WANNA SEE SOME VIDEO???!!!!
Olivia's Finally Walking! Here she is at age 16.5 months, only days after really "getting it", going to give Baxter a kiss!
Olivia Walks and Kisses "BaBa"

Samantha and Olivia - the Quick Updates!
Samantha
Samantha is now four years old and in her second year of preschool. She goes to school on Monday, Wednesday and Friday mornings and just loves it! She loves her teachers and her friends and is excited every day it's a school day! She also attends dance class once a week and is taking jazz, tap and ballet again, which she also loves! She had a fabulous dance recital in June and is just so excited for the next one! She continues to practice writing and is learing how to spell just a little bit. She knows how to spell her whole name as well as her sister's and Baxter's. She also knows how to spell "Mommy" and "Daddy". I can't believe how big she is getting and how quickly she is picking things up. Samantha also loves to sing and is constantly amazing us by singing a song we've never heard her sing before!

She continues to love books and I often catch her "reading" her books to her dolls or her "pretend" students in her class. She loves to pretend like she is the teacher and has her sister or her dolls or just no one be her students.

The big news with Samantha is that she recently had surgery to have tubes put in her ears. The surgery went great and she recovered quickly and easily as is usually the case with most kids. It has had a huge improvement on her hearing and I also think, her behavior. The doctor said that with the condition of her ears before (which was lots of fluid and pressure which led to diagnosed hearing loss) it would have easily caused her to be moody. He said it would be like the feeling we have when we get off an airplane, but constant. I can only imagine! So, now she is better and she is enjoying being back to swim lessons as well.

Olivia
Olivia celebrated her second birthday in September with an Elmo party that she requested! She had a great time and is absolutely crazy about Elmo these days! She is learning so much and growing like a weed! She is learning to talk a little bit more each day and has picked up a slew of words over the past several months. It's just amazing to watch her vocabulary explosion! Her sister is constantly trying to teach her new words and has been successful a few times.

At the ripe old age of 16 months, Olivia finally decided to start walking. She took her first steps on Christmas day and then waited another three or four weeks to really start walking officially. So, now she is all over the place and getting into everything! She is a much different toddler than her sister and gets herself into lots of trouble! She plays in Baxter's water bowl, turns the TV on and off and on and off over and over again, empties the kitchen cabinets and pantry, and rips apart her sister's books and papers. Now that she is getting bigger, she can play so well with Samantha and they can really start to enjoy eachother...and upset each other, of course! They are often running around the house just laughing at each other and really have turned into two cute little playmates.

How Big are the Girls?
Samantha is now up to 41 inches tall and weighs about 34 pounds. She is in about the 50th percentile for weight and back into almost the 90th percentile for height.

Olivia is now up to 35 inches tall and she weighs about 28 pounds. She still remains in the 50th percentile for weight. She didn't grow much taller since her 18 month appointment and is now in about the 60th percentile for height.

You can track the girls' growth by going to their home pages and then you will see links to pictures of them at different ages. We have included facts about development, growth, and important milestones they have met along the way.