Better Late Than Never!

This week has been filled with new discoveries with the girls. We've had many turning points-they are sleeping a full 7 hours now, and have done that now an entire week without fail, so I'm hoping it's now permanent! The girls have also discovered their hands this week and just stare at them or make a fist and try to put it in their mouth constantly. I tell them that they are "eating an ice cream cone" because they look like they're holding a cone and licking the ice cream off the top when they lick their fist.

They have also been able to start grabbing toys and holding on to them, and they love to play under their rainforest activity gym and stare at the lights and grab the parrot that hangs down. Claire grabbed it the other day, but held it so long, I think she forgot how to let go!

We had our first picnic with Daddy on Thursday, but it didn't quite go as planned when Caroline decided that was a good time to have a major mess in her pants, which oozed out of her pants and all over her shirt. I had JUST taken out her spare outfit from the diaper bag to wash, so she had to wear a burp cloth home. I'm usually the queen of being prepared, but this time just happened to catch me off guard! I didn't get a picture of that - a little too nasty for this blog.

Today, we ventured out to the mall and Caroline was very chatty in many of the stores-I guess she inherited my shopping gene! I did happen to document the fact that they don't always wear the same outfit - just 99.9% of the time!

After we got home, I checked our front grassy area and saw that the Easter bunny finally found our house! Better late than never! I'm a huge animal lover and so I had to take a picture of our visiting bunny to show the girls. We're excited about our weekend and all the time we'll get to spend with Daddy!

I'll scratch your back if you'll scratch mine...

The latest discovery by the girls is that they seem to really enjoy smacking and chomping on their hands! Sometimes I'll be outside their room and hear smacking going on in their cribs. The good thing about this is that they seem to be able to occupy themselves now. Caroline especially has taken to smacking on her own hands, but she hasn't stopped there. Anytime Claire's hand drifts towards Caroline's mouth, she opens her mouth and tries to suck on Claire's hand. To return the favor, she starts tickling behind Claire's ear and they both seem happy! It's really funny to watch them become aware of not only themselves, but each other! Caroline also loves sucking on clothes; anytime I hold her now, she starts licking my shoulder and starts sucking on my shirt, so I'm left with a huge wet spot on my shoulder. Their individual habits are really funny to watch and see what each girl begins to discover.

The BEST news is that the last THREE nights in a row, the girls have slept after their feeding at 11pm and made it all the way to 7am when I wake them up. They are actually both awake in their cribs, but they are being so nice to us and just hanging out in there! Claire usually manages to scoot around in her crib now, so I'll find her either sideways or completely turn around with her head where her feet started out earlier that night. I'm hoping that this is a new corner we've turned, but I won't be too upset if they regress back to waking up at 4 or 5am because I'm just so happy they've made it nearly 8 hours so frequently this week! If Mama's happy, then everybody's happy!

A Great Morning!

I've never done a double take before when looking at a clock, but sure enough, when I saw that 5:35am light shining in my eyes without a noise coming from the twins' room, I couldn't believe it! More exciting than that was that they continued to sleep until nearly 7:00am, which is the time I wake them up normally. So, this was our first REAL "sleeping through the night" experience, and I am SO excited!

In all my excitement, I decided to see if the girls could sit in their Bumbos (one of my favorite gifts from my showers), and sure enough, they could! The thing I love about these is that even though the girls aren't sitting up on their own yet, it's kind of like they are, and so now I can prop them up anywhere!

Then, I pulled out The Very Hungry Caterpillar, and I was so pleased to see that the girls could see the pages and look at the pictures. It's been a great morning so far, and I'm so excited that the girls can do some new things now! I do hope they inherited my love for books and reading, so I'm going to do all I can to try to encourage that!

Our free concert

During the last few nights, instead of actually crying when they are hungry, the girls will start this high-pitched yowling that Paul says sounds like a sick cat. One of the girls will start out their little song with a slight cry, then end it with a scream or a yowl; the other girl will either listen or answer with a noise of her own. It's like a surround-sound concert of echoes going on in their room, and when I go in there to get the girls up to eat, they just grin at me and think it's really funny. I think they have figured out they have a voice and can make noises, but I'm not as excited as they are about their free "concert" at 4:15am. I guess this is only the beginning, so I better get used to it!

'Lil Longhorns and a Happy 91st!

This week, Paul's grandfather (the twins' great-grandfather) celebrated his 91st birthday, so we decked them out in their 'lil UT gear in honor of his birthday! Both he and Paul attended Texas, so it's always a big deal when their winning Longhorns play football each fall. The girls were very excited to wish their great-grandpa a "Happy Birthday!"



Claire was very sad that she couldn't wish Grandpa a "Happy Birthday" in person...



And Caroline couldn't believe she had to miss the party!

In the end, our 'Lil Longhorns decided that they'd have to wait to see Grandpa sometime soon, hopefully before his next big birthday! Happy Birthday, Grandpa! We love you!

Three Months and Counting!

Happy Three Months to the Culbertson Twins! I can't believe the time has gone by so quickly. The girls are so alert now, even from just a month ago, able to follow my voice and recognize me and Paul when we come into the room. I took them this morning for a weight check, and they are doing well and gaining as they should. Caroline now weighs 9 lbs, 9 oz, and Claire weighs 9 lbs, 13 oz! I can't believe they have almost doubled in weight since they were born.

Earlier this week, I caught the girls in action...when I place them side by side, they seem to know that there is someone else there, and so they begin to reach out and jostle each other a bit.



Inevitably, EVERY time they are side by side, Caroline's arm extends and she puts it over either Claire's face or chest. Usually Claire is more active and curious about her surroundings, but Caroline's curiousity and assertiveness come out when Claire is right next to her! I have looked at pictures from several different days and weeks, and every time, it's the same!



This time, though, Claire wasn't going to have any of that sassiness. Take that, sister! I guess this is just a preview of the fun times ahead!

All Dressed Up and Ready to Go!

Today was the girls' first Easter! Although they were a little too young to participate in an Easter egg hunt, we still took the chance to dress them up for their first Easter service at church and family lunch afterwards! It all began early this morning, when I laid out their dresses, lacey socks, and headbows to wear. I love smocking and the color purple, so I just couldn't pass these up!

Caroline was first to get dressed in her lacey socks and panties. She was so excited for Easter! She is just wondering where her dress and her sister are?

Finally, both girls dressed and ready to go! Claire is already practicing her rendition of "Christ the Lord is Risen Today!" I love how they have started linking arms in a lot of their pictures! I'm just glad they were able to actually fit into a dress for Easter!

After getting the girls dressed, it was time to load them into their car seats. Everything takes 10-15 minutes, from getting dressed to loading them into their car seats, so I have to plan ahead to make sure I have enough time to get everything ready to go! Fortunately, this morning, we got out the door right on time and made it to church early to get a good seat in the balcony near the door. The girls were perfect through the service, but when that first song came on, it was so loud that poor Claire looked really scared!

After another great Easter lunch at Grammy's, the girls took a moment to rest under the tree out front. Look how many Easter bunnies came to visit! They love being outside, just like their Mom!

We ended the exciting day with a family picture on Easter! This time last year, we never would have thought we'd be holding two precious baby girls on Easter Sunday! We are truly thankful for such a blessed day with an amazing family!

What Next?

Just in the last week or so, the girls have started discovering their surroundings a lot more with their hands and trying to touch whatever they can. They still can't totally connect the idea that their thumb is connected to their own hand; when they want to suck their thumb, they act like someone is pulling their hand away and just search and search for their fingers with their mouth, looking like Stevie Wonder with their mouths open and eyes closed. It's pretty amusing!

They are also discovering their own face with their hands, and love to figure out who that is that they're touching. Claire thinks she has it figured out, but she isn't ready to say yet whom she's found:

Unlike Claire, Caroline isn't too interested in her own face, but in her blanket and stuffed animals in her cribs. We keep a blanket rolled up like a burrito in the side of her crib to prop her against when she sleeps, and it looks like we won't be able to keep that there much longer. The last two times I've gone in to get her up from her nap, she has managed to wriggle her entire arm into the center of the blanket roll, which makes me curious to figure out how she managed to do that! Then, today when I went in there, she had this shocked look on her face because she had managed not only to wiggle her arm up into the roll, but she had also moved the entire blanket roll next to her head. I think she didn't know what to do next!