They said this would happen...

When the girls were in me, Twin A (Elizabeth) was a trouble maker. She would kick Twin B (Miranda) all the time. Miranda would just lay there quietly and Elizabeth would kick the crap out of her. We even saw this on ultrasounds.

But when they were born, Elizabeth was mellow as can be. She always sat there quietly minding her own business. She only cried when she wanted to sleep or eat. Miranda, on the other hand, was a complete trouble maker. She would cry for no reason, demand attention, and generally act unpleasantly. I even asked the doctors if they took out Twin B first by mistake because surely, Elizabeth, that sweet little thing, could not have been the one kicking up a storm in there.

But now...it all makes sense. Elizabeth is a brute. A trouble maker. And a biter. She will take away any toy Parker or Miranda are playing with. She will grab pacifier, bottles, and anything else she can away from Miranda. And when she is pissed off, which is more frequent these days, she throws her head back and rolls on the floor. Like she is a 2 year old having a tantrum. It's quite a show. And when she cries...man oh man...she cries LOUDLY. Screaming would be more accurate. Today, at their own year check up, she screamed the entire time. It was joyous to be in a tiny exam room with two nakes babies waiting for the doctor with her screaming. Just great.

And Miranda will sit by herself, happy as a clam, playing with toys, looking at the scenery or trying to stand up as seen below. It's only when Elizabeth crawls over to take away her toy that she pitches a fit.

They said the girls would flip flop personalities at some point and so that point most have happened already. Unless...they flip flop again...

Birthday girls

Birthday Number One

Well...we made it. One year. To think that I was very pregnant and barely able to move a year ago yesterday. Thank god I never have to do that again.

Anyway...The girls enjoyed their birthday cupcakes and their new toy from Aunt Amy and Uncle Eran (as did Parker). They did not enjoy the milk instead of formula or the sippy cups instead of bottles. But, shoot...you can't have it all, right?

Please excuse my singing on this video. Somehow, all the musical genes that my sister, brother and children got skipped right past me.

More fun at the park

After naps today we went to Montclair Park. Since the girls were so good at climbing, I thought they might enjoy the toddler area. We were the only ones there, which was nice, and boy, was I right about the girls. They couldn't get enough of the stairs and slide. It was pretty tough to watch them both (not to mention take pictures and video) while keeping a half an eye on Parker too. They both wanted to go down the slide on their own. I don't remember what Parker was like at one year, but I don't think he was this adventurous.





Sometimes they were all together.

And somethimes they were not.


Here is Miranda going down the slide...
Oh and in other news, Elizabeth walked 12 steps across the room today. Yay!

more rider

The phone books are here!

In addition to the new phone book that arrived today, the girls got a birthday present from Grandma Judy. The girls immediately loved it. Trying every possible combination of use. Eli pushing. Miranda pushing. Both pushing. One inside. The other inside. Both inside. It was a barrel of fun until the fun turned to frustration as they both decided the best place was inside. So I tucked it away in the closet. Just then Parker said, "I want to play with the Birthday." Poor kid.

This morning...

We played with Zeke, who is all out of sorts without Noe here.





Then we read some books.





Then we played some ball. Miranda can actually throw a ball extremely well. It's weird.


Then we did the daily blue chair/laundry basket climbing.






And ended with an examination of our large and high tech TV.

All before 9am, when we headed out to a Gymboree class for all three of them. No pictures from that. I was too busy trying to ensure Elizabeth and Miranda didn't kill themselves.

Walnut Creek Park

I drove out to Walnut Creek today to drop off the Pumpkin costumes for Kym and her babes, Clayton and Candace. She is a photographer and does holiday theme baby cards with her kids each month and I thought she could use the pumpkins. We were going to all hang out, but my kids were so snotty that I thought we'd better not infect her entire house, so we went to a nearby park. And what a park it was. Huge. Green. Lots to do and see. With bathrooms. And it was basically empty. Man...I wanna live in Walnut Creek!

Eli made a beeline for the giant play structure, climbed all the way to the top and then tried to go down the slide by herself. I got there in time to turn her over and she went down on her belly. Unbelieveable. It's the slide closest to the camera in the photo. Notice Parker playing with a boy named Jacob on the twisty slide in the background to the right.

Miranda has taken to asking for the pacifier (ie she is cranky and then she gets it and then turns happy) so that tells me it is time to put an end to the pacificer...

Parker had a freak out about something which turned into a meltdown which turned into a screaming festival. So we left.



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Trampoline

I've been hesitant to blog about the trampoline because I'm slightly embarassed that we have this huge, orange, thing in our dining room. I think we'll move it in the garage or outside soon, but until then, the kids are loving it. Parker spends hours in there in day jumping away. Miranda like to practice standing and jumping. And Elizabeth loves going in and out, which is only slightly less safe than actually being in it and jumping. Parker also enjoys listening to music while laying in it.







The girls also spent a minute this morning checking each other out.

Big Belly

I have nothing much to say about this photo. I just thought it was funny.

The One Year Mark

We have been looking forward to the girls' birthdays for a while now. Not because we want to eat cake or to sing, but because we can stop doing so many things. We can stop Formula and go to milk (saves money!). We can turn the car seats around so they face front. And we can stop avoiding honey, nuts, and egg whites. Even though we have a few days left until they officially turn 1, we moved the seats, gave them milk and let them have their first taste of eggs this weekend. Even though Miranda was a bit concerned and Eli seems to like her toast more, they devoured their second taste of eggs like they were the last bit of food they would ever see.

Babies and dogs

A rescue group I know is doing a dogs and kids calendar. They asked to borrow my kids for it. The woman who asked, Leslie, has a dog and foster dog that look very similar. So she thought it would be cute to have two similar babies and two similar dogs in one shot. Elizabeth, the one I thought would be all over the dogs, had a total meltdown (a combination of hunger and not enough sleep), the dogs were more interested in Zeke and the food than the babies, and Miranda loved every minute of it. She was the "Zen" baby as Leslie called it. We have already scheduled a re-shoot.