Mini Mommy

Yes, I wear my hair like that after I shower ... this was Daddy's idea and she LOVED it!!

Potty trained!

It's been 1 week exactly since we started potty training and we've only had 2 accidents!!!! Yes, she's a superstar! Really I think she's been ready for a long time but Mommy was holding out. Oh, and we didn't even have to use any treats for motivation!

Day 1 - she went naked from the waist down (with leg warmers and rain boots, of course!) in the morning and had only 1 accident right at first. She wore panties in the afternoon and did great!

Day 2- panties all day with only 1 accident

No accidents since! Even perfect at school. We're so proud ... And so is she! If we're out in public, she'll come out and shout to everyone "I went pee pee in the big potty!!!!" Oh innocence :)

My fear now is all the germs and nastiness of public restrooms...coupled with her curiosity and need to touch everything! Ahhh!

Holding hands

"Mommy can I please hold your hand?" and "I want to hold your hand" are heard all the time right now.

It seriously melts my heart. It's so sweet. Sometimes it's at the dinner table, sometimes while reading stories and a lot of times while we're walking.

This was one of those moments I wanted to freeze and keep forever.

Family dinner

Sierra is really into holding Reid's bottle and feeding him food.

Daddy was super patient last night while she did it all by herself. She actually did a great job!!

Reid did however take advantage of his newbie feeder and kept grabbing the spoon before she could pull it away. It made for a lot of sweet giggles...and a bit of a mess :)

Wipey wipey

one of Reid's most favorite toys - the box of wipes!

he speed crawls to it when it's left on the floor, puts out his thumb and pushes the tab to open it, and starts pulling out the wipes...very proudly. Then, if we let him, he'll hold on tightly to that wipe while he crawls and plays

he seriously LOVES this!!! and will dramatically protest if you take the tub or wipe from him

funny boy :)

Stylin

Watching a TV show in style

Chunky monkey

21.0 lbs at 9 months

sooo squeezable!!!! I'm going to miss those legs as he stretches out

Sweet siblings

We have more than our share of sibling conflict but also more and more sweet moments together ...

Sierra pushing Reid on the bike

Sierra holding Reid's hand in the stroller for about 10 min until he started to pull away ...then she got mad because she still wanted to hold it. Oh and she insisted on having her hand behind his back too. Precious

Chickens

Did you know that chickens love cheerios?! We went to feed our neighbor's chickens and Sierra loved it! She even chose to give the last ones to the chickens to eat instead of eating them herself!!

Daddy is more than ready to get some of our own!!

Rainbow shoes

Sierra got new rain boots and later referred to them as "rainbow shoes". Somehow they make playing outside even more fun

Pointing

It has begun...I love this stage of discovery. He is pointing and grunting and saying "ohhhh" and "ooo" at everything. What a cutie :)

Copy Cat

Reid is really into imitating right now and I love it! It's such a fun stage!!

* he says "mmmmmm" with a scrunched face between almost every bite - I've done this to him since he started eating solids. Now we do it back and forth to each other.

* he repeats certain babbles/sounds on command: mum mum, dada, baba, atata, papapa, nanana, says "uh uh" for "uh oh"

* he will copy: blowing raspberries, "Indian" sounds with his hand over his mouth, popping sounds with his lips, chewing, banging

* waving for "hi"

* plays peek-a-boo

Sweet Sierra

We went to a grocery store today that we don't usually go to, so we circled trying to find the items on our list.

I could not find the napkins anywhere! I'm looking and Sierra's consoling me, "it's ok Mommy. Don't worry Mommy." and gently caressing my arm.

Upon finally finding them, Sierra starts shouting: "yay Mommy! You did it! Great job! You found the napkins! Good job, I'm so proud of you! Come here!" and leans forward from the cart with her arms open to give me a hug.

...in the middle of aisle 7.

it was so sweet! :)

Daddy love

After being gone all week, Sierra really missed her Daddy! As soon as he got out of the car, she ran to give him a big hug and said "Daddy!!! I missed you sooo much!" (completely unprompted or rehearsed).

This was their reading and cuddle time :)

Hats

Doesn't she have the best hair?!?!!

Our babies

"Mommy, I'm a baby. See, I'm a baby" is a daily repeated statement at our house right now. And no, Reid is not yet talking in sentences.

Sierra will crawl around, chew on toys/furniture, mimic Reid's pointing, etc... and not say a word for a good 10 minutes!!!! If you know Sierra, this is pretty incredible!! If I ask her a question, she says "babies can't talk, Mommy. I'm a baby" and continues the silent game. It's a nice quiet break for all of us :). But don't make the mistake of calling it "pretending" because she's "not pretending!! I'm a REAL baby!!!"

Last night she and Reid crawled around playing together (as babies) while Kyle and I finished making dinner. It was pretty funny - Sierra would throw a ball and then both would take off crawling to get it, giggling at the same time. Of course Sierra got to it first every time, but Reid had a blast too. Poor little guy, he'll catch up in no time!

I cherish and love every sweet interaction they have!!! They're playing and laughing together more and more! (we won't talk about the yelling and fighting over toys though :)

wild imagination

The first thing out of Sierra's mouth this morning:
"Did you just see that monkey, Mommy?! And a baby monkey!... the monkeys are driving in that car."

She spots a lot of wildlife these days. These are a few recent quotes:

"there's a hippo outside! And giraffe and baby giraffe! they want to come eat with us. But they're too big. They can't come in our house..."

"it's getting darker! Oh no, there's a big big bear coming! We better hurry so that bear doesn't get us!"

"Polar bears can't come. Did you know polar bears live really really far away. Right, Daddy?!"

"Mommy, can we go to bears house today? And play with the baby bears?"

"lions are coming to eat with us! We have to make them some food to eat! Hurry!"

wind blown

A fun and wiiindy day at the park as a family. We had a picnic lunch and then let the kids play :)