Happy birthday Hank!

Hank is one! OK, so I'm a few days late and obviously not doing all that well in the resolution department but here it is. We had his birthday party last weekend and his check up on Wednesday. The party was a lot of fun with our huge family and lots of playing outside. We got a lot of new outdoor toys that all 3 boys can enjoy. The check-up went well too. He weighs 27 lbs 3.5 oz (94th) and is 31.25 inches (89th). His tubes look great and so far are working like a charm. His 8th tooth popped through this week and the doctor thinks we should get a little teething break now. He eats almost entirely table food and is starting to cruise. He babbles up a storm and climbs like a little monkey. He says some version of these words: Dada, yum yum, no no, done, bye bye, Jack and Charlie. Some sound more like what he is trying to say than others. Charlie for example sounds nothing like Charlie but he makes it very obvious that he is calling for or talking to Charlie. He signs more and is drinking about half time from a straw cup. He still is not the best sleeper but I guess you can't have everything. He loves to play ball and can throw amazingly well for a 12 month old.

Jack and Charlie are growing up fast. We play outside a lot these days. They love to be out there and almost everyday ends with the sprinkler on. Charlie is quite the story teller and keeps us laughing. Jack stays busy reading and writing and loves art and music. The school year will be over soon and I'm trying to figure out how to keep us busy this summer. Stay tuned.

Did you feel that?

It was time whooshing past. I feel like I just wrote the last post which I see is dated Oct. 31. My new years resolution is to keep the blog more up to date. Obviously I'm not off to a great start but I'll keep trying.

Hank is just over 9 months now and seems to think that crawling is for babies. He has his own way of scooting around that involves a lot of sitting up, lunging towards something, rocking a bit on hands one knee and one foot, then returning to a sitting position. I know that sounds terribly inefficient but he can actually move surprisingly far, surprisingly fast with this method. He began going from lying to sitting a couple days before he hit 9 months. The same day he started clapping and saying Dada. Now he is trying desperately to pull up and isn't too far off. He can put a good bit of weight on those thick little legs and has great balance. I'm thinking we're headed straight for running.

He continues to be big. At his check up he weighed 25 lbs 11 oz (98th) and was 30.5 inches (97th). He wears all 12 to 18 month stuff now. He also seems to have Jack's feet. I bought him some size 5 shoes that I thought he would grow into only to find that they fit snugly now. He has 6 teeth and would eat all table food if I would let him. He is really a sweet baby and laughs all the time. People think he must be at least 18 months and try hard to get him to talk to them when we are out.

Jack and Charlie continue to love school. They bring home lots of art and good reports. They are both really interested in music and we may start lessons in the spring. Jack has really taken to sign language as we started learning some to use with Hank until he can talk. He loves to learn and can read. We found out at Christmas that he can write his name. He is also almost potty trained (hallelujah). Charlie continues to love animals and has really taken an interest in cooking. He has a very active imagination and talks non-stop, keeping us very entertained. He particularly loves to paint and keeps us covered in art!

In other recent news we found out that Meredith, our beloved babysitter and good friend, will be moving on soon. We will all miss her greatly but (good news for the grandparents) she will continue to give the boys french lessons. Also, we just bought a small plane. The boys claim to be very excited about it although I'm fairly sure they don't really grasp the whole thing. Charlie is constantly telling us that he wants to go to Africa or the north pole or where ever so I'm sure this will cut down on our travel expenses ;).

Long overdue

So things have been very busy to say the least. Preschool is a smashing success - it was going so well after 3 weeks that we had to add a day. You'd think this would leave me a great deal of free time but...so far we have been through two rounds of illness on top of the work it takes just to get them and everything ready to go each morning. They do love it though and we are really grateful for that. It also gives me the opportunity to spend some time alone with Hank.

A couple of weeks ago we had Charlie and Jack's big carnival birthday party. I think they really enjoyed it. I lost my camera in early September so I haven't been able to take as many pictures lately. I will post some soon though, just need to save the ones that family took.

At the 3 year check-up Jack weighed 41.5 lbs (99th percentile) and was 38.75 inches (80th percentile). Charlie weighed 36 lbs (87th percentile) and was 39.75 inches (93rd percentile). They are big kids. Jack wears size 11.5 shoes which the shoe store chart says is a 5 year-old size.

Hank just passed the 6 month mark. Still just 2 teeth but 4 more to come in any day. He can sit on his own but only if you put him there, roll both ways, transfer toys from hand to hand. Figured out yesterday that multiple rolls will move you across a room. Desperately wants to crawl. He is also big. At his check-up he weighed 22 lbs 5.5 oz (97th percentile) and was 28 inches (90th percentile). Most people guess that he's close to a year old. He can still wear a few 9 month things but mostly is in 12 months now. He continues to be one of the happiest babies I've ever been around. For those of you who know about the "offices" at our house, the bouncing has begun. He is working hard on several new skills and I'll try to keep things up to date as they happen.

The first day

Went a little too well. They both went straight in and began playing without so much as even looking back. I had to tear them away from their toys to tell them I was leaving - they went right back to the toys. At pick up time they both looked up, saw me and went right back to what they were doing again. They both reported having lots of fun and liking the slide. Charlie tells me Jack cried a little at rest time. Ms. Diane tells me Charlie did too. Neither ate very much or slept at all. Both took a nap as soon as we got home. They want to know if we can go back tomorrow. (Mommy managed to make it back to the car before crying just a little and did not throw up even though she wanted to.)

A tooth

After days just below the surface, Hank's first tooth has finally poked through. The second seems to be right behind it. So far it is very hard to see as he mostly keeps his tongue over it but I'll try to get a picture later.

3 little movers and shakers

It finally happened this morning - after lots of hard work and trying, Hank rolled from his back to front and back again. He never could figure out how to get his trailing arm out from underneath him (which is probably why he went back again) despite several attempts. He had a big smile on his face when he did it like he knew he had finally accomplished his goal. Now that he is on the move too I'll have to dust off those eyes in the back of my head. The picture above was taken a week or so ago on our most recent beach trip.

THE LIST

Back by popular demand is the list. Once again you can click on each item to see a picture/description. This one was a little more fun to make as, for the first time, they have actually asked for a couple of the things on it.