Emi                                                   Taya

Happy New Year!  I hope the holidays were good for you and that the new year brings you nothing but good things.

It’s been crazy around here.  We live in the same town but bought a new (bigger) house.  I wanted to make sure we had enough rooms that the girls can each have their own space if they decide at some point in the future that they want it.  For now they will continue to share because it’s easier for me and being together is comforting to them.  There are many mornings that I come in and they are giggling and squealing at each other.  They don’t seem to find anybody else quite as funny as they find each other.  They do have separate cribs because they are way too tall to share and on the couple of occasions that I’ve put them in the same pack n play for a few minutes it turns into a WWE wrestling match.  Somebody always ends up with her head trapped in the others legs.  They’ve adjusted to the new house well and it’s nice because this house is all one floor and they have a lot of freedom.

They need freedom because they are both crawling now.  They do have different methods, however.  Taya started crawling about a month before Emi and does the Army crawl, where her belly never leaves the floor.  Emi had all the tools to crawl earlier but couldn’t be bothered with it for a while.  She would roll and pivot to where she wanted to go and if she got off track or stuck she would yell until we put her where she wanted to be.  When she finally decided she was ready she got on her hands and knees and took off.  They love to chase each other around the house although Emi’s method is much faster than Taya’s.  Neither one of them at this point are even remotely interested in walking, and in fact they will lift their feet and legs off the floor when we try to have them hold our fingers and walk.   I wish I had their ab strength.  They are also big jumpers and can bounce the jumper across the floor.  They are incredibly strong, both in physical strength and personality.

Moving has been a bit consuming but we’ve still made time for adventures.   We went to a pumpkin patch in October. Taya loved the straw.  Emi wasn’t as thrilled.  We’ve had a very mild winter so far and have had several trips to the park.  Both of them love to swing and Emi will giggle the whole time.  We also bought bike seats for them and have taken several rides around the neighborhood.  They think it’s great and have made several fans.

For Halloween this year we made them baby chick costumes which were completely adorable and that they detested.  They weren’t in them for very long because they are quite vocal when they aren’t happy and the whole neighborhood was aware of their feelings on the matter.  Once we took the costumes off they were happy to be strolled around and many people had vanilla wafers or crackers to give to kids that weren’t old enough for candy.

Christmas was exciting and fun for us.  We took them to meet Santa and they weren’t overly impressed but had no problem sitting in his lap, which is more than I can say for their 4 year old brother who wouldn’t get within 15 feet.  We did go to Iowa and spend Christmas with my family.  The girls were completely spoiled and like most 1 year olds, were far more interested in the wrapping paper and empty boxes laying around then they were with actual gifts.  We did discover something funny about Taya during the ride.  We break it up into 2 days because it takes so long.  On the way back we stop after we’ve gone through the mountains for about an hour.  Tas usually gets carsick during this part and this trip was no exception.  He started throwing up and Taya started cracking up.  The harder he vomited and the more noise he made, the funnier she thought it was.  That was quite possible the hardest I’ve seen her laugh.  Sometimes we pretend to vomit and make the sounds now and she’ll bust up every time.  It’s hilarious, but I don’t see a career in the medical field in her future.

We were home for their birthday and did a small celebration with just us.  They each had their own cake that we let them go at and again had different methods of attack.  Emi dug in with both hands and got it everywhere.  Taya leaned straight down with her mouth and started licking the icing off.  Both needed a long bath after.

Emi

I’ve thought of you often throughout the holidays and particularly on their birthday.  I won’t pretend to know how you felt but I can definitely say you were on my mind and I was reminded of your love for them when they were born.  When they are old enough I will tell them the story of your selflessness and love.

I hope you’re well and that things have gotten easier for you.  We wish you the best always and you can reach me through here or by text if you ever have questions.