Almost 18 months old...

It seems like Abby & Ellie are acting more and more grown up each day. Although we can't always understand what they're saying to us, they understand most things we say to them. One of my favorite things they started doing recently is moving the hair out of their eyes. They also climb on the furniture constantly. It was one of those things that was cute at first, but isn't so cute anymore. We've removed everything from the end tables, but that doesn't stop them from standing on the couch and reaching over to the tables. Although there have been a couple of bumps and bruises, there haven't been any major injuries.

Christie were lucky enough to take a quick vacation without the girls in October. Grammy took the Abby, Ellie and Rosie while we took a cruise to Bermuda. We are so lucky to be able to take a vacation and not have to worry about the girls. Although it was only 5 nights, it was a perfect break. This was our second time going to Bermuda. The last time we went happened to be on the same ship as this trip. This was the view from our balcony as we sailed out of Boston. Our timing was perfect to watch the sun set.

We went to Horseshoe Beach both days we were in Bermuda. It is the most popular beach and for good reason. It's paradise!

Here's the view from our balcony, right before we disembarked the ship. Our timing was good once again, as we caught the sunrise.

We tried to get some nice pictures of them in their Halloween costumes. It didn't go as planned. We tried to make them happy by giving them cell phones to play with, and that didn't work. They were overtired and seemed confused confused with all of the commotion so close to bedtime. We brought them around in their wagon to a few houses in the neighborhood, then it was off to bed.

The past few weeks, Christie has been going shopping on Sunday afternoons. I stay home with the girls and watch football. It has been working out great. Here are some pictures and videos I took this past week.

Here's a quick video of a very tired Ellie having dinner.



Lastly, a picture of the girls playing, taken before I got home from work tonight.

Pumkin picking

We brought Abby & Ellie pumpkin picking, at a local farm, a couple of weeks ago. There was a quick hay ride to a pumpkin patch, corn maze and a small area with farm animals for petting. The weather was perfect and it was a wonderful family activity for a Sunday morning.

It seems like Ellie is more independent lately, while Abby is a daddy's girl. While waiting in line for the hay ride, Ellie was playing with the toys near the sand pile. We tried to get Abby to play also, but she wanted no part of it. She only wanted to be held, and I was the only one she wanted to hold her. It ended up working out great, since I had to hold our spot in line anyway.

The girls didn't know what to make of the hay ride. It seemed like they were having fun though!

We were watching the chickens, when one of them made a noise that Ellie didn't like too much. She started crying, and that was the end of that.

Here's a quick video from the pumpkin patch.

A brief hiatus

I've been on an unintentional break from the blog. We've been busy every weekend with something different, and I haven't had the time to post. Here is a picture and video recap of the girls over the last few weeks.

I brought the girls to a football game that our friend's son, Will, was playing in. Marshfield took the loss, but it was a well played game.

Ellie wanted to be held the whole time, but Abby was walking all over the place. She didn't mind the field turf, either.

These were taken the night of the Patriots first game.

This was at a surprise 70th birthday party for Abby & Ellie's great Uncle George. They were having a blast running around!

An interesting business trip.

My most recent business trip was not the usual conference or a sales meetings. This trip was a site visit to a wind farm located about 85 miles outside of Chicago. I flew into Chicago and drove out to the site. The scenery changed quickly, and before long I was in farm country. Corn fields lined the road for as far as the eye could see.

When I was about a mile away, I could see the wind turbines in the distance, amongst the acres and acres of corn fields.

Although we didn't have a chance to climb to the top of a turbine, here is the ladder that goes to the top. It is 285 rungs on a ladder, straight up. The lead technician told me he can make the climb in 5 or 6 minutes. He usually takes his time climbing because some repairs take upwards of 10 hours.

Here are some pictures of A & E playing on the deck.

Here's a quick video of them playing nicely together.

Abby & Ellie have a playroom!

We made the spare bedroom into a playroom this past weekend. I wish we had done this weeks ago. It only took a couple of hours, and I am so glad we did it.

Before:

After:

The girls really love having a playroom, and although we no longer have a spare room, we have reclaimed our living room. All of their toys fit nicely in the play room, and they now pretty much have the run of our lower floor of the house. It's nice to have a few different rooms for them to play in safely.

The girls seem to be doing something new every day. Here are some of Abby & Ellie's favorite things to do:

- Read books. Both Abby & Ellie will hand you a book and expect you to read to them. Usually, they will each climb on a knee and listen to the book.

- Babble. They are constantly babbling to each other. I am always wondering what they are saying.

- Watch Baby Einstein. I know it is probably not good for them to watch TV, but sometimes it's the only thing that calms them down. All you have to do is say, "Is it Baby Einstein time?". If they are in the living room, they turn toward the TV. If they are in another room, they will walk into the living room. Ellie likes to dance to the music, and her favorite song is Head, Shoulders, Knees & Toes. I was changing her diaper the other day when it came on and when she heard the song, she started wiggling to get off the table so she could go watch her song on the TV.

- Play outside. When the weather is nice, it is fun to let them run around on the deck and splash around in their pool and on their water table. They seem to have a fear of grass, so we have been trying to get them to play in the back yard. We're also trying to get them used to the feeling of sand. They have a sandbox on the patio, but don't like playing with the sand.

The weekend wrapped up with a swim in our friends' pool. They have lived there for 9 years and this was the first time I have been in their pool. Abby & Ellie have never been in a big pool. We tried to bring them in the ocean when we were on our cruise. They only lasted a couple minutes and were not into the water at all. It was a different story this time around. Christie and I each took one of them, and we walked them around in the shallow end. Once they realized we were not going to let go of them, they started having fun and giggling. We put them in their floats, and pulled them around. They were having a blast!

Here is a picture of Abby hanging out with her friend Aidan.

Abby walks!

Abby is officially walking. She really started being steady on her feet on this past Friday (8-14-2009). For the last few weeks, she has been stumbling around and taking a four or five steps at a time. She isn't as steady on her feet as Ellie quite yet, but it won't be long now. Here is a video I took of them on the deck this past weekend.

We have baby proofed the kitchen, and given Abby & Ellie free reign. It seemed like they were getting bored with being in the living room. They love playing with their magnets on the refrigerator. I caught them playing, and for once, they didn't stop when they saw the camera.

Both Abby & Ellie have learned to climb the stairs. After brushing their teeth, all you have to do is say, "Let's go night-night". They both walk towards the stairs and start climbing. It's the cutest thing. They stop on each step, to turn around and smile. You can tell they are proud of themselves. Tonight, it was like they were racing each other up the stairs. Ellie won tonight.