9 Months

Our sweet Clara turns 9 months old today!

Her 9 months stats:

Weight: 16.42 lbs 21%

Height: 27.75" 56%

She is growing well, and is a happy and healthy baby.  She still does not have teeth, but we are totally ok with that!  Luke was also a late teether.  Clara eats anything she can get her hands on.  She likes to find what goodies are on Luke's plate and taste everything.  She likes hot dogs!  She also loves chocolate and strawberries.  She learned how to drink out of a straw all by herself.  One day she found one of Luke's straw sippy cups.  I thought she was just playing with the cup, but then I realized she was actually getting something out of it!  I was slightly annoyed at first, only because it was ridiculously hard to teach Luke how to drink from a straw.  Clara just did it all on her own!

Clara finally giggles!  At first, she would only very slightly giggle, and only for Luke.  Now we can get her to giggle occasionally, but nobody gets her laughing like Luke.  Luke tries to entertain Clara in the car.  He thinks it funny when she laughs at him because he makes funny faces and funny noises at her.  I guess when they are in the car they know there is nothing else to do but laugh at each other.

Clara thinks she can keep up with Luke.  She tries to hard to follow him, and she just wants to play with him.  Luke has started to realize this crazy girl is touching "his" things, and he doesn't like that very much.   So Clara does a lot of bonking, sometimes on her own, sometimes with the help of her brother.  She will be walking before we know it.  She furniture walks all the time, she can climb up and down stairs, she just is ALL over the place!

She is still a mama's girl.  Definitely does not like any strangers and is slightly warming up to her daddy.  She loves her brother, and has from day one.  She is slightly devious, and wants to climb up on everything.  She is starting to understand "no" and I think she will mind better than her brother.  She isn't as strong willed as he is.  She is mostly a content little girl, and likes to watch and be involved. 

Future photographer?

Luke figured out how to take photos on the IPad. This is one of his beauties... You can figure out what this is a photo of.

busy again...

 I keep making the mistake of saying....

things will slow down after.....

if I can only get through.... things will simpify

Anyone who tells them self that is only fooling themselves. 

With wild kids like mine, things don't really slow down,

especially when I am already dreaming about my evenings spent watching little league games

or going to dance recitals....

Someone told me, "wow, he's got a lot of energy"

referring to Luke...

that was the nice way of saying it.

Luke is more than just a lot of energy,

he is simply crazy!

Luke is in the stage of repeating EVERYTHING you say.

He is his own mockingjay.

 Luke will randomly start spouting off things I have constantly told him.

This tells me 2 things.

First, he was listening

Second, he chose not to follow.

What a little stubborn apple we have that didn't fall far from the tree.

Luke thinks he is the king of this household.

Since Luke is talking so much more lately,

I find myself laughing a lot!

I always told myself if I repeated things enough,

they would catch on.

His latest one is "your welcome mommy"

I have tried so hard to teach him manners.

 

This crazy princess is BUSY.

She is far less cautious than Luke ever was.

She tries to climb up on everything!

She is busy climbing up on everything she can,

and has figured out how to use things as stepping stools.

I looked over to catch her climbing on top of the table,

SERIOUSLY!?!

She is 8 months old.....

She thinks the stairs are the funnest thing ever!

I have to keep my eyes on this one....

Chocolate

Tunnel

Ever since we visited Portland Luke is obsessed with tunnels. There were lots there for us to drive through. Now we build tunnels at home!

cute, cute

This kid says the cutest things sometimes.  Lately he is all about mommy.  One of the cutest things he says is, "come here mommy, come here."  He says it while he ushers me towards him with his hands, and says it in the sweetest sincere voice.  Then he gives me a hug, rests his head on my shoulder and saws: "aw, cute, cute!" in the same sweet sincere voice.  This kid can melt my heart sometimes! 

afternoon bike ride

mine

MINE is such a relative term, 

and I am finding out 

that to a 2 year old

it can be used to describe

EVERYTHING!

This kid is spoiled, lets be honest, NEWS ALERT: I am the biggest pushover EVER!

I recently made a purchase, thinking I could have this purchase all to myself.

Really it was an expensive toy- and Luke has taken it over.

The other night I was laying in bed with Luke, reading stories to him.  This is a nightly ritual, and we usually read at least 10 books every night.  Most of which Luke could read to you, simply because he has them memorized.  I was slightly irritated that I was so tired, and that I didn't get one minute to myself that day.  I was thinking about all the things that are "mine" that Luke thinks are his.  Then I thought about things that aren't even possessions that Luke still thinks are his.  A great example is my time and attention.  From the moment Luke wakes up, to the moment he goes to bed, he thinks he needs every ounce of my time and attention.    Luke follows me around the house, he has to be in the same room as me.  I don't shower by myself, I don't use the toilet by myself, and I am constantly hearing "mommy, where are you?"  Luke has to know where I am every moment.  So all this thinking led me to be slightly annoyed.  I then found myself laughing at something silly Luke did, and I realized all of this is worth it.  Kids grow up so fast, and time keeps moving faster and faster.  So I will enjoy these experiences while I can.

Easter

We took a quick weekend trip to Idaho to celebrate Easter this year.

It was cold, and snowed on our way up,

but its always worth it for Luke to spend time with cousins, grandparents etc.

 Clara had a great time too,

she got extra attention from grandma, which is always nice!

 Luke defintely figured out what Easter egg hunting was all about this year.

He was so excited running around.

He also knew there were prizes inside the eggs!

 Luke is a lover of chocolate!

He is ALWAYS asking for more chocolate,

so he got spoiled for Easter!

Luke also colored Easter eggs.

This was the first year that Luke actually understood what was going on.

He LOVED coloring eggs.

Luke kept himself entertained for almost an hour,

just putting the eggs in,

taking them out,

then putting them all back in again.

 We tried to get Luke to use the dipper,

to put the eggs in,

and to pull the eggs out,

but he decided fingers were best.

By the time we were done, Luke's fingers were purple.

 All of Luke's eggs ended up being purple too.

I guess that was the dominate color,

he mixed all the colors together in the end.

Happy Easter!

Easter Egg Hunting