Babies Update

How long am I aloud to call them "babies?" I have decided that "forever" is a good answer.

9/13/11 Charlie - 9 months old

Charlie is 10.5 months old. He is active as ever: crawling faster, cruising along everything, walking with our hands, climbing on everything. We are really working on boundaries with him right now. For a couple of weeks his fascination was with the stairs and we thought we were going to have to get a gate at the bottom (we already have one at the top). Thankfully, with great persistence, he seems to have learned that the stairs are a "no." Then he was testing the bookshelves for a while, and now it is opening cabinets in the kitchen. Ben and I have never really been into "baby-proofing" things, but rather teaching our kids what their boundaries and limits are. So far, so good. We don't keep anything dangerous in reach, of course, but locks on cabinets and drawers and such are not our style.

10/22/11 Charlie - 10 months old. Yes, he is quite happy when he's being naughty. 

Charlie boy has two extremes: when he is happy, which is most of the time, he is the happiest baby I have ever seen. He loves to be tickled and just squeals with delight. He is also very loud when he is happy. He has a very monotone yell that he lets off, trying to make sure no one forgets about him. His other extreme is mad. He gets mad when he isn't in his bed at nap/bed time. He gets mad when food does not reach his mouth quick enough. Other than that though, he is basically just happy. 

10/23/11 Adelaide dressing up Charlie

Adelaide is 33 months old, getting very close to her 3rd birthday (as she will let you know). She seems beyond her years when she has conversations with anyone willing. She worries when she hears a baby crying. She loves to have play dates - especially with her little brother. She loves to 'read' to her little people. She said last night that maybe she will be a teacher when she grows up. I'm quite sure that whatever she is when she grows up, she will be brilliant and beautiful, as she is now. Each time I look into her big beautiful blue eyes, my heart melts again and I thank the Lord for blessing me with these two little rugrats.

10/14/11 My cousin Wendy with Adelaide at the Loudoun Farm Museum

Adelaide loves museums but sadly we do not make it very often to visit them. Charlie's two naps fall on either side of Adelaide's mid-day nap, so getting out of the house for very long is difficult to do. Most days I try to strictly work around the kids schedules, but I know that Charlie missing an hour of a nap every once in a while will not harm him long term :). A few weeks ago my cousin, Wendy, was visiting our area for a wedding so I loaded up the kids in the morning and headed out to Reston, VA, to pick her up. We headed to the Loudoun Farm Museum which is perfect for little kids. Adelaide really loved it, even though we didn't stay for very long. We are going to try and make it to a pumpkin patch tomorrow.