Happy 14-Month Birthday, T and E!!!

Evie's on the left and Tamsie's on the right

Dear Tamsie and Evangelyn,

This month y'all seem to have really blossomed from babies into little girls! You're doing so many new things, and we just love watching your personalities unfold! Both of you have such funny little senses of humor, and you're both extremely playful. Here's a little glimpse of what you've been up to this month:

Yesterday morning, Evie woke up with her hair going in all directions, as usual...

... while Tamsie's looked like it had just been brushed! Based on their personalities, you'd expect it to be the other way around -- you'd think T would have the crazy hair and E's would be nice and neat!

* It's been a sickly month for both of you: Tamsie, you dealt with a sinus infection, and Evie, you had your first ear infection... yuck!! Consequently, T's at 17 lbs 5 oz, while E is at 17 lb 1 oz. The good news is that both of you seem to have your appetite back, so you should be putting on some weight again soon! You've definitely been growing lengthwise, to the point where we had to make an emergency trip to Carter's last week (amazing sales right now!!) to get you 8 new pairs of 12-month footie pjs! In general, though, you're still wearing 9 month sizes, and you're still in size 3 diapers.

sleepy T, about ready for morning nap. Yes, those are technically E's pajamas, and E is wearing T's (it's the hot pink/light pink thing), but their Daddy dressed them the night before! :)

 * Aside from dealing with sickness, naptimes have been the most challenging aspect of this month for your mom. Both of you LOVE playing with each other, which is SO sweet... but not at naptime! Ha! I try splitting you up in two different rooms in an ongoing effort to break up the slumber party that's going on in your room, but that rarely ends well. You do NOT like being split up. In general, both of you cry so hard when I move one of you to a different room that you wind up riling yourselves up too much to calm down and go to sleep. I struggle with knowing how long to leave you in there to fall asleep before I just give up and get you out to play.

Evie making a face only Evie can make

 * Both of you LOVE talking, and you talk nonstop! On car rides, if you're not sleeping, you're usually talking to each other! A lot of it is still babble, of course, but we're also hearing lots of real words here and there, like up, upstairs, down, Grandaddy, your version of Grandma which sounds a lot like Amma, Pat (from Hop on Pop, we guess), tree, bird, cat, dog, duck, good, Daddy, Mama, step, Sissy, tickle, uh oh. I know there are more, but I can't think of them right now! You love imitating whatever we say or do. You also know lots of animal noises, and you love to say "CHOO CHOO!" (which sometimes sounds more like "TUTU!") whenever you hear a train go by.

Both of you also love examining your hands, as Evie demonstrates here.

 * Tamsie, you're walking all the time these days, as I've already mentioned on here! We love it!! Evangelyn, you're observing closely. You've been taking steps here and there for a while, but you'd rather play with all your toys than try to walk independently too often. We think you'll catch on pretty soon, though, since you're always trying to keep up with Tamsie! Evie, you have mastered the stacking rings, and you can put shapes where they belong on your house. We say you're working on micro skills, and Tamsie's working on macro skills! Evie, you love to put your head down so that we'll flip you over. You just might be a gymnast one day!

Picture time! My camera is still MIA, so we're going with the iPhone again!

 * Both of you are so sweet. My Dad says that when y'all haven't seen him in a while, you pat him on the back when he picks you up. You're also much cuddlier than you've been in a while, too. When I'm in the play yard with you, both of you are constantly climbing into my lap or asking to be picked up. You also cuddle with your baby dolls on command and kiss them on command too, which is SO cute! Both of you blow kisses, and this morning, Tamsie blew Evie a kiss and wiped it on her sleeve at breakfast! You're TOO cute!!

Cuddling with NICU bears

 * One of your favorite activities at playtime is ball! I usually get it started by throwing the ball, and then you race for it, and one of you will catch it and giggle and throw it -- then both of you are off chasing it again! You have so much fun doing this. You also love chasing each other, and you love it when we chase you! Another favorite activity of yours is playing Peekaboo with each other and with us at your little playhouse -- hiding behind the window and then opening it up or peeping around one side of the house.

I sure do wish you loved hair bows more than you do! It's the same with hats: you rip them off as soon as I put them on you! :(

 * You're eating tons of new foods and mostly loving it!

Evangelyn has successfully removed the bow and is now analyzing it intensely....

... forgetting about the NICU bear, ...

... and giving Tamsie a perfect opportunity to steal it! :)

Very subtle, Tams. Check out that yawn! 

  * You LOVE Christmas decorations! Sometimes when you're upset or refuse to settle down and sleep, all we have to do is show you a tree, and it works like magic! I even have a Christmas tree app on my phone for emergencies. Yesterday Mom and I were out shopping with a couple of girls who had taken shorter naps than they should have, and when it all started to get to Tamsie, all I had to do was take her to a Christmas tree outside and all was well again. She pointed out everything on the tree to me, and she was so cute that random people were smiling and watching her... and she didn't even have a twin with her at the time!

"We're so done with picture time, Mom."

* You can also follow lots of directions we give you: turn on the light, give Mommy the block, go get the ball, stick out your tongue. Just this morning your daddy was talking to me about how neat it is that you pretty much understand the gist of what we say to you these days, even if you don't understand every word!

We ran them outside really quickly for a mini photo shoot. We didn't bother to put shoes on them since it would only be a minute. I say that because any time they're not wearing shoes in public, someone ALWAYS notices and says something to me, and I have to explain that they started out with shoes and just simply won't keep them on!  

My babies and me!

Mrs. Beverly came over to visit yesterday, so we took a picture with her too! Tamsie is pointing at something here, which she pretty much does 24/7 these days. She's trying to tell us something, and Evie's listening so intently!

Girls, I can't tell you how much I love you! You bring so much joy to our lives!
Love,
Mama