11 month update

This is their favorite thing to do, walking back and forth holding onto the couch.

And here's my little man

I know Meredith is serious in this picture, but look what a little girl she is!


Here's a video of Berkley walking, the screen may appear black but click the arrow button to see the video.

Folks, my twins are going to be 1 year old in 18 days. I have so many feelings about this momentous occasion, but they're so hard to articulate. I just remember how overwhelmed I was in the beginning, how it seemed like the infant phase would never end and I'd never sleep well again...and now here we are, nearly a year later. I still don't feel like I've processed that I'm the mommy. I think about how different life was a year ago. I was still working full-time, trying to get all the loose ends tied up before I went out on maternity leave. I was saying goodbye to the amazing families I worked with, not to mention my wonderful coworkers. Wow, all this will sink in eventually I'm sure...when the Meredith and Berkley are leaving for college or something like that. Anyway, you can bet I'll have more to share on their birthday. For now I just wanted to show you what a little boy and little girl Meredith and Berkley are growing up to be. Berkley has started walking with his lion walker and LOVES it, his favorite is to walk with you holding his hands, but that kills your back. Meredith doesn't care for walking, I think she's just going to take off and walk one day, just like she did with crawling. I love going to get them up in the morning or from naps to find them either sitting up smiling at me or standing in the crib peeping up at me. Berkley's saying boo for book, Meredith's been saying that one for awhile now though. They jibber jabber all the time, they sound like Ewoks or Sand People from Star Wars a lot of the time. You should see them playing with each other in their high chairs, they reach for each other and squeal when they touch each other's hands and they talk back and forth. They especially get excited in the morning or after they wake up from naps and they see each other for the first time. Meredith has learned how to blow kisses and they both wave bye bye whenever someone leaves. They like looking at pictures of mommy and daddy, especially the one at the top of the stairs, they point to it as we go up the stairs and squeal when I stop to point out mommy and daddy. It's been awhile since I've posted developmental stuff I guess, but Berkley has finally mastered pushing himself up from a crawling position; it took him a bit longer than Meredith, but then again he is a boy (not to diss boys or anything) and he's bigger. Berkley can pull himself up to standing as well, but it takes a lot more work than it does Meredith. Berkley tries to use his upper body strength for everything instead of his legs, which explains why he still crawls with his arms instead of his knees. Berkley and Meredith definitely know their names now and respond to you when you call. They crawl to you when you ask them to and get excited at the sight of Grandma, Mima, Papa and especially daddy! We're proud of how flexible they are in their sleeping patterns. We put them down for naps for the first time at church a few weeks ago. I don't think they slept, but they didn't fuss, instead they talked to each other and played the whole time...at least they got some rest:) They are eating pretty much anything from the table now, which is great! Berkley isn't interested in baby food at all, whereas Meredith can eat at least a jar with every meal - Berkley would rather have real food any day. I think that's all the major changes right now.

Steven survived his miserable MICU rotation...I don't think it was necessarily miserable for him, but it was for me. There was a time he went days without seeing the babies. We can't believe he's soon approaching his 3rd year of residency, which will begin in June or July. He's currently in the process of getting his full NC medical license, which is exciting!