The Brown Family Buzz: HAPPY 2ND BIRTHDAY CHARLOTTE AND JACOB....

At 12:04 a.m. and 12:08 a.m. on December 30, 2010 our world as we knew it changed forever. Charlotte and Jacob had arrived seven weeks early and only weighed 3 lbs 15 oz and 3 lbs 5 oz. Despite their early arrival we were so excited to meet them and welcome them to our family!

Today our tiny bundles of joy are two...yes TWO. It is so incredibly hard to believe how quickly these past two years have flown by and how much has changed. We have watched them go from being two tiny helpless babies to two amazing little people. Charlotte is definitely the more stubborn of the two! They are both caring, affectionate and enthusiastic individuals who love playing with their toys, reading books, going outside and being older siblings to their little brother Oliver.

Their vocabulary has grown leaps and bounds over the past few months. They are both putting two and three words together now, have an incredible understanding of what we say to them and can carry on a "conversation" with each other! Both can pronounce each others names, sing parts of songs - including "Somewhere Over the Rainbow, Happy Birthday and Frosty the Snowman" and end lines unprompted in certain nursery rhymes including Humpty Dumpty. They spend endless amounts of time walking their toy stroller and grocery cart back and forth on the main floor of our house and love spending time with Claire (our nanny) during the week. They have lots of little friends they hang out with including Wesley, Ethan, Ali, Mia and Jayden. They spend time at the Central Eglinton Community Centre attending music programs and playtime and love going to the library for their story time program. They love to eat and don't really have an aversion to any food we've introduced. At times Jacob can be more picky than Charlotte choosing not to eat dinner or only small bites of lunch but all in all we can't complain when it comes to their eating. They love bath time especially when bubbles are involved. They have gotten better at being in their car seats in the car. They used to fuss shortly after our car adventures began but now they enjoy looking out the window and chatting with us from the back seat. They absolutely love music and dancing and are always up for "entertaining".

We are so blessed to have Charlotte and Jacob in our lives. Not a day goes by when I don't stop and think about how tiny and vulnerable they were when they were born. I find myself looking at whatever it is they are doing at that particular moment and am in awe at how much they've accomplished in such a short amount of time. I also feel fortunate to be home with them at this time of growth since I'm currently on maternity leave following Oliver's arrival in October. What an amazing gift I've been given to spend this special time with each of them!

Today has already been filled with lots of excitement and it's only 9 a.m. The kids have come down to see the main floor decorated with balloons, a happy birthday table cloth on the table and sign on the window and number two candles ready and waiting for them to blow out later today. At 4 p.m. we will be welcoming family and friends to help us toast Charlotte and Jacob and all their accomplishments to date!

We can't wait to celebrate today and long into the future with Charlotte and Jacob!