Sisters

Vivienne is always quick to give Evelyn a hug or offer her a toy or feed her or direct her away from danger (or just direct her away from rooms that she doesn't want her to go into - I think she enjoys having someone smaller than her around).  The moments of sibling rivalry between these two are few and far between.  They may look like they came from different tribes, but these two are definitely sisters through and through.

And I love the way Evelyn wrinkles her nose when she smiles.  I hope she keeps that forever.

Evelyn is 10 Months Old!

3rd Trip to the Beach

Wow, so I totally missed the 9-month mark with an update on Evelyn.  She has changed so much over the past two months.  She is just a little ball off chubby, tan grins and giggles.

She has one tooth that is almost fully grown on the bottom.  She has two more coming in on the top and one more coming in on the bottom that I can see right now (already broken through the gums but not adding to her smile noticeably yet).

Evelyn eats all kinds of foods.  I have to say that it has been nice not to buy or make any baby food this time.  She loves all finger foods, and tends to get tired of the spoon quickly if we try to feed her applesauce or yogurt.  She mostly eats cheese, beans, strawberries, melons and bananas.  She has also has her first peanut butter and honey sandwiches.  (I know, I know... you're supposed to wait until they are 12 months, but we're just rebels around here.)

Evelyn never took a bottle, and we apparently have just jumped over the whole "sippy cup" phase because she suddenly just started drinking out of the cups with straws that the big kids use.  It's nice to be able to use the same set of cups without anything extra to wash.  She is mostly just drinking water, with a few sips of cow's milk here and there.

Unfortunately, she seems to be losing interest in nursing during the day.  However, she still wakes around 3 or 4 am to nurse, and I will hold onto that for as long as I can.  I'm not ready for her to completely wean just yet.  I was hoping that we would go a lot longer, but I guess she will let me know if that's not for her.

Around 9 months old, she learned to push herself back from her belly to a sitting position.  This seemed to slow down her development toward crawling, because she could roll to where she wanted to be and sit herself up to play with whatever she wanted.

On May 25, she officially started real-deal crawling.  From that day on, she was off... exploring all the rooms and cabinets and toys and electrical cords.  We're much more relaxed about babyproofing this time.  I think we'll give natural selection a bit more of a chance with this one.  ;)  I love seeing her little bottom wagging as she plows across the floor on her next adventure.

Evelyn pulls herself up to her knees and will occasionally pull up to one knee and one foot (kind of like the "one knee" position that guys take to propose).  She doesn't yet pull herself all the way up to standing, though.

She goes to sleep around 7, usually wakes up once to nurse, and then sleeps until 7 or 8 the next morning.  She doesn't get a morning nap (because she is being dragged to the playground or museum or on some excursion with the big kids), but she naps in the afternoons from 1:30ish to 3:30ish.  Now she is sleeping in the nursery where Miles and Vivienne used to sleep.  It still seems strange to me to see just one crib in that room.

Evelyn has the deepest brown eyes and beautiful olive skin.  She is very easy to coax a smile or giggle from.  She hardly ever cries or fusses, though she does whine and wimper when she's really tired or hungry.  She is our little Mellow Yellow.  Her hair has gotten lighter with the sun, though it's still a medium to dark brown, and it's starting to grow a lot longer in the back.  I see some fun braids in her future.

I can't believe our baby girl is almost to her first birthday.

Train Ride

We went to the Durham Museum of Life + Science.  That day, they decided to ride in a seat with each other instead of me.  They are growing up so fast.  *sigh*  I can't believe that they are old enough to do this.

My Riding Buddy

Cheap Labor

Now if I can just teach them to change each other's diapers and mow the lawn...

(In my defense, it was actually her idea to wash the car.  I have no idea where she came up with this, because we don't wash our cars.  She must have seen it on a cartoon or something.)

Big Kid Beds

Well, the big kid beds seem to be going very well so far.  Miles and Vivienne have their bedroom with two twin beds in it.  At night, they both sleep in their room together.  Our (formerly?) exercise room has another twin bed that Miles naps in, because it quickly became apparent that they would never actually nap in the same room without being contained by cribs.  I guess having a playmate while you're trying to sleep during the day is just a little too tempting. 

I knew that the kids needed to make this transition when I was on the treadmill one day.  I had put the kids down for their naps and was sneaking in a workout.  I started to feel like someone was watching me.  Out of the corner of my eye, I thought I saw someone standing behind me, but I decided it was my mind playing tricks on me.  When I turned my head, I saw Miles standing there with his thumb in his mouth and his lovey in his hand.  He had climbed out of his crib and was just standing beside me on the treadmill.  Of course, this completely took me by surprise and I nearly jumped out of my skin.  Clearly Miles was done sleeping in his crib.

When we first switched them to big beds, nighttime went relatively well, but naps were a nightmare (no pun intended).  Miles would get out of his bed again and again and again and run out of the room.  I tried putting him back in bed over and over and over without showing him any signs of frustration or anger (so that I wouldn't encourage him to keep playing this game with me).  After doing this around 20 times, I would usually reach my breaking point and spank him.  I hate spanking, but after I spanked him, he usually stayed in his room. 

One day I went in to check on him after he fell asleep.  He was slumbering there with his thumb hanging out of his mouth, trusty Pooh Bear by his side, and I could still see the mark of my hand on the back of his leg from the swat.  It made my heart sink.  My goal is to not spank my kids (or at least to create a nap routine that doesn't rely on spanking for a successful nap), and I felt like I was failing him.

A couple weeks ago, my parents let us borrow a tall baby gate, and that has been a godsend.  I'm certain that Miles could scale that gate if he wanted to, but it creates enough of a barrier that he just shuts the door and climbs back in bed.  Every now and then, he will open the door a few times before finally going to sleep, but this seems to be the exception and not the rule.  I am so relieved to have a nap time routine that doesn't end in a spanking each day.

Vivienne has pretty much been a dream (pun intended) in her big girl bed.  She is the complete opposite of Miles.  She will not get out of that bed on her own after naps.  When she wakes up, she calls for me and I come sweep her out of her bed.  I have tried explaining to her that she can just hop down, but I actually really enjoy greeting her with a smile and some warm arms to hold her tight after her nap.  I know that these moments are numbered.

Daddy's Eat Pizza

Miles:  "Daddy's go to work."  (He puts the "s" on the "Daddy" instead of saying "goes.")

Me:  "Yes, he did."

Miles:  "Daddy's eat pizza?" 

When we visit Daddy at lunch, they get to eat pizza and ride the elevators.  We're pretty sure that they think Jason just eats pizza and rides the elevators all day.

I'm pretty sure Daddy doesn't eat much pizza, Buddy.  But he sure misses you when he's gone.

"No, Not Either."

For the most part, Miles and Vivienne use English properly.  Sure, they shorten sentences, like "I go now" and "Miles go to sleep" (instead of "I go to sleep.").  But lately, Vivienne has been on this kick with using the word "either".  If you ask her if her diaper is wet, she will reply,"No, not either."  If you ask her if she wants to go to the store, she will say,"No, not either."  She incorrectly uses the word "either" quite a few times a day.  I have no idea why she picked this up, but I'm guessing that our "either" will just disappear one day and we will forget that it ever came to stay for a while.