They're all ours!!!

That's right - as of December 1st, we will have officially paid off the loan we took out to finance our IVF procedure, which means that as of Thursday we finally own the babies free and clear. There will be much rejoicing as we take sole ownership, knowing that the credit union can't repossess them. Hmmm...I wonder where they put the pink slips?

Daniel

Sometimes, I worry that Daniel gets overshadowed by Caroline's princess girlieness and Max's mischievousness and "look at me, I can walk".

So allow me a moment to sing the special praises of Daniel.

Daniel smiles.  All the time.  He is a happy baby and he loves to smile.

Sometimes he shares his toys.  Even when Caroline and Max steal things from him, he will offer toys back to them when he takes them away.

But, most importantly, Daniel sleeps.  He is usually the first one down at night and goes off to sleep without a fuss.  And he sleeps so soundly that it doesn't bother him when his brother or sister screams his or her little head off when it's time to join him in the bedroom.  When he wakes up, he plays quietly in his crib (his favorite sport seems to be pacifier horseshoes - he competes to see how far he can fling them into the center of the room) rather than yelling for immediate attention.

He will stand and walk when he's ready, but until then, he's a happy, smiley, well-rested baby.

Catching up on November

Here are some other random photos from November:

Caroline's hair is long enough she needs to start wearing hair clips - Xmas gift idea!!!

 At the beginning of the month, we went to Jonah's house to celebrate his first birthday.  The 'teenies had an excellent time running all over and playing.  Caroline wandered around visiting everyone and eating off of all of their plates, including a big hunk of lox she snagged from some unsuspecting person.  Max sat on Grandma's lap and at an entire half a bagel!  So we made sure to get Daniel some cream cheese to complete the meal among the three of them.

Here are Caroline and the birthday boy - stripes were a theme

Daniel is trying to figure out if there are any more toys in there

Max looks like he's trying to dance!

Max is using the old bouncy chairs as a pulpit, it seems

My dad sent me this picture - it is apparently the first photo I ever took - note the artistic angle and perspective!

Caroline likes Necco Wafers!

Max and Daniel indulging in a favorite sport - paper ripping!

The day after Thanksgiving, we took the rare day with all five of us home to take the babies to the Academy of Sciences.  Everybody else in the world seemed to have the same idea, so it was packed.  We rushed through and saw it all in about an hour.  We'll go back again and take more time.

Here's Caroline, enjoying the coral reef

But what she really enjoyed was reading the map and deciding where we should go next!

Thanksgiving!

This year, we did Thanksgiving in Livermore with Joe's family.  The boys had nice new collared shirt outfits in their haul from their birthday party, but Caroline didn't really have anything "dressy" - she probably still fit into some of her dresses from the summer, but they were all too "summery" looking.  So, I took what was left from her GAP gift card and headed to the mall at lunch on Tuesday.  And I went insane.  There was a big sale, so she ended up with a dress, three cardigan sweaters, a pair of tights, and a little fake fur shrug (in case she gets invited to a New Years Eve party, of course).  She's never worn tights before, so this would be a first for her.

The mandatory pre-Thanksgiving picture - Daniel was very excited to get to wear his reindeer boots

But he wondered why another picture needed to be taken

Max is working on his smile

Daniel's getting excited to go (and here's a close-up showing that Caroline's tights are only sparkly up to the knee)

You can't tell when she stands up

She thought the spoon was a perfect accessory!

Grandma and Grandpa have TOYS at their house!

But Max was more interested in the potato chips

And Triscuits!

Daniel was cool eating off of Grandpa's plate

Grandpa is a good sharer!

Max is still working on that smile!

And working

The 'teenies LOVE playing with coasters

Especially the kitty cat one!

Caroline is not happy to be sharing focus

But she can be bought off with a cracker

Grandma told her this was how she used to dress "back in the day"

Everyone enjoyed the appetizers - especially Caroline, who seemed to be grazing the whole time she was at Grandma and Grandpa's.  But by one o'clock it was time to sit down for dinner.  We put the babies in their fancy long-sleeved bibs (which they'd never worn before) so they could really have-at the food.  We also got to try out our new portable booster chairs - they're like little collapsable camp chairs, but they latch onto kitchen chairs for a sturdy booster!

Max decided he really liked the mashed potatoes

And he was keeping an eye on anyone who might try to take them

Caroline started fussing, and Daddy thought the camera might cheer her up

But she just wanted some water

And some mashed potatoes

And some more mashed potatoes

Daniel really liked the dinner conversation

He's such a good listener!

Max, what is in that bottle?

Caroline was playing a game of three-plate monte

"Did I put the prize under here?" (note the chunk of stuffing on the bib by her hip - one of the few pieces of food she kept off the floor!)

Auntie Lee Ann looks a little suspicious of Max

Daniel was ready for a post-dinner nap

So he and Grandpa excused themselves from the table

But Max still wanted a little something to drink

Caroline fussed and wanted to be released from her chair, so I thought she was done eating.  I took her bib off and put her in my lap.  But she proceeded to grab sopa off my plate and chomp away.

Here we begin the "Caroline and the huge piece of ham" series:

Meanwhile, the boys were experiencing the Thanksgiving tradition of falling asleep watching football:

Every week when the Salvateenies visit their grandparents, Grandma and Grandpa remind them there is NO climbing on the stairs.  But Auntie Lee Ann knows her job is to be the "fun aunt" and help them break all the rules, and Caroline took advantage of this to explore!

Here's Grandma, reminder her this is a MAJOR NO-NO

And Caroline pretending to be in jail

Max is saying, "It's about time you started paying attention to me again!"

Daniel is just laughing at his sister's naughty behavior!

As you can imagine, the babies made QUITE the mess under the table.  Auntie Lee Ann noticed that they'd gone back under the table to collect (and eat) some of the discarded bits of food, so she grabbed a bowl and crawled under the table to clean up.

Daniel grabbed Caroline by the hair and tackled her to get his cup back - a flagrant foul!

Caroline thought Auntie Lee Ann had brought her a bowl of snacks!

Daniel's looking for all his food

"Where did it go??? I was saving that!!!"