Progress on the dress front

Genevieve is coming to accept dresses. As you can see, she looks resigned instead of angry. Hopefully the resignation will soon turn to cheerful smiles when she gets to wear her pretty dresses!

Farewell, sweet hair!!

Bentley has gorgeous hair in my non biased opinion... it's thick and wavy, and it's so darn cute!! However at some point enough is enough. His hair grows rather quickly and he's already had 3 haircuts since turning 1. He should have had at least 1 or 2 before his 1st birthday, but that's another story!

I keep meaning to learn to cut his hair myself, in an effort to be thrifty and learn a new skill, and then I chicken out. No more...

I rented 5 books on hair cutting from the library and my friend loaned me a DVD on the topic. I've attentively watched at his last two hair cuts. Tomorrow is the day. Stay tuned for results from the hack job (and perhaps you should be ready to send Bentley sympathy cards?!).

Opposites

Genevieve is generally mellow, even placid--unless you're late with her bottle. It's not often that we take a photo of Genevieve when she's awake that doesn't show her calmly viewing the world around her.


Usually Jackson is anything but mellow.

Gorgeous & Beautiful--The Perfect Pairing!

The fall colors are so gorgeous right now. They are the perfect background for a photo op with The Beautiful Bentley. We've visited the neighborhood park twice recently with him trying to get a great outdoor photo. On our second trip we ran into a professional photographer there with a client. Our photo subject was more difficult to work with than hers (an older teenager), but I'm sure we got the better photos. (Although Mark did envy her the white lens. Whatever!) Here are six of our favorite photos from those shoots:







PS I bet when you read my heading you thought I was going to post photos of the twins. Well, they certainly qualify as Gorgeous and Beautiful, so here's a pair of photos of the twins:

Twin tricks

A quick update on the twins, as I notice Bentley seems to get more of the blog posts - but it's because he does so much more!

Sleeping is still a big activity for the twins. At night Genevieve is willing to sleep about 8 hours, but we haven't managed to convince Jackson to put in more than a 5 hour night on a regular basis. During the day they're starting to spend more time on the activity mats. Jackson is sometimes willing to play for half an hour before losing interest, and Genevieve has been known to happily spend an hour kicking and batting at toys on her own - however - when it comes to tummy time she is not a happy camper. Jackson cheats at tummy time and rolls over after just a minute or two, so I'm not sure he gets credit for the tummy time either.

Both babies are getting stronger, and working on their sitting and standing baby tricks. I think I had Jackson sitting for almost 30 seconds on his own yesterday - he's making big strides with the arching! They both do an excellent job with keeping their heads straight and steady when we hold them.

Genevieve is more into "gabbing" with us, but on occasion Jackson will throw some baby talk out there too. It's funny how they already seem to be working on inflection, volume, and the facial expressions to go along with our "conversations". They both have big beautiful smiles which they produce whenever we take the time to sit down, look them in the eyes, and talk to them for a bit! Jackson is quicker draw with the smile, and you have to coax it out of Genevieve - she makes you work for it!

I weighed them last week, Genevieve is up to 12 lbs 8 oz and Jackson is at 13 lbs. They seem so big when I'm looking at just the two of them, but they're still tiny when Bentley is added to the picture:

And... that's about it for an update!

We're still happy, happy, happy...

I remember posting months ago about one of Bentley's first words - happy! I'm happy to report that happy is still a big hit around here. Bentley wanders around muttering "happy, happy, happy" all the day long - I just hope he actually knows what the word means, and I'm not busy thinking how happy he is when he's thinking something else entirely. :-) In any case, it's a delight to have a toddler who is so good natured and cheerful all the time. We are blessed!

And, because every post is better with a picture, here's another big grin from our happy Bentley!

Friday with the Cousin

Here is Bentley with his cuz Felicity practicing the waltz:


Next they share a hug with each other:


and then they give hugs to the twins:

More playdates!

4 babies sitting quietly:

4 babies & 1 toddler sitting quietly, looking happy:

4 babies & 1 toddler, who all look bored (an impressive shot, I think!!):

Lastly, a sweet ending to a play date of Bentley's earlier this week:

Bentley's *favorite*...

I know that parents don't have favorite children. I'm not really sure that children should have favorite siblings either... but for the time being it appears that Bentley favors Genevieve. He showers her with kisses, hugs, and affection - I'm not sure if Genevieve is the lucky one to have all this attention or if Jackson is the lucky one because he is spared. When we suggest he sit with Jackson or kiss Jackson instead, he complies about half the time. The other half of the time he showers even more love on his sister!

Tonight we had a dinner guest over and we were working with Bentley on his pronouns. When we'd say where is "he" Bentley would point to Jackson. He wouldn't point to Genevieve when asked where "she" was though. I suggested that they ask him where "mine" was instead, as I occasionally catch him poking his sister and muttering "mine"... :-) Sure enough, when asked to identify "mine" he pointed to his sister and said "right here"!! Really - we all heard it!

Grandma suggests dressing Jackson in pink so we can see if it's simply a color preference on Bentley's part. I think it has more to do with the fact that Jackson makes a lot more noise - he's still the squeaky wheel of the household. I'm sure that when he learns to roll a ball he'll be a huge hit with his brother, but until then...

Bentley then and now

A year makes a big difference!

Still the same big grin though!!

The thrills and frills seeker

I left the kids home with their Dad and their Opa while my Mom and I went to a church event, and we came back to reports of dare devil behavior... boys will be boys, I guess?!

At the end of the day, though, Bentley still likes to unwind with his favorite *guilty pleasure* - a good frilly blanket and a thumb (the right one, to be specific!). He has really been enjoying his new blanket with the extra long fringe, courtesy of Great Grandma Hill (thank you Grandma!!!) - it's the perfect size to carry around!

Sunday Afternoon Stroll

We went on a walk with Bentley this afternoon. He loves to be outdoors. Sometimes he walks; sometimes he wants to be carried. When he walks we have to herd him away from the center of the street and try to keep him out of private yards.


Generally this isn't a hard task, but today when we passed a yard with a soccer ball and net in it, Bentley absolutely refused to stay out. I had to carry him off a half a block past the yard.


As soon as I put him back down on his own feet, he headed for the yard with the soccer ball. Again I steered him away.


Even the playground was not a stronger lure than that single soccer ball. Crazy boy!

New food avoidance tactics

Bentley is quite the clever little tyke with his tricks... this past week we installed a new light fixture in the dining room. I've been eyeing this particular chandelier at the store for a couple of years, and it finally made it to a clearance price and I took that as a sign to buy! I love shiny sparkly stuff so this chandelier is right up my ally... and it seems Bentley has taken a fancy to it as well. I put it all together while he was sleeping, and he noticed it right away when he came upstairs in the morning, pointing with an "ooooooh, ahhhh!!". He knows how to please his Mom!

To get to the point though... now when I offer him foods he doesn't want he points up to the shiny light and says "ooooooh!!!". He's trying to distract me and half the time it works. :-)

The light seems to be a hit with Jackson as well. I haven't caught Genevieve staring at it, but if I position the bouncy chair right sometimes Jackson will sit and stare with his huge eyes for at least a couple minutes before getting back to voicing his complaints about life. :-)

Playdate time again!

Patrick and Cassidy are getting so big - I bet they're going to catch up to Jackson and Genevieve in the next two weeks!

Either I'm really good (they're all looking!) or they're just really cooperative... I'm leaning towards the second option. Today all four babies were quiet and peaceful at the same time for at least an hour. It was an amazing experience!

Perfection of the toddler creed

Bentley has been practicing the most essential of toddler skills very hard (he's anticipating turning 2 apparently). The past few days have seen an explosion in the "no" department. Unfortunately for him he lacks conviction, he points his hand at the food he wants while the no is coming out of his mouth. It seems to be a knee jerk reaction and an enjoyment of the new word more than anything else! Fortunately for him I still find this behavior cute - I'm sure that will wear off, but for the time being I'm entertained by the cute way he draws out the word no, and by the fact my child has such a sense of independance!

3 months old

Since it's a little past midnight, according to the date the twins are now officially 3 months old!!

I can't believe they have been a part of daily life with us for 1/4 of a year, it doesn't feel like it's been that long. They've changed so much in the last 3 months and I can't wait to see what the next 3 bring.

They both smile "on command" (ok, not really on command - but when coaxed they will normally produce toothless grins) now, and they are starting to do a great job of tracking with their eyes. They have excellent vocal cords, which get louder on a daily basis. They are full of self confidence and have no problems with expressing their demands. On occasion they will stand (with help, of course) and sometimes we can get 2 or 3 seconds of sitting out of them before they topple forward (Genevieve) or straight back (Jackson). Once in a while they practice their baby talk, it's more common to hear Genevieve doing this than it is to hear Jackson. Maybe he will be the strong silent type...

Bentley is an awesome older brother. He claps when they practice standing and sitting - he is really looking forward to getting them to a more mobile state - I think he's anticipating some lively games of ball? When they cry he comes running to provide a pacifier, or to check that I'm doing my job and feeding them. He loves to sit on the couch with Genevieve and rub her head (on occasion he pulls her toes and tries to sit on her, but I try to focus on the positive!). When we tell him to say good night to the babies he's always willing to give them both a kiss. He's also always willing to share his food with them... I hope this positive sibling interaction continues - only time will show!

All Dressed Up

The twingle and twinks dressed up this past weekend to attend their cousin Dan's wedding reception.



Genevieve was passed around and admired by a number of family members (and even some strangers), while Jackson preferred to hang out mostly with dad. Bentley ran wild with his Cuz Felicity.

It is officially fall time!

Here are the kids, *celebrating* the official arrival of the autumn season. Well... at least 2 of them are celebrating. The other one wasn't too thrilled to be put down just to have his picture taken!

Competitive screaming

When one baby screams it very quickly turns into two babies screaming... I think they both have a sense that if they don't scream louder than their sibling than they're "losing"... I'm not sure what they're losing, but I know that I'm losing my hearing (and sanity). Friday started out with some healthy lung exercise... so I knew we needed something special to make it through the day. Out came Mom's favorite shirts... read closely. :-)

They both love mommy, the shirts remind me. Since they can't speak yet the shirts speak for them (I hope!). :-) Notice Genevieve is even smiling in the picture - I had a few with Jackson smiling, but Genevieve wasn't smiling at the same time. Of course not... since I've already posted a picture of his smile I figured it was her turn. We think she might have a dimple, we have to coax a few more big grins out of her before a final determination can be made though!

I was speaking with someone today about God's clever plan, in making babies so darn cute - they have to be awfully lovable and adorable to make it easy for us to block out all the screaming, the lack of sleep, and the hardwork... it's a good thing Jackson and Genevieve have cute down pat already.

Language "explosion"

All of my parenting magazines tell me that somewhere between 15 and 24 months children have a language explosion, at which point they will start adding dozens of words to their vocabulary every day. I can't wait - at least - that's what I keep telling myself! I am very eager to find out exactly what is going on behind those bright eyes of my child. :-) I didn't talk much until 24 months myself, at which point I talked in sentences. Bentley's approaching 20 months and I'm wondering if he's going to take the same approach... 4 months seems like an eternity right now!

I suspect that half of the reason I look forward to clear communication is because I think it will make it easier to get along. I'll offer a selection of breakfast foods, he'll tell me what he wants and he'll eat it. I'll explain we have to run errands but when we get home we can play outside, and he'll eagerly come along and behave at the store. I'll tell him I understand he's tired and if he could just be good natured we'll be home soon, and he'll happily comply... I have many visions of conversation with a rational being. The problem, however, is that I'm not sure toddlers qualify as rational humans. They have to grow into that...

I'm positive that communication with full sentences will be entertaining, but I think I'll have to reconcile myself to the fact that it won't solve all parenting problems. Exhibit A may be the new words heard this week:

1stly, the big "NO" has shown up. Prior to this it was simply vehement head shaking, but now we've progressed to an occasional no.

2ndly, we heard a "go away!" this week. It was directed at the ball, which he then threw, but still...

We'll see what words show up next!