11 months

11 MoNThS!

17 lbs. 3 oz.

28 inches

walks and crawls

always starts by trying to walk

has 5 teeth (got the UL lateral at the very end of the month)

can drink through a straw (started actually yesterday, 2-23)

says uh-oh, mama, dada, baba, mmmm, and makes several other noises

leaves her bows in most of the time

naps 2-3 times a day (skipping the 4;30 pm nap more and more)

eats all fruits, and will tolerate some veggies mixed in

started walking more than one or two steps on 2-12-12

can get to the standing position in the middle of a room

is learning she can get down steps if there is one or two (which made this photo shoot very hard!)

still under the 5% for weight and we are still on close watch with the specialist

is very close to being able to climb up on the ottoman

favorite activity is unloading all of my cabinets as they are still not child proof

gets up once or twice at night (usually at 4:30)

up around 7 for the morning

down for bed around 7:30

can bend over and pick things up while standing without falling, but usually stays down once she gets whatever she dropped or wants

has learned if she raises her arms and goes limp it makes it hard to pick her up and remove her from whatever naughty thing she is doing

her hair is getting thicker and often has big rooster curls on top of her head

her eyes and hair are very dark, which I LoVe!

she has a sixth sense for when the gate at the stairs is down and loves to speed crawl up the stairs and laughs as she sees you coming to chase her

she has been found several times fishing in the toilet!

another favorite place to play is on the treadmill (part of the up and down of the raised surface excites her)

also loves playing in my bathroom drawers

she has split her frenum 4 times now (3 times from falling trying to walk)

she really loves her mommy and is such a sweet baby

one month and I have a ONE year old!  Doesn't seem possible!

Halloween 2011

I'm not sure how I didn't blog about Halloween last year.  Somehow it got lost between Landon's birthday and Thanksgiving.  Or maybe life in general just got in the way.  Since Lily was born I have said she was my little Indian princess.  So, I really wanted to make her an Indian princess this year.  And, I LoVe themes.  I can't always talk the boys into it, but his year we made all of the costumes and it was SO much fun and SO much work!  I sewed Lily and I's dresses and Grey's pants.  Steve made the boys vests and the older boys pants.  I must say, Steve took his job very seriously and I think the paper bag outfits were amazing!  It was such a fun year and next year I will probably have to give in to letting them be whatever trendy, lame costume that everybody else is going to wear, but for sister's first Halloween, I am grateful I got my way.  

We forgot the war paint for the ward party, but on actual Halloween night, we remembered.  The boys did think it was a little embarrassing, but I think deep down they loved it.  And everybody who saw us all together raved about the outfits.  

Love these little Indians!

Welf

The Elf of the Shelf, aka Welf, was SO much fun this year.  I did a lot of "research", and got tons of ideas on fun places for him to hide.  The kids thought he was so funny and really enjoyed the Dr Pepper, smores, and zip line.  I'm not entirely sure who had more fun, but I am glad it was more than just hide and seek this year!

Christmas 2011

Christmas feels like so long ago.  I am so behind, but hopefully I can get caught up over the next few weeks.  We did our traditional Christmas eve Pj's and it was a plaid, button-up kind of year.  The boys had been asking for button up pj's and they love these.  With Christmas being on a Sunday, we had thought things would be super crazy because we have certain traditions that help make Christmas an all day affair.  We did have to rush a bit at the end of opening the wrapped gifts, but we were able to do all of our normal fun things.  

The boys snuggled until 6:45 and then we went and woke up Grey and Lily.  We let the kids open stockings and play with Santa gifts and then we did our traditional crepe breakfast.  We all somehow got spoiled this year, thanks to grandparent money.  They are always too kind.  

It was a wonderful program at church and we were asked to dinner by our old bishop, Brother Littlejohn, in the ward.  It was great to have grandparent-like people that the kids could be around.

This year was mainly a sports themed year. The boys all asked for uniforms.  They got football and soccer stuff.  I think Landon's favorite gifts were his new football jerseys and his soccer sweat pants (think hammer pants).  Cohen's favorite was the new video games, and his new "real" football helmet (go Ducks!)

Greyson loved all his new soccer unis, and football jerseys, but his favorite was the motorcycle helmet and his monster truck.

Lillian got her first tea party set and several dolls.  She also got some really cute new outfits from her daddy.

I got spoiled with new church outfits and best of all new framed pictures of the kids and family.  Steve spoiled me so much and I can always feel how much he loves me.  His love language is definitely gifts!

It was a year full of gratitude and the kids were amazing through it all.  They never fail to be overly thankful for all they receive and make it all worth the sacrifices we make for them in the end.

SiX!

On January 12, Cohen turned 6 years old.  For his special birthday, we decided to go against the traditional birthday party and took him on a 2 day adventure to the snow.  We went ice skating, tubing, made smores by the fire and just enjoyed being together as a family.  I know he was a little disappointed by the fact that he didn't get to celebrate with his friends, but I haven't gotten to know a bunch of the parents yet, and I still am not in to the big party thing, so I pushed for this.  On his actual birthday, Steve was able to take him to EA sports, where they make all the sports video games and they toured the place where the games are made and even got hooked up with 2 new games each and awesome hats.  We went to dinner that night at Boudin, his choice, and had cake and gave him his gifts.  The big gift was the trip to the snow.  He also got a new suit, angry birds, and sticky gloves for football. 

So here are a few things about this sweet 6 year old boy that I want to remember:

Height: 51 1,4" 

weight: 56 lbs.

Loves: video games, iPad, sports, playing with his brothers, giving hugs and loves, and dogs (really wishes we could get one).

He is almost always willing to be talked into playing whatever Landon is wanting to. 

 He has started playing baseball and soccer and loves both.  

He can be highly emotional and occasionally I have to remind him that it is NOT ok for a 6 year old to lay on the ground and kick and scream when he is upset.  

He loses his temper when pushed past his threshold and is willing to admit when he has.  Still loves to snuggle and love on everyone.  

His favorite food is Caprese salad.  

He has a tiny lisp that manifests when saying his S sound.  

He is truly the most laid back of the boys.  

He is not great at trying new foods, and tends to be hard to feed.  

He seems to like school, but would be perfectly happy to stay at home. 

 He knows his letters pretty well, with an occasional backward letter. 

 He knows his sounds and is starting to sound things out.  

He knows about 25 of the sight words. 

 He can write his numbers 1-30 (maybe even more, but we haven't tried).  

Can count by 2's to 20.  

He can get frustrated at home with the school work, but he does fine at school.  

He is wearing a size 3-3.5 shoe and is only about 1 size behind Landon. 

He has the biggest heart and is always a pleasure to be around. 

Lillian 10 months

Lillian at 10 months:

weight: around 16 lb. 4 oz

Lillian has changed so incredibly much this month.  Steve and I sat and watched her this morning and both agreed we could envision a toddler in our near future.

Lillian got 2 new teeth this month.  The first popped through December 26 and the second took another 2 weeks.  She now has two top teeth and two bottom and is so incredibly cute.  

The biggest change in her happened about 3 weeks ago.  She just blossomed when it came to eating solids.  She is trying lots of new things and acts much like a normal baby.  She still eats small amounts, but she is eating: mashed potatoes, scrambled egg yolks, cheese, yogurt and several different baby foods.  She isn't crazy about the veggies by themselves, but likes the pears, apples, will eat green beans mixed with apples, and some of the fruit combos.  It is amazing to do these normal things that we find so amazing every time.  She still hasn't gained much weight, but all of her test came back normal, so it seems like she is just going to be petite.  We do give her a supplement called Duocal that adds extra calories to the things that she eats.  

She is getting more and more confident on her feet and cruises everywhere.  She occasionally forget and lets go, but can balance for a half of a second before plopping to her bum.

She also started babbling this month.  She started with Mama, but can also say Dada although not as ofter and I've even heard a baba in there too.  She says Mama all day long and it never fails to melt me as she crawls up my legs saying Ma ma ma. 

Mimicking is now in her bag of tricks.  The last week she has been sitting on her knees and bouncing up and down and waving her arms.  I call this dancing and if I tell her to dance and bounce a little, she gets on her knees and does this.  She is also doing the funniest head bob where she throws her head backward.  She loves when we laugh at her and does it over and over.

Her hair is getting thicker and still has a little curl to it.  She leaves her headbands in and everyone marvels at the fact that she will.

She is napping 3 times a day and usually for around 45 minutes.  (around 9,12 and 5)  She goes to bed around 7:30 and still wakes up once and usually is up for the morning around 6:30-7.  She always wakes up happy although she is having to cry herself to sleep from time to time.  It usually only takes her a minute, but she knows since she is happy always, that if she protests a nap, often times I will keep her up.

She is still very small through the middle and it is very hard to find pants that fit her.  They are usually too short for her, but they are still 2 inches too big in the waist. 

She is happy when anyone holds her, but if I am near, she will reach for me.  She is starting to express her dislike about certain things more and more and will even get mad, but the best is that she will cry for about 3 seconds and then forget all about what she was upset about. 

She also discovered this month that she can open all of my cabinets.  This proves to be exhausting since we know we won't be here forever and it seems like a waste to baby proof everything.  Right now hair bands are keeping her out of the important stuff and I do a lot of pick up on the rest.  

She is so fun to have around.  I know these next two months are going to fly by and I am going to be saying she is 1!

 Can you see her teeth in this big smile?

 Notice the high waters?

I love it when she sits on her knees like this!  So cute!