand up by yourself, though you do not do it often. We encourage you, and try to build your confidence so that you can stand proud. You have taken a few steps on your own as well and we think it will be soon that you will start walking around. We can only imagine what trouble you will get in to once you are walking:) You are a bit of a bandit as is. You do not have any fear, will climb anything and have learned to climb out of your stroller. Luckily, you have not climbed out of your crib, yet!!

You both babble constantly and we try to engage you in conversation. You each can say mama and dada though I am not sure you say it directly at us. You both have attempted at hello, and simultaneously held your hand to your ears, which had us laughing. Chase you can and do say bubble. You love bubbles and now that you can ask for them by name it is hard to deny. Ryder you attempt at many words but have yet to master one specific one.
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Chase you are expressive. You point at everything and need to always know what is going on. Nothing can be done around you without you checking it out. Ryder you turn everything over and check to see what is beneath it all, almost as if you want to know how it works. If something is not nailed down, it is now your push toy, despite having several push toys you could use.

We celebrated your first birthday on your actual birthday which was also 07-07-07. A lucky day for many, certainly for us, and ironically, the biggest party day of the year. Daddy and I love to party on such days. Despite being the conclusion to a holiday weekend, we still had a wonderful turn out, a beautiful day, and an overall great party. Everyone had fun, you two included. You enjoyed your friends, your family and your first cakes. We enjoyed throwing you a bash and watching as you showed your smiles to all.

You also welcomed two new friends this month. Olivia Rose Betesh and Nathan Quinn Seltzer were born, three weeks apart. You do not realize it yet, but someday we hope you do, how lucky you are to be surrounded by such great friends, 2nd generation friends you could likely have for a lifetime.

Your grandparents continue to dote, and strangers are still attracted to you. I guess it is something about being twins, though it does not hurt that you are cute:)

Ryder, you are suffering from pink eye. It is not too bad, but your eyes are swollen and it is cute to look at you all puffy. As usual, you are handling any discomfort well and go about your smiling, happy ways.

Unbelievably, a year has passed and this second year will be filled with all new adventures. I will continue to cherish my time with you, and despite occasionally feeling a need for time alone, I do love being home with you and hopefully helping to mold you into good, kind men. Chase you are so very much like daddy both in how you look and how you are aware of everything around you. Ryder you are more like me and we are thrilled to have boys who are so alike and yet so different.
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I must be blessed to have such wonderful boys, I am honored to be your mother. I hope I provide you with the joy you have given daddy and me and I hope you know every single day how very much you are loved.

We love you so!!
Mommy

Beach House

Todd was not a frat guy in college. Though we did not go to school together, from the stories I hear that was just not his style. This does not come as a surprise to me. 8 years ago, when Todd bought the Margate house his true motive was simply an investment. Wise move for a young guy. Young guy he was, however, his house became the house to be. We had an open door policy that seemed to work like a turnstile, one person out, ten in all day long. There was always hanging out to be done. The house sleeps 12 comfortably, which meant people could crash. And, with a kegerator and ping pong table in the garage, it became the frat house Todd was never a part of. Everyone wondered if this would all change when we had kids. It has, but not entirely. We still have lots of people hanging around, stopping by announced, and unannouced. We still have drinks available, only now the menu includes whole milk and apple juice. We usually kick on the bbq and have a porch full of beach chairs and loaded ash trays, but the volume must be lowered both on our voices and on our stereo. The ping pong table and kegerator are gone, but only because they were moved to Richboro. And, no matter how much fun we have, how late we stay up, or who is sleeping on the couch, we are up at 8am with our boys. However, we also prefer to have weekends to ourselves, just the four of us and we are not usually willing to bend once we decide to make it a family weekend. Our boys come first and if it becomes distracting to them or to their sleep, the party must end.

As fun as all this is, I have found this summer in particular, the Margate House has provided us with another whole dimension of activity, a family reunion. Every weekend we are there we see Chad and Allen almost every day. We usually have dinner together and sometimes lunch. This is a constant. Carri is often down and will, if nothing else, spend quality time with us at the beach. We also get to see a lot of my cousins, most of who I do not get to see too often, and many who have little kids for the boys to play with. It has been thrilling to catch up with extended family in the most relaxing of settings.

I grew up, as I have written a number of times, surrounded by family. We were always with our cousins, and our extended family seemed like immediate family. I want to provide my children with similar experiences and though our immediate families seem to be smaller, if we reach out to the cousins two and three times removed, it is a family reunion which always brings smiles.

Spending summers in Margate is fun, its relaxing, its time on the beach, but now we can add to the list Family Reunion and it certainly completes the package.