Well the City Babes accomplished so many things this year - from first steps, first teeth, first cupcake, first trip to Hawaii, first tantrums, first words...I could go on, boasting about all of these amazing milestones. At the end of this year, I'm very proud of how much they've grown and how lucky we are to be so instrumental in their development. At 19 months old now, they are full of energy, curiosity and a love for Elmo.
Cora is working on her jumping. She gets to practice once a week in the bounce house at tot time, which is hosted at our local Parks and Rec Department playground. She nearly has it. In the meantime, she says a version of JUMP-AH! Over the holidays, she referred to snowmen as "no-man" and Santa was "oh-ho-ho." She loves asking about her cousin Avery "A-whee", Davin (Di-Da) and Bup (Bup-AH), on a regular basis. She loves to look at the family photos we have in the hall and name everyone she knows. She loves sleeping with a kangaroo, "roo" and her blanket. She and Sutter enjoy playing with doors, or hiding in their closet. On the playground, she will climb the play structures to reach the tallest slide. She will go down those slides, controlling herself with her shoes, if it is too fast. She loves to say, No, although it doesn't always mean no. She does know how to nod yes, although her whole body tends to agree with that nod. She loves to eat, and will often clean up her brother's plate if he doesn't finish his food. She loves to laugh, be tickled, and chased.
Sutter loves Elmo. They both love Elmo, but something about that Elmo voice makes Sutter smile and put his fingers in his mouth as a sign of excitement. When Elmo appears on the TV, his whole body goes stiff as he points to the screen and says, "EH-MO! EH-MO!" It all seemed very innocent that we would allow the babes to watch a little TV here and there. After realizing that Thomas the Train was a non-listening train and should be sent to the scrap yard, I decided to turn on Sesame Street. One episode later, it was all Elmo, all the time. The show left a positive impression on me, so I hope it does for them, too. Elmo has even been our babysitter for a few desperate minutes, occupying them while we get something done in the other room.
In other Sutter news, he has expanded his vocabulary, too. Mama, Dada, CoCo (for Cora on occasion), ap-ah (apple), mana (banana), prezl (pretzel), mil (milk), wa (walk), Ge-Ge (Curious George) and GaGa (Granny). He loves to throw kisses. He still gets shy around some adults. He loves to wrestle with Frank. He loves to run and kick a ball. When playing with toys, he is content to take things apart and put them back together. He just learned how to put things in a row. And then promptly mess them up. At Christmas, I was checking out at a store, and a few boxes fell off a display. He stacked them back up, looked at his fine work, then knocked all of them down. He was smiling, proud of his fine work.
The holidays were very special this year because we were able to be with most of the family. We traveled down to the OC, staying with Bup and Granny. We drove at night, while they slept. That was great. However, when we arrived, they were so excited to be there, dancing around the house, that they did not fall back asleep. Granny Judy (aka Granny Gaga), arrived a day later, just in time for the Babes first gingerbread house decorating. We put strawberry cream cheese as the base and cranberries on top. They ate all of the cranberries and then chomped away on the house. They had a sugar high. It was a joy to watch them. Overall, the babes are loved so much, and it was fun to have them interact with the whole family.
As we enter 2015, I'm excited to see what's next for us as a family. I've added to my list to blog at least once a month. It's on the interwebs, so I have you to hold me to it.
Thank you for all your love and support.
xoxo
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| Annual new year's day walk on the beach. We love you! |
