We have WORDS!

Finally, William is starting to say some words!! Still no mama or dada though.

O-oooh (uh oh)
Duh (duck and dog)
Deh (Della, our cat)
Muh (more, while also signing for more)
Baaa (ball)
At (cat)

He's started all of this in the past week. Keep it big boy...it's so fun to watch you learn!

Will-monster is 15 months!

William had his 15 month well (or, not-so-well) check this week. He woke up with a 101 fever, diarrhea, and congestion the day of his appointment (good timing...just one copay!). Our doctor was concerned with his breathing and wheezing so I gave him a breathing treatment, which turned into an exhausting 7 minute wrestling match, to see if it helped open up his airways. He has been on prednisone for the past 5 days and it has seemed to help a bit, but I'm not convinced that he's completely better. We go back in a couple days...so time will tell. We delayed his vaccinations until he's healthy enough to tolerate them.

He was 25 pounds (50th %tile) and 32.5 inches (90th %tile). I thought his t-shirts were looking short. Now I know why...He grew 2 inches in 3 months!

William is behind in language development because he isn't saying any real words. He does not say mama or dada, ever. Our doctor is going to give it a couple more months before we decide whether any intervention is necessary. He babbles and "talks" all the time, it's just not real words. He's able to communicate what he wants/needs by pointing and babbling or grunting. He does not have any issues with language comprehension because he can follow simple commands like "William, get the ball" or "Bring the ball to mama." He also LOVES to give hugs, kisses, and high fives on command. One of my favorite things to watch is the way he hugs and kisses his sister when she is crying. Ah, what a sweetheart!

Where William is lacking in words, he makes up for in gross motor development. That boy is all over the place. He's been walking for 5 months already and is now running. He can push, pull, climb, lift, etc. In fact, he's even given himself two black eyes from trying to do things he's not quite ready for. He does not have any fear! And that keeps mom and dad on their toes!

I love you, Will-monster! You bring a joy to my life that I cannot explain...and you have your mama wrapped around your finger :)

2010/11 Preschool

Hannah had a FANTASTIC 3-year preschool experience. I still can't believe how much she has learned and how far she came during the course of those 9 months. She started the year timid and shy and somewhat afraid to speak up. But she ended the year confident and able to stick up for herself and speak well in front of her class. She mastered all the typical 3 year old skill and most impressively, picked up sight words. I think she's up to 15 words and is starting to grasp the concept of sounding out simple words. She is so eager to learn and wants to practice her sight words every night during book time. I'm glad to see that she has embraced learning and I pray that it sticks with her. I'm so excited to see how much she progresses this last year before kindergarten starts.

Here is first day of school in August 2010:


And her last day in May 2011:


Hannah, it is such a joy to watch you as you grow up!

Batman!

Hannah has this odd fascination with all things Batman. It's only odd because she is such a girly-girl. There is a little boy in her class at school that talks about Batman all the time and they play Batman & Supergirl together (and I suspect he might be her first crush!). She asked for a Batman toy last Christmas and I figured it would just be a phase and she'd be over it before the New Year. Well, she still loves it! So while walking through Old Navy last month I came across a Batman shirt and thought I'd take the opportunity to match my kids. I've always wanted them to match and if it weren't against Mark's wishes, they'd be in matching smocked dresses and jon-jon's all the time. At least Mark could accept this matching combo :)

Cape San Blas 2011

I'm a bad blogger these days. Life just seems to get busier and busier as the kids get older! It doesn't help that work just gets busier as well (for both me and Mark).

Last month we enjoyed a fantastic vacation to Cape San Blas, FL. We couldn't have asked for better weather...mid 80's and low humidity. The kids really enjoyed the beach. Some of you may recall the beach failure of 2009, when Hannah refused to put her feet in the sand the entire week (see post here). She loves it now, thank goodness. Here are a few pictures from our trip.

The Lord's Prayer (Hannah's Version)

My birthday present!

I celebrated my 30th (gasp!) birthday last weekend with my family. I was so excited to receive a PANDORA bracelet with 2 clips and 5 charms. I've worn it nearly every day! Here is what it looks like:

William Update

I've been terrible about blogging lately. I haven't mentioned any of William's milestones in the past couple months and he's had a LOT of them! He's been walking since he turned 10 months old and now that he is 1 he is practically running! He claps, waves, throws a ball, and rolls a ball too. He has a vocabulary of 3 words: dada, mama, and Della (our cat). He understands the word 'no' and surprisingly, he even obeys it! His favorite toy these days is a ball of any kind. He is also very fond of his grandparent's cuckoo clock. He's a pretty serious boy, but his smile just melts my heart because it's a truly genuine smile when he does break it out :)

Here are his 8-11 months pictures that I never got around to posting. I think you'll find that these pictures capture his seriousness pretty well.

8 months


9 months


10 months


11 months

He had his 12 month check up this week and is 23lbs 4oz (50th percentile) and 30.5 inches (75th percentile). Absolutely perfect, if you ask me!

We have a little speller on our hands!

Tonight while Mark and I were doing our own thing around the house, Hannah was apparently doing her own thing too! This is what she had to show us! I can't believe she wrote her name with all the letters in the right order. She is learning so much at preschool. She has really taken an interest in early reading skills, such as letter sounds and what letter different words start with. It's so cool to see her learning things and it's equally cool to see how proud she is of her accomplishments. Way to go, Hannah!

Little snaggletooth!

Here's William sharing his toothy grin!

My swinging cuties

Hannah is growing up!

The other morning Hannah made her bed all by herself without being asked. She was so proud (as was I)! I think she did a great job for a 3 year old :)

Leo

Hannah's preschool class pet joined us last weekend and we had tons of fun with "Leo." Leo is a stuffed dog backpack. He became an instant part of our family and even I was a little sad when it was time for him to go back to school. Hannah LOVED having Leo with our family! She slept with him each night and made sure he sat at the table with us for every meal. We took him to two parks to play and have a picnic and even took him to a dog park called Wiggly Field :)

Snow Babies

I'm excited to report that Hannah really liked the snow this year. In the past she's always been hesitant to walk on the snow because she said she didn't like the way it crunched under her feet. So we suited her up as any good Southerner would, with bags on her feet and off she went!

William wasn't so much a fan of the cold. Actually, he never has liked being cold or having something cold touch his skin (like my ever-frozen hands!)

The belated Christmas post

What can I say, I've been a very bad blogger. Here is a long overdue post with some Christmas pictures. We had a wonderful Christmas season with our families and Santa was good to all of us! Hannah really got into the excitement and anticipation of Christmas day. Every day during December she told me she wanted Santa to bring her a batman toy and a princess toy. I think she has a crush on Batman...that, or the little boy at school who is always talking about Batman ;)

Christmas love!


Hannah's princess castle from Aunt Mandy. She is very protective of this castle and won't let William anywhere near it.


WJ modeling his new UGA hat (and a huge booger)


Hanging her stocking on Christmas Eve


Santa came through!


The kids sporting their Christmas "fancies"


And a few family shots :)