10 Month & 2 3/4 yr Updates

It's been nearly a month since I last updated. I really have no excuses- we've been home for the last month. I guess I have just been remembering to update Facebook & accidentally neglecting the blog; however, Facebook won't save my updates so that I can print them off later. This blog is like their baby books!

Corbin is still progressing with reading and writing. He knows about 300 words- perhaps more. He surprises me all of the time with the words he has learned. All of a sudden, I will look over at his sheet of paper that he's been working on & he will have written, "Squeeze" or attempted to write "Zucchini" (one "C" short, but hey). I found a book of new level 3 readers at Sam's Club a couple of weeks ago & he absolutely loves those books, even though they have creepy characters that speak like robots. Easy Reader Books

Corbin ran his eye into a table the other day while at some friends' house. At first, we thought the eye was bleeding, but it turns out that it was just external- right on the corner of his eye.



He is doing great in his big boy bed & sleeps all night, just like he did in his crib.

Cameron's next tooth popped shortly after my last post- his upper left central incisor. A couple of days later, his upper right central incisor popped. About a week and a half ago, his upper left lateral incisor came through, and a couple of days ago, his upper right lateral incisor popped through. That could explain why he is still waking in the middle of the night. We had done a trial of separating the twins into different rooms & during that time, Cameron slept through the night. It lasted about a week. The night before we switched them back, he started waking once again. I tried to give him less formula when he woke, and he wasn't having it. He acts like he's starving, so I have been giving him the bottle again. Maybe I will try and wean him again, since it did work great the first time.

He seems to have completely beaten his constipation habit. The trick for us was yogurt. It seems to really keep him regular.

He is still pulling up on everything & his balance is getting better and better. He is extremely clumsy, though. He falls on his face at least once daily. Poor kid. Thankfully, we haven't scheduled our family pictures yet.

He has learned to shake his head no recently. Here's his 10 month photo:



Jameson has been pulling up on things for about 3 weeks. He has the better balance of the two. I catch him trying to stand independently every once and a while. He loves to dance & is very happy-go-lucky.

Jamie is working on one or two molars. He hasn't cut any teeth in a while, and I think he will be working on those molars for quite a bit.

He has mastered waving hi, and loves to show it off. Here is his 10 month photo:



Both babies are eating mushy table foods cut into pea-sized bites. They both are working on clapping. They are still taking 2 naps- usally from 8:30-10:30 (sometimes 11) and from 1:30-3:30. One thing remains the same- they are certainly keeping us busy.

Kiddo Updates

Things sure are busy around here. We've been traveling a lot, but we have a month off now to get re-situated. Since we have some time, we decided to move Corbin into his big boy bed & work on weaning Cam from night feedings (if possible!)

Corbin did okay in the big boy bed the first night. He fell asleep next to his books, but he easily transferred back into bed. At five, Jon heard him crying & went to pick him up. He was on fire with a fever. He was completely lethargic for about 10 hours & suddenly snapped out of it.

Sick baby



The twins are all over the place. Jamie started crawling a couple of weeks ago, right after the 4th of July.



He's into everything now. They are both crawling all over me these days



Cameron started to pull up around the same time that Jamie started crawling.



He's also getting two new (if not more) teeth on top. This was taken over a week ago, and the two most prominent ones on top have already popped through



They are both pretty good at assisted standing





By the way, that is Jamie's "Cheese" face.



Corbin continues to love to learn. He's reading and writing over a hundred words & picking new ones up daily. He's been reading level 1 reader books & really looks forward to his story times every day.







We've gotten some great advice from a few teachers we know. We're starting to include more reading elements into the storytime (punctuation, title, etc.)and I'm going to soon try more sight words and first phrases with him. I just need to find the time to do that!

Here's a cute little bonus video of us all at the splashpark the other weekend:

Fourth of July Weekend

We had a very busy holiday weekend. As soon as we got there, we started snapping photos. We have a lot of pics of Corbin from his first summer at the lake, so the twins are due the same. We have quite the set-up there, too, with the large play pen, play quilts & tent. The babies get to stay contained and in the shade!

Here is Cameron, who recently learned to pull up on things.



We have photos of Corbin asleep in this hammock swing, so we managed to get the twins' pictures, too.





The babies loved the pool. They loved to splash. I'm glad each of my boys loves the water.



As always, there were a few boatrides to partake in



Corbin really loved the boat. He liked to stand up front & watch the waves.



I was very happy with their little celebratory outfits/swimwear this year. Most of it I got at garage sales, but my mom found Corbin's outfit at Costco.







I was very happy that my parents came over to visit with us!





The boatride put all 3 boys to sleep.



Corbin with Grandma KK



Jamie with Grandpa Rick



Can you believe it? The summer is half over already!

Jamaica

We got back in town over a week ago, but it takes just about that long to catch back up to speed. So, I am going to sit down and try to narrate the trip as best as I can remember. We had a wonderful trip, but once we called home on Sunday, we got very homesick for our boys & we pretty much wished we were flying out Monday.

We stayed at the Sandals Dunns River. What a beautiful, intimate resort it was! It is such a shame that it will only be a Sandals until July. Marriott bought it out, so we were two of the last guests to experience Sandals Dunns River. Sandals has another larger resort in Ocho Rios, too. We did shuttle over to that one to hang out in their pools and to eat dinner at their Thai restaurant, Orchid. Even though it was pretty, we were so happy that we chose Dunns River instead. The Ocho Rios Grande resort was just too big, loud, busy... you had to shuttle from one side to the other- just kind of a nuisance.

Our room was gorgeous, but we decided that on subsequent trips, we can skimp on the room & just get a basic one. Who goes to a resort to hang out in the room? We were only there to change our clothing during the daytime hours. We did have a nice view, though!



When we got into town on Thursday night, there was a consierge party going on. Most of the restaurants were closed, but there was a huge spread all over the grounds of delicious food.



We met two couples that night at the table that we chose. We quickly realized that there weren't many people at the resort at all & that we could get to know people there. I don't know if it was off season, the economy, or if it was because the resort was closing, but there simply were a few hundred people there & that was it! Here is a picture from dinner that night:



And on our way up to the room, Jon snapped this picture of me by the falls, though it's hard to see because it was dark out:



Early Friday morning, we ate breakfast on the balcony. It was so relaxing! Resort birds are waiting to swoop in and take what they can if you leave it unattended, though, so we had to watch over it.



I had my toes done that morning. It was great to talk with the lady at the spa about Jamaica & the Marriott changeover.



We had drinks by the pool & went in the ocean most of Friday. It was a very low-key day. The extent of our activity was going to Ocho Rios during the day.



Jon by the resort falls



We saw a Jamaican cooking demo at noon. It was very interesting, and we got to sample some Jamaican dishes prepared by the executive sous chef.



We ate dinner at Kimonos, a Hibachi-style Japanese steakhouse. We were sat with two other couples- one from VA and one from FL. We instantly clicked with these other couples b/c it was such a hilarious dinner. Our chef, who referred to himself as the Blackanese Chris Rock (and he did have a similar voice to CR and similar facial features), kept saying, "Sho, Sho!" That apparently meant, "Sure, Sure!", but none of us caught that. So for a good while, we all thought he was saying "Choo Choo!" and we all had a good, crying laugh over that one.

Here is Jon catching the shrimp. He caught it on the first try, the show off!







Here we are at Thai, at the Ocho Rios Grande resort





Later that night, we went & saw a show at the resort. We were two of 8 audience members! We joked that we all felt very committed to it once we were there- we didn't want to hurt the performer's feelings! But she ended up being very entertaining & ended up convincing us all to get out on the dancefloor.



Later that night, we met up with a couple from PA and their friends for a good old fashioned game of CLR.



Saturday, we caught the bus to Ocho Rios to depart on the ferry to the Dunns River Falls. We had to climb up 900 feet to the top. The guides take you, and they take pics for you. We had to use a crappy waterproof camera b/c you get soaked.







Afterward, the ferry took us to a place to snorkel.









After all of the activities were done, the ferry served us appetizers and drinks. They blasted Carribean-style songs the whole ride back- it was a lot of fun.





Sunday, we hung out on the beach & resort some more. We decided against more excursions, as we wanted to really relax & take things at our own pace & not live by a schedule.





That night was the last night our resort friends were there, as they all left Monday morning. So, we had a good last night of drinks and laughs.



Monday night, they had a beach party & all but one restaurant was closed. Thankfully, it was the restaurant that we were really excited to try- the Italian one.

Yummy desserts



We had a great time at dinner



Since the beach party was the event of the night, we got flowers to wear, too!



We did stop by the beach party for a little bit & saw a performance. Jon finally got to see a steel drum band there.



All in all, it was a very relaxing time that was so appreciated. We are so grateful that Jon's mom volunteered to watch the boys while we vacationed. So fun, though I must say that we were also very, very happy to go home.