the one with another update on the kids

I'm selling some stuff I make on an etsy shop (heysmukke) with my sister (enter shameless plug here :) Go check it out) One of the things I make is a car seat blanket, so I have our infant seat out and Ellie just loves sitting in it 

 She also loves playing in the bath tub (with no water in it). Her favorite is the plug. 

Taegen got a little black eye. He was running around the couches and ran smack dab into the corner. :(

 Such a silly little boy he is. 

 we were on a walk and he decided he needed to crawl like this because this way "he wouldn't get all itchy from the bushes" 

Taegen age 3 1/2:

- " Dogs don't eat popcorn, they eat dog things..like poop!"

- "MMMM....tastey"

- while eating some celery for snack time, "our celery talks, and it's really annoying"

- He came to me in the middle of the night and normally he's carrying his monkey with him. This time he wasn't, so I asked him where he was (I was a little tired and thought he had dropped him on the floor right by my bed) his response was "On my bed, I didn't want to wake him up" 

Ellie age 13 months:

- Her first official word that is associated with something (besides mama and dada, which to me don't count) was ball. She also says done, mama, dada and hi. She tries to mimic the things we say, and sometimes they're audible, but most times it's just a babble.

- She talks in her sleep. She wakes me up cause I think she's awake, but when I check the monitor she's fast asleep.

- She's walking with assistance. She loves to walk along the furniture and walls. She's at the point where that's her preferred method if she's not in a hurry. But she still won't do it by herself. She has taken some steps (see video in previous post) and she stands by herself unassisted, so problem. But she hasn't ventured into walking alone yet. 

- Loves bath time now. I just have to keep a little trickle of water going for her to play with and she's completely content.

- Bedtime story time is also a favorite. But only if we're reading hard cardboard type books. The regular books with paper pages she doesn't like. She needs to be able to turn the pages herself. Her favorite right now is "I love you through and through"

- She plays ball with Taegen. He'll roll the ball to her and she'll pick it up and actually roll/throw it back. 

- She has 4 top teeth, 2 bottom and all 4 first molars. 

- Shes pretty much down to taking only 1 nap a day. there are times when she still takes 2, but those days are few and far in between. For the most part she wake up and 7 ish, takes a nap around 12 for 2 hours or so, then goes to bed between 7:30 and 8. Some days we stray from the schedule, which is not set in stone, but she most definitely does better on the days where she has a routine going. Plus it makes us all a little less stressed out.

I'm really loving this stage with Ellie. She for the most part really easy and content. The main struggles I've had with her have been sleep or sick related, so now that her sleep under control and she's not sick at the moment, we're having a lot of fun. Now she just needs to learn to walk :)

I'm having a little bit of a hard time with Taegen. I still love the stage he's in too, but he's more defiant now. Intentionally not listening/ignoring us, learning to lie, etc.. I know it's for the most part just the age and part of getting older. But combine that with his already rather difficult personality and we've had some tough times. But we have just as many good/fun times that life is still really wonderful, for both my kids.