Spoons are Hard!

I heard or read or saw somewhere that you should start letting kiddos practice using utensils at around a year old...I guess just get them used to the idea of feeding themselves with spoons and forks. The idea of handing my kids forks is still a bit frightening, but I have started giving them spoons to use with their yogurt and applesauce just to see how they do.

Yes, that is poor little Charlie in her brother's hand-me-down pajamas. Must've been laundry day.

Needless to say, it is not going well.

13 Months!

Last Sunday, Brian and I took the babies up to HomeGoods to have a look around for a couple of things we need. A woman stopped to talk to us about Charlotte and Jensen (she was there shopping for a few items for her granddaughter's nursery). When she asked how old they were, we told her that they just turned one. We went about our shopping (after, of course, the woman told us that her daughter was only having one baby,  "Thank God"--seriously, are people ever going to stop feeling sorry for us??) and it wasn't until later that night that we realized Charlotte and Jensen didn't just turn one--they turned 13 months old that very day! And I know I said I was looking forward to not doing these monthly posts anymore, but I do just want to take a few minutes to record a bit about what C & J are up to at 13 months old.

Charlotte Anne at 13 Months

I just happen to know (because of our recent trip to the doctor for her Hand, Foot & Mouth disease) that she weighs 19.10 pounds. We have decided we are going to throw a party for our little peanut when she finally breaks the 20-pound mark!

Looking more like her daddy every day!

Charlie is a chatterbug! She seriously talks constantly...most of the time, it's in her own special language that only she understands, but she does have quite a few words that she either says on her own or repeats: dog, cat, ball, banana, dada, mama, bye-bye, owl, blue (seems to be her favorite color), woof, car. She is obsessed with riding in her wagon and she loves to cruise down the street chatting to herself and everything she sees. A new love of Charlie's is cars and trucks. (As you can imagine, her dad is quite excited about this.) When we read books or go on walks, she points at different cars and trucks (she especially likes trucks) and squeals until I tell her what color the car or truck is. She knows Grandma's car and can point it out when asked. Charlie still isn't walking on her own...she much prefers to be carried everywhere she wants to go!

Love those little bitty legs!

Jensen Todd at 13 Months

My little wild man has been walking--no, make that running--everywhere! He is getting very quick! We have been gradually making more areas of the house available to Charlie and Jensen, and he finds it very exciting to explore every nook and cranny of his new territory. He loves to read, and if I ask him to bring me a book, he'll walk over to his book bin, dig around to find a favorite, and bring it to me happily. And speaking of favorite books--he has one in particular that's a clear winner. It's called If My Dad Were a Dog, and the artwork features a real dog (chocolate lab). Jensen is obsessed with this book and we read it several times each night (we bought our own so we wouldn't destroy the library copy). We even found him napping like this one day:

He pulled the book from the floor into his crib.

As I mentioned in another post, Jensen caught Charlotte's Hand, Foot & Mouth disease a few days after she came down with it. When Jensen gets sick, he is soooo grumpy. I am so used to him being such a happy dude that it makes me so sad to see him not himself.

And finally, here are a couple pics of Charlotte and Jensen together this month. This was one morning when the air-conditioning man came to repair our AC. Charlotte and Jensen thought it was quite interesting to watch him work, and I'm sure he thought it was a bit odd to have two babies wearing only diapers staring at him while he went about his work:

It's hard to tell, but Jensen is giving the AC repairman his "shy" smile.

Happy 13 months, my precious little stinkers!

Wordless Wednesday Fail

So...that turned out a lot cuter in my head. Oh well...Happy 30th Birthday anyways, Christina! We love you!

Splish Splash!

One of Charlotte and Jensen's birthday gifts from my parents was a sand and water table. I'd seen these at a few friends' houses and thought C & J would love to have one. We busted it out at their birthday party and Mr. Man thought it was pretty much the best thing ever. It's still just a water table at this point (I think they'd probably end up eating their weight in sand), but we got it out again the other day and let the kids (well, Jensen) run wild...

"My...water...table...is....

...AWESOME!"

(This is Jensen's version of the "uh-oh" shrug...he holds one or both hands up by his face and shrieks. Love it.)

As usual, Charlotte and Jensen's different personalities were quite apparent. Charlotte did not share in her brother's enthusiasm for splashing:

"This isn't going to get me dirty, is it?"

"Are you sure I have to stand right next to my crazy brother?"

"He's splashing me...

...and I don't like it!"

"I'm outta here."

"Hey, where'd she go?"

"Oh well...I can have fun without her!"

Yes, he was drenched. And then he found a piece of trash, which was apparently almost as exciting as playing in his water table!

My handsome little troublemaker.

It was a Hoot!

We celebrated Charlotte and Jensen's first birthday on Saturday, April 23rd, with an owl-themed party at our home. (And before you ask, "Why owls? What is the significance of owls?" I will go ahead and tell you: There is no significance to owls. I just think they're cute, that's all. And I figure I only have a few chances to have parties with cute themes before C & J start requesting parties at Chuck E. Cheese. Chuck E. Cheese = not cute.)

I put my mom and Tammy to work on these little guys about a week before the party.

Our original intent was to have a small, family-only party; however, when Brian wasn't looking, I invited a few more people. Okay, several more people. Because the more I thought about it, the more I realized that, although Charlotte and Jensen were definitely the stars of the show and the main attractions, the party was also about Brian and me just a tiny bit. We all made it through that first year...we all deserved to celebrate and have some fun!

I ordered the invitations, cupcake toppers, banners, and most of the other decorations from etsy. We also had a professional come and take pictures...I knew that I would be way too preoccupied to do it myself, and it was really well worth the money to know I was going to get great pics without having to worry about taking any.

We enjoyed lovely (if a bit windy) weather, so the party was indoors as well as outdoors. The kiddos enjoyed the water table, and the adults enjoyed nice cold beer and sangria. There was plenty to eat, and the cupcakes and cookies were delicious!

The spread. In case you're wondering, that is an owl-shaped cheese ball.

Ready to PARTY!

Party favors...they were quite tasty!

Mmmmmm...cupcakes!

Jensen's shorts were a bit small...oh well, what can you do?

Birthday Bug!

Happy girl.

Grandma and her girl.

Jensen enjoyed the water table so much that he only got to wear his cute birthday shirt for a few minutes before it got soaking wet!

Charlie and her Tita

The dining room table held two bowls full of cookie party favors, and it was covered in the pictures I took of Charlotte and Jensen every month in their "monthly" onesies. It was fun to look at the pics side-by-side and see how much C & J have grown and changed in a year!

Charlie LOVES her Papaw!

Cake time! We sang happy birthday twice...first to Charlie, then to Jensen.

Charlie trying out the cake...yes, I made them "healthy" cakes. But they were really good!

Twenty tiny toes!

They weren't loving the hats.

Jensen's cake had blueberry frosting; Charlotte's was made with raspberries.

Charlotte was cracking me up...she's so dainty, she barely made a mess at all.

Charlie thought the cake was okay, but after a while she was ready to get down from her high chair.

Jensen, on the other hand, was a cake-eating machine! We eventually had to make him stop eating it because we were afraid he would get a tummy ache! He had cake and frosting everywhere.

The photographer brought along a little chalkboard and had the guests write birthday messages to Charlotte and Jensen. They turned out really cute...here are a few:

Grandma and Grandpa

Aunt Kari and Aunt Holly

Kate, Sarah and Mema Shelton

Kim and Noah

Family pic (post cake--check out all the frosting in Jensen's hair!)

I wanted to do something during the party to honor my mom and recognize what a huge help she has been to me over the past year. I decided to get her an Old World Christmas owl ornament so that she would remember Charlotte and Jensen's first birthday every Christmas when she hangs it on her tree.

Opening her ornament.

We opted to not open gifts at the party...the babies were winding down, and it would have just been too much (for them and their guests!). After watching them open their gifts the next morning, I was very glad we didn't try to do it at the party...they are just at that age where the boxes are way cooler than what's inside. Plus, Charlotte found a few balls inside the first package, so she was totally set...no additional gifts needed!

The morning after the party...Charlotte was pleased as punch with her new balls!

All in all, the party was a success...I did get just a bit stressed out with wanting the food to be delicious, the house to be clean, our guests to have fun, Charlotte and Jensen to be in good moods, etc. etc. etc. I think next year we will be hosting their party at a location that is not our house! But I'm glad we had a big first birthday for Charlotte and Jensen, and I'm glad they seemed to enjoy themselves. It's so funny that their first birthday party is yet another one of those events that Charlotte and Jensen will never remember, but Brian and I will never forget. Hopefully, they'll be able to look at these pictures someday and see the love that surrounded them on their first birthday.