Grace:
Grace still uses a sippy cup most of the time, but she can drink out of a "real" cup just fine. Mommy is just not ready for that yet. She is still in her high chair, but honestly she'd be fine in regular chair with a booster seat. We just haven't gotten around to getting one. That's on our list. She loves jumping. We are working on jumping on 1 foot. Her favorite books are currently The Very Hungry Caterpillar. Go Dog Go (Which I HATE), and Anything with number really since she is obsessed with counting lately. Zippers she can work if you start them, but she can take them off no problem. Snaps she can take off but can't re-snap. She's great at undressing. Down to her nude. She can put on pants the right way, socks, and even puts shoes on the right foot. Shirts are hit and miss. Sometimes she gets it perfect, other times she gets her head in the sleeve hole or puts it on backwards/inside out.
Grace recently started asking "mommy you play PEEEAAASSEE????" It's so friggin' cute! She also says "self" a lot when she wants to do something by herself. Her favorite thing to do is to dance. She loves dancing. And she just recently started singing her ABCS she says "ABCDEFG... ABCDEFG.... then Y." Haha! Too funny! She also knows almost every letter and the sound they make (Thank you Leap Frog's letter factory!!).
Grace can count too! She says 1, 2, 3, 8, 9. Haha! She hasn't quite master the rest. She will say 1, 2, 3, then I will say 4, 5, 6, 7 and she will finish and we will both yell 10!! She is super interested in numbers and letters currently. She knows almost every letter by what it "says" like the H says hu-hu-hu. Or the O say aaahhhh. Sometimes she can't say what the letter is but she knows what sound it makes. She knows A, B, C, D, H, I, P, T, U, and Y by sight and she knows the letter name and sounds they make. She knows E, F, J, K, L, O, S, W, and X by what it says. She can't really say the name of the letter though. She confuses M and W a lot and has no interest in N, R, or Z. I'm so proud of her!
We tried potty training and it didn't go well. Now she just tells you all day long if she just peed or pooped. She just won't go on the potty, but she loves sitting on the potty. She did learn the art of taking her diaper off though. Recently she decided that stripping down to the nude was something fun to do in bed. I can't tell you how many times I went upstairs to get her from nap or bed, and found pee all over her baby/foxie/reindeer/Abby her sheets and her blankets. I found poopy on several occasions. The answer is: DUCT TAPE. Yep, works like a charm. Grace now gets "tapped" before going for nap or bed. She holds her arms up in the air and gets a strip of tape around the tabs of her diaper. Problem solved.
Grace is the sweetest, funniest and loving girl I have ever met. She is just amazing. She has the best soul I have ever seen. She recognizes when people are upset or happy or need a hug. She knows when her brother needs milk and whenever he gets cranky she always says "oh Oompa, it's ok. You tired..." So freakin' cute!! The hugs, the kisses, the blowing bubbles, the jumping, the babies (that she oh-so-loves), and the million times I smile at her or she makes me work. They all make everything worth it. She is the best little girl I could have ever gotten.
Look at this cute "CHEESE" face!!
Luke:
Luke loves his pacifier! We are working on weaning, it's not going well. Is officially on whole milk and uses a sippy cup like a big boy. No more bottles for my boy!! He is now walking running!! It has made life so much easier since he can now interact with Grace more and he is so much happier. He has 10 teeth.
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Luke talks a lot more than Grace ever did. He says a lot of words, which completely surprises me. He says mama, dada, bye bye, uh oh, more, hi, done, meemi, up all in context. He says LaLa whenever he wants to watch Elmo (la, la, lala, la, la, lala Elmo's world) Grace also calls it this. His newest thing is imitating. When he sees you answer a phone he runs and gets his play phone and says "hi" over and over again. So cute, only he holds it at the back of his neck not his ear. Haha! He puts his pacifier in your mouth then his.
Lately he wants to play a lot also. In this house we play a game where we chase each other then I quick hide on them and pop out to scare them. Grace LOVES it and until recently Luke didn't care. Well, now he cares and he is so cute when he starts playing with you. He will look at you, turn the other way and walk, then quick turn around and laugh. It just cracks me up.
Luke has started fake coughing and sneezing. I just have to say "ah-choo" to him and he does sneezes forever. If he's coughing I will say "are you ok Luke?" and he will continue fake coughing for a while. He then does this little fake laugh and he thoroughly amuses himself.
He is completely on table food. He loves rice and applesauce. Carrot sticks, cheese... pretty much anything his sister wants/has. He is a little piggy. He will eat and eat and eat. I'm talking 2-3 servings. 2-3x's what his sister would eat! It's insane!
See: eating...
Luke is the cutest, most loving boy there is. He is just adorable and he is so cuddly. He's a mama's boy for sure. He will run through the house when he's tired and just cry (sob) "mama, mama." Melts my heart. He tends to want to play but he will stand back while he has this pathetic look on his face because you can tell he feels left out. He is very sensitive. I always have to make sure to make him feel special because he tends to need lots of reassurance. He is not sleeping very well lately, and I think it's because he has started with separation anxiety and needs that reassurance in the night too. I love this boy more than any other little boy I know. He is the perfect addition to our family. The strength he has proven to us entitles him to be needy when it comes to extra hugs and kisses. We are incredibly blessed to have him here with us.
Luke is over 20lbs and I'm not sure his height. He goes next week to the dr. Grace is 25lbs and 33.25in. Luke is quickly growing out of 12m clothes. Grace still wears 18m PJs to bed. Luke is finding 12m pants to be too short and Grace is finding 2T pants to be way too long. Luke has a big, huge waist. Grace's pants fall off over her diaper because she's so skinny. Luke is a whiny, crying mess most of the day and he's very sensitive and doesn't listen to no. He is my little cuddlebug and he will just lay on my shoulder for hrs if I let him. Grace is so good with independent play, is only cranky when she's tired and listens to no about 3/4 of the time. She will rarely cuddle, although she is getting better. She will push you away if she's hurt, whereas Luke will just melt right into you.
My kids are like day and night. I wouldn't trade either of them for the world. I don't know what I did to deserve these 2 kiddos, but I thank God every day. So that's that. My 2 year old is the light of my world and my (almost) 1 year old loves me with his whole heart. Blessed... oh so blessed.
