Shrieks, yelps, and general loud babbling

Who was more excited when our new double jog stroller arrived last night? Jonathan – because he gets to start running on a regular basis again? Or me – because I get more time to swim, cook, or lay on the couch eating bon-bons? Jonathan, hands-down. He assembled the stroller ten minutes after it entered our house and the three guys were immediately off for the inaugural spin. But then Jonathan couldn’t get it through the lobby doors. He may have to take the boys out every time he goes in and out of the building… he’s going to try again tonight.

The boys just turned a year old so it’s time for the eleven month developmental milestones (see "Reference Materials" under The FYI to your left).…

Cruises along furniture for balance Yes for both (Benjamin more so than Jonah).

Walks with two hands held Does walking on tip-toe count? We don’t really do this with them very much so they’re not very good at it. Why in the world would I encourage them to start walking?!

Pivots in sitting position Yes for both, but Jonah is Master-Pivoter. He operates an invisible sit-n-spin as well…round and round he goes!

Picks up small block; gives toy when asked Yes, but they want it right back. That is, unless Jonah is giving it to you because he’s just plain bored. Then he’ll throw it on the ground if you give it back. Benjamin will gladly give me a toy, but heaven help the person trying to remove a foregn particle from his mouth! He is our vacuum cleaner and we have several tearful incidents a day of me fishing plastic and cardboard bits out of his mouth.

Lifts blanket to find toy Um, we’ll try that this afternoon - never even thought of doing that.

Says two to three "words" This week Jonah has expanded the meaning of “da-da” to include me, Benjamin, himself in the mirror, our friend Bob Bethel, and anyone else he’s fond of. He also says “uh-oh” a hundred times a day, even softly to himself when he wakes up in the morning. Benjamin’s vocabulary is still limited to shrieks, yelps, and general loud babbling.

Lifts feet during dressing We put them in pants for the first time for their baptism Sunday so they have no experience with this. Mostly they wear onesies or one-piece rompers. (Initially we didn’t put them in waistbands because of the GERD/reflux, but now it’s because it makes diaper changes that much more of a hassle. Once they start walking we’ll start with the shorts. Hopefully around age three.)

Drinks from cup Yes for both. And they tried fresh-squeezed orange juice for the first time last night – a big hit! They have a sippy cup in their cribs, but they still drink formula from a bottle.

Reaches sitting position by self Yes for both.

Jonah has started waving both hello and goodbye this week – he extends his arm, loosely closes his hand, and moves his wrist back and forth. The only thing on his whole body that moves is his wrist. It’s a regal, reserved wave.  (Benjamin still flaps his arm maniacally to wave) When I went in to get them out of their cribs this morning I was greeted by two standing boys, waving and smiling… almost makes getting up at 7am worth it!

It’s my party and I’ll whine if I want to…

The boys’ first birthday party was Saturday! Really it was more a party for Jonathan and I to celebrate the fact we’ve survived the first year with these two dudes. We got a keg of Guinness to celebrate surviving Benjamin and a keg of Amstel Light for surviving Jonah.

Kidding.

Actually, I baked two cakes – the ubiquitous carrot cake and a chocolate Texas sheet cake. Both were short on looks, but long on taste. We had the party on the bayfront area of our church property and the rain held off until the very end so we just moved everything under the covered breezeway for the last half-hour.

Jonah chose that day, the day of his first birthday party, to boycott his afternoon nap for the first time since I can remember. This, plus the fact that he’s not really a party animal, made him excessively whiny towards the end of the festivities. On the other hand, Benjamin had a blast! He ate apples and cheese in his walker, then worked the crowd - hopping from one person to the next as happy as can be!

I only snapped a very few pictures. Between managing the boys and chatting up the guests, I had no time for photography! The boys were baptized on Sunday morning and we did get some good pictures that afternoon. Here are our good friends Bob and Heidi with the boys – they stood up with us as witnesses during the baptism. Then there’s Benjamin doing a post-baptism headstand.

Except for bit of squirminess, the boys were well-behaved and quite solemn during the baptism. They became very still (especially Benjamin) when they felt the water trickling on their heads. They also had a few words to say while our pastor was talking and during the prayer.

FYI: This entry and all new entries are posted in my new journal: “To Twin-Finity and Beyond: The Toddler Years.” If you want to read any of the entries posted from 09/05 through 01/19/07, you can find the journal “Preemie Twins with GERD: Pregnancy through Year One ” under The Blogs and the archives by date/subject are under The FYI.

Finally, the boys share a birthday with George Burns and Buzz Aldrin… go to Famous Birthdays to see who was born on your birthday!