Nonno singing to the girls

Here we have Nonno Angerosa singing another one of his songs to the girls. Where does he get these little songs? They're so cute!

Bella drinks from a cup!

Here's our gal, who refuses to use a "sippy cup," but wants to drink from a real glass, of course. FYI, I gave her a glass of milk yesterday, and she was not nearly as careful and dainty as in this video. She dumped the entire thing on her face and down her front in one go!

Bella walking across the kitchen

More of Bella walking... this time, she went clear across the kitchen!!

Look who's WALKING!!!!!!!!!!!!!

On Sunday, our little one-year-old Bella took her first steps all on her own. By Today (Wednesday), she's really onto this walking thing... it's amazing how quickly they learn! From their first wobbles to walking clear across the kitchen inside of a week! She and Mia are having a ball chasing after each other on all fours still, too. My next video goal is to catch them chasing each other around the dining room table. It's so cute!

Their first birthday!!!!

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Yesterday was Bella's first birthday, and today is Mia's. Despite our best intentions to celebrate their birthdays separately, Mia has been pathetically sick with the flu for a week now, and still isn't better. Now Bella is sick too, poor soul. But they managed to rally remarkably when a big, sugary pile of cake was put before each of them last night!

The day began beautifully, and just as it had one year ago... with a lovely, light snow. I remember the morning before they were born (we were still in Virginia), I looked out the window and said "This must be the day... look! It's snowing!" And sure enough, it was! So snow on their first birthday felt a little like a present for me!

Both girls loved all their presents, and Mia seems to have figured out how to open presents since a month ago at Christmas, when neither of them were interested in the paper. Mia was ripping away last night, and quite delighted! Their favorite present by far seems to be the play cell phone we got them. I think we may need to get another one, since they both love pressing the buttons and hearing the sounds so much!

We're having a big family celebration on Saturday, so hopefully, they'll both feel better by then!

TOYLAND!!!!

The girls loooooove the musical toys!

"Where's Mia?" game

Here we have Mia copying a game Bella invented. This is the first time Mia did it, and now it's become a constant game. She's always up for a good round of "Where's Mia?" Kind-a cute, don't you think? ;o)

The girls discover Christmas decorations!

Here we have the lovely ladies discovering the Christmas Tree, presents (or as Mia seems to think about them: "PRESENTS!!!!!!!!!") and decorations. Mia is FINALLY crawling, as of last week or so, and doing an admirable job of getting around and getting up on things (she can get herself standing up at the baby gate with Bella, for instance). They're both such curious cuties!

Mia with Nonno playing Christmas carols

This one speaks for itself, folks.

So here she is, out little superstar milestone-jumper. Bella decided this weekend to climb the stairs (while I was away in Vegas visiting Johan). Mom and Dad both captured video, and don't worry... they caught her! No harm done!

Well, this morning was a shocking one for me! I get the "bad mommy" award, folks. Mia hasn't been very good at pulling herself up until recently, and still isn't pulling herself up into a stand... or so I thought! This morning, little Miss Mia somehow managed to get herself pulled up enough to launch herself over the railing of her crib, and landed head-first on the floor about 4 feet below. I was downstairs after just having put them both to bed for their naps, and head a loud *thud* which could only have been one thing. Mia started screaming bloody murder, and I took the stairs three-at-a-time. Nonno Angerosa was only 5 minutes away, thank goodness, so he came rushing back and checked her out. It seems she's okay, but for the huge purple, swollen welt on her forehead. Yet again, we seem to have dodged a bullet with Mia. She's borrowing her sister's crib to take her nap now, though (since Bella's is already a few pegs lower than Mia's was). The plan this afternoon is to lower BOTH their cribs, since now I'm paranoid about Bella doing to same thing (Bella is standing up in her crib and can get her head and shoulders above the crib wall). Poor Johan's missing all the fun around here, being stuck out there in Vegas (HA)!

Mia trying to walk, Bella hogging the spotlight

Ohmygosh, Mia is not crawling, but is trying to walk. Why crawl when you can just skip a step?! And Bella, of course, needs to be in the spotlight... hee hee hee....

Halloween pictures, at last!

November.... so soon?!

The girls had a wonderful Halloween. And don't worry, I AM going to post those adorable pictures of them in their costumes, as soon as I can figure out how to get them off Mom's camera (ours inconveniently died for the photo shoot).

Mia, as you can see, continues to crack us up. I put her in her high chair today, looked away to get her jar of food, and when I came back, she was pawing her way through the sports section of the newspaper. The funniest thing was that it really looked like she was reading it... she stares so intently at things, like they're sooooooooooooooooooooooooo interesting!

Bella had a rough day all day today. We couldn't figure out what was wrong with her all day, since she wouldn't stop crying and whimpering, even in her sleep during her naps. She also couldn't get comfortable, so I spent most of the day just hugging her and stroking her head as she cried. Finally, around 4/5pm, I started rocking her side to side in my lap, which quieted her way down... she was so exhausted by then. It just broke my heart! Around 7:30pm, we noticed some pinkish drainage coming from her ear... seems Dad suspects that her eardrum may have ruptured, poor thing. She was just in his office on Tuesday, and after checking her ears (she pulls on them a lot), he noticed there was fluid in her ears. Ahhhh... she is a daddy's girl after all, it seems! Anyway, she's finally sleeping... for now. Have to run to the pharmacy to pick up her prescription! If you're inclined, she could use a few "get well" prayers (and so could I, so we don't have a repeat day tomorrow! ;o)).