Does this thing still work?

Hi friends and followers! We're baaaaaack! I have been a slacker for the past year and I want to get back into updating the blog semi-regularly. I'm not making any promises, but I am going to try. the p is turning 2 on Monday and I was looking back at blog posts with the girls the other day to see The P at the same age. The the posts, pictures, and especially videos it was great to be able to see exactly what she was up to. I feel bad I missed so much time documenting all the things the girls have been doing this year. If I try to go back and catch up, I'll never be able to, so I am just going to start fresh.

To ease back into this, here are some of my favorite recent pictures of the girls.

This kid is a character ;)

The P still loves to dress up whenever she can

Decked out in Easter gifts

Spring Photo Shoot!

Lucky us...the p's baby sign language teacher has decided to pursue a dream of becoming a family photographer and she offered to take photos of our family for free to use on her website. We spent a beautiful afternoon at Norfolk Botanical Garden and got a bunch of great pictures...



If you are interested you can find her information at www.rsutherlandphotography.com

11 months!

So, what were we up to this month? In a word...walking. That's right, walking, walking, and more walking is the name of the game. As you can see from the videos I posted the p started walking right after she turned 10 months. Basically, she hasn't stopped. Each week we could tell that she was noticeably better. She started out like Frankenstein with her hands out and very shaky. Then she was doing a "raise the roof" move with her hands overhead. Now she is pretty steady on her feet and can even stand up without having to pull up on something. She walked and walked until she got a blister on her toe and then she kept walking some more.

Thanks to the time change I was able to switch up the p's schedule so that she is up until about 7:30 at night instead of going to bed at 6. Now she can hang out with us at the dinner table and (knock on wood) sleep a little later in the morning.

I am starting to catch some glimpses of feistiness in her personality. She will definitely let you know if she is unhappy with something. She doesn't cry a lot but she "yells" and turns bright red. I swear she was kicking and fussing when I put her in the crib to take her 11 month pictures, but as soon as the camera came out she turned off the tears and turned on the smile. She is still a little ham ;)

When we went for her mid-month weight check she had gained just over half a pound and grew 1/4 inch over the past 6 weeks, so the doctor was pleased. We'll see them again after her big birthday.

Watch out...

Watch out Real Houswives of New Jersey...there's a new girl in town

She comes complete with a leopard print dress, kitten heels, and a tatoo! Plus, the blonde is all natural...at least for now.

Growing up

I am always posting about the new things that the p is doing, but her big sister has been busy learning lots of new skills too. Sometimes they are harder to capture in pictures, but I couldn't resist this one. Today she wrote her name all by herself! She is definitely very detail oriented and is really into coloring with crayons and drawing with sidewalk chalk.

Spoiler alert...

So I couldn't wait until the end of the month for this one. Just two days after she turned 10 months the p started walking on her own. She decided to let go of whatever she was holding onto and head across the room. I thought we had a problem with bruises on her head before, now it's really bad. I can't take my eyes off of her for a second. When we were outside yesterday she was next to me standing with her walker, I turned my head to help The P with something, and by the time I turned back she was halfway across the garage all by herself. At least I keep telling myself that it will be good in the late spring and summer when the weather gets warm because she won't be crawling around in shorts and dresses. We will see!

Here she is on the first day of walking...


Five days later and she is even steadier...

10 months!!!

Yes friends...we have teeth :) Two came in at the same time on the bottom at the beginning of the month. That was a couple days of fun which also happened to coincide with the beginning of our "winter vacation" to the Poconos. the p was unusually fussy for our long car rides up to NJ and PA and even refused the pacifier for a day. I thought it was part of a cold she had, but then I noticed a little bit of white peaking through her gums. By the third day she was getting back to normal and within a week the teeth were in full view ;) I can only hope when the rest fill in it isn't as bad. Besides getting teeth the p was busy practicing her crawling and getting faster and faster. She has also been pulling up on furniture this month. She can take up to 6 steps on her own between Daddy and I. It won't be long before she is walking all over the place. With all of the moving around she constantly has bruises on her mostly bald little head. She is eating lots of new food. Bagels and toast are her new favorites (another trait that she inherited from Daddy's side of the family). She enjoys anything she can pick up on her own.

I discovered that she loves stuffed animals that make noise and move or light up. She watches intently while they are talking or singing and then grabs them for a big open mouth kiss on the nose. I tried to get it on video, but of course she wouldn't do it. I'll keep trying...