3 months!

Vivien is still in an eat-sleep-eat-sleep routine.   She stays awake for only short periods of time still, but certainly more frequently.  She now sits up in the corner of the couch or lays on a blanket for a while and looks around to see what's happening.  But if we keep her awake for too long, she lets us know by getting very fussy.  When she is awake, she smiles a whole lot.  It doesn't take much at all to get a huge toothless grin out of her.

She is a pretty good sleeper at night too.  She usually naps downstairs in the evening until we're ready for bed, between 10 and 11 most nights.  I feed her a little, but shes usually ready for her nighttime sleep at that point.  Many nights she sleeps straight through til 4-5am, sometimes a little earlier, sometimes a little later.  After I feed her around 7am, Ryder and I go downstairs and she sleeps in the bassinet for a couple hours more.

A couple of times this month, and even before, she has rolled onto her side.  I would say that it's always the left side.  Once this past month, she rolled all the way onto her stomach.  She would probably try that more if I was able to let her hang out on the floor more, but Ryder can be a little dangerous with his affection if she's unattended!  She has also lost a lot of hair this month, in all the places that her head rubs on the mattress so far.  Her eyes are still blue at this point and we're not quite sure which direction they're headed.  I guess we'll wait and see.

Love that toothless grin!

She stays up pretty well on her own.

Arms and legs are always moving, just like Ryder.

Just chillin'

That little face!

23 Months!

Inching our way closer to 2 years old!!  It's pretty crazy to think that later this month it will have been 2 years since he was born.  It seems like yesterday, but on the other hand so much has happened since then!

His speaking skills continue to improve.  He is saying more and more 2 word combinations- last month he started adding "other" to words, this month he has been combining people and things to show possession.  He loves to point out "Daddy cup" and "Mommy elbow" and so on and so forth.

He really enjoys throwing balls. We got him a basketball hoop for Christmas, and he likes putting the ball in the hoop, but mostly he loves throwing balls all over.  He will throw them across the room, or he'll sit next to a wall and bounce it off the wall back to himself.  He is building cars with his Legos by himself now and then he pushes them around the floor.  His favorite winter activity so far is shoveling, followed closely by sledding.  He takes the little car shovel and pushes snow around the driveway and street.  If he sees the shovel on the way to or from the car, he loses his mind when he can't shovel then and there!

Now before bed he helps pick up the living room and dining room.  When I say "Let's pick up" he starts grabbing things and putting them away.  He knows right where almost everything goes.  He is also showing more interest in his clothes.  He will let us know when he wants to keep on his PJ's or wear his choo-choo shirt.  He also tries to help Vivien when she's upset.  If he hears her crying in the kitchen or on the monitor, he wants me to go get her right away.  If she is in her car seat and crying, he will rock it to try to comfort her.

He has his four front teeth top and bottom, plus his four molars are firmly established now.  I'm pretty sure some other teeth will be coming soon, because all of a sudden he is drooling a lot again.

He sat down for about a minute this time...

then it was up and at 'em!

Goofing around on the couch.

 Chilling out in the back of his truck.

On the move in his truck.

We've been seeing this face a lot lately!

He loves his cars, or trucks, as he calls them.