One year....Again!

Happy Summer everyone!

We've been enjoying a couple of sunny days here - so much so, that recently Jennifer and I engaged in a wee water "fight" with the neighbourhood kids; everyone seemed to have a water pistol - we were soaked but happy!

June 22nd marked the babies one year (developmental) milestone -- so, for those of you keeping track, the babies were due to be born on June 22nd and, all of their developmental milestones (crawling, talking, walking etc) are measured according to this date versus their actual birthday of April 13th (until they are 2? I think). In true "birthday" style, we celebrated with cake -- Chocolate this time! What fun to watch them dive into it this time -- so different from their April birthday (pictures to follow).

So...it has been a while since I've updated you to all of the happenings here on the crescent...don't worry, nothings changed too much --we're still busy as usual. We had the girls in for their "12 month" check not too long ago. Overall, everything is going well. Emily has reclaimed her title for highest weight coming in at 20 lbs 8 oz with Heather nipping at her heels at 19 lbs 8 oz. Caitlyn is holding her own and not too far off at 18 lbs 15 oz. They are all doing well; however, we've been advised to keep them on some formula until they are 18 months to continue their good growth and provide for some necessary extra iron that otherwise is difficult to get into them. This "one year" milestone also is a mark for me to start to wean from breastfeeding and pumping milk for the babies -- what a year it has been. The girls have done so well though and I feel good about transitioning them all to what will be a combo of cow's milk and formula. I don't think I'll know what to do with the extra time..... ;-)

We've seen great progress from all the girls in their movements -- Caitlyn has mastered the walker and goes back and forth in the living room. She is so confidant that she often moves in on Heather who also enjoys the walker, pretends she's going to walk along with Heather and then "hits the gas pedal" leaving poor Heather in a heap on the floor, surely wondering where the tornado just came from. So, Heather too is enjoying walking - she however, much prefers someone to hold her hands and help her walk along than go with the walker. Walking and standing have opened up these girls' world a little bit more - no longer are things safe even on the dining room table as little hands can now streeeeetch way up and find things they should not!

Emily continues to gather speed and confidence with her commando crawling and, has been seen on a much more regular basis on hands and knees rocking back and forth -- great work Ems! She and I went to another physio appointment and, got a lot more exercises to work on. The good news is that the physio did not have any significant concerns about Emily's range of motion despite being a very "stiff" baby....so, it's just a matter of time and work! She has been working hard with Uncle Don who has been visiting for the past weeks, helping her go through her exercises!

We recently had the girls Baptised at our local church. We were delighted to have some friends and family along to witness and support our efforts in this endeavour and, appreciate all of the well wishes and prayers from those who could not be with us in Calgary for this special day.  The girls did remarkably well considering that they were the "centre of attention" for a small part of the service, they missed their morning  nap, and they were "required" to be quite as the church service proceeded....all in all, they did great and, after a wonderful day we were all thankful for it to come to a close so we could all sleep!

So, I hope you enjoy the few pictures I've offered here...along with some video. Grab a coffee - relax and enjoy.

Heather and Caitlyn -- moments together....

Lunch time for Emily, Heather and Caitlyn (close)

Morning time on the Crescent -- Jennifer w/ Caitlyn, Papa w/ Emily & Heather (reading)

Our beautiful Caitlyn...

book-worm -- Emily

book-worm 2.....Emily

The beginning of summer-daze and fun times with friends (Jennifer right)

Peek-a-boo, I see you.....Emily - Heather (middle), Caitlyn (close)

fun times in the tupperware drawer....Heather (pink), Caitlyn (middle) and Emily (kneeling)

Learning the skill of paper-airplane creation...w/ Uncle Don

Rub-a-dub-dub..... fun in the basket with Jennifer and Emily w/ Heather (left) and Caitlyn (far)

Pretty in pink....Heather, Caitlyn (middle) and Emily (right)

Happy times with Uncle Don

Papa is outnumbered! -- Heather, Emily and Caitlyn (w/ Jer)

Uncle Don outnumbered....Caitlyn (left), Emily and Heather (right)

The "second-first-birthday" for the 3 girls....what a delight to watch them all
devour their chocolate cake....what a mess to clean up!
Caitlyn displays her chocolate eating skills!

Emily is a chocolate master!

Caitlyn - 1 -- Cake -- 2

Caitlyn -- "oh no!"

Smiling girls Jennifer and Caitlyn!

Heather loves her cake too.....

...just like big sister Jennifer!

....cake? what cake?....Emily discovers new uses for her cake!

Heather -1 -- Cake - 1

.....or, make that Heather -1 -- Cake -2....

Emily makes quick work of the chocolate....and more work for the parental units!

....where's the cake Heather?

....oh Caitlyn ate it!

....well it's been a fun week --  for those of you who have looked at this blog before the captions were posted, I apologize, it got posted too early. But, the names are in now. Look for a new blog in the next days -- we've had the girls Baptised and some other fun times so  I'll post the pictures soon....sorry for the chaotic post....

Have a great day and a fun week.....
all the best....
Jan