Because I was curious

Bryan and I counted some of P's words today and estimated that she had about 100. So instead of working on my "reflection" for school I decided to type them up in Excel and see just how many she had.

100 exactly (of the ones I remember and that doesn't include the letters of the alphabet). Imagine that! Some of her more complex words include "stegosaurus" and "elephant"

It seems like she got them suddenly... one day she wasn't talking much and the next she's forming small sentences and has a 100+ word vocabulary.

As for recognizing letters and counting to ten, I'll credit a combo of books, toys, and Bryan. We have a leapfrog letter magnet toy that Poe LOVES. She plays with it constantly and it hasn't gotten annoying yet (thankfully). It's actually a really great teaching toy. It says the letter and then makes the sound associated with that letter. It also "sings" the alphabet. As for counting, she has a few counting books here and at my parents that she loves to read. Plus Bryan will recite the ABCs or count with her when they're doing their bath/bed routine. It's an educational way to get her to stop wiggling enough to get her PJs on and brush her teeth :)

I'm looking forward to G-man's first words. We have awhile though. Next month he'll be 5 month though, getting big fast!

Next month I'll be 29. Getting old fast! But since Bryan turns 37 this upcoming February I don't feel quite so ancient ;)

I want to remember...

Babies really do grow so quickly. And so there are a few things about baby Griffin that I want to remember so when he's a stinky 17 year old or a gruff 30 something then I come back onto my blog and read about how my big man child used to be a sweet little baby.

I want to remember him sleep-nursing, how his brow is slightly furrowed and with one hand clutching my breast like he's afraid I'll take it away.

I want to remember how he likes to sleep as close to me as possible, and how I have to move him 3-4 times at night so I don't fall off the bed.

I want to remember how he drools all over EVERYTHING, but even when he's teething he's happy and smiling.

I want to remember how he gives me the biggest grin every morning, how he's always happy to see me, and how happy I am to see him.

I want to remember his squeaks - how he talks to us all day long.

I want to remember how he laughs when you undress him for his bath.

I want to remember how he tries to sit up in the bathtub even though he's not ready for that yet.

I want to remember how he looks lovingly at his sister when she's playing next to him, and how she wants to hold him, get him out of the carseat, and pick him up out of the swing.

Even though things are tough, Bryan and I are both super busy and stressed, and our house is a mess, I want to remember that I love my family and wouldn't trade them for anything.

6!

Penny can now count to 6

:)

And she had her first pigtails today, pictures later!

The end of August

I have a few seconds so I figured I'd update.

Penelope:
She probably has a vocabulary of 100 words right now. She adds to it every day. Now, she doesn't use all those words everyday, but she's got a lot of them. About a dozen or so she uses *with* her signs which makes me quite happy. I want to get her into a signing program so she can use sign more often. One of my biggest hopes for both kids is that they're fluent in sign. I'd also like for them to be fluent in Spanish but I don't know enough to speak to them exclusively in Spanish... I use as many words as I know. I really should finish up my Rosetta Stone program.

Anyway, she's started climbing - but not Gus or Orson style (Gus & Orson are friends of hers). Just little climbs, and I'm ok with that. She's a little cautious, which I'm also ok with.

She loves loves LOVES to dance. She's got quite a few "moves" in her dance repertoire, and it's pretty hilarious.

She also loves to help. She enjoys wiping G's face with the burp cloth, covering him with a blanket, washing her hands, putting stuff in the grocery cart, etc. Yesterday we went grocery shopping and she spent the entire time helping me put things into the cart. It took a little longer than normal, but she had a lot of fun. She was also running between Bryan and I so she got in a fair amount of exercise, our grocery store is warehouse sized.

Griffin:
Still waking up 3 times a night, but since we're still cosleeping I can just nurse him back to sleep. He's going to be tougher to get to sleep on his own since he's not at all interested in trying to self soothe, but we'll deal. He's a cuddler which is both sweet and annoying. Sweet when we're falling asleep and annoying in the middle of the night when I want to change sleeping positions.

He's also a chatter. Man that kid can talk. "Squeak, squeak, squeak" all day long.

He loves to sit up, and attempts to launch himself out of his baby chairs (other than the Bumbo, he can't escape from that). He also loves his sister, most of the time when he laughs he's laughing at her.

No teeth yet, but he's teething like crazy. He's super drooly and still a spit up machine.

We're still nursing and we'll see what my supply does. We've made it to 4 month + some and that's a great accomplishment for us both.

My camera battery died so no pictures now, but I'll charge it and take some more. They're getting huge. G is in 9-12 month clothes and Poe is still 3-4T depending on the outfit.

4 months

Well, at 4 months Griffin is 28 inches and 15.5 lbs. Not quite as big as his sissy was at this age, but still pretty big (well, long) for 4 months.

He *loves* to sit up and he's still pretty terrible at it. He tries to sit up in the bath, while playing with toys (not that he's very interested in toys), sometimes while nursing... speaking of nursing, we're still going strong. Still supplementing of course, but we've made it 4 months and I consider that a huge accomplishment.

He doesn't nap very well, but nights are ok. He wakes up 3-4 times a night but goes back to sleep pretty quickly once he has nursed, and since we co-sleep I don't have to get out of bed! I was hoping to have him in the crib by now but Penny isn't at all interested in transitioning into her big-girl bed. I'm hoping that once he's in a crib his night waking will get better - or stop completely. I know, I know, wishful thinking.

Like Grandpa like Grandson

My Dad & Griffin :)

New new new!

Pen has some new words: two, whale, sea turtle, woah!, tree, chair, and more we can't seem to remember. New signs as well - and when I ask her a question using just sign she'll respond, which is neat :)

Griffin found his toes... and his penis. In one day, it was a big day for him ;)

He went to his first wedding today, Alan and Diana got married and we drove out to Oakland to celebrate! Here's some pictures:







So much else is going on and I have so many blogs planned, but I can't think of anything now that I have a moment to sit down and write. Incredibly frustrating! >:|