milestones...

I just love the baby stage that T is in. Almost everyday he does something for the first time. All of these "firsts" are just the sweetest.

The last 2 weeks have been been 2 weeks of major changes for Talin. The little guy can now do a pretty impressive army crawl and can pull himself onto pretty much anything. Last night for the first time, he successfully went from standing against the table to the couch. And then he just squealed with excitement! The sweetest thing ever. Tonight he thought he would just try to take a step I think, but was not as successful with that venture. I think he sees crawling as requiring too much effort and will be happy to skip right to crawling. I am not in a hurry for this though. He is only 8 months old still!

Holland has said some really sweet things recently, but I am forgetting most of them of course. Yesterday, she was playing with her magnadoodle and had written "HOLLAD". So, I just glanced at it and said, "Oh wow- you wrote your name!" And then Holland just looks at me like I am a moron and tells me that it doesn't say her name, there is no N! She was just writing something else. She also recently got to see her friend Cooper who told her that she was his best friend. Holland's response? "Thank you". Ha. At least she is polite.

two recent pictures:

A good day

Today was a rare day that I actually felt happy for almost the whole day. I often just feel totally frustrated and overwhelmed. Not to mention parenting a very opinionated 3.5 year old can be challenging to say the least! But, today for some reason (not complaining!) Holland was really just sweet and loving and made me smile a lot. Minus turning the hose on Talin... But, at least she was totally remorseful about that, ha! I think her great mood had something to do with the face that she was wearing her favorite shirt today. When I asked her if she wanted to wear it, she was beyond happy. If only it took something that simple everyday! But, I receieved many "Mom, your the best" and the likes today. Ahh- music to my ears.

And still no crawling going on... I thought for sure. Still soo close! Poor guy just gets super frustrated. He did learn to sit up on his own! And he can now pull himself up on the couch/coffee table! Go Talin! This is already going to fast for me. STOP! And, this is when the injuries start. I hate that part for sure. Luckily, Talin generally just wants some love and maybe to nurse and then is a happy baby again within 2 minutes. Man, I love him!

growing up...

It feels so weird here right now. Tonight, for the first time, Holland is spending the night with Gram and Grandpa. Twice before she thought she want to spend the night, but as it came close to bedtime got super sad and started crying as she missed me (and Joe) so much. But, part of the reason she said she wanted the infamous dolphin pillow pet was so she could take it to spend the night at Gram's. And I guess it is working! It is now 9:20 and after the long day she has had, I imagine she is now sleeping. I know it is good for her to be growing up, but honestly- I miss her right now! I hope she has a fantastic time and I look forward to picking her up in the morning. (and then we will go pick raspberries! fun!!!)

I really thought today was going to be the day Talin starts crawling. He is soo soo close! I don't recall Holland being on the verge of crawling for a long time. But, then again- we had all hardwood floors, so she could just slide everywhere... Talin is going to have to learn the hard way! He gets into position and just rocks and reaches with his arms. I bet Joe's brother tonight that he would be crawling within a week at the latest. I guess we will see...

Winner

This was my favorite Holland quote of the day, "It is only a race if I win. If I don't win, it wasn't a race". Ha! This pretty much sums up this kid a lot of the time.

Today I think I definitely got Mother of the Year Award in Holland's book. For months now, Holland has watched this stupid commercial for "Pillow Pets". And has talked about one nonstop. And everytime saying she wants a dolphin pillow pet. So, after winning some amazon giftcards, I ordered her one. It was so not a rash decision after how much this girl has talked about one! This is the first time I have done something like this, and hopefully it doesn't start a hopeful chain reaction.


On to when the box came... Oh my! I have not seen such a happy girl in the longest time! She deemed that she received it because today is "I love you day" and kept telling me over and over how she loved it and thanked me over and over and over. Made me feel pretty good! And, she is sleeping so sweetly with the dolophin right now...

Talin has been his usual sweet- loving to be close to me self. He is getting a lot closer to crawling. And although I think he was signing "more" last week- I am positive he was tonight! The boy likes the squash!

And here are some fun expressions from Talin the other day, and a fun action shot with Holland chasing bubbles:

I love you the best

Holland just informed me, "I love everyone. But, I love you the BEST Mom". I will take that. It happens to be Joe's birthday, but even on his bday, I am the love winner! ha.

Often Holland has also been telling me- Mom, I love you and you are my hero! Seriously this girl is pretty sweet. It just can be a bit hard to remember when she is driving me crazy.

Talin is still my super attached, lovey babe. He has been roaring in his super deep voice and sometimes makes "Ba" and "Ga" noises. It did sound like he was saying "dada" in the van the other day, but since it wasn't "mama" I am certain that it was purely coincidental.

I have been grabbing even more hugs and kisses from my kids this past week. A good friend of mine delivered a baby boy that she will not get to see grow up. My heart breaks for her so much. I feel so amazed that I have two completely healthy, sweet kids. And, on a scary note- Holland for whatever reason, tried to climb on my dresser the other day. She managed to jump out of the way and it just grazed her leg. It was beyond scary to see the huge dresser on the floor with her right next to her. Had she not been the quick, nimble girl she is... I don't even want to think about what could have happened.