Christmas Sneak Peek

Nana and Poppy got the boys some toddler power wheels. They were sitting in front of the tree this morning when the boys got up. They gravitated to them immediately... they even pushed their stockings aside. We thought for sure they would just sit on power wheels (when we put them up there because they can't get on themselves) and maybe be infatuated with the wheels since they love wheels on everything. For about the first 2 minutes they were just touching the wheels. Then Jake got up and was standing next to his and pressed the "go" button. So we decided to put both boys on their new 4-wheelers and see what would happen.
Here they are (just ignore Mommy and Daddy laughing hysterically):


And here is number 2:


We are now eating breakfast before opening the rest of the presents. We are all excited to see how the boys react to everything!

Christmas Eve

Happy Christmas Eve!

Our tree has been up for almost a month and neither Drew or Jake have touched any of the presents under it. They did touch the lights but never grabbed at them or tried to put the "needles" in their mouths. We knew that sooner or later someone would be doing something to either the tree or a present under it.

And I found Jake tearing up a present that An gave him just the day before. I am guessing the shiny paper attracted him to it... which is fine considering it is Christmas Eve!

And here is photo of the boys opening their Christmas Eve present (WITH permission).
It is a TMX Cookie Monster than laughs and rolls all over the floor. They just liked the laughing in the box really. Once it was out of the box Russ and I were more entertained than the boys. ha ha. Can't wait for tomorrow!!!

Geeks in Training

The boys (especially Drew) really like to try to push the keys and play with the mouse on our computers. So we decided to give them an old keyboard and mouse to play with instead of constantly having to fix all the various things they have done to our real computers. They are officially geeks in training.

Drew walks and Jake climbs

Drew has been taking as many as 5 steps before falling over and even took 3 steps to get from one piece of furniture to another this evening. I am sure that my next post will be something about him walking. Jake, on the other hand, has become a master climber. He has been climbing on various kid-size chairs and tables for a few weeks but yesterday afternoon he could be found on the couch... not really sure how he made it up there, but he continued to the edge of the couch and began trying to climb up onto our laptop table.
Today he somehow got into the predicament you see in the photo. He is definitely keeping us our toes nowadays.

Look at DREW!

Drew didn't really want to share this with the camera, but eventually he put on a stellar performance to show off his new "trick". ENJOY!

Both boys in Walkers

Here is the video of the boys in their walkers! Thank you to Kami for letting us borrow a second one! Now we have non-stop bumper cars action here!

Jake and the Lights

We got our Christmas lights out and Russ started working on making sure they all work. He did this on the floor, so of course the curious boys had to check out what was going on. Jake really seemed to like the lights being around him. He kept putting on the biggest and cheesiest grin while he was checking them out.

And the boys really needed to get a haircut so Nana came over and gave them a little trim. Here is a we took to show off how long their hair was before it was cut.

Must get every last drop!

Drew has a new trick that we think he may have learned from Lexy. Usually when Lexy is playing with a toy, she shakes her head back and forth while it is in her mouth. Drew has started doing this with his empty sippy cups of milk. Not sure why, but it is still funny to watch. Of course, this video is then taken over by the ever-present camera stealer, Jake.

Drew figured out how to use the walker last Friday and we have lots of videos of him going up and down the hallway. He will just go up and back over and over and over again. I think he even did this for almost 40 minutes yesterday. Here is a video of him coming back down the hallway towards me.

And, of course, Jake couldn't let Drew have the ALL the spotlight, so here is a video that starts out as recording of Drew going down the hallway, but quickly turns into a video of a Jake camera attack. ha ha.

Hopefully I'll have some more videos later this week of BOTH boys in walkers (bumper walkers??). Jake is actually having a bit more trouble figuring out how it works, which tells me that maybe Drew will walk before Jake(?). Drew has taken 2 steps without holding on to anything!

Lollipop Lollipop!

The boys had their first taste of a dum-dum lollipop today. Of course, Drew was a pro in a matter of seconds. Jake took some time to figure out that the stick was for holding and not for chewing. He eventually got it enough to enjoy a few licks before Drew was trying to eat BOTH of them. I guess next time I'll have to give Jake a green one so Drew knows that it isn't for him (ha ha).

Business Boys

The boys had a business meeting this morning and thanks to Aunt Kim, they had just the right attire to attend their meeting. ha ha. OK, so maybe the only business they needed to attend to was that in their pants, but I just couldn't resist putting these shirts on them today. It helps make Jake's girlie colored pants look more manly too.








They also learned today that all the ride-on toys that have a handle on the back to allow for kids to walk behind them are the perfect toy for twins. One gets to ride while the other one pushes. Of course, one of them needs to learn how to steer to avoid the obstacles, but at least they figured out how to have fun with one toy together rather than fight over it.

Edwards House Superheros!

Faster than a speeding bullet,
more powerful than a locomotive,
and able to leap tall buildings in a single bound!

The Edwards household was taken over by super heros this morning! Check out all the pictures on the boys photo website here.

Jake up the Stairs

Here is the video of Jake going up the stairs. Notice that he even skips bracing himself on one stair and, of course, ends up stumbling towards the top. We were very surprised because he did this all by himself without our helping him.

Weekend ALL ALONE with Daddy!

This past weekend Mommy went away to Ocean City and the boys got to spend their first FULL weekend alone with Daddy. They ended up going to the mall to do some Christmas shopping, Costco to "window shop" and falling asleep in the stroller.
Then they both fell asleep WHILE eating dinner since they only had that cat-nap in the stroller. Check out this HILARIOUS video... and watch Drew completely zonk out.

Daddy also learned that it is hard to push a double stroller while carting a gigantic diaper bag too (Mommy showed him how it attaches to the stroller when she got back). And Daddy dressed them in un-matching outfits (he had Drew in Cars pants with a Mickey Mouse vest and Jake was in Mickey Mouse pants with a Cars vest)... ha ha! But overall, things seemed to go pretty smoothly. Daddy even admitted to being a little tired when Mommy got back. He actually did 3 bath nights in a row by himself and even Mommy hasn't had to do that yet (not to mention we aren't using the bath rings anymore either!).
And come back and visit us soon because Jake crawled ALL the way up the stairs yesterday (with Mommy right behind) and we didn't get it on tape, but plan to record it today or tomorrow.

Mirror Book

Rhino and Tracie sent us some great birthday gifts and one in particular Drew really loves. Here is a video showing off how much he likes this book that has a mirror on EACH page.

The Jumperoo is still fun!

Both boys like to jump ON the jumperoo now rather than IN it. Check out this video of Drew. He or Jake are usually giggling up a storm while they do this, but this video shows that I was trying to keep Jake from getting the camera while Drew was playing with the jumperoo.

Birthday Party!!!

We had the first birthday party yesterday and the boys LOVED seeing all the family and friends that were able to come! They got way too many presents to list, but we can't wait to play with, wear and use them all! Aunt Kim made an incredible birthday cake and Nana made Drew and Jake their own cakes to "eat". Of course, that part was a mess but I think the boys enjoy eating cake with their own hands and fingers.

Drew and Jake are ONE YEAR old!

It's hard to believe it, but the boys are actually one today! And what can these one year old's do now? Here is a list of what they can do now that they are toddlers:

• Sit themselves up
• Crawl at lightning speed
  
• Pull themselves up onto any furniture
• Stand up in their cribs (all the time!)
• Cruise along all furniture
• Transfer across multiple pieces of furniture
• Feed themselves (not with utensils yet!)
• DREW can use a sippy cup (we won't talk about Jake)
• Figure out how toys work in terms of pressing buttons, putting balls into things, and making things make noise (shaking and banging them)
• Say "Mama" --- often
• Turn off the TV in the Living Room (yes, they do this ALL the time)
• Smack the dogs
• Throw/Drop food from the high chairs to the dogs
• Shake the gates like we are in jail
  

There's much more, but I wanted to list a few of the things we are going through around this house.
The boys got lots of great presents from family and friends. They got their first $1 bill from Granny and Pops in Florida, great band sets and microphones from Great Aunt Danica, Mater and Lightning McQueen ride-on toys from Mommy and Daddy, and so much other stuff that I can't list it all.

All over the place!

Both boys are now officially ALL OVER the place! Both are crawling, scooting, sitting up, and pulling up. Jake is a bit more of a master at cruising than Drew, but if Drew really wants to do it, he can. Jake likes to climb now too. He can climb over our ottoman which used be the baracade in the TV room, but we are going to have to find something else for that area. We recently replaced the gates in the first photo because we needed something that Jake CAN'T stick his toes into and start to climb. Jake also likes to flip himself in his rocking chair. Things are quite busy at the Edwards house these days, but we still find time to take a few photos of everything going on.
We also finally figured out a way to take the boys to a normal grocery store (not Costco) because the boys can sit in the toddler car now.

New Toys

Well, the boys were pretty sick the last few days. They actually had a stomach virus that proceeded to spread around to the whole family. They were off of formula for almost 3 days and are now eating diluted formula to build up their ability to drink it full force again. So far so good.

Fortunately throughout all the throwing up (from both ends), the boys haven't acted as if anything was wrong with them. They have been happy and playing just like everything is OK. They even had a chance to play with a few new toys and it seems they are starting to like the "big boy" toys more than the baby toys.

Our first trip to the Zoo!

We visited the Baltimore Zoo today in downtown Baltimore. It was a special free day to get in, so we figured that since we might not last very long, it would be smart to go while it's free. We had fun looking at the donkeys, cows, rhinos, leopards, wart hogs, and various monkeys/chimps. The donkey got up close and personal to the boys by chewing on their stroller and even starting to chew on Jake's sock. A few of the chimps walked right in front of the boys and they just stared at them (both the chimps and the boys). Overall, they had a great time until they started to fall asleep. So maybe next time we'll be able to stay up longer to be able to see some of the other animals.

New Playset Swing!

Mommy and Daddy bought a new swing on craigslist for the boys playset. There used to a trapeze bar, but we don't think that will be put to any good use anytime soon, so we bought this swing instead. It is actually made by little tykes, but they no longer make it. The only place you can find it is on ebay or craigslist, and they are often really expensive because they are so hard to find (and anyone selling one knows this). So we were lucky to get one and the boys already have shown us that it was a good purchase because they love it after just ONE try.

And Jake got a new tooth today. He now has 4 on the bottom and top. We'll see how long before Drew gets his in (since they are usually just a few days apart with their teeth). Jake also has started pulling himself up onto various pieces of furniture but hasn't quite figured out how to cruise. And Drew is so close to moving forward but I think he gets frustrated much more quickly than Jake.

Still love the Playground!

The boys went to a playground with a few other twin buddies and we put all the babies into the toddler swings. Of course, Drew and Jake were all smiles and giggles while they were swinging. I guess they still love the way their bellies jump when they are swinging. ha ha.

Videos of the Mover and the Shaker

Here is a recent video of Jake showing off his army crawl and sitting up. Check it out:

And just this morning, he decided to pull himself up to a standing position. Neither daddy or mommy actually saw him in action. We both turned had our backs for a minute and when we looked back, he was standing up and holding on to the ottoman. Yes, we know we are in trouble now.
And Drew decided that "Chica", a little birthday chicken on a day time kids talk show, was the most hilarious thing ever. He just kept laughing everytime the little chicken would make a noise. He even loses his balance a few times while watching it. It was too cute to not catch on video.

A Few Updates

So over the vacation, a few things have come up. First, Drew has another tooth on the bottom. He now has 7 teeth. Jake doesn't seem to have any signs of another one coming in, but I'm sure if history repeats itself, it will be showing up very soon.
Jake actually sat up for the very time completely on his own on Friday. Daddy and Poppy saw it happen, but Mommy completely missed it and has yet to see it. Jake now army crawls and scoots all over the place. Today he even made it all the way to the bowl of dog food and had a little taste before Mommy caught him.
Drew has started rocking back and forth on his hands and knees, but still has not really moved like Jake. He could probably keep up with him by rolling over and over though. He has become quite the master roller and backwards scooter (no legs involved).

Outer Banks Vacation!

We just got back from a week at the Outer Banks. The boys loved their vacation. They had a lot of fun with Nana and Poppy at the beach and in the pool. We also spent time with Brandon, Lauren, Aunt Carrie, Uncle Jason, and cousins; Trevor, Lilly, and Ryan.
Drew and Jake also spent some time with our friends Jamie, Christy, Sean, and Deanna. Drew and Jake both have a new favorite girlfriend and that would be Deanna. She was soooooo much help while we were at the beach house. It was so great to have her there to help change, feed, hold, and entertain both babies.
We basically spent almost every day on the beach after our morning nap and at the pool just before our afternoon nap. And after dinner on some days we went for long walks back to the beach or just to the town of duck (to watch cars drive by -yes, they love to watch anything with wheels move, especially if it makes noise).
On the first day on the beach, Drew got knocked over by a wave and sort of didn't really like being anywhere near the water the rest of the week. By the last day, though, he did sit in a chair while being held wihtout any whining or crying. Jake, on the other hand, just wanted to eat all the sand.

We had a great time, but are pretty happy to be back home!

Jake (sort of ) says Mama on video

We finally caught Jake saying "mama" on video. Of course, he is saying it over and over again so I'm not too sure if he knows what he is saying or not... but it is still cute enough to post.

University of MD - First Football game

The boys attended their first Terps football game and they did great! The only problem was the extreme heat (humidity), but otherwise we all had a great time!

Now we are looking forward to the rest of the season when it will cool down.

Jake actually fell asleep and stayed asleep during all the cheering and crazy drunkards surrounding us.

Jumperoo Excitement

The boys really go crazy in the jumperoo's now. We have them on their highest setting and unfortunately they are just about too tall for them! They just have too much fun though to get rid of them yet.

Guess who is on the move?

Both boys are masters at rolling all over the place and have been for quite some time. Lately though, Drew has begun scooting himself backwards and Jake decided to slowly use all four appendages to move this morning.
Here he is at the "READY - SET" mode:


And here he is on the "GO" mode -- going after the camera!

I'm sure I will be posting a video of Drew in the very near future copying his brother! Now Mommy and Daddy need to fully baby-proof everything... speaking of which Jake is currently going towards the TV cords... gotta run! :)

Bubbles!

We take our bath together every night and Mommy just realized that she has been bathing us with bubble bath rather than bath wash. OOPS. Anyway, when Mommy finally realized it was BUBBLES, we filled up the tub and had a good time!

First Beach Trip!

We went to the grandparents Bay Creek, VA house and actually experienced the beach for the first time. Jake really liked to sit in the water while Drew was just not too sure at first. In the end, both boys really seemed to enjoy both the water and the sitting on the towel in the sand. They were, however, not interested in keeping their hats on for any amount of time or napping at all while out in the sun.

Somebody DID and somebody DID NOT have a good afternoon nap!

So in the last 2 days one twin has had a great afternoon nap and is so happy during dinner that he just can't get enough and smiles throughout the entire meal... the other guy has a slighly different demeanor... See if you can tell by these photos who had a good nap and who didn't!
And yes, these are 2 different pictures from 2 different days!




And here are close-ups of the different dinner diners:

9 month check up

We had our 9 month check up today and we are growing!
Here are our stats:
Jake weighs 21 pounds 6 ounces and is 29 inches tall, while Drew is 22 pounds 11 ounces and is 29 3/4 inches tall. They are in the 59-75% for weight (big boys, yes) and in the 85-90% for their height (VERY big boys, yes!).

Today their nap schedule was a bit off the norm so Mommy put them in their swings to watch a little TV and relax. When Mommy walked out of the room, she realized that the swings may be close to their retirement for Drew... and we're sure that Jake will follow the same path very soon. See the video of what she walked in on here. Luckily, he is buckled in!

Drew says MAMA!

For the last few weeks, Drew has sort of been saying "mama" but not very consistently. He was sort of just mumbling the "m" sound a lot but has recently been saying the whole word. Yesterday he actually was saying it over and over again when I went upstairs. When I came down, I attempted to grab the camera, but he just became camera-happy and wouldn't say it again. Tonight, though, while Aunt Kim was holding him, I think we sort of got a glimpse of it. It is (of course) much better in person but his laughing at the end of the video (when he looks at me holding the camera) makes it that much cuter.

Aunt Kay & Uncle Larry!

We had a visit with our Great Aunt Kay and Great Uncle Larry today. We went for a wagon ride with them and Grandpa, Grandmom, and Aunt Kim. Notice that Max had to be the life of the party.


We had so much fun that we couldn't keep our eyes open when we were swinging in the backyard.

Our first Tug of War Fight!

One of the newer toys we got is a favorite of BOTH Drew and Jake. Unfortunately, there is only one of these toys so today the boys were grabbing it from each other. And of course, I had to grab the camera to capture the moment.



We also sat on our first ride-on toy today as well. William gave us this ride-on fire truck and we decided to try putting them on it to see what they would do. They didn't do much but eventually when we started pushing them around the house, the dogs went crazy chasing us and barking... which made the boys laugh hysterically.

Unfortunately I didn't have the video camera at that time but I'll try to catch it another day! :)

We don't like REAL carrots

I tried feeding the boys cut up carrots and they were both screaming when they realized what was in their mouths. It was (sort of) funny, but when I got the camera neither Drew or Jake was acting nearly as dramatic as they were beforehand. I guess they are just such camera-hogs and know they are supposed to be happy in front the camera. ha ha. Drew does cry a very little bit, but this video is NOTHING compared to how they were acting before I got out the camera.

We can stand!

Both boys are able to remain standing when we put them somewhere they can hold on. Neither has pulled themselves up to stand, but they can both somewhat keep their balance for a little while. Notice how close Daddy is behind them just in case!

We bought a bunch of new toys that the have been playing with too. Some are for standing so they have been using those to lean on while playing too. We also are working on crawling but neither Drew or Jake has quite figured it out. They both could roll across an entire room if they wanted to, but they have only really figured out how to sort of scoot a little on their bellies. I am just happy that they don't scream anymore while they are laying on their bellies. That "tummy time" all new mommies talk about was just not a thing either of them enjoyed. But now if they get annoyed on their tummies (not too often), they just flop back over onto their backs and grab at their toes.