Happy First Birthday Estella and Cordelia!

One year ago today, we welcomed two very beautiful little girls into our lives. Happy birthday Estella and Cordelia! As I look at my little girls today, I reflect back on the past year. On the one hand, it seems to have flown by. But on the other hand, I see them today and think about how much they have changed and how quickly they are growing up. I love you, my little girls!

This is one of the first pictures of Estella (on the left) and Cordelia (on the right), when they were one day old. Estella weighed 7 lb, 3 oz and Cordelia weighed 6 lb, 13 oz when they were born. They were good-sized babies, but small enough to fit in a single bassinet together!

These are pictures we had taken of the girls when they were just a few days old. Cordelia is on the left and Estella is on the right. They were so cuddly at this age, and so peaceful when they slept!

By one month old, Cordelia (on the left) and Estella (on the right) were just becoming active: playing with toys, batting at toys dangling above them, and beginning to hold their heads up. Estella loved to watch us and look around with her great big blue eyes. Cordelia was cuddly and would fall asleep in my arms, with her precious little head on my chest.

When Cordelia (on the left) and Estella (on the right) were two months old, we were settling into a nice routine with them. I had spent most of the past two months sitting down on the couch nursing the babies -- I would nurse one while Dale held/changed/comforted the other, and just about the time the first baby stopped nursing, the second was hungry and we'd switch! It was hard nursing two infants, but by two months, they were becoming more efficient at nursing and I was able to spend more time playing with them and less time nursing.

By three months old, Cordelia (on the left) was a very happy baby. She went to bed easily and slept a lot, at least during the day. She slept a lot at night too, but continued to wake up several times a night to nurse. Estella (on the right) was sleeping through the night pretty consistently at three months, but getting her to sleep was difficult! I'm not sure if she was over-tired at night or not sleepy, but it took us an hour to get her to sleep every night. Fortunately, she goes to bed much easier now!

Both Cordelia (on the left) and Estella (on the right) learned wonderful new skills by four months, and practiced them all the time. Estella had mastered rolling over, front to back and back to front, and rolled around so much! Cordelia had rolled a few times by four months but it took a lot of effort and she didn't do it very often. She had, however, discovered her voice! She babbled, cooed, and shrieked all the time. It was wonderful to hear her practice making different sounds.

Five-month-old babies are no longer particularly fragile or delicate, and actually spend time awake and not nursing. At this age, Adelaida discovered that her sisters were fun to play with and she wanted to play with them all the time! Fortunately, Cordelia (on the left) and Estella (on the right) loved to watch Adelaida play and didn't mind Adelaida touching, hugging, and playing with them. Adelaida loved to give the girls toys and to put blankets on them. She took such good care of her little sisters!

By six months old, Cordelia (on the left) and Estella (on the right) were going to school four days a week -- when they weren't sick. With an older sister in school and attending daycare themselves, I mostly remember their sixth month as a month of runny noses. I'm so glad we are over that period of their lives!

Seven-month-old Cordelia (on the left) was loud. She had a loud cry, loud babbling, and a loud and beautiful laugh. She was very easily amused and laughed at everything. Estella (on the right) learned to army-crawl not long after she turned six months old and by seven months, she was able to crawl around on her belly pretty well.

When she was eight months old, Cordelia (on the left) decided that she liked to be in the same room as me and really, really didn't like it when I left the room! She was fascinated by Adelaida and would watch Adelaida so intently. Estella (on the right) was definitely more independent and more interested in objects than people: when left alone in a room, she would find an object that she wanted, crawl to it, and chew on it happily until she was ready to move on to her next toy.

By nine months old, Cordelia (on the left) and Estella (on the right) were eating lots of solids and both loved meals. Estella would investigate her food -- pick it up, look at it, smash it between her fingers, see what it felt like in her hair, and sometimes even taste it. Food was definitely a toy for Estella rather than a source of nourishment! Cordelia was much more deliberate with her food. When something was placed on her tray, she would either pick it up and put it neatly in her mouth to eat it, or decide that it didn't belong on her tray and pick it up and drop it on the floor. We're still trying to teach Cordelia that food belongs either on her tray or in her mouth, not on the floor!

Both Cordelia (on the left) and Estella (on the right) were crawling by ten months, and they had no sense of personal space. They would crawl all over Adelaida, all over Dale or me, and all over each other. It was pretty precious to watch!

Eleven-month-old Cordelia (on the left) and Estella (on the right) loved to climb on everything. They had the most beautiful giggles and would start laughing so hard whenever Adelaida would chase them or tickle them.

Today, we celebrated Cordelia's (on the left) and Estella's (on the right) first birthday. It's hard to believe we have had a whole year with our two beautiful little girls! Both girls are cruising around furniture and getting ready to walk. They love to be chased by Adelaida and they have the most wonderful giggles. They have also become very interested in whatever toy the other twin has, so we've had some screams and some tears when one girl tries to take a toy away from the other girl -- but I'm sure we'll move past that soon!

Happy birthday Cordelia and Estella!