Tooth!

Leia hit a major milestone on Christmas and got her first tooth. It is still working it's way through the gums and though she won't let me feel around much I bet the second bottom tooth will arrive shortly. Once it has popped through completely I will pry open her jaw for a picture (documentation has a price). For now it is just a blurry pink bump. Hope your holidays were less painful than Leia's!

Pine Cones and Goats

Kate has come a long way this holiday season figuring out what the heck is going on. The neighbors put up a big Christmas light display including reindeer. Kate thought they were goats, she is well informed now. When we got our Christmas tree the tree people wrapped it in netting. Kate thought it looked like a pine cone and kept asking what we were doing with it.

You can see why she thought it was a pinecone.

On with the first ornament.

Helping dad with the lights.

Helping daddy with the up high ornaments.

Leia participating in the ornament fun.

Kate has also learned to sing Jingle Bells and part of Jingle Bell Rock. Her two advent calendars have been a BIG hit and nothing beats seeing Christmas lights every night. We went to a big Christmas light display a few nights ago and will be going to another one tomorrow night. Both kids love the warming glowing warming glow of the pretty lights =)

10 Months Old

Leia is soooo close to being 1 year old it is scary. She turned 10 Months a few days ago and has been having a great month. She is still a cuddly kid but she loves her independence. She has started climbing on everything and is toying with the stairs. When she is in a really goofy mood she makes the best scrunchy face. One of her favorite games is mimicking Kate. They do a lot of squealing and can get pretty loud. It's fun to watch Leia learn how to play and interact with Kate. I anticipate a lot more squealing (happy and mad!) in our future.

Holiday Treats

Kate helped me do a little baking this week. When the cookies were done she wanted to continue her work in the kitchen so I set her up with some ingredients and let her mix away. Her favorite part was adding sprinkles and them picking them out one by one to eat them.





To entertain herself while we cooked Leia did some rhythm work using all the boxes she could reach. She'll either grow up to be a drummer or a demolition expert. Either way she was quite pleased with herself.

24 Hours with the BFF!

What does 24 hours or Kate and Willow look like? Here's a taste:

Exercising their brains playing Blokus.

And now onto dress up and dancing. This lasted quite a while.



Leia is of course trying to read (eat) the Alice the Fairy book while wearing a tutu.

Off to look at Christmas light. The girls walked a half mile to see all of 4 houses with lights.

Kate wanted to make sure Willow didn't slip.

Breakfast!

This was followed by more dress up and dancing and then Willow headed home. It was a great 24 hours!

I can do it!

Leia is on the path to becoming self sufficient. She is quite forceful at grabbing the spoon while eating and sometimes it is easier to give it then play tug-o-war. I have to laugh at her though when the bowl is empty and she is upset because she is still hungry. This is the immediate consequence of smearing your food all over your face, the bowl, and the chair instead of getting it in the belly!

Trying to load up the spoon.

Success! (At least the spoon went in her mouth, the yogurt...not so much.)

This is a pleasing sensory experience.

What if I just use my fingers?

See mom? I got this!

Let the adventing begin!

Kate has two advent calendars to help her celebrate the season. She is super excited about both and was even more super excited when I told her she could open something from both today! (They have both been sitting in plain sight taunting her).

This is Kate's new favorite spot. She climbs up on the speaker and turns the santas around, and around, and around... She is a bit untrustworthy though and we have to keep a close eye to make sure she doesn't sneak a treat while rotating the santas. She's a wily one. Thanks Aunt Michelle!

Here is a video of the Playmobil calendar from Gigi, Aunt Skyann, and Papa Scott. It is sure to provide lots of smiles.

Gymnastics Princess

Kate insisted on wearing her tutu to gymnastics. The pictures speak for themselves.




Thanks for capturing the moments Michelle! (I must admit the somersaulting tutu is my favorite!)

Peek!

Where's Leia?

Wait for it...

PEEK!!!!

Oh yeah, this is a fun game.

Dressing Up

Here are some pics of Kate dressing up Gigi style! Thanks for all the super cute dresses!

Kate is in the middle of saying "Thanks you, I love it!" in this pic. Aunt Michelle took tons of cute pics in this dress that will be shared soon (hopefully!!).

Mom's favorite =)

Smitten.


This one will be worn at Thanksgivng, there are bound to be lots of pics of it!

Look, we match! Kate is HUGE into matching right now and was excited that Gigi sent her a doll and matching pj's. She was excited to put the pj's on Fiona (that's the doll) and then the same ones on herself.
Having girls is far too much fun!

A Donut Affair

Dagny and Willow took us to Pike Place Market and introduced us to some wonderful food shops. There were Piroshky's, and donuts, and cheese, and fruit, and more donuts.... That's my kind of morning! (Yes all of this happened before noon.)

How about some donuts friend?



They were a hit!


Leia participated by watching the donut makers while the rest of us inhaled our share.

9 Months

Leia hit the 9 month mark yesterday. We headed in to see how much the little chunky cheeked baby had grown. Turns out... not much. She weighs 15lb 2 oz.and is 26 1/2 inches. That puts her in the 5th percentile for weight. She is a pound lighter and an inch shorter than Kate was at 9 months. Her baby fat is deceiving!
She is however wonderfully healthy. She eats more dinner than Kate pretty much every night and is a super absorbent sponge for learning. This week she is testing crawling up stairs, balancing using one hand (or none), and learning sign language.

New Toy Shelf

I finally built the toy shelf (twice) we got from Craigslist back in June. Yes, I built it twice -- as I usually end up doing with everything from IKEA.

We decided to get rid of the picture board that we hadn't had any pictures on since we put the new floor in:


I was concerned that it would be a little in the way in this spot, but it turned out pretty nicely:


Leia will have a blast pulling herself up to standing on this. I fastened it to the wall really well -- it won't budge. I think if I put some candy on top, Kate will climb all the way up it.

Halloween

We pulled bits and pieces from the dress up bin to create a Tinkerbell costume for Kate. Leia got the hand-me-down Dalmation outfit, and Aidan was proud to sport a Superman costume. It took Kate and Aidan and hour to trick-or-treat in our little neighborhood. They got just enough candy, exercise, and cold air to make the experience enjoyable and end without tears. Everyone was glad to get back inside for some warm dinner.


Kate testing her wings.


What's a cowboy without a dog?

This guy with the giant pumpkin head was a big hit. The kids didn't know how to react but Scott convinced them he was a good guy and to take his candy. Hooray for people who still appreciate Halloween!

BFF 2.0

It looks like Leia may have found herself a BFF. This is Shea and she is a peach. They snuggled for a couple minutes when they first sat next to each other. Even as Leia started crawling away Shea still had her arm around her. Kate definitely approves.

Kate Reading

Kate does really well at memorizing. She "read" this book to me the other night and her voice is so cute I thought I would share. I am including the words since she is hard to understand. And at one point she ad libs, which is a bit confusing.



I THINK ABOUT GOD: Two Stories About My Day
WHY
Tell me, Mother, tell me why...Why do birds stay in the sky?
And why are grown up people tall, while Jean and John and I are small?
Why does the rain fall? Why does the moon shine?
Why do the clouds move? Why does the wind whine?
Why does it get dark? Why is a puddle wet?
Why is the snow white? And why does the sun set?
Why does baby cry? Why do I yawn?
Why do I sleep at night and wake up with the dawn?
Little child, I'll tell you why: God wills all these things to be.
He made the earth and sea and sky, just as he made you and me.

I DO MY BEST
The sun peeps in to wake me. I jump up from my rest.
(this is where the ad libbing happens!)
I promise God that all day long I'll do my very best.
I wash my face and brush my teeth. I comb my hair, I try.
I put away the slippy soap and spread the towel to dry.
I help to get my breakfast. My big pink bowl I find.
I pour the cereal carefully- I like the popping kind!
I stand beside my mother while she washes baby Tim.
Sometimes I take the fluffy puff and help to powder him.
It's time to put my coat on. Off to the store we start.
I help to carry packages and push the shopping cart.
Back home, I color pictures. I do the best I can.
Today I drew some tigers and a very funny man.
Soon it's time for bed again. I talk to God and say,
"Help me to do my very best to please you every day."

Bedtime Songs

I finally caught Kate on tape doing a little singing. Tonight's selection includes: You Are My Sunshine, Bushel and a Peck, and This Little Light of Mine.




Her rendition of Bushel and a Peck sounds more like "I push Leia in the back..", luckily her actions do not reflect her words. We also added a verse to This Little Light that goes "This little moon of mine, I'm gonna watch it shine." She transitions between verses while singing. I enjoy her creativity!

Making the Grade

Evidently 8 months is "Developmental Milestone Month" for Leia. Since October 18th she has figured out crawling, clapping, pulling up on objects, going from tummy time to sitting, standing unassisted for a few seconds, and eating a meal consisting solely of finger food.

What's next: Aggravating Kate by stealing all the toys, and experiencing the "jail-like" atmosphere baby gates provide.

Crawling Commences

Leia has joined the world of the mobile. Yesterday she could crawl two steps and then would splat down. Today she is up to 4 or 5. Who knows how far she will get tomorrow. The baby gates are going up tonight!

Dress Up

Leia made her dress up bin debut yesterday. She was quite the patient model while being dressed and during her photo shoot. What a sport.

At one point there was a mouse ears headband included but that didn't last long.
Kate chose the Snow Princess costume. Warmth is always in style!

Love

Kate decided to show Leia how much she loves her by covering her in heart stickers (while I wasn't looking of course). I wonder how many Leia would have tolerated before I intervened.