The Terrible 2's x 2!

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I thought turning two, even on Christmas day, is warranted of a separate post, so here it is:

Along with Christmas dinner, the girls had their second birthday party at Aunt Judy's house this year. Luckily, they were pleased as punch about it and didn't even mind that mama left their birthday presents at home. After spending all morning opening Christmas presents, the girls (especially Bella) was more interested in eating cake. Lily was very dainty about it, eating the cake and ice cream neatly and exclaiming "all done" after a few small bites. Bella, however, threw herself right into eating as much cake and ice cream as she could get her hands on, finally settling on 2 slices of cake...and in record time! They had a great birthday. They each got a baby doll (one with blue eyes and one with brown) from nana that they fell in love with.

Christmas 2009!

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To offset the passing of their Grandpa Bakenhus this summer, Santa was VERY generous to the girls this Christmas. Along with loads of birthday gifts, the girls were showered with more than enough Christmas presents...so many that some of them still lay under the tree awaiting their opening in the days to come. Along with oodles of books and dvd's, Choo choo trains and Tinker Bell were the most noticable themes this year, but Barney, Teddy Bears and everything ballet was a close second. The girls opened about half their gifts Christmas morning and off we went to Aunt Judy's house to open more presents, see the rest of the family, pop English crackers, hear daddy play the violin, play the drum with Uncle Ken, run around the hard wood floor and most importantly, celebrate the girls' second birthday with a party.

After several wardrobe changes, Uncle Kenny showed off his holiday photography skills yet again:

Need I say more?

ok so,

Need I say more?

So many firsts...

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So much has been happening around here, many firsts, holiday festivities and getting ready for Christmas and the girls' second birthday.

Since the girls will be 2 years old before they return from Christmas break, their preschool has been transitioning the girls to the next level to a classroom with other kids their age and older. They are sad to leave their favorite Miss Shannon but have been really doing well with the older kids. Bella has been talking in small sentences and Lily can successfully drink from a cup! They've done so well with the big kids that I decided that now was the time to introduce them to another class.

The girls got their first taste of ballet class. At their first class, Bella jumped right in with the big kids and danced her little toes off as best she could. Lily was a little leery and just watched outside the room. Later, Lily warmed up with daddy and was ready for her second try a few days later.

The girls also deputed their dancing technique at their annual preschool holiday performance held at Pierce College this year. As Brittany Spear's sons also attend the same school, security was pretty tight as their was a rumor that she was going to attend that night's festivities. Rumors begin for a reason, I learned as we could barely drive in the parking lot where a man (that I later learned was Brittany Spear's escort) backed into our new family car. Luckily the damage was not as extensive to my car as it was to his.

The next week we took the girls to the Staples Center to see Disney on Ice. Tinker Bell is quite the gal around this house!

Halloween n things....

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Its just amazing how quickly my little girls are growing. Bella knows so many words that they'd be impossible to count now. If you tell her the word for any object, she will gladly recite it as much as you want.

Although Lily knows many words also, she is definitely not the show pony! She does, however, love to give you hugs and kisses almost any time you request them.

We took the girls for their Halloween portraits again this year. Last year's Fairy Princess photos were so incredibly beautiful that I didn't think we could ever top them. Although last year's photo on the same background is still the winner, this year's Halloween photos with the girls dressed as Renaissance maidens are a runner up. Now that the girls are alert and aware of their surroundings, portraits have become a little more challenging of late.

Back to school...for all of us....

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Augie, myself and the girls and I all went back to school earlier this month. We're now all looking forward to Christmas vacation!

Bella knows every word in the dictionary now. I expect her first college enrollment packet to arrive any time now. No, really. This toddler is a talker! She "picks up" everything. I mean EVERYTHING, and in the course of 10 seconds. We have to be especially careful of our exclamations and protestations around here. She has become such a sponge for learning and information that she's almost become a couch potato these days. Her favorite show and the one she demands to watch day and night is Barney. However, as I mentioned to Augie tonight, we need a Barney budget where TV is concerned.

Lily is as sweet and happy as ever. What a good nature our little Lily girl has! Augie and I both wonder where it came from. Her effervescent smile warms your heart, especially when she feels shy when she knows you're looking. She loves to play the nurturing mommy with all her babies and their strollers. She'll even walk around the house to find shopping bags and purses and will load up her arms with baby, bags, blankets and various odds and ends before wheeling her carriages for a stroll outside. I wonder where she gets that from? She also loves to play dress up and will seek out dresses from her closet, hand them to me and shout "on". Her favorite thing is trying on the rows of mommy and daddy's shoes that are piled up at the front door.

Both girls are growing, growing, growing and I am happy to report that they were finally officially discharged from the preemie specialist's benchmark check-ups. Both girls are finally on the chart for normal height and weight (though they're both still on the small side) and they are now functioning at about a month ahead of their adjusted ages.

I can finally buy clothes in size 2t, yay! But, I have discovered that 2t is apparently the most popular children's size, boo!