Cheeeeeese!!!

I think as his ability to knowingly pose for pictures has increased, we have seen a proportionate... change in the quality of pictures.

The Mohawk

Someone asked me if her hair was naturally like this.

I wasn't sure how to take it or how to respond.

Rest assured, this gal is au natural.

Road Trip Part II

I hope you have a Cooper with you.

And your husband remembers to pack a pull up.

And there isn't a loud wedding right outside your hotel room.

Road Trip Part I

Should you ever find yourself in central Illinois...

Fresh Air

As opposed to last month where I was busy busy busy

This month is slooooow.

Such is the ebb and flow of my job.

Today was so slow, I was able to leave early so Steve could head out, and I got a bunch of one on one two time with my two favorite kiddos.

She was there in my lap, but this one is about him.

He, too, is divine:

Eight, Eight, Eight is Great!!!

I almost have nothing to say because so little time has passed since I recapped your first seven months, I am not sure how to articulate what is "new" and "different" though I know things are both "new" and "different" because no two days are alike in this madhouse and you are changing so fast, but nonetheless, I shall make an attempt so as to get back (closer) to on track for timely posting... Anyways... HAPPY TWO THIRDS OF A YEAR!

You are beautiful. See:

and you are rotten as heck - can't you tell:

You almost NEVER stay still:

Seriously... even when I am holding you, even when you are SLEEPING. Our video monitor is basically just a normal monitor because half the time you are off the screen and we cannot see what you are doing and must rely on our ears.

I cannot believe you are so close to your one year mark... time is flying by and so much has changed and so much more is about to change. Phew. Exhausting. You must be teething because you are constantly chewing on something, anything, and I even went so far as to vacuum tonight because I saw waaaay too much hair go into your mouth this evening. Nothing like a crawler to point out that your carpet is not, in fact, that clean. I continue to adore your hair, I continue to enjoy your enthusiasm, I continue to enjoy your smile, I continue to enjoy you.

Everything about you.

You are divine:

Girl Time!

It is hard to get you to sit still long enough for these... I persist. You tolerate...

Mostly

When Daddy is Away...

Steve had to be gone Tuesday night, so I told Coop that once Daphne went to bed, we would have a movie slumber party.

He picked Nemo to watch.

I popped the popcorn and poured selections of candy into a bowl.

This was a night I will never forget.

Radio Silence

Contrary to all the weeks since coming back to work until last week, things are relatively tame in the "land of me," which is only relevant in that the "land of me" dictates how often I have the chance to capture the "land of Coop and Daph" here in the "land of the internet." And yet...

It isn't that I have nothing to say, it is that, despite having a tame work schedule all of a sudden, I still have 2 kids and somehow, they are quite adorably distracting, and the DVR shows won't just watch themselves once the wee ones retire for the night. I feel compelled, at times, to pull out the computer and type something about the wonder that is each of them, but then can't think of a "theme" and feel overwhelmed by trying to capture all the things there is to report in a single post, determine that it would take far too long to do so, and then I mentally put back the computer I was too lazy to get up and pull out from under the couch in the first place.

So... sorry about that.

To tiptoe back to the world of proper mommy-documentation of their greatness... I give you a top 10, split in half - not because each is half as great, but because I can only justify a short break from the work that I need to finish before the end of the day...

Cooper:

(1) Your sweet, sweet dance moves. You will start doing what can only be described as "the standing worm" and then look at me (while clearly concentrating on your gesticulating) "do you like my sweet dance moves?". Yes, my love, I do. You clearly got them from your father, despite the hours of dance party I have had with you.

(2) "Poopsie". Hilarious, all the time. No seriously, it is. We love this potty humor up in here. If by "we" I mean "Daphne" who laughs any time you start talking about such things. Which, despite myself, makes it frigging adorable. I can already see how you two plotting together will lead to my demise.

(3) Raspberries. You are keen on giving me raspberries all of a sudden. Not giving raspberries in general, but to ME only. You make me lay down and then blow raspberries in my belly, and then sometimes just lie with your head on my belly all snuggly like. I think this has to do with the extra squishy-ness that a twice c-sectioned belly has to offer. It is both sweet and weird, but definitely worth noting, as this phase, I am sure, will soon pass (I hope, for your sake mainly, but kind of for mine, as a girl can only take so much belly-squishing).

(4) "I don't like [_____], anymore." The [______] can be anything from green beans to chocolate. There is no rhyme or reason to your likes / dislikes / fallings out of favor, except temporal - you let us know the status of things as you see them. I find this amusing, and am letting you flex your preference muscles. You go little guy, don't like those M&Ms.

(5) Drawings. Seriously, kid, you got some mad art chops.

(6) *BONUS*. Parties. You now have "Parties" with your "friends" - meaning you hang with some stuffies and are adorable and "eat banana snacks" and sing songs. Your animals are all named "Bear" (including little zebra)except for your panda, whose name is "Polar Bear."

Daphne:

(1) You are a FORCE. Seriously. You walk are carried into a room and everyone takes notice. Others would have to walk into a room naked to command attention the way you do. Your Dad says he doesn't know how to contain your spirit sometimes. I told him he better not. Which he won't cause that isn't what he meant. He meant sometimes he just wishes you would dial it down to a 9, as you are constantly at an 11 one million. Shout on, little lady, mommy will totally sing back up.

(2) Scoots. You are a fast little creeper- all upper body, no lower body, and it is so amazing to watch. You see something, get big-eyed, then take the frick off. I will move the object of your desire and you will pull a 180 so fast I can hardly keep up. You sometimes appear to have forgotten about the thing you wanted that I moved out of your reach, but that is only to lull me into a false sense of security, because moments later you will scoot over to it and promptly clench it in your little chubby first, and direct it into your beautiful mouth. Too fast, little girl, too fast. Please don't learn to use your lower half until we have properly baby-proofed.

(3) Poof. Your hair. You have INCHES of height with no effort at all. I cannot get it to sit flat to your head, and I could run my fingers back and forth over the whispy poof of your hair for days. I both dread and look forward to when your hair becomes real people hair - I can do a mean french braid, but this poofiness is so wonderfully baby, and you are growing so fast, I want to hold on to it.

(4) Fish. You LOVE LOVE LOVE to swim. We took you (again) this past weekend, and while Coop was off with his floaties on, being Mr. Independent, you were handed to me to tote around the pool. And then came the kicking - pure glee. Then came the splashing - total elation. Then came the head-dunking / attempt to drink the pool - EUPHORIA! Seriously, I TRIED to keep your head out of range of the water, but any time I would hold you anywhere near the surface (which is necessary as you are still quite short, so to get your lower half submerged requires close proximity to water of your upper half) you would hurl your face, open-mouothed, at the water. Usually I could stop you short of breaking the surface, but a few times you came up... refreshed.

(5) Preferences. Right now, since I have been home some, you seem to kind of (shhhh!) prefer me. Or at least care a WHOLE heck of a lot if I am in a room and NOT right next to you, or NOT holding you. Cooper is not a fan, but I kind of adore that all my efforts have not gone unnoticed, and even after a longer-than-I-prefer absence, you still quite like your mommy. The feeling is mutual, beauty.

Little Zebra

Cooper has a little zebra friend.

Here are some pics of Cooper hugging him and petting him.

Sometimes the zebra sits with us on the couch. Sometimes we can't use the yellow marker because zebra is using it. Sometimes zebra takes a nap in the sink. Somewhat of an inconvenience, but we can't complain. All in all zebra is a fairly agreeable houseguest.

With Mamaw

Aquarium

Seven Months (and some days...)

HAPPY you-are-getting-so-big-so-fast SEVEN MONTHS little girl!

Oh my - I am SO late posting your monthly review, but in my defense, people were here, work was EVERYWHERE and I... well, I sucked at my mommy babybooking via blog duties.

But, nonetheless, you kept getting bigger and more and more amazing.

Seriously, I could eat your thighs for breakfast... and lunch... and dinner... and maybe even sneak in a fourth meal because they are that scrumptiously plump and wonderful.

You are ALL up in the baby food now. You prefer the fruits and yogurts, but will demolish most anything.

Did I mention you are scooting now. Coop was a little slow to move, much like he was slow to talk. I think in his case it was a function of "meh, why bother?" Why crawl when the parent people will carry me or bring anything to me that I want? and then, why walk when I can crawl so quickly? and, why talk when someone is anticipating my every need? With you, it is like, I WILL CRAWL because the parental people so do not bring me the good toys. In a few months, I imagine it will be walking because you will see walking as what it is - a gateway to running, which you will likely do much faster than us. And talking, goodlordyoumayneverstop! Already you are shouting at us in your baby speak rather enthusiastically, and I admit, sweet girl, it is most likely because we don't anticipate your every need. Who could? I can't imagine what you will do until you do it. In a wonderful way. You cannot be quieted. You will not be overlooked.

Oh! And you also got some teeth! Two on the bottom. But they, apparently, are quite camera shy.

Another month has gone by, my sweet beauty, and you are such a major part of this family that even though you are the littlest and newest, imagining this house without you in it is imagining the impossible. We love you so much.