11 Months Old - almost a year?

It's been a crazy day with mixed emotions. At 7:30 am, Matt calls me at work (where I'd been already for a couple hours). He asks where the camera is because he asked Tracy, our nanny, to take pictures of the boys because they're 11 months old today. The "bad mom" complex sets in because 1) I forgot, 2) I may not even see the boys today because it's my late meeting night, and 3) just plain guilt for having the nanny take photos because neither of us are home today.

The good news is that I got home by 7:00 pm and was able to help put them to bed, and then when they were asleep, I was able to view all the photos that Tracy took...my boys are so cute!!!

Here's some of my favorites...

And you can view all of them at http://www.flickr.com/photos/trulytam/sets/72157603492951812/

Now I pose to you my same dilemma as I had not seen the boys in their outfits today (they were still naked from bath time when I got home). The question of the day....who is wearing the Spartan outfit (green & white for those of you who don't hail from MI) and who is wearing the striped outfit (tiger/prison look)?

I did figure it out pretty quickly but I have to admit that I had to take a double take a couple times.

Finally Posting...

Okay, I know it's been awhile. The boys will be 11 months old next week and they are incredibly active! I'm working way too many hours and just barely feel like I have enough time to spend with my family.

But the time together is so fun! As you can tell, they are into everything...

And look what they can do now....

Here's Jacob scooting around in the horsey.

And here's Joseph with the push walker.

Biting...what to do???

Okay. I've been reading about this problem on the internet and in parenting magazines but it actually happened in our house!

Matt and I came home from work on Wednesday to find a "boo-boo" report from the babysitter...Jacob bit Joseph. This incident occurred earlier in the day, but as you can see in the photo below, the bite marks were still clearly evident in the evening when we got home.

I debated about taking the photo, but decided that I must for proof when the boys get older!

It's been a while...

We were in Minnesota for the first week of November and had a great visit with family. The boys got to visit and play with all their cousins including their two new cousins...

We were also able to visit their good friend, Miles (just 3 weeks older than them).

Yes...they're 9 months old!

Okay...I knew the boys were growing up, but it seems that they are learning how to do new things every day.


Just this week, they are grabbing on to everything (even each other) to get to a standing position and then walk around the room....from change table, to jumperoo, to toy chest, to ottoman...

Of course, sometimes one doesn't like being stepped on or pushed out of the way (like Joseph is below)...but it's a great shot of some of his teeth. They both have 8 teeth with more coming out.

And the toy I showed in the last post....they love climbing through it, on it, walking around it...here's Jacob....

And Joseph.....

It's so much fun right now...

• Joseph knows how to wave bye-bye, but won't say it. Jacob will say bye-bye, but won't wave it. Go figure.


• They love to play peek-a-boo with anyone, even each other. Just last night they were hiding from each other behind the laundry hamper, laughing away at each other.


• They learn everything so quickly. We just got a new toy - a ball/hoop combo that I didn't think they would play with for a while. After just showing the boys how it works a couple times, Joe put the ball in the basket by himself....

Since I wanted to make sure I took some good photos at 9 months, I went a little overboard because they are so funny. So if you want, you can visit my flickr account to see all the photos I took today: http://www.flickr.com/photos/trulytam/sets/72157602538262614/

New Toys and New Milestones

We pretty much stop at any garage sale now that shows signs of "baby stuff" and I recently found a great find for next to nothing...



Okay, I know that this play area is probably supposed to be an outside toy, but for now it's in the middle of our living room.



Jacob loves it and will climb in and out of it with ease....



Joseph....not so much. He seems to bump his head a lot when trying to squeeze through the holes. So when it's time for open play time, he seems to scurry off somewhere else....





The other big thing that they both do really well all the time now is pulling themselves to a standing position....

Jacob will furniture walk to different areas and will stand for long period of times. Joseph can do the same when he wants to, but if it's boring, he moves on.

Here's a quick video of them standing and wanting "out" of the play area....

Outlet Shopping!

Yesterday was a beautiful yet cool day so we decided to venture out to Birch Run to walk around the Prime Outlet Stores. The goal was to get some exercise in the beautiful outdoors (mission accomplished - the place is huge and we walked everywhere...never moved the car) and try to find both Matt and I some clothes as we've both lost enough weight that are clothes look ridiculous on us now. (Thanks, Weight Watchers!)

Of course, we stopped in many stores including some of the children's outlets to look for winter coats/accessories for the boys. When we got home and started sorting out the loot, Matt put the new winter hat on Joseph, and Jacob just started laughing at him. I wanted to capture it on video but it was too dark in the room to capture it well so I took a couple photos...

Joseph showing off his new look

To try to be fair, we put a hat on Jacob too and Joseph just started laughing at him. It's so funny to see how they react to each other.

Jacob in his new hat (still laughing at Joseph)

Loving the Camera!

These two little characters love the camera! I'm always trying to sneak up on them to take pictures or video when they are doing something cute, but as soon as they see the camera...it's show time.

Here's Jacob with his big laughing smile (plus drool, of course)...

And Joseph...always trying to climb (everything, everywhere)...


And the boys playing under their jumperoo until they see the camera (Joe hamming it up)...

Baby Gates....

Well, the boys have gotten so fast and into EVERYTHING, that we've quarantined about 1/3 of the living room for their "safe" play area. They actually love playing in the area most of the time, but if both Matt and I are in the kitchen on the other side of the baby gate, this is often the sad sight that we see...

By the way, did you hear Joseph repeating his favorite word? (mama mama mama) Music to my ears!

And of course, there is the occassional "fight" by the baby gate...

Can you believe it - 8 months old???

Yes, our "little" baby boys turned 8 months old yesterday! Time seems to have flown by and they are just growing up so quickly.

Right now, the boys are eating a lot of real food. They've had bananas, strawberries, advocados, squash, potatoes and pretty much anything we have laying around that can be cooked or cut up small! They are pretty good at feeding themselves with fingers and have begun to use a spoon. They can't quite get the food on the spoon themselves, but if I put food on the spoon that they are holding, they know how to get it in the mouth!

The big thing they keep working on is standing up. They like to grab anything near them to leverage for standing. Joseph likes to pull himself to a standing position on his crib and on the gate we had to put up in the living room. Jacob likes to use anything - preferable the closest person to him!

Here's a brief sample of all the photos we took yesterday:

Jacob "hitting" the books again!

Joseph - as happy as ever!

Daddy with Jacob (left) and Joseph (right)

Joseph patiently waiting while Jacob crawls over him to the piano!

Jacob playing the guitar!

Joseph driving the car!

And if you want to see all the photos taken yesterday, you can find them on my flickr website:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/trulytam/sets/72157602077795882/

Weekend in Port Austin

Matt booked a great surprise weekend in Port Austin (on Lake Huron) for our wedding anniversary. We had a great time. The boys got to play on the beach. We all went for long walks in this quaint little town. I beat Matt in putt putt golf and we saw some beautiful sunsets.

Here's Matt in the boys just after a swim in the pool.

Here's the cottage where we stayed.

One of the beautiful sunsets....

Joseph on the beach....

Jacob on the beach (after deciding to taste the sand - face first)...

Both boys fast asleep after playing in the sand and water...

If you want to see all the photos from the weekend, click on my flickr link: http://www.flickr.com/photos/trulytam/sets/72157601842371122/

On the Move

Joseph has been really on the move lately and he is getting quick! Just today Joseph and Jacob were sitting on the blanket playing together so cute that I decided to grab the camera to take a quick photo. When I turned around, Joseph was almost directly behind me....so I captured this video.

Of course, as you can see by the photo below, he was not after me but was heading for the books!

And here's Jacob happily sitting where Joseph left him!

Our Favorite Toys

Here are a couple quick photos of the boys with their favorite toys....

They love sitting together playing with the Sesame Street gang.

And they very favorite toys are the piano and guitar. They are still learning to share!!

New Milestone reached!!!

The boys have been doing really well sitting, but today Jacob did something very cool.

Jacob was napping in the playpen while Matt, Joseph and I were hanging out in the kitchen. We heard that he was awake and when I peaked in the living room, there he was sitting up! I turned to Matt to ask if he sat him up when I wasn't looking when we both realized he knows how to get up on his own.

Later in the day, he repeated his new smooth move twice to get himself from on his back or tummy to a sitting position! Boy, are they growing up quickly!

Please Play With Me

Here Joseph is trying to to play with Jacob, but Jacob has caught sight of Mama with the video camera and is ignoring his brother.

Growing up so fast!

It's amazing how quickly these boys are developing. They are sitting up very well, pseudo-crawling, and rolling wherever they want to get what they want.

Here's a couple of quick photos:

Jacob and Joseph helping Matt with laundry!

Jacob and Joseph wearing their 12month pajamas!!!! Aren't they cute in these long johns?

Yes - they're six months old!

Sorry to all the regular viewers who keep checking but find no updates!!! It has been another whole month + since I've posted and the boys are already 6 months old. The weight gain has slowed down in the last month. Jacob is approx 19 lbs and Joseph is approx 20.5 lbs. Yes, their still huge!

We went to Minnesota for the first two weeks of July to visit Matt's family. Had a great time visiting everyone. If I figure out how, I have some video from the trip that would be great to share. Of course, I did not capture on video all the wildlife I saw from the cows I almost hit to deer, skunk, turkeys, sand cranes, and a black bear!

We just had some photos taken again at Sears since the boys are 6 months old, here is a preview....

Jacob in the tub

Joseph in the tub

Jacob (left) and Joseph (right)

Jacob (left) and Joseph (right)

Jacob (left) and Joseph (right)

Jacob (left) and Joseph (right)

Hope to post again sooner!!!

Our Big Beautiful Babies are 5 months old!

Okay, I know that I'm posting very infrequently (averaging once a month) - how horrible. So that means that the boys are already 5 months old. We weighed them and Joseph is 19 pounds and Jacob is 18 pounds. Yikes! They are so much fun now. They love to laugh and play and both have fun personalities. They are already eating baby cereal and baby food!

Here's some photos of Joseph and Jacob from the last couple days.....

Joseph (left) & Jacob (right)

Joseph, Matt & Jacob (left to right)

Above is Joseph. Even though they both have been sleeping through the night very well. Joseph loves to move to the edge of the crib & stick his legs & arms out (already trying to escape). When he gets stuck, he wakes up screaming. We remove him from the edge, he goes back to sleep, & within a short time, he rolls back to the edge like the picture shows. Chubby little legs don't fit so well between the slats. We now have a crib bumper to keep Joseph "in"!

Above: Joseph

Above: Jacob