Arielle at 13 months

Welcome to your first monthly update now that you are one. I am still calling you a baby even though I have been corrected by several people who want to call you a toddler. It's not happening. You are my last baby and will be staying one as long as I deem necessary!! This might last until you have your own kids, just so you know. Let's see what you've been up to this month...it's been a lot!

Your talking has taken off and you are learning new words every day. Some of the newest ones are kitty,  "Whas dat?", "Nantan" (Nathan), book & "beeebee" (baby) and as you can see....Uh oh!.

You have also started learning animal noises. You can do kitty, elephant, lion and piggy. We will keep working on them because they are sooo cute!

You finally cut the right two molars all the way through but are still working on the left set. I notice that you chew mainly with the right side where you have your teeth.

On that note, you are a very good eater. You take small bites and chew things very well. You are doing really well with all table food now and I have put away the baby food making supplies!

You have mastered the step between the breezeway and the kitchen. I still have a gate up, but when I can watch you I leave it open and you sit and climb down. You freak me out sometimes as you run too close to the edge, but you haven't fallen...yet.

You can blow kisses and also give nice slobbery regular ones. Now we just have to work on you closing your mouth!

(not the awesomest picture of me but I had to get her blowing her kiss!)

You have been waking up again in the night. I don't know if this is due to your teeth or just the fact that you now realize that we are still there somewhere and will come if you scream. I let Nate cry a bit when he would wake, but you don't cry, you shriek. If I let you go you either wake Nate up or get so worked up that you won't go back to sleep. I pray this is a very short phase!

You are definitely a Mama's girl and are very very cuddly still. You are more than happy to come lay your head on me and snuggle for long periods of time. I love it....don't ever stop!

UPDATED to include pictures. Sorry that the quality stinks. Winter, inside, crappy lighting. I am sad....and need to figure out how to better use my camera!

Nathan at 3 1/2 years

Natey, you have hit the 3 1/2 year mark. I stopped doing the monthly updates, but think that a few times a year will be good to remind you when you're a moody teenager someday what this crazy kid was like when he was a toddler.

You're an angel one second with this sweet grin and single dimple, but can change to a stinker in a flash. I'm amazed at how much of myself I see in you. My poor mother. Argh!

You are insanely smart and can remember how to do things after you see them done them once. This also has a down side as you uses this power to do things like unlocking our Android phones, going to the marketplace and downloading games...which aren't always free. I've had to change my "secret code" twice and have to make sure you don't see me do it.

One of your favorite phrases right now is "Told ya!" You use it for everything. Someone needs to tell you that statement is used when someone challenges what you say. I have no doubt you have to pee when you say so buddy.

You are finally at the point where you can brush your teeth all by yourself. Mommy doesn't always have to take a turn. I tricked you though by telling you to roar like a silent lion. Before that you wouldn't open your mouth long enough to get the back teeth.

Your  hair is still curly, but is loosing the baby hair feel and is getting much thicker. We decided to keep it shorter until the summer when the humidity will help the curls. Also we hope by then you won't be so opposed to us wetting it to make the curl come out. I'm not holding out much hope for that though.

This year has been rough as you are exercising your independence yet still don't have the impulse control to know how to deal with things. You are getting better at not just throwing things and acting out aggressively but it is a slow going process.

You call Arielle "sisty". I think it is so cute. You are starting to love on her more than you push her down. Thanks for that. Keep up the good work. She looks at you like you hung the moon and I want you to be good friends are you get older.

You are still my champion eater. Last week we convinced you that beets would make you "pee red lasers" (your words not ours) so you gobbled up an entire helping. I can't really think of anything you have put your foot down about not eating. This is awesome and hopefully will help as your sister watches you. Well, we all have seen what she weighs so that should indicate what kind of eater she is already!

Speaking of weight, I measured and weighed you at Arielle's 1 year appointment and you were 41.5 inches tall and 41 pounds. You are still in the 90th percentiles for height and weight for your age. I have a feeling I birthed some tall kiddos! You are currently in a size 4T and are wearing size 10 shoes.

You are doing great with your letters. If I write them down you can copy almost all of them. I hope when you start pre-school in January that you use your sponge-like quality for learning and really take off.

You "wrote" (or shall I say dictated) your first letter to Santa this year. You were so cute and asked for "Criss cross, criss cross crash, the winner is the one who doesn't get smashed and violent kung zhu pets". Remind me not to let you watch any more commercials as they obviously are working like the advertisers want them to!

You crack me up when you come out of the blue with phrases like, "It's not SO bad".

You love rock and roll music and have been known to tell me to turn the radio "Upper"  so you can rock out.

You just learned a trick to put on your coat and will take the coat on and off to show us how awesome your "move" is.

You are still the least shy kid I have ever met. Even if you are in a completely new place with people you don't know, you will run in and act like you've known them forever.

You are 2 parts sweetness and 98 parts sass, but we love you anyway!

Running on Empty

Everyone knows what the little icon in this picture is, right? We are all familiar with the gas light. It comes on when you are running low on gas. Most car manufacturers know human nature and give you the courtesy of a few gallons left when you hit this point. So, I have a burning question. How is it possible, given the warning, to run out of gas? I am happy to say, I have never run out of gas. The closest I came was literally coasting into the gas station on fumes when I was lost and couldn't find a gas station AND I didn't even have a gas light in that car. My husband, however, has run out of gas SEVERAL times. His friends have also run out of gas. I can't recall any of my female friends telling me they have run out. They very well could have and were just too embarrassed to talk about it, but I don't know. I have this theory that the running out of gas gene resides on the Y chromosome and I'd like a little help in my "research". Take a second and answer my poll. Don't be embarrassed if you've done it, the poll is anonymous. I will only make fun of you in my head.

My "Elf on the Shelf" Karma

photo from here

Look at this guy. He's the Elf on the Shelf. He sits somewhere where he can see all of the goings on in your home. He watches your little ones and reports back to Santa if they have been bad or good. If they are bad the get no presents. What an ingenious idea, right?? What better way is there to get kids to behave than the threat of no presents? I bought into the hype, but it backfired on me. I realized this when the following statement was uttered from the lips of my 3yo.

 Mommy, if you let me play a game on your phone, the Elf on the Shelf will tell Santa to give you presents!

I'm sorry, what?? Apparently he thinks I am under the jurisdiction of this Elf! Moreover, he thinks that mommy being good is giving him what he wants, even though he knows he is banned from using my phone (a liiiittle incident with downloading) because he can't listen. Hmmmm. I wonder if I can slip an extra line into the story when we read it next...

A line that excludes mommy and daddy from the knowing stare of the little nymph!! I guess that's what I get for trying to bribe my kid to be good.

Arielle at 1 year

Some baby....

Is 1 year old!

...is starting to look less like a baby and more like a toddler every day.

...weighed in at a whopping 27 pounds 8 ounces and is 32 inches tall.

...will be switching from whole to 2% milk this week because of it!

...smiles non-stop and is such a delight to everyone.

...has moved from walking to running, although she looks like a drunken sailor while she does it.

...can sign the word "more" but will more often nod yes instead when you ask her.

...has the most ear piercing screech the world has ever heard.

...will do said screeching and then put her finger to her mouth and say "shhhh".

...probably thinks it is the game of screech and shush. Mommy does NOT like this game.

...has really started to protest when anyone takes something from her.

...is still putting everything in sight in her mouth.

...puts a toy in her mouth and walks around with it hanging out, like a puppy, until it's a slobbery mess.

...can point to her belly and your nose when asked where they are.

...points to items and says, "this" all of the time.

...will smack you in the face and when corrected will then pat you gently and say, "nysssssss" (nice).

...is eating almost all table food now.

...will hand something to you when asked.

...is still taking 2 naps and sleeping from 7pm to 7am every night.

...gives super slobbery, open mouth kisses.

...will always cuddle unless she is super tired.

...makes sure you know when that is by pushing away and leaning toward her crib.

...didn't have an official birthday party but was sung to by all 20 of us at Thanksgiving.

...looked so cute and had so much fun smashing her birthday cake!!!

Fantastic and fun photos taken by Danielle of Two Sisters Photography

Super cute headband by the amazing Bubbalou Bands

Fabulous cake made by my friend Ariana because some snotty bakery wouldn't make me one. So there snotty exclusive bakery!