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Hanging out in their new chairs - thanks Nana and Pop! If I'm in the other room for a minute and things get quiet, I usually get worried and run over. The last few times that's happened the girls have just been rocking in their chairs. Very nice.

I'm feeling overwhelmed by all the birthday pictures, so I thought I'd share some of my favorite things about our 1 year olds (sorry, it's a long list). They seem more and more like little people and less and less like babies every day. I'm so happy!

-They are trying to say everything. Most of the time it still all sounds the same, but my favorite thing they say is "tweet tweet tweet" when you ask them what a bird says - probably because it's one of the few things where I can tell what they're saying. They definitely mean to say different words and understand everything that we're saying.

-Kara: she is quieter, more laid-back, but secretly really attentive and smart (A, you're smart too!). She's the one who will always listen to what I say, even if in passing, and do it. For example, when we were outside today, I said something about going back to our house. Anna kept playing, but Kara went over and started going up the walk and climbing the stairs to go inside. She knows and will point out the randomest things in books too, surprising us sometimes.

-Anna: she is definitely more rambunctious, louder, talks more. She adventures all over, runs everywhere (K runs too, but not quite as fast), and is just plain silly. The other day at the park she was literally chasing after a dog - running and pointing and flapping her arms - it cracked us up. I love when they run and chase each other around (usually accompanied by lots of laughter, and some falling over).

-They are starting to have something resembling abstract thought. Kara tried to trade Anna a toy for the chair she was sitting in, instead of for the toy she had. And they can both point to "another" of something when you ask them to.

-They are toy trading experts. They really consider what would be the best toy to trade to get what they want. So it usually works and they both end up happy. Their memories are developing more too - they will be very persistent to get what they want, even after playing with various other things for a while.

-The cutest is when they trade chairs or riding toys. They both know when they want to trade and then both get up and switch with one another.

-They share well. They tend to make sure that their sister has a toy.

-One not great thing: sometimes they want their own space (understandably). This results in pushing their sister out of their space, whether that be the bookcase, their box "house" or the tiny cubby they've crawled themself into.