Kendree - 21 months

At 21 months Kendree...

• loves all things baby (even before her sister made an arrival).
• is forming two and three word sentences.
• takes one nap a day usually 2.5-3.5 hours.
• is a bit of a bully around younger kids.  She is used to fighting for what she wants!
• wants to sit at the big table all of the time, but unfortunately has to settle for the high chair 95% of the time still.
• tries to do exactly what her brother is doing.
• is starting to figure out how to make Easton mad.  Like really mad.  Her current favorite is to scribble over whatever he has just written/drawn on the big pad of paper on the floor.
• didn't get any new teeth this month.
• always sticks her bottom teeth in front of her top teeth when asked to smile.  It is her cheese-er face.
• throws herself on the floor when she is having a tantrum.
• seems to be getting over the biting.  Hopefully.  Oh, please, oh, please.
• loves to play with the ipod or Nintendo DS.
• will sit and read books in her room for about 30 minutes a day.
• really loves when Easton is occupied and she can play in his room all by herself.
• likes to play with play-doh.
• wants to be helping mama, and as such follows me around the house pretty much all day.

Now on to a few pictures!

The closest to a 21 month picture as I was able to get.

 These were taken at the hospital, but this expression was pretty much her thoughts about the baby at that time.

 And our smiley Kenny-girl!

Kendree - 20 months

Man, it feels like I was just writing the 19 month post (Oh wait.  I was).

Kendree is such a fun little girl.  She has developed a few habits recently that make me laugh.  For one, she is always asking me Why? after I tell her something.  It's humorous that this has taken place before her brother has ever started asking the same question.  She also loves to grab your hand and say "MON!" (c'mon) as she takes you wherever in the house she needs help.

And now a few other Kendree updates:

• She is wonderful at following directions such as "Get your shoes" or "Go get another puzzle" and toddles off without any backtalk (a nice break for mama).
• She has had three more teeth break through this month.  Her top left canine tooth broke through on September 30th, her lower right molar broke through on October 10th and her lower left molar broke through on October 11th.
• Kendree continues to love nursery and her leaders continue to tell us what a sweet, good little girl she is.  I like to believe that she saves up all of her sweetness for them. :)
• Kendree is starting to show some major mama jealousy (just in time for a new baby to REALLY give her a complex).  If Easton is near me, she must be near me.  If Daddy is giving me a hug, she must be in the middle.
• I actually jotted down words as I thought of them for the last few weeks--I know, a miracle! and have come up with the following list: ah-gin (again), fuu-sack (fruit snack), tash (trash-she LOVES throwing her diapers away), toot-el (turtle), ba (bath), oot ear (rootbeer), ow-er (flower), foo (shoe), go, me (almost always with her hand raised as HIGH as it will go), sowee (sorry), sip-pose (scriptures), dah (door), mon (c'mon), couch, cheese, petty petty (pretty-pretty), ow, bug, bye (bite-yes, she is still doing this, but not as often), cur-cle (circle), bue (blue-which she can identify), ellow (yellow), purple, ah-ways (always), nigh (nice), ruck (stuck) and why.  She can also now say Elmo perfectly.
• She continues to sleep for naps and at night beautifully.
• Kendree is starting to show some preference for dry, clean diapers.  I am NOT attempting potty training at this point, so she has a while to wait. :)
• She continues to love babies and would love to smother them with love if she could get away with it.  Again, this new baby will have to be under my CLOSE watch.
• Kendree is in love with girly things.  Pretty dresses, bracelets, necklaces and makeup to name a few. 
• She loves reading books, and while she would prefer to have you read them, is almost as content to plunk down on her floor and spend some time looking through her favorites.
• After months of "faking" that she can't go down the stairs, she can't hide if from me any more.  I've witnessed expert stomach sliding on more than one occasion when the option is don't come with mama downstairs or get down on your own.  She still MUCH prefers to hold your hand and step down like a big girl and if she even thinks that you have her hand will step off with total trust (this has led to a few scares on mama's part).
• Kendree continues to ADORE her brother.  She calls him brother (bra-tha) 99% of the time.  My favorite is when he is at swimming lessons and she and I are coloring or playing on the i-pod while we watch him.  She will yell "BRA-THA" and then jabber about what we are doing so that he won't feel left out (he can't hear a word she says).  It sure is cute though.

And now a few pictures:
The official 20 month picture:

 Leading mama over to the couch to read a book:

 Giving up and starting to read the book herself:

 A favorite past time: sneaking toys in Easton's room on a rare occasion when he has not shut the door.

 Halfway dressed and trying to get to the makeup.

 Emjoying some crackers and Curious George.

 Wrestling with brother.

 Gotta love that look.

The E-man

Easton and his lego tower (we don't have many legos so this was as high as he could make it). He was THRILLED to be able to take a picture of it to show Daddy.

Whenever Easton dresses up, he wants me to take a picture so he can see himself.  This day he was Easton the fireman.

Just another funny Easton picture.  He loves Mario and Luigi currently and insisted that I take a picture of his little buddy.

And now a few Easton funnies:

• Ronnie, Easton, Jord-man and I had the opportunity to go to the UW vs. Nebraska game a few weekends ago.  We had a great time (despite the Cowboy loss).  At one point, I looked over to see Easton with his hand right up my his eye.  I asked him what he was doing.  He didn't move a muscle and answered "Shooting the red guys."  I asked why he was doing that and he said "So they die."  It was possibly one of the funniest thing ever.  Despite our many, many talks of only shooting animals and targets, his UW spirit got in the way and he couldn't help himself.
• He loves to know what we are doing everyday.  If I don't have anything planned for that day it is the end of his life.  Most days I just make something up around the house so he can put it on his mental calendar. He can stand a few days in the coming week with "nothing" going on, but not too many in a row.  Luckily we have our travels to Laramie, swim lessons and preschool that take up the majority of the week.  Then I fill in our Friday and Saturday's and on Sunday we have church. :)
• Any capital "Y" stands for BYU.  He told his preschool teacher last week that his family are fans of BYU. (I didn't even know he knew the word fans).
• We have been reading one verse a night with Easton before bed (he likes to follow our fingers across the page and say every word after we do).  Last night, after another verse that started "And it came to pass" he turned to me and said..."there are a LOT of passes."
• He still asks me just about every day "We don't remember what our baby is?" as if the next time he asks I'll have an answer for him.  It normally only comes up when we are discussing gender (like when he started a new swimming session and wondered if his teacher was going to be a girl or a boy, or when we talk about his friends with new babies--one family had a girl and the other a boy).
• He has asked me what I am doing enough times when I am crafting that now he asks and then answers himself "something for the new baby."  I suppose I need to get his Halloween costume all finished so I can be making something for him to brighten his day.
• While I like to think of him as almost a real boy (you know, talking in complete sentences and acting so much more mature than Kendree), he still has his moments.  Like yesterday when he threw a gigantic fit at the post office that he was not the one to trigger the automatic doors and I just kept on walking to the car and left him there (don't worry, you have to park on the street at this post office and our car was literally the closest one to the door--he could follow me completely on the sidewalk).
• Easton sure does keep me on my toes and we love him lots!

Kendree - 19 months

Nothing like being a few weeks late.

Kendree has become a little girl in my eyes.  I don't know how that happened exactly, but darn her for growing up!  She has quite the personality and lets you know right away when something is not the way she wants it to be.

At 19 months:

• Kendree continues to sleep through the night like a champ.  She gives kisses to the entire family and then toddles into her room to find her blanky (which sounds like baby when she says it).
• She takes one nap a day for 2+ hours.  The length is getting more consistent, although she rarely pulls an "Easton" and naps for over 3.
• Kendree got one new tooth this month.  On September 6th, the bottom right tooth next to the middle two broke through.
• We had Kendree's developmental screening this month and despite my worries that her speech was slow, she didn't have any noticeable delays.  In fact, her fine motor and gross motor skills are off the charts for her age.  The tester lady couldn't believe what she could copy with a crayon on paper and that she holds her writing utensils correctly. She is also a mean "thrower" and "kicker" but having an older brother helps with those skills.
• Kendree is fairly certainly right handed.  All pencils, pens and crayons go directly to that hand.
• Kendree's speech really exploded this month.  She can say many, many new words including: fi (fish), mow (meow), moo, quack, baa, ruff, seep (sleep), ny-ny (night night), mine, ba-tha (brother), potty, Meem-o (elmo), Ma-ro (mario), may-da (Mater) [can we say her older brother influences her?].  I know I'm forgetting a million more, so I'll add to this as I think of them.
• Kendree loves all food and will really try anything.  A new favorite is dill pickles (a girl after her mother's heart). She loves to dip things in ketchup or ranch dressing and will eat even more things if dipping is an option.
• She continues to love nursery at church but has been labeled as one of the "escapees."  Apparently someone has to have their eyes on Kendree anytime the door is opened, as she has bolted a few times.  This was surprising to me as she doesn't really act that way around the house, but then I thought about how she has no natural "boundary" of how far she will run from me in stores, etc. and understood a little better.
• Kendree continues to bite.  For no reason. And leaves significant marks.  So far she has never bitten another kid (aside from Easton) that I know of, but I know it is inevitable.  I really don't know how to stop it.  Most times she bites for the attention (ie. biting Easton while he is watching a cartoon because she wants to play with him) and sometimes out of anger.  Either way she gets her mouth slapped and sits in time out, neither of which she seems to mind.  Do I need to start biting her? (kidding, kind of). :)
• Kendree loves to be running and doesn't care if it is outside or inside, she just likes to move. 
• She is starting to be more attached to her blanky and must take it out of the crib with her after naps and in the morning.  I can usually sneak it back in her crib (if she doesn't see me) after about 30 minutes and then she doesn't ask about it for the rest of the day. 

We sure love her!

Now on to the pictures:

Messy face, but genuine, crooked smile.

 One day Kendree wanted to be Buzz....she wore the costume for HOURS and loved every minute.

And now for the official 19 month pictures.  These were taken after church and a walk around the block (hence the pants under her dress).

 Serious mint sucking going on.

Easton Lately

A few things about Easton I don't want to forget.

He calls the laptop, the flat-top.

All "th" sounds are replaced by a "p".

He loves to talk on the phone.  To pretty much anyone. For a LONG time.  Several times after 15 minutes of talking to Uncle Jord-man I've had to essentially take the phone away.

And now for a few pictures:

Hanging out, waiting for daddy to lock up the church:

In his Sunday best (he wouldn't let me tuck in his shirt before I took this picture).  He LOVES wearing his suit and matching his daddy.  I need to start looking for a good deal on a suit the next size up.

Cousins

I'm [not so] patiently waiting for more pictures that I know my sister has, but the kids really enjoyed having their cousin Alayna around to play with the last two weeks. These are some pictures of the time they spent figuring out grandma's remote control school bus.

And then some pictures of the morning before Erc and Alayna got on the plane.  Getting all three of them too look and smile was impossible, but I got a few good ones.

Kendree - 18 months

At 18 months Kendree:

• First official stats:  Kendree is 22 lbs. 9 oz (25th %tile) 32.5 inches tall (75th %tile) and looking very healthy!
• Tries to run everywhere.  I love this stage of movement as she usually can only get one hand pumping along with her legs and then gets busy watching her feet and totally runs into something (don't worry, I only laugh if she isn't actually hurt).
• Really wants to be a big girl on stairs.  She just wants to walk up and down them, thankyouverymuch.  She will crawl up them, but if she feels like she has a sturdy enough handhold (like on the door frame coming up the three steps into our house from the garage) she'll attempt to walk up by herself.
• Recently decided that Ronnie and I are Mommy and Daddy instead of Mama and Dada.  This can either be the cutest thing ever, or the most annoying depending on her mood and tone of voice.
• Is not afraid to stand up for herself, but as a result can be a little bit of a bully.  We are especially working on hitting and biting (Easton only bit a handful of times in his entire life, so this one is a new one for me).
• Went to nursery for the first time on Sunday and LOVED it.  Was completely entertained even when the other kids were leaving and seemed surprised to see me standing there to pick her up.  Ronnie and I LOVED having our hands a bit free-er (we have to take advantage of our next 3 months as we'll be right back at it after that).  I found myself looking around for her during the 3rd hour of Primary (the time I am usually on Kendree duty).
• Takes one nap a day and now that I can stretch out her awake morning to after 12:30 p.m. she's becoming a much better napper (better meaning longer in my world).  She usually sleeps at least 2 hours and leans closer to 3 hours several times a week.
• Loves her big brother with all of her heart and wants to be JUST like him.  This usually drives him insane.
• Likes to give my belly hugs and kisses although she has no idea what that belly will do to her little world in 3 short months.
• Loves to read books but MUST be sitting on your lap to do so.  Not next to your lap, or standing near you, ON your lap. period.
• Got three new teeth this month (her top right tooth-next to the front teeth on July 22nd; her top left molar on July 24th; her top left molar on July 25th).  Those were a rough couple of days. In case anyone is keeping track (I know you aren't) that brings her tooth total to 6 on top and a very lonely 2 on the bottom.
• Loves babies.  We visited a good friend and her 2 month old and Kendree fully believed that she should be holding that baby all by herself.  The baby also needed her pacifier at all times and the baby wanted her own baby doll to play with as well.  I have a feeling that setting this new baby on the floor while Kendree is awake will not be an option.  Easton was completely oblivious to Kendree when she was little, but I don't think that will apply.
• Has started throwing herself down when having a fit.  Most times this only serves to hurt her.  Like the other day when she did it on the tile kitchen floor and discovered how good that feels.
• Really likes to color with crayons.  She finds the container of crayons at least once a day and brings it to me so I will pull out the giant pad of paper from under the couch and she colors to her hearts content.
• Is a "picker."  One of her favorite activities is to cover a paper in stickers and then spend the next 30 minutes (no joke) picking every single sticker back off of the paper.  She also loves to pick at her many mosquito bites while we ride in the car.  No band aid or tape can keep her away.
• Lights up our lives.  We love that girl!

Modeling the outfit from China that Grandpa Cali bought her:

 And now the outfit from India:


Swimming (picture stolen from our friend's blog):

On Kendree's official 18 month "birthday" I neglected to take pictures until after dark when we were waiting for Daddy to lock up the church.  With the need for flash, I got some pretty fantastic photos:

And this one from our trip to see Rockies is pretty great too!

So, we're going to go with this one as the "official" 18 month picture.

 Now for some videos: Kendree showing off her India outfit:

And Kendree dances.  Please ignore that saggy bum diaper she is about to shake off.

And more pictures

All of the pictures of the Splash Pad can be found here and Swimming can be found here.

I know, you love me for not posting all 500 on the blog.

Those kiddos of mine

You probably saw the pictures that my fabulous father in law took while we were in Cali of the kids.  Want to see more?
The entire web album is up here.

Easton at 3 years and 8 months (give or take)

First, some pictures that haven't seemed to make it up here yet.

Silly glasses:

 Swimming outside with his Buzz goggles:

 Silly boy.

 Captain Hook!  I have no idea why this is upside down.  Darn you blogger!

 Spending some time at disneyjunior.com

 Being a ham.

 Easton loves hanging out with friends and some of his favorite buddies are Damian and Bianca.  Here we enjoyed a horse-drawn wagon ride at Super Day in Cheyenne.

 Easton's the only one looking at the camera...but he sure is cute!

 Daddy and Kendree enjoyed the ride as well.

Easton is at a very fun (and slightly frustrating) age.  I can reason with him on most things and he understand so much more than I think he will.  He loves to know what we are doing that day (and will ask multiple times during the day if he feels like the day hasn't been fun enough so far).  He says his prayers on his own and hates to be helped if he tells you he doesn't want any help.  Most times we assume that Heavenly Father knows that we are thankful for the food and would like it to be blessed even if only one of those items is actually said out loud.

He is a great little buddy and loves to help with chores (well, not every single time I ask him).  He is especially good at putting away the silverware and helping to fold clothes.  Cleaning up toys though?  Not his favorite at all.

While he continues to love playing with Toy Story and Cars toys, he doesn't request the movies much at all.  His taste for movies has moved to a different movie every day instead of stretches of the same movie over and over.  He also loves spending some time on disneyjunior.com and playing the wii.  He is great at Mariokart, Wii Sports, Mario and Sonic Olympics and Carnival Games and likes to play several other games with a little bit of assistance.

He takes about 2 naps a week (one always on the drive home from Laramie on Tuesdays and then another random day), but is starting to enjoy quiet time in his room on a daily basis as he finally realized it was mom approved "get away from Kendree" time.  We set the timer and he can only come out when it rings (I make sure he goes to the bathroom and takes water in with him so there are no other excuses).  We're not very good at execution on the weekends, but during the week he is great.

Easton loves church.  He loves his friends in Primary and in his Sunbeam class and while his interpretation of what they learned about it usually quite entertaining, he can't wait to go back every week.

He has had what I consider a breakthrough with swimming.  When we started lessons the beginning of July, he hated getting his face wet and had a lot of fear.  After a two week class here in Cheyenne and a one week class in California at grandma's house, he is quite the little fish.  He revels in going "all the way under" and getting his face wet (although he still comes up sputtering, he will readily do it again).  The rest of the sessions are full this summer, but I'll be putting him in a class this fall and through the winter so we can keep up that love.

He hasn't (knock on wood) gotten to the "why?" stage of things yet, but I'm anticipating it anytime. We love his energy around here...and love every day we get to spend with him.

Easton Cuts a Rug

Easton love to dance.  Loves it.

Recently, he does not love when I try to watch him dance, so these next two videos were taken yesterday on the sly.  I'll warn they are a little long, so feel free to stop watching whenev.

Easton and Step in Time (he loves this song forever-more).


Easton Break Dances

Kendree Walking - July 2011

So I didn't get Kendree walking until she had been doing it for a month and a half. Can you say second child?

Here she is!

Kendree - 17 months

At 17 months, Kendree is really turning on the chatter.  She says the following words consistently and will attempt to copy almost anything you want her to say (except her name and Easton's names--those you have to catch her in the perfect mood):

all aboard - (aw bob)
outside (ow sye)
Kendree (kaw ee)
Easton (ceee)
more (mo)
please (sssssss)
Mama (pawpaw)
Daddy (dada)
out (ow)
uh-oh
Night-Night (nye-nye)
apple (aw-pull)
up
tag (ta)
purple (purr-pah)
banana (dada)
five (fye)
thank you (tay-to)
hot (ha)
hat (ha) (the signing is the only way to tell the difference between these two)
catch (ta)
what's this (wah dis)
what's that (wah da)

She continues to sign constantly and it is such a help when she wants things she can't say (like "drink").  She also is very good at going over to the fridge and attempting to open it whenever she is hungry/thirsty.

As I mentioned last month, she has been quite the screamer.  She would scream really high-pitched if she didn't get her way/you didn't understand, etc.  With the addition of more words and signs, the screaming has diminished SIGNIFICANTLY!  I don't know if I could have handled it much longer, so it has been fantastic.

I find myself beginning to think of her as a toddler instead of a baby (gasp!).  She never stops moving and attempts to do anything that Easton does. (I think the words tag, catch and all aboard illustrate that quite nicely). The one thing that slows her down is the stairs.  She goes up with no problem, but HATES to turn around to go down.  I think that stems from Easton not turning around.  So, she will stand at the top for a minute or two and then, well, I'm not sure what she will do as so far I have always been there to help her down.  As soon as she has a grip on even one of my fingers she steps off with complete faith.  The girl is going to really hurt herself someday. :)

She got two new teeth this month (total teeth =5).  Her top left came in on July 2nd and the one next to that came in July 16th.

Kendree continues to nap one time a day and sleep through the night.  She loves the outside and cries when I won't let her out in the hottest parts of the day.  We love our Kenny girl!

Dressing up as Elmo!

 The closest to an "official" 17 month picture that I got.

 Silly Glasses:

 Wants the camera:

 Wearing goggles while watching everyone else swim (not that I wouldn't let her, the water was just a bit cold for her)

Videos of her walking are currently uploading, so I'll get those up in a separate post very soon!