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Wednesday, November 26, 2014

First Steps, Thanksgiving, and Premature Decorating


I'm happy to say it's official.  The babies have started walking!  Clara has been freestanding for weeks, occasionally taking a single step forward before falling back down, while Dorothy has been quite content to do a little one handed scoot (with incredible speed, I must add).  The other morning, Dorothy decided to give this whole standing thing a try.  I watched her do it and could see that incredible "Aha!" moment when she realized, "I can do this!  I'm standing!"  That afternoon, our sweet little friend Molly, who is five, was helping me watch the babies while the other big kids were playing outside.  Dorothy, who has proven herself to be fearless and brave (both very admirable qualities) decided to just go ahead and walk over to Molly.  Why not?  And she did it.  Three or four steps, just like that.  

Clara, who was watching the show, saw that walking is no big deal.  A little later that afternoon, after Ben got home, she decided to go ahead and give it a try.  And she did, just like that.  A step or two, and then six or seven as she gained her confidence.  So on a single day, I believe it was Tuesday, November 18, both babies started walking.  Talk about being identical!  They are our earliest walkers yet, reaching the milestone at ten months.  You can see some of their first steps here, and as they become more sure on their feet, I'm sure I'll become more adept at photographing them.  We are absolutely delighted, proud, and realizing that we will need to babyproof our house even more!

We're spending the day baking inside, which is about all this day is good for, as it's raining and snowing and kind of gross outside.  One pecan pie and pumpkin pie down, one apple pie and cranberry bread left to go today.  Tomorrow we're going to town on the sides and making our traditional Polish turkey recipe before heading over to my parents' house to enjoy their Polish turkey, which will probably be even better.  We are just so crazy about turkey leftovers, I never go a Thanksgiving without roasting one!

And if you're also looking for something to do at home today, don't forget about these cute pilgrim hats and bonnets and the Charlie Brown Mayflower episode, which is perfect for teaching children about the first Thanksgiving.

I simply cannot express how grateful I am feeling this year.  Last year at this time, I was really pregnant with twins, and had no idea quite how I would get through the year.  Unbeknownst to me, the hardest weeks of my pregnancy were ahead of me, but they would be concluded with the most beautiful and peaceful birth I could have imagined.  The months since then have been pure grace, enjoying the presence of these sweet little girls and soaking up every second.  I am just so incredibly thankful.

Oh, and I guess I might as well come clean with a little confession.  I found a dried boxwood wreath at the store the other day, and wanted to make sure it fit the door.  I put it up to double check, and was just flooded with all those warm Christmasy feelings.  I figured I would leave it up for the afternoon, and I just couldn't bring myself to take it down, because I am really really excited about Advent and Christmas.  A day has turned into a week, and at this point, that wreath is staying put.  So there you have it, there is premature Christmas decorating happening, and it is by me.  

Happy Thanksgiving to each and every one of you!

2 comments:

Lauren Oliver said...

Yay for walking!!!! Congrats to Clara and Dorothy! Good luck to Ben and Adele- haha!

Adele said...

Thank you on behalf of all of us! :-)