Where did the last month go?

I can't believe the babies are 14 months old already! I've had a really long week at work this past week, so I'm really looking forward to spending some quality time the the babies this weekend--they are so much fun and are so busy all of the time, it likely won't be a very relaxing or restful weekend for mom and dad (but that's OK!).

The babies have been talking more and more. Addison has quite a few words--she is still really good at cracker, but she's added cookie, apple (she's really good the first syllable, the second one is a little bit tricky), ball, book, shoe, dog, hi, bye, mom and dad. She also says, "NOOOOOOOO"--this often comes out when Jackson has a toy that she wants, she runs over to him, snatches it away, and says, "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO." Oh boy. Jackson is a babbler--he has lots of sounds and noises, and is working on quite a few words (though most of his are less distinguishable). We've also added many more signs to our repertoire this past month--we sign elephant, monkey, cow, book (Addison aggressively signs this when I get her out of her crib in the morning and she sees books on their bookshelf), shoes, ball, please, thank you, airplane, train, music, cracker, bath, and hear. We're working on lots more: take turns (which will come in very handy with these two), change (as in change your diaper), car, horse, pig, farm (a la Old MacDonald), wash, spider, rain (a la The Itsy Bitsy Spider), star, twinkle (a la Twinkle Twinkle Little Star), and I love you. Signing has been such a great thing to do with our kids--it's amazing to see them comprehend things at such a young age and be able to communicate with them so directly before they are fully verbal. And their comprehension is through the roof--we might see a picture in a book, or hear something outside, and the babies will start signing before I even notice the monkey on the page or hear the airplane overhead. They are such smart little people!

We still have kind of skinny babies when compared to other kids their age (they are just starting to wear 12 - 18 month clothes)--but they are really good eaters. We still eat big breakfasts--pancakes, baked oatmeal, bagels, muffins, cheerios, apples, bananas, waffles, eggs. They have soup, sandwiches, or omelets for lunch most days, and then eat a big dinner (usually a variation on what we're having). We've tried a little bit of cream cheese frosting on graham crackers, and we LOVE it--we also like bits of cookies as a treat when mom's been baking. The babies are not eager to drink their milk from a sippy cup (we drink water from sippy cups, milk from bottles)--over the next few weeks, we need to work on transitioning to big kid cups.

Both babies have been playing peek-a-boo, covering their eyes with their hands and peeking through their fingers. We have been doing lots of somersaults--both Addison and Jackson will put their heads on the floor between their hands with their bums in the air (in downward dog position), then Daniel or I grab their feet and roll them over--then we all clap and cheer for their gymnastic feat, it's pretty adorable.

Jackson still loves to play the piano. He's also started singing the most adorable song--he teeters back and forth with his legs wide apart, dancing around in a circle, and sings, "ma, MA. ma, MA. ma, MA." Be still my heart, it is the sweetest thing. Sometimes he sings, "ra, RA" or "da, DA"--but ma, MA is his specialty.

How blessed we are to have such fun, busy, happy, sweet, cuddly babies.