Proper Authorization

Lately, Cora has taken to saying to Matt, "Can I please have a cookie (or whatever she wants at the time)? MY MOM SAID I CAN." Today, she turned around and used this on me. Stinker.

Also, as we were getting into the car after dropping Eva off at school Cora said, "I miss my father and my sister." So sweet when she wants to be.

Play ball!

And because we can't get enough of our giggly guy, here he is having fun playing with Dzia-dzia (what the kids call Matt's dad).

Alex feeds the dog

Alex discovers cause and effect and that it's a whole lot of fun to feed the dog. Pardon my silly voice and giggles in the background--I'm a fool for this boy.

5-year and 9-Month Checkups

I took Eva and Alex in for their checkups this morning. Everything went well until Eva received her three shots--there were many, many tears. They're both doing very well.

Eva's Stats:
39 pounds
42.5 inches

Eva is right around the 50th percentile for height, weight and BMI. She also had her eyes checked and had 20/20 vision in her right eye and 20/30 vision in her left. She is up to date on her immunizations and is ready for kindergarten.

Alex's Stats:
21 pounds 12 ounces
28.5 inches

Alex's crazy rate of growth has definitely slowed down, which is good because he has blown through more clothing and sizes than I thought possible for a boy of just 9-months old (I just bought him his first 12-18/18-month size clothing). He is currently around the 60th-65th percentile for weight and is in the 50th percentile for height.

Game Changer

Alex is figuring out how to crawl. He's been able to pivot on his stomach for quite a while now but now he is really pushing up on his hands and is making progress (mostly backward for now). He is also rocking on his hands and knees. Regardless of his trouble moving in a forward direction, the boy is really getting around and will soon be getting into trouble. These pictures were taken within a span of two minutes.

I feel compelled to explain that my brown and gold paisley chair typically does not live in my blue family room. The Christmas tree is currently in the place where this chair usually lives. Also, we try not to expose Alex to tv but it was the Rose Parade so we had to make an exception.

Pausing to take a break. Crawling is hard work!

Oooh! What is this?

Pearly Whites

Alex cut two teeth within a couple days from each other--the first was the bottom left center tooth and a couple days later its counterpart on the right side came through. This was a bit of a surprise and he is the youngest any of the kids have been when they cut their first teeth. It makes me a bit sad to think he won't have his toothless Muppet-like smile much longer.

Progress Report

This week has been busy with parent-teacher conference and a well baby check-up so it seemed appropriate to give a quick rundown of how everyone is doing.

I met with Eva's teacher on Monday for a parent-teacher conference. Eva is doing really well in pre-Kindergarten. "I wish we had a room full of Evas" and "The next time I'm gone, I'm going to have Eva be my substitute" were some of the glowing things her teacher had to say. Eva is working above and beyond where they expect her to be. Go Eva!

Alex had his 6-month well baby appointment today. He weighs 20 pounds 7 ounces and is 27.5 inches tall; that puts him at the 90th and 80th percentiles respectively. Since his 4-month check up he grew 1 inch and gained 2 pounds. I'm hoping that his growth rate is starting to slack off a bit. Most babies double their birth weight by 6 months and he is just a pound shy of tripling it!

Developmentally, Alex is doing really well. He still doesn't roll over from back to front but the doctor isn't concerned (he either doesn't care or maybe it's just a lot of weight to move around). He is strong and wiggling around the floor, sitting up, vocalizing well, transfering objects from one hand to the other and even started banging two objects together. He is just fine.

Cora is now two and a half years old. We decided that enough was enough and this kid needed to potty train over the long Thanksgiving weekend. She is doing really well and I feel like the pride and confidence she is feeling by being potty trained just might be lessening her not-so-fun behavioral traits as of late. She is two and, man, she is REALLY good at it.

When Cora isn't yelling "NO," she is incredibly funny. She is also observant and a problem solver. Today, when we were waiting behind some cars at a red light she was suggesting that I go different directions. I told her that we had to go straight to get to where we were going. She said, "But you can't go straight because the cars are in the way." We'll work on her understanding of traffic laws next.