21 months-October 2016

Amelia & Nora have changed so much in the last few months. They talk all the time, are forming 3-4 word sentences. They play well together, they climb into their chairs when its time to eat, will even go as far as attempting to put tray on high chair and put bibs on too. They eat anything and everything, they use a spoon to eat cereal, yogurt or applesauce.
Amelia, continues to be our pleaser. She is so happy-go-lucky and is a little more outgoing than Nora. She carries a little more confidence in new settings and with new people. She loves reading books, the outdoors, swinging, going down the slide, helping to feed the dog, putting clothes in drawers (and taking them out just as easily ;)).  Amelia favors her left hand for writing, coloring and eating.
Nora, is our honery one. She says, No to just about everything you ask her. She's a little more unsure about new settings and is kinda a mama's girl. She loves sorting things, dumping things out of containers and then putting them back in, she still loves shoes (she will put on anybody's that are laying around), loves the outdoors as much as Amelia and loves Legos. Nora seems to favor her right hand for coloring, writing and eating.
Both girls love playing with babies, putting them night night or giving them a stroller ride.
A month ago, we had a routine developmental assessment at Children's. It was so fun to watch the girls and the tests the OT did. I stayed with Amelia during her testing and Chris was with Nora. They ran the same series of tests called the Bayley Scales of Infant and Toddler development. The tests consisted of puzzles, finding different things in pictures, they would hide a toy under a towel and they would have to remember where the object was. Needless to say, the girls did fantastic. Amelia has the language of a 26 month old and Nora was not far behind.
Nora weighed 23.5 pounds
Amelia 24.3 pounds
We do an ECFE class once a week and Nora doesn't like to leave mama's side. She's getting more comfortable each week but still doesn't like to let mama out of her sight.
We had first haircuts last week and the girls sat like perfect little angels.
Isaac is enjoying kindergarten and gave hockey a try this past weekend. He will go 5 times before we decide if he will join this year or not.
Ellie is enjoying 6th grade. She's in dance, plays piano and is swimming High Tides this year.
We look forward to the holidays!

18+ months

Hard to believe the girls are already 18 months old!
They are in the toddler room now and daycare and seem to be adjusting well to one nap a day, sleeping on a cot and drinking from a cup without a lid. Being in the toddler room has in turn made their vocabulary explode! They both, say, "No" "Isaac" "Momma" Dadda" "Hi" "All done" "Ellie" "More" and many more.
Nora (aka in the Wilke household as "Pants"  "Lamb B" or to Amelia she is "Bora") is obsessed with shoes. She is constantly putting shoes on her feet, wrong feet, shoes that don't match, makes no difference to her shoes are shoes! We call Nora our honery one, she says, "No" when asked if she wants to go to bed or take a nap or basically anything she doesn't want to do. She hates having her hair done but likes to dance. A lot of the things that Nora does and her personality remind us of Isaac. Last Dr. visit Nora weighed in at 22.5 pounds.
Amelia (aka in the Wilke household as "Lamb A" "JoJo" or "BoBo" to Nora), is the lover, people pleaser and rule follower. She will do what you ask her, throws garbage away if she's asked, picks up toys,  LOVES to read books and give hugs. Last Dr. visit Amelia weighed 23 pounds.
The girls are doing great! They are super busy and LOVE being outside, swinging, going down the slide or playing in their water table. They think Isaac is the funniest brother ever and the like to follow or be with Ellie where ever she is. I wish I could freeze time and remember these days forever. They are perfect in every way.....

 

 

Walking

I think we can officially say, that Amelia & Nora are walking! They walk from one side of the room to another and they think they are big stuff!
Short update for today, but I wanted to remember this milestone....

Update--15 months

The girls are quickly approaching 15 months and their personalities are really changing. The newest and grandest thing for them both is drinking from my Camelbak water bottle, standing on chairs which will then lead to a climb onto the table. They are told, "sit down" at least 100 times a day!
Amelia (aka Monster A), still is our busy girl. If there is something for her to climb on she will! When told, “No!” she is quick to respond with her toothy grin. She says, mama, dada, HI, uh-oh and other random gibberish we aren’t able to interpret but Ellie is convinced they are most definitely saying, Ellie. ;) Amelia can be found, in some way, shape or form, traumatizing/picking on her twin. She will tackle her, pull her down and steal whatever it is that Nora has. Amelia will stand on her own and has taken 1-2 steps on her own.  Amelia is a speedster on her knees and gets where she wants to go. Although Amelia is our busy girl, she is a little more apprehensive when it comes to new environments or new people.
Miss Nora pants, is wearing the role of “baby” of the family well. Nora is a lap girl, if you are sitting on the floor she will quickly be snuggling in your lap.  She is ultrasensitive and quick to cry out and ear curdling cry or scream even before Amelia has touched her but might be getting a little too close. Nora says, all the same words as Amelia, but has been a little braver with taking steps on her own and probably has taken 4-5. Nora has some pretty facial expressions which include a wrinkling nose and duck lips. Nora already seems to have an ear for music and will often be dancing to music she hears at church, on TV or from a toy.
They have both mastered throwing tantrums with complete collapses on the floor, arched backs and screaming.
All in all, they are super good girls, they eat good, sleep good, and love daycare.  We call them monsters when they aren’t on their best behavior and lambs when they are sleeping or if we’ve been away from them all day. We recently stayed at the Mall of America, while I was waiting to watch Isaac and Chris on a ride another mother with older twins, looked at me and said, “it gets easier.”
SW

Happy 1st Birthday Amelia & Nora!

Hard to believe that a year has passed since we welcomed Amelia & Nora into our family! At 1 years old, their personalities differ. Amelia is a little more "busy" she has done everything first, she was first to roll over, first to get a tooth, first to stand by furniture and now has been the first to let go of the walker or us and stand in one place. No steps yet (without holding onto anything), but I'm sure they will come soon enough. Amelia has 7 teeth, where Nora has 6. Nora may be a little behind Amelia in some things, but Nora has been the first one to say a word, she says, "Uh-oh"  and she waves, "Bye-Bye." Both girls LOVE to eat table food, they are completely off bottles and have been drinking whole milk for about a month. Amelia and Nora both had double ear infections and pneumonia diagnosed on January 5th, but after a switch in antibiotic for Amelia and a recheck last week they are healthy. I went back to work 20 hours a week last week and the girls are going to daycare at Kid's Inc.
Today, is a bit bittersweet for me. It is crazy to think how fast a year has gone, and how much they have changed, but I am excited for them to become a little more independent and for us to really see their personalities.
We love the girls SO much, they are the perfect completion to our family. They are two amazing "honeys."

SW

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year!  Here is an update from our past year.  We're making it a New Year's resolution to update this blog on a more regular basis. 
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Our year started off with the birth of our two “honeys”, Amelia and Nora, in January.  They are both doing great and are growing up so fast.  They are standing, cruising along furniture and are no longer on formula!  They love table food and are interacting with each other more and more.  They sleep really well at night, aside from the occasional teething nuisance.

Isaac has been going to preschool at Kids Inc and ECFE here in Hutchinson as well.  He loves to build things with Legos, Tinker toys and has a great imagination.  He turns 5 in February and is having a lot of fun with all that Christmas has to offer this year.  He loves to wear a Santa hat out and about and has his own little Christmas tree decorated in his room.  We enrolled Isaac in swimming lessons in Chanhassen, as he had a fear of putting his face into the water.  After one 12-week session, he now puts his face into the water and is ready for his next lesson in January!

Ellie is in fifth grade and turns 11 in January.  She is dancing at Kelly’s Dance Academy, is in Student Council, Choir and started taking piano lessons this year.  She is getting quite tall and she almost has the same shoe size as Sara!  Ellie has been very helpful with the girls and will do whatever is asked or needed to help with them (except change poopy diapers!) J  Ellie gave up her crown as Junior Queen of the Water Carnival in June, but enjoyed her reign very much and hopes to run for Miss Hutchinson some day!

Sara feels fortunate to have spent the first year at home with the girls. This past summer she returned to working Fridays at Hutchinson Dental Center and will go back to 20 hours a week starting in January.  She has really gotten into running this year, doing several 5k runs and plans to do a half marathon in 2016.  She even roped me into running the Vikings 5k with her!

I still work at Target as a Senior Engineer in their Technology Services group.  I served as Commodore of the Water Carnival in June, completing 17 years of service to the organization.  I took a “guys” motorcycle trip to the Black Hills in August, riding through the Badlands, Devils Tower and spending time in Sturgis for the 75^th rally.  I continue being an avid fan of the Vikings, am hopeful they make the playoffs this year and am excited to attend games next year in the new stadium as an SBL/season ticket owner.

Our family took its annual vacation to Heath’s Resort up on the Whitefish Chain this past August.  We look forward to that trip each year as we are able to be out in our boat, swimming, tubing, skiing and relaxing.  New this year, we purchased some fishing rods and did some fishing!  We caught quite a few sunfish and it was neat to see Ellie and Isaac’s reaction after catching them.  Chris and Sara went to Denver in October with another couple for a long weekend and attended the Vikings/Broncos game while out there.  Even though the Vikings came up just short on the scoreboard, it was a great time and fun to explore downtown Denver and visit the mountains.

We would like to wish you a wonderful 2016!