Clara

Clara's turn!

My sweet baby is almost 9 months old! Holy Cow! She is getting the cutest little personality! 

Some things about Clara:

*She can scoot faster than I can keep track of her!

*She is already a picky eater - oh dear - and will only eat: sweet potatoes, squash, green beans (sometimes), bananas, and oatmeal cereal with a teeny bit of applesauce. Her favorite snacks are the puffs. She must have a sensitive gag reflex because if I try to give her anything else she gags and sometimes throws up.

*She HATES medicine.  She has never kept medicine down. As soon as its in her mouth she throws up. Good thing she's never had to be on an antibiotic as of yet.

*She has crazy hair that is generally sticking up and out all over the place - no matter what I do!

*As much as she hates most food - she doesn't seem to have a problem eating everything else in sight (plants, rocks, paper, crumbs, toys, and whatever else she can scavenge off the floor).  I need to watch this one close!

*She is already a talker.  She loves to babble and is stringing some syllables together now and I think its just adorable!

*She goes to sleep completely on her own, but is still waking up a couple times a night. We're working on that.

*She loves her brother and is very patient with his "rough love." In fact, sometimes she seems to like it. When he lays on her lap she thinks it great fun to pull his hair, pat his face and back, and steal his binky. I try not to think about how much they'll pick on each other when they're older.

*She loves to read (ahem...eat) books.

*She must have a taste for wood because when we're in the playroom with Tyler she goes straight for the wood blocks or train tracks.

*She really likes balls, blocks, and legos.  If I put Tyler's box of legos in front of her she can be occupied for awhile.

*She LOVES her mommy most - for sure, hands down, no contest. (I know this may change later, so I'm soaking it up as long as I can)

*I call her my monkey because as soon as I pick her up she clings to me and sometimes even tries to climb up me.

*She can clap her blocks together and sometimes her hands.

*She loves anything that makes noise

*At night, part of her bedtime routine is a song while I rock her. I love it, she loves it.  As soon as I start singing she flops her head down on my shoulder and cuddles up and instantly relaxes.  It makes bedtime so much easier/better/wonderful!

*She responds really well to her name.

*She has beautiful blue eyes and I hope they stay blue!

*She has pretty much anyone wrapped around her finger within seconds

*She is super active and wiggly and changing her diaper is a nightmare!

*She is easy going until I'm not meeting her need fast enough and then she growl-screams.  Right now it's pretty funny....not sure how much longer that will last.

*I love the way her face lights up whenever she sees me. 

*She does this funny fake laugh when she thinks something is only sort of funny

*Tyler makes her laugh more than anyone else

*When she's on her tummy and wants picked up she lifts her legs and arms off the floor and wriggles like a worm - it's so funny!

*She still sucks her thumb
*She also sucks on her bottom lip and likes to make smacking noises.
*She is still small for her age - basically anyone who picks her up says "Oh she is so petite!"

*She has one little tooth on the bottom.

*She is one of the happiest, smiliest (word?) babies ever!

I'm sure there are so many more things! She is such a happy, funny, loving baby girl. She loves her family more than anything already. I have loved watching her develop, learn, and discover! Sometimes I get all sad and nostalgic thinking about how fast she's growing up. So instead I try to just eat her up as much as I can now!

Videos:

#1: Clara talking - she is babbling so much more now, but she sure is cute in this video

#2: Clara playing with legos

#3: Clara scooting a while ago.  She used to get tripped up on her arms - kind of funny :)

Tyler

I haven't done posts about the kids in ages! So here is a post all about Tyler.

Tyler is my crazy, funny, mischievous, loving, cuddly, sometimes naughty baby boy! Some fun facts about Tyler:

*He can count to 10 and count 1 to 1 correspondence (meaning he can point and count)

*He knows the colors: blue and yellow and sometimes purple and green 

*He's great at sorting and stacking

*He loves cars, trucks, trains (choo choos), planes, helicopters, tractors and buses 

*One of his favorite things to do is ask for the keys, "et in car," and "dwive." He can even turn the car on....yikes!

*He loves riding his glider bike and can go pretty fast

*He loves doing puzzles and coloring

*He still loves his binkie and wooby and has also added a blanket to his must haves

*He loves Backyardigans (he even knows their names) and Barney, but right now his favorite shows are these old "All About ____" videos we found on Netflix. His favorite: "All About Planes" and "All About Helicopters."  At least its educational.

*He still loves Disney.  His favorites: Nemo, Buzz, Mermaid (yeah, that one surprised me too), Cars, Incredibles (and that is what he calls them)

 *He loves cereal, oat meal, crackers and cheese, chicken, apples, spaghetti, milk, ice cream, carrots, grapes, watermelon, and sandwiches.  

*He is a pretty good eater for a toddler and will try almost anything if you bargain right.  One of my favorite moments of the day is when I tell him it's dinner time and he yells to Mark: "Daddy! Diiiiinnnneeerrr!" Its really cute.

*He loves his little sister - almost too much! His favorite thing is to roll over her and "sit" on her lap. 

*One of his favorite things to do is run to Clara's room when she wakes up and say, "Hi, baby!" 

*He loves all his gamas and papas! He has a very keen sense of direction and knows when we're on our way to papa's house.
*He is talking more and more, although he still needs to be translated most the time.
*His best friend is Siena and gets very visibly giddy (read: jumping up and down and squealing) when he sees her.
*He loves nursery and as soon as Sacrament mtg is over asks, "Toys?"
*He is quite coordinated for a 2 year old and loves to run, jump, climb, slide, swing, and any other form of movement.  The park is one of his favorite places and he insists on playing on the big kid toys!

*He is both incredibly independent and dependent - both to a point of aggravation.  I can get him to do almost anything by saying, "Mommy can do it, or Tyler can do it." While at the same time he won't take off his own shoes without a fight. Of course the things he wants to do by himself are things he generally needs help with, while the things he insists on me doing are things he can do by himself. Such is life.

*He loves to help and is an excellent cleaner upper. And my favorite part is that he sings, "Cean up, Cean up, where, share" while he cleans (aka Clean up, clean up, everybody, everywhere. yada yada)

*He also loves to sing "wound and wound" (Wheels on the Bus) and "If you're Happy and You Know It."

*He is pro at the ipad/ipod. He amazes all with his skills - seriously. 

*He is super mischievous and tricksy. Sometimes I'm surprised how clever he can be.  He pulls fast ones on me all the time!

*He is pretty obedient as far as 2 year olds go.  He has his days, but for the most part he is really good.

I wish I could do his little personality justice with this post, but I just can't.  He is so animated and silly, cute and funny, energetic and crazy! He is one of the happiest kids I have ever met and even after a "naughty day" his little face just melts my heart and after a hug and kiss all is forgiven on both sides. He is my boy and I love him more than anything!   

Is it really February already?

It's been a while, but I have a good excuse.  On New Year's Eve Day we moved.  And I love our new house! Gated community, grass, trees, sidewalks! Awww, the life!  At some point I'll put pictures up - like once I've finished unpacking and decorating - so don't hold you're breath.  In the mean time here are a few snapshots of our life.  Now that I've found the camera cord there will be more coming.

My kids and their vices - Tyler: woobie, binky.  Clara: thumb. Both zoned out to a movie while I packed. You gotta do what you gotta do.

Cute girl in a high chair!

I realized I never posted her 6 month stats.  So here they are (now that she's almost 8 months.....)

Height: 27 in (90-95th percentile)

Weight: 14 lbs 2 oz (10-15th percentile)

Good thing she has chubby cheeks!

Tyler learning about the color yellow.

I've tried to do music time with Tyler on the piano.  So far, this is what we've mastered: high and low.  I hope you can hear him because it's pretty cute when he sings the words.

 

Christmas!

Tyler was sort of able to get Christmas this year.  After his birthday he knew that opening presents was a good thing and after showing him some videos he was at least able to recognize "Caus." I did try to show him a video of Baby Jesus, but all he could say was "Jes?" Unfortunately, that part of Christmas isn't as tangible as presents.  Maybe next year.  

Tyler and Santa.  No crying this year, yay! But I wouldn't say he was thrilled. 

Tyler loved decorating the tree. We opted for a smaller tree this year - perfect for Tyler. He kept saying "Coo!  Coo!" (cool) over and over again! I tried to get a video of it, but no go. He made me turn on the lights every morning and after a few time outs did great not touching the ornaments. And yes, my child never wears pants.

This was our first Christmas together - just us.  We're moving this weekend and so did not travel to Oregon and Mark's family is in Detroit visiting another son and family.  It was kind of sad, but also kind of fun! It was so fun seeing Tyler's reaction when he walked out in the morning (video at the end). He loved opening all his presents (a big thanks to grandmas and grandpas all around!) and the whole day he was super happy and hyped up (I'm sure the plethora of candy he ate had nothing to do with that . . . ) I tried my hand at Christmas dinner and didn't do too bad, except I misread the directions for the ham and we ended up having to fry it in the glaze to get it hot fast enough.  Eh well - you live you learn.  It tasted yummy all the same.

Tyler loves ramming his new fire truck into everything including my shins, Clara's bouncer and the cupboards.  Thanks Grandpa and Grandma W . . . I think. . . :)

Whoa! Candy in a sock!  I love this holiday!

Clara loves her new baby! She gets giddy every time she sees it. Thanks Grandma and Grandpa L!

One of the many winners of the day.  Good pick daddy!

Video disclaimer: Christmas morning we learned our video camera had bitten the dust so we had to use an ipod - not the best quality, but it will do.  

Tyler coming out in the morning.  I love his reaction!

Puzzles featuring two of his favorite characters: Elmo and The Wonder Pets.

Tyler playing t-ball - we have an allstar on our hands.

And a big thank you to all our grandmas and grandpas!

Family Pictures!

At the end of November we finally, for the first time ever, got family pictures. She, (Heather for those of you who live in the high desert) did such a great job!  I couldn't pick just a few so I posted a version of basically all of them. :)