My babes

I love this picture!

We are in need of a general update of these 2. Vince is now 13 months. Our little chunky monkey apparently isn't so chunky. A week after his 1st birthday he weighed in at 19 lbs 8 oz. and was 28.5 inches long. I was surprised.

Shortly after his birthday he stopped army crawling all together and is now always off his belly. I think this increased mobility will lead to a general plateau in his weight as it did in Azure. Today he pulled to a stand for the first time! Charles and I both witnessed it together. He did it 3 times in a row trying to reach me on the couch. I'm guessing he won't walk until 15 months.

He likes to clap when we sing "If you're happy and you know it". He covers his own eyes w/ his hands to play peek a boo when I'm nursing him. My most favorite thing as of late!

Speaking of nursing, we're still at it 4-5x a day. He doesn't really take a bottle and isn't drinking enough from his sippy to replace a nursing session. We'll see what this month brings.

He never really took 2 consistent naps a day, maybe only for a month or 2. Right now I'm experimenting with his nap schedule to see what works. He's still sleeping fine at night though, going to bed between 7-8pm and waking up around 7-8am.

He makes the "q/k/c" sound 50 times a day. Yesterday when I walked in the door from running errands, he saw me and smiled and made the sound. He will sit still to watch almost an entire Baby Signing Time episode (about 15 mins or so). This is great for when I'm trying to cook dinner. The other half of the time he likes to crawl into the kitchen and play on the dishwasher door or try to open the cabinets.

I usually nurse him on our bed b/c he's too big for the glider now. (His legs dangle off uncomfortably over the arm rests. Would like to buy a different one for the next baby.) He usually falls asleep and as I transport him from our room to his room (the laundry room) I pass the mirror on our door so I get a glimpse of the two of us; him sleeping peacefully in my arms with his long legs draped down my waist, sweet face snuggled against my chest. And me, almost 30, mother of 2, nursing this precious baby to sleep who is growing so rapidly. Realizing I truly have all I've ever dreamed of. My eternal family. I can see myself so vividly as a 16 yr old in that mirror. If only I could of seen this image back then. As I used to always tell my young women, the Lord truly blesses us with the desires of our hearts in his own time.

So, that's Vince.

And our little Azure can write her very own name unassisted! We are so proud of her. She sometimes needs help with her r's but she did it perfectly here.

 

On the way home from Stake Conference last week, Azure announced from the back seat that she had drawn a picture of herself on her bed. She has polka-dot sheets. We were impressed.

Some of her favorite things to say are, "What are my options?", Guatemala, Tampa, Albuquerque, and apologize. She's very aware of the cities we may be moving to! She also calls alligators, alligaturds. So funny!

She just finished an 8 wk gymnastics class. She says she liked soccer better. It was a better program. I think we may try music classes next- similar to Kindermusik but, not so expensive :)

Our friend Amie babysat her while I was in the temple a couple weeks ago, and she told Azure to stay close to her because she didn't want Azure to get hit by a car. To that Azure replied, "Yeah. I don't want to die because I have to get married first." Amie thought this was quite hilarious. She has said that a few times now. She is also very specific about her wedding. Sometime back in January while we were driving Azure said that she wanted to get married in the snow. And that she wants to marry a "brown" man (meaning a black man). I'm glad that she is exposed to some diversity here in Savannah.

I love this succession. "Who's that coming?" "Oh, it's Azure." "I'm SO excited, I'm kicking my legs!" "Here she is!"

Sure love these two. And don't you love our "sacred grove" backyard? Especially if we end up moving to Albuquerque, I will miss these trees and all the green. And the humidity. Yes, I prefer humidity to bone dry.