So Proud

Lately, my little dude has been launching quite the protest against his afternoon naps. He sits in his crib and fusses, cries, talks, plays, whatever. A couple of days ago during Jensen's sleepless afternoon nap, I heard a strange sound on the monitor. I turned on the screen and took a look...and cracked up when I saw what he was doing:

He had reached through the slats in his crib, pulled a library book from the floor into bed with him, and was happily reading! My little bookworm...I couldn't be any prouder!

(And a note to my library friends...don't worry, the book was unharmed!)

Wordless Wednesday

More Month Eleven Pics

Because, once again, I seem to have forgotten to add a few pictures to a monthly post! On Charlotte and Jensen's eleven-month birthday, Charlotte was once again not feeling like posing for pictures. So my mom and I decided to bribe the babies with a little snack. Earlier that week I had seen some all-natural honey nut cereal that looked quite tasty, so I decided to try it out on the babies...they loved it. They loved it so much that they didn't want to stop eating for long enough to get their eleven-month pics taken. So all the pictures of the two of them together came out like this:

 

They would not look at me or the camera...they only had eyes for the honey nut cereal! This is the best one I got...looks like Jensen just got himself a handful of cereal. Yum!

Then, Charlotte got a bit more demanding...

"WE WANT CEREAL!"

And funny story about the cereal: If you remember back to a couple of months ago, my pediatrician gave us the go-ahead to let Charlotte and Jensen eat whatever they want...shellfish, peanuts, whatever. The only thing she said was firmly off-limits until they're one year old is honey. But have I actually given them any shellfish or peanuts? Of course not--I'm far too paranoid. So they'd been happily chowing down on their honey nut cereal for a few days when Brian noticed the box and said, "I thought they couldn't have honey." A quick scan of the ingredients revealed that--what do you know?--the honey nut cereal actually contains honey. I am a genius, I tell ya. Genius.

Eleven Months!

Happy Eleven Months to our little stinkers! 

Another month down, and this one passed us by so quickly! Every time I look at Charlotte and Jensen I can't help but think that they look so big...more like toddlers than babies. A few of the highlights of our month included:

 Playdates with our friends!

Addyson and Noah cheesin' it up while Jensen and Ben watch (and Charlie cries). Side note from this playdate: We'd been hearing noises in the attic that we figured were from a friendly squirrel visitor, so I had the exterminator come check it out. He came while Kim and Noah were here for our playdate and he quickly emerged from the attic with a frightened look on his face and tales of huge rats (and squirrels, too!). Lovely. So we weren't exactly the best hostesses that day, what with our scary-rat-infested house and all.

Lots of time indoors: Everyone I know was sick this month with strep, stomach bugs, etc. So we spent a lot of time in Charlotte and Jensen's new favorite hangout...the kitchen!

I gave Charlotte and Jensen their own personal drawer, full of things to take out and bang around. Although it looks like Jensen might rather bite Charlie in the rear. Also, he appears to have food in his hair. Awesome!

Such a good mess-maker.

Watching Daddy put our new shelves together.

Partners in crime.

Charlotte and Jensen also spent a lot of time in their highchairs...and they have started having what I like to call their "Highchair Talks". One will begin talking to the other, then the other starts talking back. They usually start laughing, and every once in awhile they will hold hands! Cutest.Thing.Ever.

"Hold my hand, Sis!"

So now that we are down to two bottles per day, Charlie and Jensen have a snack after their afternoon nap. I have started giving them their afternoon snack on a towel in the living room and calling it a "picnic" (in reality, I don't want to clean their highchairs four times a day!). But they really enjoy our afternoon picnics...

We have also been enjoying a recent early birthday present from Grandma...a new wagon!

While it may look like Charlie is not exactly "enjoying" the new wagon, she actually LOVES it. She loves it so much, in fact, that if she happens to see it she starts squealing until you take her for a ride. The face she's making in this picture is a result of me having the nerve to stop pulling her in the wagon for long enough to take her picture.

 Charlotte Anne at Eleven Months

(Height? Weight?)

 (I like to call the following photographs "The Many Moods of Charlie-Bug")

Charlie-Bug has seriously become a chatterbox this month. She does not stop talking. I think she is very impressed with herself for figuring out how to make so many noises and she figures we must all want to hear them (she's right, we do!). Charlie smiles a lot but still doesn't laugh very much...we like to refer to her laugh as "elusive." But when she does, it's the cutest little giggle. One night Brian was chasing her around the chair in the nursery and she was having the best time...I've never heard her laugh so much! She also has a new high-pitched squeal that she makes when she wants something. I am usually treated to it when Jensen has something that she thinks she needs, or when Jensen has the nerve to take something from her...she squeals, then looks at me as if to say, "Are you seeing this?!?" Charlotte also has become pretty effective at communicating through pointing. She can tell me when she wants her sippy cup, a certain toy, etc. by pointing. It's kind of weird that she is actually becoming able to communicate with us! She can say "dada", "mama", and "hi" (which is usually accompanied by a big wave).

Charlie definitely is beginning to learn which things she is not supposed to do, but she likes to test me by doing them anyways. If I catch her doing something "wrong" (like chewing on a shoe) and say, "Charlie!" in a stern tone, she always looks startled, then her look quickly changes to guilt. But soon after she will get a sly look on her face and slooooowly bring the shoe back to her mouth while watching me to see what I'm going to do. It seems she is going to be very strong-willed. She is also not going to be quick to forgive: During one of our playdates with Jake, he got a little rough with her and she got upset. Robin told Jake to apologize, so he came over to say he was sorry and give Charlotte a hug. Charlotte squealed angrily at him and pushed him away. I'm not sure that you can teach an eleven-month-old the art of forgiveness, but I might need to get to work on that.

Charlotte still sleeps in her sleep sack over her pajamas (or clothes at nap time). I think she just feels safe and snug in her sleep sacks. 

Here she is, crawling around in a sleep sack. This is the typical Charlie-Bug smile!

She also still loves to hang out in her high chair and is a great little eater. She likes to talk as she is eating her meals.

Popcicle time!

Mmmmmm...blueberries!

She's started crossing her ankles while she eats...cracks me up!

Here are a few more pics of our Bug's eleventh month:

Pensive Bug.

Thinking deep thoughts.

Crazy girl! Charlie still has six teeth but I think she's working on #7 & 8.

Check out that belly!

Happy girl (in her sleep sack. Sometimes it's hard to get her to hold still long enough for me to take it off!).

Just hanging out under the kitchen table.

Enjoying a snack (once again, in her sleep sack).

Jensen Todd at Eleven Months

(Height? Weight?)

My little man has had a bit of a rough time this month. First he got a cold and his second ear infection (no fun for anyone!). Then he was playing in the kitchen one day and pulled a kitchen chair down on top of himself...he fell backwards onto the slate floor. Poor guy. Then, during an overly-enthusiastic game of airplane with Uncle Dot, Jensen got tossed a bit too high and bonked his head on the door frame. Fortunately this seemed to stun him more than anything; he's a tough little dude. Jensen is still so close to walking but hasn't quite gotten there just yet. He will take a couple of steps, then either fall or sit down on his little bottom. The best part is watching him as he stands there debating whether to try walking: He concentrates really hard and then kind of bounces up and down trying to decide how to get started. Our little toothless wonder now has three whole teeth! Two on the bottom, and one on the top has just started to poke through. He has a funny little fish-face that he makes when he's getting a tooth...too cute. Jensen still likes to do his yoga pose:

 

Whenever we'd see him doing this pose, we would clap for him and say "Yoga Baby!" It somehow got to the point that he does "Yoga Baby" on command: All we have to do is say either "Yoga Baby!" or "Yoga Boy!" and he will stop what he's doing and assume his yoga pose. It's Jensen's first trick! 

Jensen continues to be a great little eater and has recently decided that he loves yogurt...but he would really prefer to eat it himself rather than have Mommy feed him. So I go ahead and let him do it every once in awhile, which as you can imagine results in a huge mess:

Why do I even put the spoon on his tray?

Yum!

"See, I told you I could do it!"

These feet...they kill me. They're so darn chubby. I recently ordered C & J the cutest little pairs of Tiny TOMS shoes...and although Jensen's were a good inch too long, I still could not squeeze his chubby feet into them! I did recently find a hand-me-down pair of Pedipeds that fit...apparently this kiddo's feet are going to require expensive footwear.

Jensen is still a laid-back, happy little man who laughs all the time. He laughs at me, at his sister, at his dad...sometimes I'm not even sure why he's laughing! But it's the best sound in the world. He is still working on learning to wave and point, although he's come really far in the past few days. He watches Charlie wave and then he looks at his own hands and you can just see the wheels turning. And he sometimes "points" at things with his whole hand (that's okay, I can still see what he wants!). Jensen's hair is still out of control; he is looking less like Justin Bieber and more like he just plain needs a haircut:

 

So I'm thinking a haircut is in his near future...that's one event that I never expected to be here so soon! It will be a sad day for Mommy, that's for sure!

Jensen has recently rediscovered his love for his jumperoo. For awhile he wasn't too interested in it and I was about to put it away for good...then one day he decided it would be pretty fun to get in and jump! Now he will crawl over to it, pull himself up on it, and start jumping until I put him in. So I guess the jumperoo stays for awhile! He also thinks it's super fun when I vacuum or use the Dustbuster...he likes to try to "help" me clean:

Here are a few more pics of my little man's eleventh month:

Playing with Uncle Dot (this was just prior to the head-bonking incident)

"Put me in my jumper!"

Chowing down on blueberries

Such a big boy!

Happy Dude.

Pointing at sister through the tunnel.

Month eleven was definitely not the easiest month for us. We lost a family member and friend. But we are getting through it together and hopefully will come out stronger...and if the events of the past few weeks have taught me anything, it is to cherish every moment and especially to give thanks for every moment and for every amazing blessing we have been given. It probably goes without saying that it is difficult to fathom that the next monthly update will be when Charlotte and Jensen turn one year old. I think I say this every month, but I truly cannot believe how thankful we are for these two amazing blessings.