Night out for our 5th Anniversary

Calli loves to dress up like Abby from Sesame Street

Go CATS!

Tailgating with Aunt Sam

Calli wearing a new hair style

Halloween Party at Cardinal Hill's childcare (Aunt Lauren's work)

Calli is starting to get enough hair to put in a barette, but she takes them out and they disappear-she may eat them, who knows?

Everyone is still doing well! We STILL have our house up for sale with no hope of selling it this year. I think we have both come to terms that we may live here longer than expected. We'll see, maybe we could let Toys R Us use our house as a showroom:)

Max is talking up a storm! He will say just about anything you tell him to. Unfortunately, he has started to repeat words not intended for him to repeat:( Calli is talking a lot, but only she knows what she is saying. She skipped the whole one word thing and has moved straight to sentences. Unfortunately, no one else on this planet speaks "Calli", so we both end up frustrated when she tries to tell you something.

Craig and I have been taking the babies to an open gym at a gymnastics facility. We go there on Wed mornings which allows for us to have some good quality time together as well as an opportunity for the babies to burn off some steam. She really likes to jump on the trampoline and is starting to jump with both feet leaving the surface. He isn't as graceful, but enjoys it just as much. It has also been an opportunity for them to learn from other kids as well as set an example for some as well.

I guess that's it. I will post some pics after Halloween, they are planning to be a spider and ladybug. We have been practicing wearing the costumes to make sure they like them. I just hope the weather cooperates!

Busy days

Max is now holding the golf club with two hands:)

Max, Calli and Jessie at the Buddy Walk

Calli getting a drink after the walk

Max enjoying a sucker at the Buddy Walk

We have been so busy lately! We did the Buddy Walk for Down Syndrome this weekend. They had their first sucker, which they LOVED. Calli dropped hers before I could get a picture. Max ate his all the way to the stick and then of course through a fit when it was gone:)

My friend Jessie (child with Down Syndrome) was too cute with Max and Calli, she tried so hard to keep them close by. She treated them like her lost sheep getting them back to their mommy.

We have "introduced" the potty to both of them. They are both attempting to go several times a day and actually doing something at least once a day. They think they are big stuff!!!

Still battling a little with control, but as they are getting older it is getting a little easier to reason with them. Max is now getting Time Out and Calli is well on her way:)))

They are loving the pumpkins and other Halloween decorations. They spot a pumpkin every where we go. They are practicing wearing their costume just to make sure they will tolerate wearing them when the time comes. We are even attempting to say "trick or treat" too bad no one will understand them. Any body know a good Speech Therapist ;)

We have had some playdates as well lately. It is interesting to see the kids interact. Calli certainly doesn't want to be a "baby" like the big girls want her to be, she wants to be the mommy too. Max just kinda goes around checking things out. He goes with the flow a little more (like his daddy) and Calli likes to control things a little (like her mommy). I am looking to get them into some program that offers a little more structure and interaction with same age peers. We'll see what happens...

Growing up!

Well, I know it is something that everyone says, but my kids are growing up so fast. I feel like I blink and they do something new. They are teaching me a lesson or two, that is for sure!
Based on typical boy vs girl development I have expected Calli to be more advanced than Max with language. Well that is definately not the case in my family. Don't get me wrong, Calli has her fair share of things to say, like ALL THE TIME, I just can't understand it yet. Max on the other hand has had this huge growth in his vocabulary. He can just about say anything simple and will sometimes even put two words together. Some of Max's favorite words are: Moma, Dada, Ca (Calli), Papa, Me (Mimi), Nana, Papa, Juice, Shoes, Broke, Cat, Rox (for Roxie), Lo (for hello), Book, Bye, Bath, Walk, Truck, Ball, Golf, Bat, Elmo, Abby, Monk, (monkey), Raf (giraffe), Ke (blankie), Pa (paci), ock (sock), Be/Bi (bear), uh oh, beep (timer for time out), ouch, no no (he hears that A LOT), Man (aunt Amanda), Ball, peach, bite, more, all done, meat (favorite right now), min (vitamin), up (means both up and down), brush, help, be (bird), hippo, poop, thank you and love you are not clear and sound a lot alike.
Need I say more, that is a lot of words for a 19 month old boy! As for Calli her favorite words are: Moma, Dada, Buba, Papa, Nana, Papaw, (working on a word for Grammie), more, done, bite, help, up, bath, ball, baby, paci, bear, pupka (pumpkin), cat, dog, Abby (she calls her Abba Daba), Elmo, book, love you and thank you are also not clear and sound a lot alike, bye, poop, cup, and a lot of animal sounds.
We did go to the ENT this past Friday and he said Max's tubes still look great. Calli's left one was not visible due to wax, but he wasn't concerned. I requested a hearing test for her which indicated her hearing was normal. They said if I was concerned about her speech growth that they would re test her at 2. I will just have to be patient I guess! I really need to come to terms with the fact that she is a preemie and a little behind, it's just weird because I have Max to compare her to.
Anyway, on a possitive note for both of them, they both pooped on the potty for the first time today. I have had a potty in my bathroom and they will ocassionally sit on it with clothes on. When they take a bath I try to make them sit on it before getting into the tub, but they have never peed or pooped. Well today, they were both acting like they had to poop, so I asked them if they wanted to go "poop on the potty", they ran into the bathroom. I told them to push it out. We opened a magazine and looked at the pictures and before you know it, Poop in the potty!!! They were so excited, most of all because I let them flush the toilet.
Enough talk about poop, they are getting so big and I am enjoying every minute. Max is still acting out, but he is understanding consequences a little better. Calli doesn't act aggressively, but she sure does things to get your attention. She however isn't understanding consequences that well. We are working on that though:)

Here are some pictures:

Max wearing his backpack leash, getting ready for a walkCalli Cheesing, wearing her backpack leash getting ready for a walk

Calli wearing her tutu and watching Abby on Sesame Street