1 Year Birthday Month!

What a crazy month.  I went full-time to start the school year to cover for my jobshare partner and it... well it was a whirlwind of constant running from one place to the next, daycare almost everyday, and sickness up the wazoo.  I am SO glad it's over and we are returning back to normal again slowly but surely! I went picture happy this month since all our time together had to be intentional.  Lots of great stuff!  Loads of pictures and videos at the end.

Abigail turns 1!
We are pulling ourself up but not really cruising yet BUT she will grab your hands and make it very clear she wants to practice walking with you.  Just this past week she has gained a new sense of stability while doing it and she can do it one-handed but doesn't have the confidence yet.  We'll see if she chooses to walk at 12 months and 2 weeks like her siblings (ah that's 2 weeks from now!).  I have a feeling she may take an extra month or two to take off but I could be oh so wrong.
Words: "All done" "tsa!" (I think it's "that").   She also very clearly said "outside" the other day while pointing outside but we're going to hold off on calling that a word she knows for now ;) "Dat" for that. 
Dolls: Still LOVES her dolls!  She loves to hold them, squeeze hug them, pat them, and hand them to a friend. 
Shhh: Has learned to put a finger to her mouth to say "shhhhh" but she does it by putting her pointer in her mouth and blowing.  So sweet!
Personality: Her personality has developed and I LOVE it!  She is just so joyful and so much fun!
bananas: She sure loves her bananas and green beans.  This girl could live on this purely
Milk issues?: I've only tried whole milk in her bottle (2 oz with 5 ounces of formula) and both times she seems to have had a lot of gas and was very uncomfortable and even spit up a bit.  But if she's going to have issues with milk, wouldn't she have had an issue while I was nursing?  And even her formula is milk based?  Anyone know anything about this or could it just be a fluke?
Grew up!?!?: This little girl grew up overnight!  Even just this past week since she's turned one, she's now crawling up on things and getting down semi-safely, has a HUGE personality, riles up the kids, initiates play and silliness with them by leaning her body on them to wrestle.  She is also making her wants/dislikes very well known.  She is

Kate turns 4!
Bike: She got a bike with training wheels for her 4th birthday.  Evidently we're behind the train on this but oh well.  She's trying to learn pedaling and a little balance and brakes!
Human: Katelyn turned 100% human on me this month.  Let me explain- she was starting to throw a HUGE fit like she normally does.  I sent her to her room fully expecting the stomping and hitting the door like she normally does before she calms down but it's fully quiet.  So I go to check on her to see if we can talk about what happened and she had turned off the light and was laying in her bed sniffling.  (Oh my heart!).  That made my heart melt and I cried with her while we talked about her behavior and a better way to deal with it (like we always do) but I think we're turning a corner on being able to control emotions.  We're not all the way there yet (heck- I'm not all the way there yet either) but I can see a huge difference.  She's growing up on us so quickly!
Preschool: Kate is in preschool 3 days a week in the mornings at CCE.  She loves her friends and her teacher.
Big girl bed: Kate is now not only in a big girl bed but a "bunk bed" (loft bed) and she LOVES it!


Luke turns 3!

Articulate: Luke is getting to be a bit more articulate with his ability to describe things so we better understand.  He still is our ltitle tiggery-lou loving to hop everywhere, but he sure is starting to seem like a little boy.
Early Riser: No matter what his nap looks like the day prior nor what time he goes to bed (early or late), he is always up by 6:30 singing at the top of his lungs.  I've given up on trying to find a way to get him to sleep longer and am just trying to find ways to deaden the sound so he doesn't wake the girls every morning but haven't found great luck in this yet.  And this is so funny because by 10am, if you go in the car anywhere, this kid is out cold.
Big boy bed!: Luke has moved up in the world as well!  Except it's a mattress on the floor for now since he would still fall off the bed if it were any further up off the ground so it is what it is for now