Party time

One of the great things about being a twin is that you always have someone to play with. That can, of course, be a good or a bad thing, but in Claire and Jacob's case they're really starting to notice each other and play with each other. Often that involves Claire taking Jacob's toy (she sometimes takes Jacob's pacifier right out of his mouth) or unwanted touching of the face/hair/eyes, but they're starting to enjoy each other's company.

At Nanna's:
In their room after they wake up in the morning
Really, the reason I wanted to call this party time is because Dani and I went to my work's Christmas party. Dani looked spectacular (notice her new hair cut)! She even wore high heels and didn't fall once. The work party was at the Cincinnati Art Museum where they had appetizers, dinner, dessert, and plenty of adult beverages (Dani's and my choice was the cranberry juice or sprite or water). They had a band playing a wide selection of cover music, so we walked around looking at art listening to rock music. Dani liked being in an area with less people so she could take off the heels. Anyway, here we are at the Pearson's house, where our kids stayed while we went.
 

Peas and Carrots

Well, it took awhile, but we are finally posting Halloween pictures. So, Happy Belated Halloween! Our cute little kiddos got to be some of their favorite veggies! Claire was a carrot and Jacob was a peapod. (We decided Claire could be the carrot because of her red hair). They were sure cute, but because of the time change we only went to see two neighbors for trick-or -treating before they were ready to go to bed.


 

"Gimme those keys" and other adventures

It's been a while since we've posted, so we have some catching up to do. First, a little picture story. Jacob and Claire have been rolling pretty well recently, and they have been nicely playing on the floor with their toys (and toes). Dani left a pair of baby keys on the floor between Jacob and Claire one day. They both started rolling toward them, and Jacob, being the faster roller, got to them first...

Which, of course, Claire was not happy about...

So, she decided all she had to do is reach over and take them out of Jacob's mouth. But, she was foiled in her plot because Mom caught her red-handed! With this lesson now taught, we assume that this will be the only time either of them tries to take a toy from the other.

Other adventures:
- Vicki and Pat (Dani's mom and grandma) came from Wyoming for a week to see their grandchildren (and great grandchildren). They had a girls-night out at Spamalot, a musical, in downtown Cincinnati. We also ate out at a nice restaurant, took a "big-house" tour, played a game, went shopping (which I fortunately avoided!), and went to the Underground Railroad Museum. All in all, we had a great week!!
- My younger brother (Taylor) is the starting goalie for his high school soccer team. Their regular season has ended, and the playoffs have begun. 3 games later, and they are district champions, the last game won in penalty kicks where Taylor made a save to win it. We've spent lots of time watching games (and trying to keep warm!)
- ALMOST going to Detroit to see a baseball game - my beloved A's were in Detroit on a weekend, but unfortunately they got down 3-0, so the trip, the tickets, and the expense did not seem justifiable.
- My youngest brother was the lead in his high school play, the Yellow Boat. It was a great, emotional play and Andrew did a fantastic job. It's somewhat of a funny site to see a bunch of teenage girls sobbing because of my brother's acting! What a stud!
- I scored a goal left-footed in my company team's indoor soccer team's game. I think that should count double, because I'm really not very good at soccer, but I enjoy it. 

One thing Claire loves to do is to purse her lips, puff out her cheeks, and blow (try it, it's fun). Often, after putting her down for a nap, we'll her her spitting for a half hour straight. If you imitate her, she will smile, but won't do it with you... 1 spitter is enough, I guess. The picture below is blurry, but gives a pretty good idea of the funny face she makes when she does it.

One of Claire and Jacob's favorite times is right after their baths. They are happy and playful. I think they both just love being naked!

They also love their exersaucers. When we put them together, they will look at one another and talk to each other. Last week, Dani said she put the kids in the same crib in the morning and for over an hour, Jacob and Claire were talking to each other. Claire would talk, and it would make Jacob laugh, then Jacob would talk and Claire would laugh.
 

Eden Park

We went for a drive a few Sundays ago to Eden Park in downtown Cincinnati. It was a beautiful day for a walk. We found a nice gazebo and took some pictures with our kids. Okay, the real reason for the drive was because our kids were grouchy and needed a nap... it worked!



 

Mmmm, Green Beans!

A couple of weeks ago we started baby food, green beans were our first adventure. Jacob didn't really seem to like them, but he was a good sport. Claire loved them (as you can see from the picture). The second time we had them the babies just gagged on them, as they did the third, fourth, and fifth times...now we have to eat bites of squash between bites of green beans to eat our green beans.


Here is our little Jacob after his back with his huge blue eyes...also, notice how much hair he has!
 

What a weekend!!!

It all started before the weekend when Dani, Camie, and my mom went to the outlet malls north of Cincinnati. Camie was the grand prize winner for most stuff (I'm surprised it all fit in the van on the way home, by the way), but Dani did quite well herself. On Friday night, she went to the Mothers of Twins sale, where she came home with bags full of clothes, toys, and other great baby gear as well as a high chair and 2 exersaucers. What a night of shopping it was, and then Dani showed off her car-packing skills as she stuffed everything into the Acura, which was no small feat. Here she is sitting among just some of her purchases:

I'd also like to mention that for the first time since the babies were born, Dani was given a full reprieve from putting babies to bed. Claire, Jacob, and I came home, and I fed them rice cereal, bathed them, and then fed them again using the boppy and then put them to bed without a fuss! It was amazing! By the way, Jacob was very confused to be placed on the boppy and to look up and see me (he gave a, "what do I do, dad?" look). Claire, upon discovering Dani was not seated in the boppy gave the most heartbroken look and cry.

Here are our kids in their new toys! They love their exersaucers!

They could be on the package with their big smiles!
 

The Crazy Christensen Clan came over and went wild on the floor with Matt appearing to get the worst of it... get him Clayton and Lydia!

"Where's my pants go?"

 

Then, there was the JDRF walk. And look who was waiting for us at the end, Yogi!!! Andrew had a lot of friends and family there, it was a great time for all!

Then, we got to watch conference. Jacob watched intently from the couch...
As grandpa and Clayton and played and grandma great either took notes or dreamed about conference...
and Nana and Claire played on the other side of the room.
 

JDRF Walk

This coming Saturday, Dani and I will be joining my younger brother Andrew as part of Andrew's Army, a group of friends and family, in a 5k walk for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF) at Kings Island. This non-profit group supports research to find a cure for diabetes, which Andrew learned he has two summers ago. So far, Andrew's Army has raised over $20,000!

If you would like to donate to this great cause, we invite you to visit walk.jdrf.org and search for Andrew Jensen in Ohio, then follow the link to his team website. Join Claire, Jacob, and scores of others who have donated to Andrew's Army!

Continue down for some new, fun pictures!

Cutest picture ever!

Here are Claire and Jacob at their finest! Both smiling, holding hands, looking cute, and with nice drool marks on their new sweaters. Their pants are especially funny because we had to roll them up so far! Jacob's have kneepads and only the top inch or so of the kneepads was showing! It's a lot of fun to have both babies paying attention to you and laughing at the same time!

2 little Danis?

Dani put Claire's hair up into a pony tail. All of it. There's not much on the sides, so everything on top (which basically IS everything) she put up. She looked really cute! Dani thinks this picture looks a little bit like her. We got out the baby album and we think Claire's turning into a little Dani.
Give me a hug!
I think this one looks a little like Dani for a different reason. Anyone who has eaten with Dani would understand why! =)
 

Getting to know you two!

We've posted a lot of pictures of Claire and Jacob (see the cute baby faces post below), now it's time to get to know the two little people who are such joys in our lives. It's amazing that they've been with us over 5 months, since April 18. They've changed so much since then.Claire (on the right):
- Born first, and for the first 2 months of her life was unmistakably the boss. She has mellowed a lot since then.
- Loves to be outside. If she is upset, going on a walk with her, either in her stroller or in our arms, will soothe her.
- Rolls over, but only 1 direction and hates when she ends up on her belly. We're not sure if she'll learn to roll the other way or to just stop rolling over first!
- Has beautiful auburn hair, but only on the top of her head. And it's getting long on top, too.
- Loves watching soccer games with the soccer moms, especially Mrs. Kim, the mother of a player on her uncle Taylor's team.
- Talks with her mouth closed, actually, more spits while making noise with her mouth shut. We don't know where she got this from.
- Loves to spalsh in the tub, which is encouraged at this age.
- Developed a rash that has spent time on her neck and has relocated to her chin and cheeks.
- Has always been a Daddy's girl!

Jacob:
- Born 30 minutes after Claire, and for the first 2 months was a quiet baby, but has become quite a ball of energy and is not afraid to share his opinion.
- Is quick to give a smile. When you talk to him, his eyes light up.
- Loves attention.
- Loves his pacifier (so do mom and dad).
- Has always been very easy to get to bed (we also love that).
- Has already lost his hair, and is now quickly regrowing it. It sticks straight up, and seems to be noticably longer each day. We can't decide if it's going to be brown or blonde.
- Went through a phase when he sucked on his tongue. He would stick it out, then suck on it (try it, it's fun).
- Likes to talk to himself in his crib, to his toys, and to anyone else who will listen to him. Sounds like his mother.
- Is becoming more of a daddy's boy recently!

Both:
- Developed dairy allergies, sorry mom!
- Are soothed by the following (in order of effectiveness): (1) eating, (2) looking at the baby in the mirror, (3) bath, (4) swinging in their car seats, (5) outside, (6) pacifier/thumb/fuzzy blankets or ducks
- Are small! They're 5 months old and still fit into most of the 0-3 month clothes and are looking tiny in their 3-6 month clothes.
- Sleep in their carseat, with their heads slumped on their chests.
- Have become very good with their hands and enjoy playing with toys and shoving them in their mouths. Jacob loves playing with Claire's ear, but his parents intervene before he shoves it in his mouth.
- Sleep better at night. It is less of a fight, and they typically wake up once during the night and sleep from 9 - 8 then take a nap until 9:30. 

Just Show Me That Baby Face

We will start with the sad/mad ones. They sure do know how to make a sad face.

Jacob sad face, aka it is late and I am not eating yet face.
Claire sad face, aka Jacob is eating why am I not? face
 

New Food Face. "What is this stuff?" Jacob and Claire have had their first experiences with rice cereal and have since become better at eating it and loving it. I think the expression on his face tells all about what he thinks of it.

Super smiley face. As described below, the bigger the smile the more closed her eyes become. It is such a cute picture anyway.
I look like my cousin face. Although he is not smiling like he usually does, we still think he looks like a chubby Breckin (my brother's baby). They are both cute little babies.
Something soft must touch my face. When Claire gets tired she has to have a blanket next to her face (preferably a super soft one). It seems like she won't take a nap without that blanket touching her face. This blanket happens to have a bear attached to it, how fun.