quiet week...so far

Tucker with yet another toy in his mouth. My friends say it is normal baby behavior, not because we have dogs. Good.

Tucker pushing a friend of mine's kid. Her kid was pretty happy to get a ride and Tucker was happy that the truck didn't go as fast. What's funny is her kid is 15 months or so, but one pound lighter. He walks all by himself. He's built more like Whitney.

Whitney climbing down from her escapade
Whitney getting in to drawers

She is pretty happy about it.
Whitney smiling about Christmas lights

The babies playing underneath our "christmas tree" this year.

Dancing about the lights being on



This week was very relaxing. Mostly because I got all excited that Christmas was around the corner that I really thought it was this week and got everything ready. And it is next week, so I got to relax and enjoy the season, the babies and the Christmas lights another week. Here's what I was able to watch this week.

The best part of this week is how the babies are starting to interact more with each other. Tucker thinks it is soooo funny to move his cheese around on his high chair tray. Apparently the noise is hysterical. He gets to laughing, and then that makes Whitney laugh. They also took turns throwing a block up in the air and watching it fall, something else that is wildly entertaining.

Now for the milestones. Sibling rivalry is starting to show up. At night, Whitney will wait for mommy time until Tucker is done with his instead of sharing a lap and story time. They also get impatient with each other when trying to walk with the trikes they have. Whitney is getting good at climbing. She really liked climbing on top of the music box to really reach the piano keys.

I can't believe that this week is Christmas!! I'm looking forward to a holiday season not in the hospital this year and to be with fam. Enjoy the pics.

oh yeah!!

I knew there was something else that I wanted to blog about. It's Tucker being raised by dogs. I swear he is being raised by dogs. It started when he began to growl. Then he started crawling. But this is what made me think of it the most. He carries toys around the house in his mouth when he crawls. It cracks me up!

they are no longer babies

Tucker in the christmas entry way looking at lights in his "lumberjack" outfit.


This week has been lots of proof to me that my babies are no longer babies. They are beginning to have an understanding of the world around them and how to manipulate it so that they get some things they want. Let me explain.

Let's start with today. Whitney figured out how to climb out of the tub. Bummer. The climbing season has begun. She didn't do it completely alone. She had a hold of my knee for outside balance, but she flung her leg over the side and pulled herself out. She would have fallen out if she hadn't had a hold of my knee, but I'm not sure if she would have continued to pull herself out or not if she didn't have balance. Not sure. She doesn't like falling too much. She was shaking pretty bad to keep her balance, but she did it. She also figured out how to get off my lap if we are sitting on the chair by backing up. Good. Next I can teach her how to go down stairs safely. She also figured out how to open and close the slider where I keep my pot holders and to open low drawers and pull things out. She also has 6 teeth.

Tucker has figured out that there are things in the cabinets he wants, but he hasn't figured out how to open the cabinet drawers wide enough so they stay open long enough for him to get the stuff out. Bummer for him, good for Mommy.

They both are very good at communicating with me which books they want to read. They definitely have their favorites. I gave the grandmas a list of a few that we checked out of the library they love.

We had a lot of fun this week. They went to their first Christmas party and had a lot of fun chasing their toys across the slick floor. We traveled to Centralia to meet up with a friend of mine. I found perfect gifts for my mother in law and sister there, but my friend needed help as her baby threw up everywhere and then Whitney remembered she was hungry (?!) and after all that I didn't really want to buy the stuff with all that going on. But now I'm STILL kicking myself for it because the store up here doesn't have the stuff in stock anymore. AAGGGHHH. Now I have to go shopping all over again. I think I'm more mad that I just didn't stick it out a little longer and just buy it. The babies helped me bake cookies (by playing nicely for 1/2 hour increments during the day) and we played "blanket" and with the couch pillows. Blanket is a game where I fling the blanket around until Whitney crawls over to get a ride. Yet another example of manipulating the environment. I'm having fun getting some Christmas cards already. I think that is one of my favorite things about Christmas. That and people are generally in a better mood because they are thinking of how to make others happy all at the same time. Enjoy the pics. We love looking at and watching the babies.

Playing on the couch cushions Babies laughing at bouncing toys

tis the season

This one's for you Grandma Kim

Tucker is not too enthused.

Christmas outfits with the two of them playing with a jingle bell.

Whitney takes the jingle bell.

Whitney saying hi to Tucker just after naptime. Check out the hair


So my friend Sue wrote on her Thanksgiving blog about her blessings. I've been wondering to myself about why it is that my hubby has a job in all this craziness of an economy, let alone one that allows me to stay home and just BE with the babies. I love BEING with the babies. It lets me find out about them and watch them grow, which is really fun to do on your own kid, but not others. I still have no idea why I get to have a hubby with a job and two VERY CUTE babies, but here's what I've learned about them this week.

Whitney invented a new game. It's called the blanket game. For some reason, lifting the blanket up and down is so fun. It is fun while she is sitting and trying to capture it with her arms. It is fun to lie on her back and kick like a dead bug while trying to catch it. It is fun to chase it and crawl on top of it to capture it. And it is really fun to let Mommy pull her around the room with it. She finally has four teeth, two on bottom and two on top. She crawls super fast, especially when getting ready for bath time and has nothing on. That is also a super funny game. Mommy capture naked baby.

Tucker is practicing his crawling, eating and discovering things with one finger skills. He has gone back to a huge amount of smiling and growling again. He loves to check things out with his one finger. He is crawling on hands and knees now, which makes both of them move fast. The other night I was trying to figure out why Tucker was crying. Finally he just crawled over the high chair to tell me he was hungry." Duh mom!! Isn't that usually the reason I'm grumpy?!"

Tucker and Whitney both like to play peek a boo with the table. They are just in general checking everything out 3 feet and below. We went to the Children's Museum here. They liked it. I tried taking Christmas pics, but I can't do it alone anymore. The ones here are the only ones they stayed still for. The rest, forget it!!

Tucker figured out (or remembered) that he can sleep through the night. What bliss!! I think it has a lot to do with figuring out they only need one longer nap of two hours in the day, lots of crawl time, and a full meal later than 4:30 pm. Then they are good and sleep 7:30 to 7. I feel super awesome and have gotten lots done. Like decorating the house for Christmas. I did that yesterday. It looks awesome. Christmas lights are another blessing. They make me feel so happy and chipper. One of the benefits of living in Seattle is that since it dark so much, the lights can be left on for more time. They are only not on for 8 hours of the day. Yep. Puget Sound energy loves it, too. I've also been working on baking for neighbors and making gifts. It's been a really fun week with another fun week coming up. Stay tuned.