Flagg Baby Update

I don't know where the time has gone. 1 year ago at this time things really started to go downhill with my pregnancy. Just 11 days later the girls were born. I spent those last 11 days completely unable to get from the basement (our home theater) to our bedroom without a serious break on the first floor. I couldn't really sit up because I was so swollen that my feet would nearly explode. I couldn't wait to evict those little girls from my body. Well, one year later I am amazed at how far we've come. In just 11 days we will be celebrating the girls' first birthday! That means that about 4% of my life to date has now been spent as a mother to Abby and Emily\.

The girls are just so funny now. The things they enjoy most are:

- dancing
- chasing each other
- throwing food on the floor
- emptying milk on to their high chairs and painting with it
- throwing up on the hard wood floors and painting with it
- playing with power cords
- emptying boxes of wipes
- banging on the computer keyboard

Abby loves playing basketball:

From update 3

The girls really seem to enjoy each other. Emily tries to put a diaper on Abby:

From update 3

Drumming with bowls and spoons:

From update 3

They just crack me up. They've figured out how to "trick" us. If I'm sitting on the couch and Emily can see that I have the computer up there she will fake cry, rub her eyes and act like she's tired and snuggle my leg until I pick her up. Once I pick her up she immediately perks up and lunges at the computer.

Abby likes to copy us when we cough. We've been pretty sick lately so, there's lots of coughing going on. If someone coughs Abby immediately copies it and waits for a reaction.

Abby found the monitor and thought it was a phone:

From update 3

While Emily was napping Abby was watching her intently on the monitor.

From update 3

They haven't completely figured out how to blow kisses yet, but they're trying. If you blow kisses at them they will put their hands on their eyes or ears to copy you. They don't understand that the kiss blowing is supposed to come from the mouth.

From update 3

Sometimes they take a break to smile for the camera:

From update 3

Abby's crazy face:

From update 3

The girls have been watching Patriots games with me lately and Abby is trying so hard to cheer for the Pats. She can't quite say it yet, though. She calls them the "Dats".

As for standing and walking, they seem to be a bit scared of it. They can cruise along the furniture and are plenty strong but when you let go of them they sit right down. Abby recently decided to stand alone for a little while and was very happy about all the cheers she received.

Though they can't walk they are definitely very mobile. It was quiet in the house one afternoon and I went looking for the girls to find them playing in the bathroom with a whole roll of toilet paper. They then went on to empty a full container of wipes:

From update 3

On Columbus day weekend we went to a little farm in town. They had a petting zoo with goats, horses, mini-horses, llamas, a turtle, and bunnies (which you couldn't pet). They also had apple and pumpkin picking, hay rides and other things geared toward slightly older kids. While there we got a cone of animal feed to give the animals. The animals didn't seem to be very hungry but were good sports and hung out around the girls anyways. The girls were sort of interested. They pet for a few minutes and then looked around. Emily was mostly interested in eating the feed. She had one bite and I figured she'd stop after that. Nope. She tried to eat the whole cone. The girls were good and enjoyed the horses and goats, but I think they'll enjoy the farm a little more when they are a bit older.

Abby the sheep:

From update 3

From update 3

The girls meet a goat:

From update 3

Feeding the goat:

From update 3

Emily checking out the animal food:

From update 3

Emily tasting the Animal food (she liked it and tried to eat more):

From update 3

It's hard to get candid pictures of the girls these days. The second they see the camera they run right over:

From update 3

They are very busy most of the time. Here they are inspecting the bases to the car seats that they outgrew a few weeks ago:

From update 3

From update 3

One day while Abby napped Emily and I played outside. She was too busy to pose because she was checking out a dried up leaf:

From update 3

But of course touching wasn't enough. She had to taste it as well:

From update 3

From update 3

Byron thought it would be a good idea to teach the girls how to escape from the house. It has been said that he will regret this when they are teenagers.

From update 3

Given how slow I've been about updating the blog lately it's probably safe to say that the next update will include pictures of the girls' first birthday! Thank you all for sharing the last year with us. The girls are lots of fun, so I'm sure some great stories about all the crazy things they do will start coming soon.