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 ;).