Hide and Seek with a Sneeze

Joseph now thinks that when you hide for hide and seek, you say "Ah Choo" so that the person who is seeking can find you. (Uncle Patrick used this technique to lead Joseph in the right direction after many minutes of seeking, so Joseph naturally thought he should do the same for Uncle Patrick) Joseph also thinks the best way to hide is to find a random spot and cover up with a blanket, even if the blanket doesn't cover your legs. He is such a funny little man. This morning he saw that the girls had opened one of the kitchen cabinets and taken out some pots and cups, and said "Daddy look at this mess. Who did this?" After we told them it was Hannah and Leah he asked "Is that naughty?" He tries so hard to be a big boy. And today he is going to try very hard to be good at school. Which means listening to his teachers, not screaming, and as he added, no poking anyone in the eyeballs or picking your nose.

Disturbing Oddly Cute Random Things

• Joseph can open doors, including the one on the refrigerator
• Hannah and Leah think that clumps of dog hair are a delightful snack
• Joseph crumpled a picture I gave him because he said I didn't listen to him
• Leah now wakes up to the sound of footsteps in or near her room
• Hannah puts her hand up to tell you "stop" when feeding her something she doesn't like
• Hannah and Leah can eat an entire can of peas in one sitting
• Joseph sometimes tells me he's "just sweaty" when he's clearly peed his bed
• Leah frequently bruises her head by ramming it into random objects while crawling
• Hannah rips her bib off like the incredible hulk if she's not in the mood to wear it
• Joseph will only wear his beat up raggity sandals and is not interested in switching to gym shoes (though he could easily be convinced to wear his rain boots instead)

I'm limiting this to the kids. Though I'm sure there are many disturbing oddly cute random things to say about Jay and I as well.

Ode to Dad

Jay is in India for work until Friday, but before he left we had a brief photo opp with the kids. He called us in the morning one day before work and the phone was on speaker while he talked to Joseph. The girls came flying over to the coffee table (their fast crawl) and started jibber jabbering in excitement (may have even heard a few sounds resembling da da). Jay always likes to tell Joseph at the end of each call to "listen to mommy" and "be good". I'm sure it has some effect. I mean just think how terrible things could be if he didn't say that. :)

Frenetic Fun from the Weekend

The word frenetic was used in a communication at work, which I still find amusing. I suppose that would describe our pace from last weekend. Joseph had fun playing outside Friday night with a friend, Saturday morning we went to the Children's Museum with another friend, I think we played outside again Saturday after nap, and then Sunday morning was State Fair, and then after nap Jay took Joseph to the pool, and THEN Sunday night for dinner Joseph got to go out to dinner with his cousins. Is that frenetic? If not it is at least a very long run on sentence. (and should I be concerned that I am not quite sure what we did on Saturday evening?) I am a bit wordy. Chatty even in written form. And apparently my short term memory not quite so sharp. Good thing we take a lot of pictures.

Couch Comber

What do you call a vertical Hannah moving from one end of the couch to the other using her hands? (other than CRAZY?!?!?)

Our Cow at State Fair

I don't know how this cow became the symbol of the Wisconsin State Fair for us, but we now feel as though we have to go each year just so we can capture this moment. Though if it had been as hot and humid as it had been all week, I think I would have been ok with skipping a year. But this morning was perfect, so we packed everyone up and headed out in search of food on a stick and our first trip down the slide. Jay and Joseph went down together and it was of course a big hit. We enjoyed the usual cream puff, I tried out the fried pb&j on a stick (positively delightful), Jay had the more traditional deep fried snickers (which amazingly we'd never had before), and Joseph decided that he wanted some fruit. Thankfully I recalled seeing a fruit stand amongst the sea of fried foods and beer stands. And would you believe he even drank half a glass of chocolate milk? (we're lucky if he drinks that much milk in a week, hence the "gummy bears" at breakfast each morning.) We left the grounds right around lunchtime just as the people watching was starting to get more amusing. I should have worn my darker sunglasses.

The Usual

The usual scenes at our house on any given weekend. At ten months old the girls are quite interested in anything that Joseph is doing, or at eye level. They have loads of fun in the basement which is quite timely, as football season is approaching. Hannah's first tooth is coming in along the bottom as of a few days ago, and it would appear that both girls are getting ready to do sideways walking while holding on to things. They are just about ready to shimmy their way around the coffee table. (remotes have all been stowed away in secure locations) I'm sure many puzzle pieces will fall victim to the land of the lost (where many socks, earrings, pacifiers, and even a pair of black stretch pants and a slipper have wandered off to).

The Face

This is the face. Kind of hard not to laugh when you see it. But when there is screaming, look out. (or more importantly, plug your ears and ask for SERENITY NOW!). This morning, Joseph screamed almost the entire way to daycare, and had it not been for the policeman behind the van he probably would have made it the entire way. (He became very quiet when Jay told him there was a cop behind them that could probably hear him screaming. He knows cops go after the bad guys. And even he knew that he was being bad). I assume he had a relatively good day at school, but horror of horrors in an unprecedented move, he decided not to take his nap. Which brings us to tonight, ahhhhh tonight. Let's see what was more fun, when he screamed bloody murder after having his plate refilled with broccoli (the first serving was somehow fed to the dog) or when he went completely bonkers in his bedroom after not being allowed to play outside with his friend (after having yet another round of the game we like to play called "not listening")? (I would have preferred Chutes and Ladders.) He and Grover are sleeping quietly. (And bunny, and shark, and Yurtle, and nightlight) I am enjoying the silence and looking forward to everyone being happy in the morning (ok well maybe I don't wake up overflowing with jolliness and sunshine but fortunately everyone else in the house usually does).

Double Trouble

One morning while Jay was on his way down the stairs with Joseph this is what the girls were doing! They are quick to spring to action when a door opens or an opportunity appears. This morning when we put Rosco's food bowl down, after he had started eating Leah crawled her way in front of him and grabbed a few morsels. I reached her just before they made it into her mouth. I am speed. Kachow!

I Have a Good Idea

Joseph has been sounding more like Jay and I this week, telling us all about the "good ideas" he has, and commending us on our manners (the other day Jay said please and Joseph responded with "good job Daddy I like your manners") Tonight his good idea was to finish his puzzle, take a bath, and read three books. We were short on time since we had fun grilling burgers after the girls went to bed, and then having dinner together with the little man, so we compromised on just the puzzle and bath. But Joseph was being so good that we ended with a "bonus book" (amazing how special something sounds when you put the word bonus in front of it). I think he was even convinced tonight to give some of the board books to his sisters (of course with the reward that he could go pick out a few new ones.) We'll see if he remembers that this weekend! His memory is pretty impressive at times. The other day he told Jay that he was three. And then he would be four, and then he would be five, and then he could go on the big kid playground at the zoo. (he was recalling our explanation from 10 days ago when we were there!) Now if only we could get him to understand that yesterday is not last year, and later is still today.

Stand by Your Sis

This is ridiculous. I mean I know they are going to grow out of little babies and into little ladies, but could we not turn into a toddler just yet? I may be exaggerating a tad since they are only 9 1/2 mos old... but today started out with Hannah and Leah pulling themselves up to standing position, and ended with Hannah figuring out how to crawl up the basement stairs. We also now have to figure out which toys they have access to that they shouldn't - ours and Joseph's - and figure out how to keep it all out of their reach. Like Joseph they are very interested in DVDs and Wii controls, and anything they can shove into their mouth. It's just harder to find places to put everything now! They both had their hands on everything today. While Leah may have been the first to crawl, Hannah has quickly caught up. Quickly being the key word...Hannah crawls at a frantic pace compared to Leah's calculated movements. Hannah also had fun mimicking my clapping today, while Leah wasn't too into it. Reading time was more her thing tonight, she was still for 5 whole mins!

Hannah's Crawling Too!

Not that this picture is any indication, but Hannah has decided that she too is ready for crawling. When I put her on the floor at daycare yesterday morning, I then turned to put all the bottles into the fridge, and when I finished Hannah was about 10 ft away from where she had been a minute before. She has not yet decided to venture out of the room we place her in .....but her partner in crime slowly and steadily makes her way into the bathroom each morning. Operation "close doors" has now commenced.

Who's Goofier?

The goat, or Joseph?

(a scene from our trip to the zoo last weekend)

More Developments

Friday AM - Leah pulls herself up to standing on Hannah's crib (Joseph notices first and calls for us to look!)

Friday PM - Hannah learns how to sit up by herself in her crib
Saturday PM - Leah does a wounded leg crawl 10ft across the room to her bottle
Saturday PM - Hannah starts pulling herself up onto her knees
Saturday PM - We notice that Leah has a tooth breaking through on the bottom
Sunday AM - Hannah and Leah eat strawberries for the first time (had to put down something for today!)

Another Evening in the Basement

Jay and I made it home in between storms yesterday (and before all the highways and streets started flooding and closing down), quickly fed the kids, and then made it down to the basement just as the sirens were going off in our city. Our poor Milwaukee neighbors to the north (literally, the house next store and beyond) were all flooded during the last 4+ inch storm and with the 7+ inches that fell in two hours last night there was absolute chaos on the roads and insane amounts of water on the streets and in houses. Above is a picture that Jay took of the river flowing down our street, but what you don't see is where all the water was flowing to downstream, and at the end of our block the cars parked along the main road had water up to their windows. (at least we didn't have an SUV stuck in sink hole like there was 6miles to our east). And since we were not hit by one of the 10 tornadoes, and we were not flooded with water inside our house, and we were lucky enough to maintain our power throughout all the storms passing through, we had a grand old time in our basement. The girls stayed up a bit later than usual due to the excitement of everything going on around them and their new found mobility. A few weeks ago they would have just fallen asleep where we placed them on the floor, but now that Leah can sit up on her own and Hannah can roll over and put herself up into crawl position they can pretty much do as they please. Leah was actually moving one leg and dragging the other (not crawling, but some other peculiar form of movement) across the room to the toy box, and then pulling herself up onto her knees to try to dig around inside of the toy box. Hannah was on all fours, and lifting one leg into the air as if she was about to move a knee forward to crawl, but instead it looked more like lifting a leg to pee on a tree. Both girls were fascinated by Rosco's paws. Since Joseph isn't new to moving around, he was just fine sitting on the couch watching Monster's Inc. But he was happy to try to play with the girls on the floor when the movie was over (we were actually trying to get him to leave the girls alone so that they could sleep, and I was able to lure him into playing with me instead over the idea of "building" something).

Joseph is in Charge of Puzzles

Joseph has been into puzzles for a while, and with all of the rain we have been spending more time inside than out so this week brought much puzzle time. One night as we were working on one together and I was about to place a particular piece into a particular spot, Joseph said "no no mommy I'm working on that one". I explained we were working as a team together on the puzzle, and he said "ok mommy, but I am in charge of puzzles". (as you may recall, Joseph is also in charge of coloring).

Little Developments

Quite a few small developments over the past few days. I believe it started at the doctor's office last week when Hannah decided that she knew how to clap. (she must have been pleased with her measurements) Then on Saturday, we arose to the usual chatter coming from the girl's room (not sure if Hannah is talking to Leah or if she is trying to tell mom and dad that they are awake), but in a surprising turn of events, Leah was sitting up in her crib! She continued to do this off and on throughout the weekend, but only in her crib. And even though they are not crawling, they are on the move. Hannah likes to roll or scoot on her butt from point A to point B. She'll even roll over you if she needs to. Both girls continue to try to pull themselves up, and get giddy with excitement when you stand them next to a coffee table or something they can hold on to while standing. (Hannah even lasted a few seconds on her own, but that was beginner's luck I think). This weekend we introduced them to macaroni and cheese for the first time, but since they can't pick up and place food in their mouth at nearly as fast a pace as we can shovel it in with a spoon, they still prefer the baby food. (Unless it's the gerber puffs we're talking about. Those things drive both girls wild!) And speaking of wild, the girls climb and grab all over each other....and usually enjoy it. On Sunday while we were outside watching Joseph run through the sprinkler, Hannah kept yanking at her hat. And once she got hers off she then went after Leah's! Leah just smiled and laughed while having her head tossed around like a purse. We haven't seen much clapping since last week, but tonight we discovered that this sitting up in bed business isn't all it's cracked up to be (you'd think we'd never been through this before). After being laid down (a few times), Leah sat herself up and was trying to shake the rails with both hands while using her raspy "ra ra ra ra" sounds to alert us to some situation that must have been occurring with the stuffed animals down below. Eventually she folded over and drifted off to sleep.

Joseph Does NOT Like Asparagus

Watching Joseph eat asparagus brings back memories of me drinking milk as a child. He puts the asparagus in his mouth, and after chewing begins to gag, closes his eyes to swallow it, and then shakes his head when he's finished. Pure torture.

9 Month Checkup

All checked out good at the nine month checkup for the girls today. Apparently Jay and I checked out ok too because the nurse commented at the end that we are a "good team". But seriously, what are we going to argue about at the doctor's office? We're always so giddy with excitement over finding out stats on the kids. And with that....drum roll please....

Hannah
Height: 28 7/8 in (90%)
Weight: 21lbs 2oz (80%)
Head: 44.5 cm (70%)

Leah
Height: 29 1/8 in (92%)
Weight: 20lbs 3oz (75%)
Head: 44 cm (50%)

9 Months Old!

Hannah and Leah are 9 months old today! This was by far our most difficult photo shoot yet....but these seemed to capture their essence. :) We'll have stats at the end of the week after our visit with the doctor!