Light at the End of the Tunnel

This part is from Alan - I thought you would enjoy his perspective:

Is it possible that looking at Audie makes me so proud my chest swells at the same time looking at Anaya takes my breath away?  Our twins are 11 months today and we took them to the aquarium for the day.  Anaya looks at the world with so much wonder and we find her making expressions at first sights that make you laugh for days.  Audie will be seriously considering the inner workings of a toy one moment and launching into utter excitement toward his brother Adam the next.  Anaya can’t move yet…she lets the world come to her and enjoys the attention.  Audie moves like no other and takes the world on one bump or fall at a time.  Amy and I believe holding them at the same time brings us super powers as parents and I melt as they both look at me like “what next?”  I can honestly say…I have no idea, but I look forward to the journey.  Having three kids is tough and Amy is in the trenches far more than I am.  For that and more than I could write here, I love her like nothing else.  Today at the aquarium and Amy and I were both holding the twins as they excitedly looked at a nine foot wall full of colorful fish while Adam stood in front telling everyone in ear shot that sharks have sharp teeth. . . I didn’t want to be anywhere else.  Five minutes later, Adam was melting down because he had seen these fish before, Amy was chasing him, I had Anaya in one arm and Audie was in the stroller wondering what happened. . .I still didn’t want to be anywhere else.  Happy 11 months Anaya and Audie, you have rocked our world and we love you. 

Here's my part:

Anaya

Still not crawling.  Still.  Not.  Crawling.  However, she is scooting on her bottom now.  We'll sit her down somewhere and she'll end up five feet from where we put her.  So, technically, she is moving, just not crawling.  To make matters worse, she seems to be getting more and more frustrated with the fact that she isn't moving, so she's cranky a lot.  The hardest part for me is that I know she could do it if she just tried, but she's not patient enough to really try.  She is more animated now, though, as Alan mentioned, and that is super-cute.  She loves to dance when she hears music and she loves to "roar" with her brothers.  She is also talking more and more and so I'm having nightmares about how I'll just be a mute once they're all speaking - I won't be able to get a word in!  Anaya is also learning to be quite the drama queen when her brothers so much as brush against her, screaming as though they pulled off a fingernail.  Of course, I come running to pick her up and she gives them her best "I win" smirk.  Then, there was the time the other day, while she was sitting in my lap, that Audie crawled over and pulled up on my legs and she kicked him, causing him to fall down.  No one ever accused her of being fair.  She may get picked on by her brother, but she deals it right back.  She is finally back on-track after the long trip, and is now sleeping thru the night!  I am loving the last few nights' sleep I've gotten, but am treading cautiously and not counting my chickens yet.  Her favorite foods are string cheese, grilled cheese sandwich, ravioli, bananas and peaches and I think she's experimenting with making facial masks out of food.  She loves baths and especially loves splashing REALLY BIG.  Never mind that she nearly drowns herself and her brothers while doing it.  She's a mess.

Audie

Audie is a regular comedian and is such a little joker.  He'll sneak up on you and then when you look at him, he'll just smile huge and start yelling or roaring.  He's very sneaky and turns on stealth-mode when he's ready to go looking for trouble.  It's not uncommon to find him with his hands in the toilet, or with Rosie's food and water bowls dumped over, laying in the puddle, mouth full of dog food.  One bad thing, though, is that he is drawn to the sockets so we have to be constantly watching him.  He's also drawn to Adam and Adam has lots of toys that make perfect choking hazards, so we're trying really hard to have Adam help us keep those toys in his room.  So far, he is doing a really good job at keeping them away and closing his door.  I think he actually enjoys that he's allowed to close his door and make his toys off-limits to the babies.  "What?  I don't have to share?  Excellent!"  Audie has one tooth and I think I see a second one pushing its way through, so we're moving right along...at a snail's pace.  Of course, he is crawling all over the place now and pulling up on anything and everything.  He's even doing some chin-ups on the dining room table.  He really enjoys picking on his sister, especially pulling her hair.  When she starts screaming, he just looks at me with those big, brown puppy dog eyes while I mildly scold him, then he just smiles and all is forgiven (by me, not Anaya).  He's also famous for stealing her little lovey blanket and crawling off, dropping it just outside her reach, ticking her off.  It's probably not my strongest parenting point, but it's funny for me to watch them "fight."  Audie also just started sleeping thru the night, so I'm doubly-happy.  He loves to feed himself, too, and his favorites are ravioli, grilled cheese, mandarin oranges, bananas and blueberry Nutri-Grain waffles.  That's not to say he doesn't try everything, though.  Anything and everything that can fit in the mouth, goes in the mouth.  Audie also really loves his bath time...but absolutely hates getting dressed afterwards.  He kicks and screams and rolls over and tries to escape.  Escape what??  PJ's??  I just don't get it...He's mostly the quiet, easy one, but he is definitely developing quite the temper and I'm afraid he's going to be the one who hurts himself throwing a temper.  He's a lion and a lamb. 

We are looking forward to the upcoming first birthday and are hoping that along with it will come a little more ease.  Things have been extremely tough this year and it's so refreshing to finally have things falling in to place and getting a little bit easier.  The sleeping part alone is a huge relief.  Now, when Anaya finally gets moving and I have to chase them both, maybe I'll have enough energy to keep up!  We feel like we can finally see the light at the end of the tunnel after a year of darkness (with the random hole shining light in, of course).  We know it's not going to all of a sudden be easy, we're just hoping it won't be so hard.  We're having more fun now and we're excited to see what the next year brings...even if it's colored-on walls and flushed cell phones.