We’re back from our RV trip to Yellowstone and we had such a great time.  The weather was wonderful (mid 70’s with blue skies) and the RV made traveling with Alex and Julie so much easier.   The hardest part of the trip was probably the airplane ride because it threw off the twins' nap schedule, and now that they can walk, they really don’t like sitting in one place for very long.  It helped that many of the people around us on the plane were either parents or grandparents who just loved observing Alex and Julie in action.  At Yellowstone it was the same thing, probably 75% of the people visiting the park were retired and we had so many people come up to us and chat about Alex and Julie and tell us about the ages of their grandkids.  When we let Alex and Julie walk around in a public area, they did a great job looking adorable and working the crowds so no one seemed to mind when they occasionally blocked a path or walked up to someone.  With so much natural beauty at Yellowstone it was surprising to see so many people just watching the twins.

We started our trip by flying into Jackson, Wyoming where we rented an RV to drive up to Yellowstone.  Susan did some research and found a place in Jackson that rented baby stuff (pack-n-plays etc.) that made our trip so much easier because we didn’t have to haul everything with us on the plane.  The RV was great because it allowed us to feed the twins or put them down for a nap any time we wanted.  We established a really good routine where we all woke up around 7 a.m.  The babies would get bottles of milk while the adults showered and dressed.  We would all eat breakfast around 8:30 and then we would let the twins play until they started getting sleepy, usually around 9:30.  We would then pack up the RV and prepare it for travel.  Conveniently the RV park we stayed at was centrally located in Yellowstone and about 1 hr away from most of the big attractions we wanted to see.   The babies would nap in their car seats while we drove and they usually woke up just as we were arriving at our destination.  Depending on the terrain at the location we would sometimes put them in a jogging stroller, or put them in backpack carriers when there were stairs.  Around noon we would stop for lunch and then see a few more sites before taking a nap around 3.  Adults took advantage of this time to either nap, read or sometimes we would drive to another location while they slept.  Once they woke from their nap we would feed them a snack and then explore another part of the park until around 6 when we would head back to the RV Park.  Often we had dinner on the way back, usually pulling off to the side of the road that had a beautiful view and make dinner as the twins played in the RV. 

We saw so many beautiful and amazing things in the park and took a ton of pictures.  A few of highlights were the buffalo, the elk, quite a few geysers, steam vents and boiling pools.  Here is a link to some of the pictures we took: Link to photos 

Videos will be posted soon.

We were very lucky to have Aunt Kristi come out and take care of the twins while we are between Au Pairs.   Alex and Julie loved having Kristi around and really had a great time all week.  We realized on the last day that we forgot to take pictures so we quickly snapped a couple that I've posted to the site.

The rain has started to fall in Seattle, signaling the end of summer and the start of the 9 month rainy season.  Fortunately Alex and Julie are all set in their cute new rain gear.  We posted a few pictures of them in their rain coats, but their feet are still a little too small to fit in their matching boots.  No worries that the rain may stop falling before everything fits, so look for additional pictures posted of the full ensemble. 

Finally figured out how to post HD videos onto YouTube, so the video quality should be a lot better than the stuff we've been posting.  The videos below are in the order they were taken.

 

The first video is the much anticipated one of Alex and Julie eating their first birthday cake (cupcakes).  Link to video

 

This video is of Alex riding on the rollercoaster toy we got the twins for their birthday.  He was a little scared at the end of his ride.  When you're only a 1 year old, that first drop probably feels pretty huge.  Link to video

 

Here is Julie on the rollercoaster, and she was all smiles.  Link to video

 

Here is video of Julie on the day she started taking her first steps. Link to video

 

Here is Alex taking his first steps.  Link to video

Laure has been working with Alex quite a lot to get him walking.  Today, he took several steps on his own!

 

Julie is walking 95% of the time now.  She looks a little like Frankenstein, but she gets better every day.  She only has one bruise on her forehead from falling this week... as compared to last week where she continually had 3-4 bruises across her head. 

 

This past weekend, we took the babies to Etta's for lunch and the Pike Place Market.  They did really well in the restaurant and we now know that Alex likes Cornbread Pudding (it was yummy!).  Julie didn't like it, but that's ok.  We realized that for our next restaurant outing we need to take our own placemats or at least bowls/plates that stick to the table.  There was a lot of banging the plates at the restaurant.

I reported before that Julie had taken a few stumbling steps forward on her own.  Today, she walked for real!  Laure called me up at work so I could watch through the Nanny Cam.  She would stand Julie up and move away.  Julie would then take several steps to get to her.  In the evening, she started walking on her own from one place to another.  A few steps at first, then half way down the hall.  She looks like Frankenstein, but it's so adorable and she's so proud of herself.

 

We have lots of pictures to post and are getting behind.  Soapbox decided to not let us host our video there anymore, so we've been moving it all over to YouTube.  We wanted to use all Microsoft products, but Microsoft has failed us.  We will get the pictures over the last few weeks and new video up soon!

Alex and Julie went to the doctor today for their one year check up.  They are doing great! (of course :-)  The doctor said that they were really healthy and no longer show any signs of being a month pre-mature developmentally.  Here are their stats.:

 

Julie (perfect proportions):

19 lbs. 10 oz. (25-50%)

28.5 in. tall (25-50%)

46.5 cm head circumference (90%)

 

Alex (lean, mean, fightin' machine):

21 lbs. 6 oz. (25-50%)

30.75 in. tall (75%)

49.5 cm head circumference (>97%) - they measured twice to make sure his head really is humungous!

 

When Julie was born, she was in the 3% for weight.  Alex was at 10% for weight.  So, they've come a long way!

Today is Julie and Alex's first birthday.  A year ago, around 5 am, we were up getting ready to go to the hospital.  At 7:56am, Baby A, aka Julie, was born via c-section.  Baby B, aka Alex, decided that he wanted to do some somersaults before making his entrance into the world at 7:58am.  They both ended up being breach.  Mom spent most of the rest of the day sleeping and taking pain meds.  Dad spent most of the day going to the NICU to visit Alex and Julie and brought back videos for mom to see.  Late afternoon, Alex, then Julie, were out of the NICU and joined us in the hospital room.  They were healthy and weighed in at 4 lbs. 10 oz. and 5 lbs. 5 oz.  Talk about tiny!

 

Fast forward one year... Julie and Alex got up around 7:20 am.  They were once again sleeping in the same room as mom and dad because it is super hot in Seattle this week and our room has A/C.  They woke, started babbling and stood up.  They have learned so much in one year.  It's been amazing to see how much work it is to learn how to sit, then to learn how to crawl, learn how to talk....  But they are doing great.  They're both crawling and cruising and actually starting to play some together.  They still babble, but I'm sure one of these days it will turn into words with meaning.  I swear Julie was trying to say turtle the other day, "tt, tt".  Tomorrow we find out their official height and weight.

 

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All bets have been on Alex that he walked first.  I had my money on him that he would walk first as well.  But.... it was Julie!  She stumbles forward a few steps, and I think it's because she learned to pull herself up on the cars and push them.  The car would start moving and she would stumble forward while still trying to stand.  She mastered that technique and is now transferring it to walking without assistance.  Alex still likes something to hold on to, but he really doesn't need much help.

 

Lots of pictures coming!  I won't be posting today though since it currently reads 106 degrees out and we'll be hiding in our two rooms that have A/C.  No computer tonight!

We generally have one week in the summer where it's blazing hot.  For this year, it's this week.  We're getting into the 90's and we're supposed to hit a record on Wednesday, 100's maybe?  They're also predicting an all time Seattle record of not going below 70 at night for the first time ever this week.  Now, this is standard weather where Marc and Susan grew up, but we're weak now.  10 years in Seattle enjoying temperate weather has made it more difficult to deal with the heat.  Luckily Microsoft is air-conditioned.  We also bought a new air conditioner for the play room for this year.  We took our old air conditioner that didn't work too well and put that in our room where it's shaded from the afternoon sun.  So, we have our 2 room sanctuary.  Julie and Alex slept in our room last night and it worked out well.  They don't make noise through the whole night any more, but they do wake up at 7am and pop up instantly chatting away. 

I don't want to spoil the surprise of who, but somebody took 2 steps on their own today! 

 

Alex and Julie have had different techniques leading up to this.  Julie has gotten really good at pushing the little cars around.  Alex has been playing "look ma no hands" and standing for 15-20 seconds on his own.  Both are cruising around the furniture like crazy.  So, does car pushing or standing on your own work better for walking preparation?  I'll let everyone guess....

A couple of weeks ago, Laure was on vacation, so the Schnipke Grandparents came out to take care of Julie and Alex.  It's so much better to have family help out than backup nannies who don't care about your kids.  Julie and Alex had a great week.  They developed a lot during the week which is always cool to see.  They loved climbing all over their grandpa and listening to their grandma read to them.  They got to go to the park and Julie really loved swinging.  All in all, a great week!  Thank you Grandma and Grandpa!

On Monday, we celebrated Julie and Alex's first birthday.  No, they're not 1 until the end of the month, but Grandma and Grandpa Schnipke were in town, so we had a family celebration.  They got their first round of gifts which they really seem to like.  They also got to eat CHOCOLATE for the first time.  I got them each their very own cupcake to eat and destroy.  Alex kept cramming it into his mouth.  Julie put some in her mouth but mostly liked destroying the cupcake.  I think we'll have some great video, but I need to go through it and pick out some good bits.  I'll post some pictures to hold you over.

We have two little push cars and a little push cart for Alex and Julie.  They really love riding on the cars.  They put their feet up a little so they don't drag and we push them up and down the hallway.  They get the biggest grins and squeal.  Julie has also started pushing the cars herself.  At first, when she would try to stand up behind a car, she would fall because it would move.  She has since figured out how to use the car to pull herself up without it moving away from her.  And, she's getting really good a walking and pushing the car.  Alex really likes to ride on the car, so we try to get Julie to push the car while Alex is riding.  It's a win-win-win = Julie gets to push, Alex gets to ride, Mom & Dad don't kill their backs bending over to push the car.  When we try to switch Alex and Julie and have Alex push, he just cries.  I don't think he likes the idea of pushing his sister.

 

Videos:

... your little girl crawls over to the toilet, pulls herself up, and starts playing with the water.  Not only dangerous, but gross.  Needless to say, I'll be going to the store on my way home for toilet locks.

I almost forgot to blog about this...  Julie and Alex had their first eye exam last week.  I wasn't sure what to expect since they can't say if they see something or not.  The first little test was to "find Heidi".  Heidi was a face on a card of varying darkness/lightness.  The babies had to look at the card with the face rather than the blank one.  The face got lighter and lighter.  Both Alex and Julie did very well.  They could see Heidi at 2.5% (super light).  The doctor then took a toy and a prism and they looked through the prism at the toy.  It made them see two toys and they would look back and forth between them.  Then they put a patch on one eye and did "find Heidi" again.  Switch the patch and do it again.  They were trying to see if the eyes worked together or if one eye was too dominant.  Finally, they got their eyes dilated and the doctor looked at the back of their eyes and checked their actual eyesight prescription.  Both Julie and Alex are currently farsighted, which is typical for babies their age.  Both of their eyes work together equally, so that was good.  Everything checked out health-wise. 

 

Exam-wise, Alex pushed the patch onto his eye so tight that it was like a horrible bandaid being pulled off and he wailed.  His face was all red around his eye.  I felt so awful for him.  Unfortunately, it was the first eye to be covered, so he was terribly displeased that he had to go through it again.  And, then he had to have his eyes dilated.  I took a very unhappy baby back to Laure to watch while Julie had her exam.  Luckily, we had bottles of formula for them.  When Julie's turn came around, I didn't let her touch the patch, although she tried.  She was also a star when it came to the doctor looking at the back of her eyes.  She just sat there and stared at him.  Babies don't do that according to the doctor.  They squirm and squint and close their eyes... this is exactly what Alex did.  It's not surprising since they are in a dark room with this light being shown into their eyes.  So, her exam at that point was about a quarter of the time as Alex's.  The doctor even looked in her eyes twice - I think he was so surprised it was so easy, that he double checked.

Since my last post, Alex decided to add a little something to his repertoire.  He pulled himself up to standing.  done.  just like that. 

Alex and Julie turn 11 months old tomorrow.  Today, Alex figured out how to sit up on his own.  He's crawling better than yesterday, although there's still a little bit of complaining sometimes.  I'm not sure he's fully realized the extent of his freedom yet.  Alex can also stand and cruise around the furniture.  Julie has been crawling for around a month, so has had time to fine tune her technique.  She can crawl to whatever she wants, she can get into a sitting position, she can pull herself up to a standing position, move around and sit back down again.  She can also pick things up from standing, and every once in a while she lets go completely for a few seconds of free standing.  She's just starting to learn to climb on things; she's very determined!

 

Both Julie and Alex are eating solids well.  They can pick up cheerios and put them in their mouths.  They are really liking feeding themselves, so we try to give them a number of finger foods.  They still eat purees, but they are getting chunkier.

 

Julie now has 5 teeth, with the 6th one about to pop through.  Alex has 6 teeth with no signs of new teeth.

 

Julie says da-da-da, ba-ba-ba and ma-ma-ma.  Here's hoping she says Mommy before Daddy!  I haven't noticed any consonant sounds from Alex yet, but it's only a matter of time.

Today, Alex took his first steps towards independence.  He crawled forward several times today.  The first was with both Marc and I in observance and later in the day with Uncles Chris and Patrick.  He had been moving his arms and legs separately in a crawling motion all week, albeit crying and angry every time we put him on his stomach, but today he put all the movements together.  We are so proud of our ltitle boy.  Give him a couple of days and he'll be racing Julie.

I captured a few videos that I wanted to share.  Julie's videos were completely in the moment, so, the lighting was bad and hence the videos are grainy.  Here they are anyway...

 

1) Julie has learned how to crawl and now tries to climb up onto things.  So far, she has been unsuccessful, but I guess it's the next natural thing.  The first time I saw her trying to climb up on something was the treadmill, so I captured a little video.

 

2) Julie also likes to shake the fences and gates that keep her safe.  Here's a video of her doing just that.  Daddy is on the other side of the fence "taunting" her (all in good fun of course!).

 

1) Alex loves the "falling backwards" game.  I'm not entirely sure we should have started this, but they love it!  In this first video, you can see how he arches back his head in anticipation.

 

2) This second video is of the same game but with the added twist of a somersault.