13 Months

So much to report as these little 13 month olds think they are all grown up.  We have officially entered the walking stage!  They aren't full blown cruisers yet, but are testing the waters.  Grayson was first.  Aaron looked over and G was squealing like he does when he's playing and took two steps towards him with his arms out, trying to get to Daddy.  I wasn't home, bummer!  I got home shortly after and was able to see two more steps.  He is now up to three at a time.  He is very cautious and prefers to be on his own versus us trying to stand him up and encourage him.  Who's surprised by that?  Not me!
Hallie took her first steps almost two weeks later, and guess what?  I missed her's too!  I walked out of the room and asked Aaron to supervise for two minutes.  And she did it!  I saw her take one step shortly after.  She seems to be more methodical about walking and standing.  You can see her wheels turning, whereas, Grayson just goes for it.  This is one milestone that I am not dying to hit.  I was so excited for them to sit, crawl and pull up, but as we leave the baby stage and head in the direction of toddlers I have to admit I am a little sad.  I'll get over it, and in the meantime, enjoy watching them master this skill individually and uniquely.
It has been fun seeing them interact with one another more frequently.  They 'talk' to each other, follow each other and play together now.  A few nights back I was cooking dinner while they ate in their highchairs, and looked over to see them reaching for eachother's hands.  They held hands for about 5 minutes.  It was precious!  They laughed and jabbered back and forth the entire time.  Big Daddy built a swing set (HUGE HIT) in the back yard.  The first time they swang Hallie just looked over at Grayson the entire time with a huge grin, as if to say, isn't this fun, G?   Grayson is pretty rough with all of us, and while we are teaching him not to hit and bite, Hallie doesn't yet understand his way of play.  He grabs her hair, pushes her, you know, like brothers do.  While I don't think he means to hurt her, he is so much bigger and stronger, that we are having to carefully watch them together.  In total Hallie form, she loses it and throws herself backwards (or forwards) on the ground, while he laughs. I can't imagine what the older years will bring considering, I am already play referee at 13 months!

See what I mean?

New Swing Set!

 

GRAYSON
25.12 pounds
31 inches
8 teeth
Learning to drink out of a sippy cup, although he nearly drowns himself every time.
Drinking from straw
Eating just about anything we put in front of him.  Loves salmon, asparagus, papaya, pancakes, grilled cheese.
Favorite toy right now is the new play kitchen and kitchen accessories, perfect size for little hands.
Loves baths, this isn't new, but trying to stand the entire time is.  "Sit down, sir," is played on repeat.
He may be getting new teeth as he has been waking up fairly consistently over the last week.
Says, toes, dada, dog, Jet, MAMMA and is making other news sounds that I believe are 'th' noises.
G is still mellow, fun loving and all around a happy guy.  He laughs constantly and usually isn't fussy other than when he is first waking up from naps and when he is overly tired.

HALLIE
20 pounds
29 inches
4 teeth currently, but her top two front teeth are coming in now.  About time!
Learning to drink out of sippy, but prefers straws and bottles.
Learning to climb.  She climbed onto mom's brick hearth.  Determined little lady.
Kisses her baby doll with opened mouth kisses.
Says, toes, dog, mamma, dadda, nana, uh-oh and I think she tried to say Mickey today.
Also eats just about everything we give her.  She may even have a better appetite than G these days!
Sleeps well, but is hard to rock to sleep.  We have been giving her a bottle to go down.  Not in the rule book, but it works so we go with it.  I would love to rock her to sleep, but if we are with her she will stay up until she passes out on us hours after her bedtime.  She is still camped out in the play room pack and play.  We had her in the nursery with G and they did fine, but for naps they both go longer when they aren't in the same room.  For now this works.
She is sweet, funny and so expressive.  Her determination is really shining through as she gets older.  For example, she loves to push her walkers, but if they get jammed or stuck on something she cries and throws herself face first on the floor!  It's wild.  She must have gotten that from Aaron.  Ha!

Both are ecstatic when Aaron comes home from work.  They squeal, drop what they are doing and race to him.  I am not sure if I have witnessed anything sweeter in my life.