Preschool for Liberty (4s)

Last year Liberty loved preschool so much. She was in the 3s class and is now in the 4s class which meets MWF 9-12pm.  ?Next year she'll do Pre-K 4 days a week.  She has the same teacher Mrs. Ratliff who sincerely loves Liberty and thought of her often over the summer and texted/called us to say so.  Mrs. Ratliff knows my daughter and her obsession with blue, cats, princesses, her little brother and kindness. Liberty was so excited to get back to Wilkins Learning Center and show off Henry and tell everyone that he got his first tooth and has been scooting around and other random stories I swear she saves up to tell people (including telling Mrs. Ratfliff after she complimented Liberty's blue outfit that Grandma bought her this blue skirt with ponies on it to wear for the first day of school)

Henry is 8 months! Photoshoot!

Henry at 8 months...this is HIS MONTH.  I'm writing this a bit late but I'm glad I am because there wasn't too much of a change from 7-8 months for him but now at 8.5 months old he is doing lots more!

• 1st tooth - the day he turned 8 months!
• His scooting is very fast and distinct - 1 foot and 1 elbow shove off...
• Can finally get into a sitting position after crawling around by himself.
• Exploring a lot now (find him in the pantry, under chairs, touching outlets - all babyproofed, but still)
• He is pulling up to stand in his crib and pulling up to on his knees and trying to bounce up on his feet on other stuff - so close!
• When you help him stand at the music table, etc he LOVES it and can stay up pretty well on his own.
• A few days ago he started WAVING when we asked him to.
• A few days ago he started DANCING when we asked him to.
• He's becoming a big copy cat - splashes when Liberty does. Yells when she does. Bangs when she does. 
• He can't get enough of the pool or baths.  We do baths in shallow water and he sits, scoots, crawls, and doesn't mind laying all the way back and rolling and getting a face full of water.  He laughs and laughs.
• Sleeps 7pm-7am and naps 9-11am and 1-3pm and 50% of the time he takes a short 40 min nap around 5pm.
• Trying more finger food like strawberries/blueberries/graham crackers.

Henry Playtime 7.5 months

Just hanging out and eating some play-food.

Videos - Jumping and Swimming

EDIT: don't know why these videos aren't working......so you can go to the photo album here and watch them: https://picasaweb.google.com/113950548607099469105/2013_7_20HenryJumpingLibertySwimming?authkey=Gv1sRgCPbGvajKmuj0dw


Henry isn't crazy about the jumperoo, but has started to at least jump a little....

From 2013_7_20 Henry Jumping, Liberty Swimming

Liberty has gone from barely swimming and not floating at all a few weeks ago to REALLY SWIMMING and can float for 16 seconds!  She can swim the shorter length of the pool.  This video is not that great because I was home alone with both kids and didn't get fully in the water to make her perform like the swimming monkey she is.

From 2013_7_20 Henry Jumping, Liberty Swimming

Henry 7 Months Old

Notes for the baby book....

• twirls his feet at the ankles when anything exciting is happening (sister is performing, food is coming, etc)
• can truly throw! (balls, binkies, blocks)
• only food he dislikes - puffs
• no teeth - tons of drool
• sits independently, scoots, can't get into sitting position by himself.
• Has no interest in using his legs to stand or jumping in the jumperoo. *edit - 7.5 months old now and he is finally jumping in that thing!
• naps 9-11am and 1-3:30  and sometimes has a tiny 40 min nap at 5pm.
• Sleeps 7:15pm to 7am

COLORADO VACATION - Road Trip 2013

We broke in the new minivan by driving almost 2,000 miles for a week long adventure in Colorado.  First we spent 1 night in Flagstaff to visit with Grandma Jo (Grandpa was rafting the Colorado River).  Then, we drove about 6 hours to Durango, CO and stayed 4 nights with our friends Molly and Josh and their 10 month old Brooklyn.  We rode a steam powered train to Silverton, took a day trip to Pagosa Springs to enjoy the hot springs along the river and bopped around historic downtown Durango.  Then we took another 6 hour drive to just outside Denver to where Molly and Josh live and stayed with them for 2 more nights.  We celebrated the 4th of July with them and saw some fireworks from the view on their deck way up in the mountains of Evergreen. We visited the Denver Aquarium, ate ice cream and shopped in Boulder, CO.  Saturday we ventured the 13 hour drive back and everyone did awesome - dressed in PJs for the car ride at a dinner stop in Kayenta and went right to sleep when we got home!  It was so nice to see my best friend from 5th grade and to vacation with 75* temps!

325 pics/vids ahead.....

Father's Day

Father's Day was a good day.  We went out for pancakes, grilled, and swam.  And celebrated having a SUPER daddy in our family.

From 2013_6_17 Random Summer Playtime

From 2013_6_17 Random Summer Playtime

From 2013_6_17 Random Summer Playtime

From 2013_6_17 Random Summer Playtime

From 2013_6_17 Random Summer Playtime

Henry and Liberty Cuteness

Some random pictures from the camera...

From 2013_6_17 Random Summer Playtime

From 2013_6_17 Random Summer Playtime From 2013_6_17 Random Summer Playtime From 2013_6_17 Random Summer Playtime From 2013_6_17 Random Summer Playtime From 2013_6_17 Random Summer Playtime

Henry at 6 months

My baby angel turned 6 months old on June 5th.

Weight: 16 pounds 10 ounces (25%) (liberty was 19 pounds 7.5 ounces)
Length: 28 inches (95%)  (liberty was 28.25)

Likes:
sister - no one makes him grin/laugh like her.
bathtime - holy splasher.
tv - sorry American Academy of Pediatrics.
drinking out of my water cup - he goes crazy for it
smiling at anyone that looks at him.

Doesn't Like:
ummm...nothing!

Can SCOOT! army crawls when he wants to get a toy.
Can sit for about a minute before tipping over.
Had his first babyfoods - bananas, carrots, apples, etc
no teeth - I'm still shocked.
sleeps 7pm - 7am
naps 9-10:30 and 1-3pm

Swimming!

We like to swim in the evening around sunset to avoid the sun (and sunscreen) completely.  Here are some pictures of Henry's first time in the pool.  Our pool is such a light color it doesn't warm up unless it's really really hot - so it was almost too cold to have him get all the way in with the floaty.  Next time.  Liberty is "bold and enthusiastic" according to her swim teacher - so she wants to go in the water all the time and really likes playing with her 4 watering cans (thank you dollar section!).

Pickin' Peaches

We really like to pick peaches at the nearby Agritopia Farms rather than going all the way to Schnepfs Farm (the heat, the crowds, the travel)...so instead we had breakfast next door at The Coffee Shop and strolled over to get some peaches!  We might come back for Apples in a month or so...