my little night owl

So yesterday I posted about my sweet sleeping little angels.
And tonight CJV was awake until after midnight.
(Note to self: In the future, do not even mention the fact that your children sleep.)

She spent two hours in her crib ... chatting and singing and hanging out.

And then we played for an hour.  I loved every minute of that hour.  It is so rare that we get to spend time - just the two of us - on the floor with a bin of toys. 

She chatting some more and tried to repeat words that I said.  She chased after a tiny princess ball (big sister never lets her play with it!) and her best buddy, Louie.  She stacked blocks and treated me to many belly laughs as I entertained her with an egg shaker! 

I even managed to take a few photos :)

sleep, sleep so sweetly

Is there anything as peaceful as a sleeping child?  Every night before I put myself to bed (and it's usually much later than I should be staying up), I go into each of my girl's rooms to check on them.  What I am really doing is trying to soak up their angelic appearance.  Trying to memorize their faces.  Trying to imagine what their dreams are filled with.  Trying to remember the babies they once were. Trying to etch into my mind the beautiful little people they are right now.

A friend of mine, who also happens to be a fabulous photographer, encouraged me to shoot in manual mode, bump up the ISO, and capture this nightly ritual of mine ... and I am so glad that I did!

 

Most nights the blankets are in a big pile and binky is on the floor. 

If she's not on her side like this, she is on her tummy 

with knees under her and bottom up in the air.

 

NHV is a wild and noisy sleeper.  

I never know what position I will find her in.

 

Just look at this face!  Those sweet lips and tiny eyelashes!

CJV fell asleep in the car on the way home from a birthday party.

There's a song by Danielle Sansone that I absolutely love

... and sing to my girls sometimes.

This is the chorus ... 

Sleep, sleep so sweetly
You know I love you deeply
Know that when you wake
We’ll celebrate the day

the happy - sad game

CJV is a toddler of few words.
I mean it, she says very little ... and even less that we can actually understand.

The same cannot be said for her repertoire of expressions! Which is, largely, why we don't have a problem communicating!

I especially love when we play a little game I like to call "the happy-sad game" ... I know, clever, right?

I did this with NHV, too. I say, "Happy!" And make this exaggerated happy face. Then I say, "Sad!" and drop my face into a pout. Everybody laughs (including Chad).

Charlotte is so good at this game! She cracks me up everytime!

And ... much to my delight, she has started to say "happy and sad" before she makes the different faces!

Crawling. Climbing. Walking.

I know.  I know. I know.  All babies develop at their own pace.  All in good time.  When they're ready.

Believe me, I know.  And I've done my best to be patient.  I've tried not to worry.  After a developmental evaluation in June, I felt somewhat reassured. 

It's just really hard not to focus on milestones.  Especially when every other baby - even much younger - around you is hitting them.  And you have a firstborn who reached milestones like she wrote the darn textbook herself!

I have just found it kind of hard to deal with ... there are some complicated emotions (and head games) wrapped up in how your baby develops!

And so this is really just for me to look back on and think, "See, it did happen ... why were you so worried?"

Just after her first birthday, CJV started a very cute army crawl.

At 15 months, CJV graduated from inch-worming to knee crawling.

At just shy of 19 months, we finally experienced another breakthrough, and CJV starting cruising and taking a few steps.  However those steps have been few and very wobbly ...

 

 At the zoo trying to keep herself from falling backward. 

Oh, how I love that look on her face!

And here she is later that same day at an outdoor concert.

The music and dancing with her big sister was a great motivator.

She took a lot of single steps and a fair share of spills.

But each time she got back up with a look of determination on her face!

 

In the past month, we've also seen her climb just about anything in her path ... she would spend all day going up and down the stairs, scaling the bookshelves, and getting onto the couch.

She also enjoys building her upper body strength with pull ups ...

 I love the discarded kitchen towel on the floor!

Most recently, Daddy allowed her to climb onto the bench and then the top of a picnic table at the pool.  And I just had to capture her holding onto that umbrella pole - not to worry daddy was right there to catch her!

Drum Roll, please ...

Almost six weeks later at the age of 20 months, I think today we can officially say that CJV is walking!  Apparently, she read my email last night because I was commiserating with another mom whose 20-month old is using a walker.  I was feeling very discouraged and wondering if Charlotte needs more support/therapy to get her walking.  And so, what does my little peanut do?  Of course, she starts walking.  I swear, it's like she knew!

And tomorrow I am determined to capture that delightfulness on camera!

book nook

The girls are enjoying their new sunny book nook!

The new chairs - pink and personalized - were birthday gifts from Mimi.

I love them and so do the girls.

The girls sit in them. Climb on them. Make forts out of them.

I love spending an hour in the late afternoon

with both girls in our new book nook ...

Natalie "reads" one book after another

While Charlotte practices taking steps

sisterly love

 

hanging out in their new {super cute, pink pbk} chairs

playing in the sandbox and coloring pictures

visiting our local zoo and hanging out in the hammock

no matter what they are doing ...

they love each other ... at least for the most part

nhv can have a tough time sharing 

and demands time to play by herself - 

by hurrying to close her bedroom door

as cjv excitedly crawls toward it

but she also looks out for her and takes care of her

and makes her laugh like no one else can!

cjv absolutely lights up when she sees her big sister

she says naaaa-yeeee as soon as she wakes up

she is happiest when she's doing whatever

natalie is doing :)

check ups

I took both girls to see our family doctor today.

It was Natalie's four year check up and Charlotte's 18-month check up (purposely two months late because she's seen plenty of white coats recently).  Overall, both are healthy.  Charlotte, my little peanut, is still an enigma but "continued monitoring" is the current prognosis ... and one I will gladly take over bad news.  Natalie is going to participate in a sleep study to rule out sleep apnea, but otherwise passed her physical  with flying colors!

Natalie is 42 inches tall and weighs 37 pounds.
Charlotte is 29 inches tall and weighs 17 pounds.

I've never done back-to-back check-ups, but it went surprisingly well.  Each girl took a turn.  I got all of my questions/concerns answered.  And both girls handled their shots like true rock stars!

As is tradition, we walked across the street to see the fountain ... to ponder life, fade the memory of those shots, and celebrate!