Houston, We Have Liftoff (Reprise)

It seems as if we now have two babies on the move. Yes, following in the footsteps (or crawlsteps?) of her brother, Arielle started crawling today. She had been trying so hard the past week and today she finally achieved forward motion. Maybe part of it had to do with her excitement over their new playroom, which was formerly an almost-empty room off of the kitchen (technically it's the dining room but we chose to make the larger family room our dining room). Daddy bought a play mat and we installed some gates, and voila! Alex and Ari especially like looking out the front window, watching for passing cars and dogs. Here is Ari practicing her skill in the new playroom:
Speaking of milestones, a few that have occurred in the past week: Ari is getting her fourth tooth (meanwhile, Alex has none!) and Alex now waves "hello" and "bye-bye" (again and again and again...)

Yesterday Ari and Alex had a play date with two new twin friends, Ella and Nadine. Everyone (including Mommy) had a great time and hope to see Ella, Nadine, and their mommy again very soon. Today our two little social butterflies had two birthday parties, although we sadly missed the first one (for our two-year old bud Lauren!) due to the kids' napping schedules. We did make it to the party for our pals Celia and Rina, though, and had a wonderful time playing with them, their friends, and their toys (they have a lot of fun stuff!) Alex and Ari have known Celia and Rina since they were just 8 weeks old, so it was very special to share their first birthday with them and their parents. Alex and Ari watched with envy as Celia and Rina dug into their yummy cake:

Finally, tonight we had all of the grandparents over for dinner. Alex and Ari enjoyed the extra attention; they were pooped from a long day, though, so right after dinner, Miri and Nana helped Mommy get everyone to bed. Miri took some great pictures so once we get them from her we'll post them for all to see.

So all in all, a great weekend...we're all sorry to see Monday arrive so quickly!