9 months and Bill's Birthday

Sorry it's been so long since the last blog, I'm not sure where the time goes, but it sure does fly. Our baby girl is NINE months old and getting to be such a big girl. She is crawling all over the place and pulling herself up onto everything. I don't think she's going to beat her brother's record, but she will definitely be walking soon. She weighed in at 18 pounds and 7.5 ounces and is 28 inches tall. She has two teeth, loves to clap, wave goodbye, and as you saw on the last video I posted, dance whenever she hears music. Her stomach seems to be doing better and we even took her off the prevacid last week which is a relief. She sleeps through the night ... sometimes, and other times she decides she misses me sometime in the middle of the night and goes right back to sleep immediately after a quick feeding. I don't mind. She is eating a LOT, but won't really take anything off a spoon - already exhibiting signs of strong-willedness (can't imagine where she gets that) she wants to eat only what she can pick up herself. She's eating fruits and veggies, bagels, cheese, and even yogurt sometimes when she allows me to feed it to her. She also started drinking water out of a sippy cup this week, and as you can see, she was happiest when she was holding it and drinking it herself.

Isaac is growing too (really, he has gotten tall), and coming up with more and more funny things to say. He is absorbing language so quickly in fact that he seems to have picked up a bit of a stutter. According to Alli, our family expert :), it's totally normal for his age and his mouth just needs a chance to catch up with his brain (or something like that). In any event, he listens intently to what is said around him (even when you think he's not paying attention) and remembers EVERYTHING. No more promising stuff without intending to follow through - he remembers and will remind you. He's getting really fast on his scooter, still loves riding on Bill's bike, is enjoying swimming lessons, and is FINALLY getting his 2-year old molars (and is being a trooper about it). He also loves anything chocolate - especially his easter bunnies! He's getting better on the potty training thing but we're still not totally there, he wears big-boy underwear all morning before leaving the house, but we haven't consistently tackled leaving the house without a diaper yet. Small steps...

The two kiddos are still adorable together, Isaac is really cute about playing with Caitlin and trying to help as much as he can. He always wants to share his food with her which is cute but can be problematic when it's a french fry or something she's not supposed to eat yet! She loves everything he does and would be content to just watch him and laugh all day. They are both loving the warm weather and all the outside park time and some days the timing works out so I'm lucky enough to walk off the metro from work and see them waiting for me outside.

A couple of weeks ago we took advantage of our second round of flat stanley duties (for Jaden this time) to take some pictures around the capitol during the tulip blooming prime. Later that day we went to the bris of the newest yoga baby addition (Shane) and the older yoga kiddos got to play while the boys hid in the other room during the ceremony. Looks like Caitlin and Diego might be destined...

Grandma Bertie and Grandpa came to town to hang out with Isaac while Bill and I escaped to the Ritz to celebrate his birthday with a child-free overnight. They had a great time, including Gymboree, a fun outing to the Sculpture Garden, a ride on a city bus and the metro, and - to his pure joy - they took him out for french fries and milkshakes way past his bedtime! Needless to say, he had a blast and was sad to see them go.

These pictures were sent by Cesi from her sleepover with Caitlin the same night -- looks like they had fun too :)

Finally, in an extended celebration of Bill's birthday we took an overnight trip to New Jersey. Road trips can be disastrous, but this one went really well with both kids sleeping for a good part of both trips. During the awake time, Wilson was busy monitoring and trying to sneak bites from all the snack distractions I brought :) We had a great time with the whole Anderson family, enjoyed a DELICIOUS dinner, and even got in some boardwalk time, which Isaac loved. He also loved standing on the step-stool and helping Grandma-Jo with the dishes.