Casen & Collins - 18 months

We took the kids for their 18 month well-checks this week. Collins is still a little bitty thing, but both she & Casen are growing well along their individual curves. It's always interesting to me to compare their measurements:

                    Casen                                                   Collins

Height          33.25 inches (76%)                   30.25 inches (13%)

Weight         24 lbs (24%)                               19.8 lbs (2%)

Head Size    18.75 inches (45%)                   17.5 inches (6%)

Developmentally, they are meeting all of their milestones except for speech. They both are very good with receptive speech, meaning they understand what we say to them. However, they're still delayed with their expressive speech. They can both say "mama" & "dada" well. Casen is trying hard to say a lot of different words, but has only been able to get one syllable mastered so far (for example, he says "du" for duck or "ack" for quack). Case is picking up sign language pretty well & uses 6-10 signs to communicate with us.  Collins knows the sign for "more", but is being a bit stubborn expanding her signing vocabulary. Since they are still behind with speech, we'll be starting speech therapy in the next couple of weeks. It will be interesting to see what techniques we work on during therapy & how quickly they pick up words.

We definitely have a couple of water babies!! We bought spring floats for them to use in the pool this summer. They tolerate the floats for limited amounts of time, but know that they cannot do all they'd like strapped into the float. Casen is a bit of a wild man - he loves to jump towards Bryan from a step or ledge & makes his mommy a nervous wreck! I'm happy to say that neither one of them is afraid of the water. In fact, they actually like getting their faces wet! Casen loves to blow bubbles in the water & Collins splashes non-stop. We went to some friend's home for the 4th of July & were able to enjoy some swim time. We dunked the kids under water for the first time, & they both loved it! They kept wanting to put their faces back in the water.  They're going to have a blast at baby swim lessons in a couple of weeks!

Casen dunking with mommy.

Collins dunking with daddy.

Collins in her spring float

 Case in his spring float

 Happy July 4th, 2012

 We had watermelon at the swim party & the kids would not let go of the rinds and cried if we tried to take them away. They gnawed them all they way down to the green!

Miller - 28 weeks

We are 28 weeks along with Miller & well into the 3rd trimester. Everything's going well so far - I'm just noticing that I'm more & more tired lately. Baby is moving more every day & growing great! I had my glucose test last week & passed with flying colors - yay!!   I go back to the doctor every 2 weeks now.

We went to have a 4D sonogram done & got some sweet pictures of our new little addition.

Here's a 2D profile shot. The circles on top of Miller's head are a cross-section of his/her toes!

Check out this kid's foot!!

Sweet little chubby cheeks with a hand pulled up to the chin.  I still think Miller looks more like Casen, but it's harder to see now with the chubby cheeks.

 A close-up of Miller's face (the umbilical cord is stretched across the chin)

 A little fist - or, as we'd like to think, a "Sic 'em Bears" in training :)

Casen's New Trick

What to watch out for when your 17 month old is at the 75th percentile for height...

Yep, Casen learned how to climb out of his crib all by himself! Bryan & I were talking in the kitchen while he was supposed to be napping.  We barely heard a sound through the monitor, & then a pitter-patter down the hall & this little innocent face appeared at the baby gate...

We converted his crib to a toddler bed that night! He's having a hard time resisting the temptation to climb out of bed & explore everything in the nursery at night.  Usually we find him curled up asleep on top of his blankie on the floor about an hour after he was supposed to go to bed.  We scoop him up & put him back in bed, then he stays asleep all night. What a little monkey!

Summer Fun

June was a fun month for us! Stu had to travel for some training in Ohio, so Suzy brought Carson & Taylor to visit for a couple of weeks.  While they were here, Great Grandpa Jay came down to see the babies for a week, and Michael & Caitlin also came to visit for the weekend.  They hadn't seen Carson & Taylor yet, so we had a lot of fun hanging out together!

We took the kids berry picking for the first time & it was a blast! A nearby berry farm has fresh, pick-your-own blackberries & blueberries that are fabulous! 

Michael & Caitlin

Suzy, Mike, & Michelle

Our little berry pickers - strapped in & ready to go!

 It didn't take them long to figure out the perks of picking your own berries... free samples!

In fact, Collins spent the majority of the trip in the wagon (with the berry pail) stuffing her face with blueberries :)

 Casen really got the hang of picking berries

... and eating them - check out that berry-stained face!

He loved roaming up & down the rows of berry bushes

 Lainey exploring the berry patch

... and doing a little picking of her own

It was a lot of fun to see Casen & Collins interact with Carson & Taylor now that they're a little older & more mobile.  Even though they're 10 months apart, Carson & Taylor are almost the same size as Case & Lainey! Carson loved to watch Casen (& probably gave him some ideas that Aunt Suzy could do without!)

 Casen is not the best at sharing - his expression says it all!  Poor Carson thinks they're having a fun game of tug-a-war, but Case is NOT amused!

 Collins getting up close & personal with cousin Taylor

 Casen & Carson having a good laugh together

 Sly little Case hanging with the girls

All 4 cousins - how sweet!

 Stu, Suzy, Carson, & Taylor (7 months)

 Gram & Wampa with their sweet grandbabies 

 Case & Lainey (17 months) with Great Grandpa Jay. He celebrated his 96th birthday while he was visiting with us, & he was excited to get home so he could use his new weed-eater that my aunt bought him! WOW!

 Collins & her Wampa

 Mike, Caitlin, Grandpa Jay, Suzy, Bryan, & Michelle

 Great Grandpa Jay with 4 of his 11 great-grandbabies (he even has 1 great-great-grandson!)

 Our growing family - Case & Lainey 17 months

With all of the HOT weather lately, we've been able to let the kids play on their splash pad & pool - they love it! We even have them enrolled for baby swim classes in a couple of weeks.  If Casen sees his swimsuit in the closet, he'll grab it & bring it to me - he LOVES swimming!

 Case loves to lie back in the pool (or bathtub) now.  He'll even stick his face in the water!

 Collins trying to get a drink from the splash pad

 Our little water baby

Mike & Caitlin bought some bubbles for the kids - they had a blast chasing them around the yard!