Milestones

With a 2-year-old and a 7-month-old in the house, we are hitting milestones faster than we can count.  It's amazing what a difference a week makes around here.  Take one week at the beginning of June (I know, I'm late on my post, yet again... :).

June 8: Charlie pee-peed in the potty for the first time (with two in diapers I am getting SO excited about potty training!!) and got a sticker.  This could not have gone better--he loved the sticker and later, at the park, several kids were exclaiming over it and just dying to "borrow" it.  Charlie has never been so proud of a sticker in his life. :)  We've had a few more successes with the potty, but I'm not pushing it yet.  Hopefully soon!

June 6: Evie pulled up!  You've never seen anyone so proud of an accomplishment.  She loves standing so much, especially if she gets up on her own.  You have never seen a bigger smile. She's getting pretty steady on her feet, and even stood on her own for a few minutes the other night.  Scary for me, but exciting for Evie. :)  

June ?-present: This is more an almost-milestone, but Evie is almost crawling.  Every day I think that she's going to take off, but she hasn't quite done it yet (she crawls a few "steps" every day, but hasn't quite gained the confidence to keep going).  Here she is pre-lunge...

...and post-lunge, getting ready to kind-of, almost, not really crawl.  In her determination to not-crawl, Evie has figured out clever ways to get what she wants.  She lunges into crawling position, scoots/crawls forward a few inches, and then rotates around and sits up. She will repeat these goofy movements until she gets where she's going (or, more typically, forgets where she's going and enjoys the spot she's ended up in :).

June 12: And Evie is walking!!  Haha, just kidding.  But she does love to push Charlie in the little red wagon. :)

June 7: Back to Charlie, who learned how to pedal his trike!  He was so proud of his accomplishment, and has been having a blast riding up and down the sidewalk on his "bike."  He waves to everyone who walks or drives by, and loudly proclaims that "I am riding my bike."

June 3: Charlie's been riding his scooter for a while, but in that same week, he really took off.  He shoots down the sidewalk at an alarmingly fast rate of speed and has even figured out how to glide back and forth and makes some pretty sharp turns.  He LOVES his scooter more than anything else right now.  I tried to get him to come with me to playgroup yesterday, but he told me he was going to "stay home with my scooter."  Glad he's content to be home!

Final milestone: Charlie and I met Darth Vader and Luke Skywalker.  That's a milestone, right? ;)

Weeks like this are fun, but it is frightening how fast these little ones are growing up.  I am just painfully nostalgic about my time with these two!

If only...

I feel like I am always thinking, "if only I had a camera right now, this would be such a cute picture."  Lately, though, I just never seem to have my camera with me.  And even when it's available, it seems like my hands are full.  Excuses, excuses. :)  One of those times I've thought over and over that I should photograph is the moment when I get Charlie up in the morning or from a nap.  Evie often wakes up first, so she's usually with me.  She loves to get in Charlie's crib with him and they will play and cuddle and giggle in there and are just so sweet together.   And I love seeing my babies cuddled up together.  So I finally decided to take my camera up and record some of this adorableness for posterity.  Only they decide not to cooperate.  On the day I finally take my camera (and open up all the windows to improve my lighting), they decided they despise each other and hate being in the crib together.  Ahh, memories. :)

One Hail of a Storm

Only in Texas would photos of hot summer days in the wading pool be followed by photos of freakishly large hail.  Last Wednesday, we had a brief--but destructive--hail storm in Lakewood, and the neighborhood is still recovering.  The hail we saw ranged from pebble-size to tennis-ball size, and it covered everything.  It was shocking how much damage it did--leaves and branches were everywhere, car and house windows were shattered, and almost everyone in our area is getting a new roof.  Luckily, we were eating dinner over in University Park and missed the whole thing.  But driving back into Lakewood was quite a shock.  We thought at first that a tornado had ripped through the area.  We were relieved when we heard it was a hailstorm, until we remembered that my mom's car was parked outside of my house.  It was parked under a tree, so it didn't have any broken windows, but it was pretty banged up.  Our house survived amazingly well, with no broken windows and (so far as we know--the roofers haven't come yet) no roof damage.  As Charlie so artfully remarked, what a "big big mess."

Staying Cool

Since we haven't joined a pool yet, we have been coming up with creative ways to stay cool this summer.  The wading pool in our backyard in the current favorite outdoor activity.  There is seriously nothing easier and more fun with 2 little ones.  I just wish it was a bit bigger so I could stay cool too. :)

Charlie's favorite part of the pool is the slide.  He catapults down it, jumps off it, rolls down it, and finds over interesting ways to hurl himself in the pool from it.  As a result, Evie's least favorite part of the pool is the slide. :)  (She is, however, a remarkably good sport about it.  Evie is one tough little cookie!)

Evie enjoyed exploring the water snake until she realized it was too small for her to pull up on.  The girl has a one-track mind these days!

Preparing for the jump...

...SPLASH!

Enjoying a very brief moment of quiet play together. :)

Evie is obsessed with pulling up.  Every time I turned around she was standing on the edge of the pool (or tumbling down...learning is hard work!).

Evie took quite a few spills into the water.  Luckily, this girl doesn't mind taking a little dip.  She comes up coughing, but stays happy as ever!

Somewhere along the way, we appear to have lost our pants...

We've also been exploring splash parks and neighborhood pools.  Verdict = crowded, but Charlie loves it!

Evie was pretty happy to be out and about too.  Such a good sport!

Looking forward to a wet and wild summer!

Evie: 7 Months Old!

Sweet Evie is 7 months old and this girl is just getting more and more fun.  And the little mouse is finally sleeping through the night (7-7, hooray!), so that makes her more fun all by itself. :)  She is just as smiley and giggly as can be, and is completely irresistible (I must squeeze her and kiss her about 200 times every day, which I'm sure is wonderful for her sensitive skin :).  Evie is still going through some separation anxiety and is a bit shy (she coyly dips her head and smiles when someone new catches her eye), but is getting more and more social.  She loves being out and about and seeing new people.  She gets very animated and excited about our little outings and adventures.  She was hilariously excited about a trip to the pediatric dermatologist earlier this week...you'd think I never got this girl out of the house!

Although she smiles for just about anyone, Charlie is her absolute favorite person [this is a switch from a few months ago, when she watched him ever so warily].  He can make her laugh so easily--by jumping around wildly, kissing her tummy, playing peek-a-poo, or, unfortunately, shouting "poo-poo."  And her throaty little belly laugh is so contagious that it gets us all laughing, which in turn gets Charlie all the more stirred up (that boy loves to entertain!).

In addition to her sweet coos and giggles, Evie is talking more and more.  She does lots of excited shrieks, and is now saying "dada" and "baba."  "Dadadadada" is her favorite sound right now and we hear it all the time.

At 7 months, Evie is an eating machine.  She has discovered solids this past month and loves them.  She eats all kinds of different foods (including finger foods--we love puffs, yogurt melts, and blueberries)--with abandon--and is turning into the cutest little chunk.

Evie continues to hate being on her tummy, but is very interested in getting up and around.  As a result, the girl has figured out how to pull up, even though she's not crawling yet.  Wouldn't be surprised if she walks before she crawls!

Evie started a music class this month.  Charlie attends with us, but so far has been appropriately reserved--he knows that it is "Evie's class."  She loves the music and the other babies and it's been fun having an activity that is just for her!

Here's the sweet mouse on her 7-month birthday:

Looking up at her Dada.

Here are some other random shots of Evie I took in the last few days.  Notice the beach ball in the pic below--this is her absolute favorite toy and she gets SO excited by it.  Every time she sees it, she waves her arms up and down wildly and screams. :)

I LOVE this girl!