A lot has been changing around here. We are officially walkin’ and talkin’, and so far it’s a nice change.
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/Brinlee says “milk” and makes the sign. She has repeated it several times. It sounds more like duck, but we know what she means. She has also said “eat” and “all done” and signs “more.” All three of them make several of the signs during the signing video they watch. We are getting Kimball to be consistent at saying all done when he is finished with his meals. He also loves to say “bye bye”. Sometimes he also says “go” when I ask him if he wants to go. Sawyer is jabbering non-stop now, and sometimes we’re sure he’s saying, “yes”. He also says “all done” when he is finished eating. He sometimes says “bread” and “bear”. He has said “more” a few times when he wants more food and has said “bye bye” to daddy. When daddy leaves in the morning, we wave bye bye to him, though the kids usually wait until he’s out the door before they start waving and saying bye.
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/Kimball is still taking lots of steps, but the funny thing is, for a long time he wouldn’t cross the kitchen barrier walking. Going from carpet to vinyl, carpet to foam mat, wood to carpet, he had to get down and crawl, and then get back up. It’s so funny. He had a major mental block going on there, but he has overcome it. He is walking 90% of the time now. Brinlee is quickly catching up. She went through the same barrier problem, but quickly surpassed. She is walking about 80% of the time, though that increases every day. Kimball walks kind of like a saddle sore Frankenstein, stiff, bow legs, arms out in front. It’s so cute. Brinlee’s walking is slower, but more controlled. Sawyer just isn’t interested. He has always been the fastest crawler, so why should he walk when he gets where he’s going so quickly? He walks his push toys all the time and loves to push the kitchen chairs around, but as far as freestanding walking, no thanks.
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/All three of them have gained a new interest in pushing anything that doesn’t want to move. They drive their activity tables around, their toy baby grand piano. They started driving and tipping the side table in the family room, so that got moved into the office. I think they enjoy flipping things more than they enjoy pushing them.
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/The new favorite playground is the couches. They love to climb all over them, slide/flip/cartwheel off and then beg to be put back on. They’re still not quite tall enough to get their legs up. Kimball did use some strategically placed pillows to get up one day, and when those were gone, tried using Sawyer. They’re basically climbing anywhere they can. We found Kimball sitting in the windowsill a few days ago. He had climbed up on the toy piano, over the gate and into the windowsill. He might have been trying to get to the blinds that are pulled up, or trying to give me a heart attack. We’re not sure which.
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/I never knew how entertaining peas could be, but Brinlee finds great joy in squishing them between her fingers. She’s exploring her food, I guess.
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/I can’t get a moments’ privacy anywhere in our house. Even when I retreat to the bathroom, not only do they all three stand guard right outside the door, but I see anywhere from 5-30 little fingers sticking under the door and wiggling at me. They talk to me the whole time and keep me company, lest I feel lonely. They’re so considerate, aren’t they?
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/We had our first steamroll. Kimball rolled Brinlee across the dining room. Fortunately she thought it was funny. I can only blame Adam for teaching them this one.
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/Sawyer jabbers contantly. He’ll sit next to me talking away, holding up his toys one at a time and explaining them to me. He has this very serious professor expression on his face. Sometimes Kimball will sit on the other side of me doing the same. They take turns. Kimball actually hands me the toy, but Sawyer is only holding it up as a visual display. I’m not supposed to take it, but I am allowed to touch it.
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/Brinlee and Sawyer had their first haircuts. Around 4 months of age you may remember they lost all the hair on top of their heads. Kimball’s all fell out. Since the back didn’t fall out, Brinlee has been sporting a serious mullet. When her hair was wet it came down well past her shoulders. Sometimes it was all curly and less noticeable, but she’s a wild sleeper some nights, and a lot of times it was just a wild mess. One night after baths I couldn’t take it anymore and got out the scissors. My only regret is that I didn’t do it sooner. Why didn’t I? Adam begged me not to. He made up some crazy rule about how kids aren’t supposed to have their hair cut before age two. I think he just found the mullet amusing. After Brinlee I decided to go after Sawyer’s rat tail. Snip snip. His was not such a dramatic change, but an improvement anyway. Kimball’s has all grown out evenly in these gorgeous curls, so we leave it alone. Grandpa can’t resist chasing him around with a comb when he’s around. During our Christmas trip I dreamed that grandpa cut Kimball’s hair and I was so mad. I told him about my dream and he promised not to use more than a comb on him.
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/Adam and I were given one of the best gifts EVER. The Guinn girls’ grandma, Nana Sharon, offered to come over and help take care of our kids overnight while Adam and I got away. It was her baby gift to us. We went out for a nice dinner, stayed at a hotel, slept in, and went to brunch. We had a great time. We missed the kids, but it was nice to have some time together. Talk about a great gift!
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/They like climbing in and out of anything they can. Brinlee decided to climb into one of the bins we keep toys in. Sawyer is waiting his turn.
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/Gran learns that the keeper of the banana reigns supreme. She won them over in a heartbeat when she came to visit.
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/Sawyer convinced Gran to play on the couch with him.
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/Kimball loves to sit in the dumptruck.
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/Sawyer is showing off by standing up in the dumptruck.
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/Now we all want a turn with the dumptruck. We’ve had this toy since their birthday, but suddenly it is the most desireable thing we own.
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/Usually Kimball pulls the baskets off the changing table before climbing in, but this time he went for the added challenge of squeezing into the basket too.
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/BUSTED!! Kimball is climbing over the wall to the windowsill. Where does he think he is going?
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/Brinlee’s mullet right before the cut. It’s all curled up and Carol Brady right here because it was freshly washed. When I pulled it straight it came down about 3 more inches. It usually didn’t stay this cute by the time our little wild one wakes up.
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/Brinlee sat in Naomi’s lap while I cut.
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/The very cute result. Don’t worry, Brinlee, as you get older I’ll take you for real haircuts from a professional. This just seemed less traumatic.
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/Sawyer’s rat tail. I braided it once just to prove a point. Adam wasn’t amused.
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/What a handsome little man!
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/Kimball’s gorgeous curls (when he’s fresh out of a bath). By morning they are less cherubic and more Tazmanian Devil.
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/Daddy and Sawyer at bedtime.