Noah is 3 months old!

* I wrote this a week ago on the 24th when Noah turned 3 months and I'm just now getting around to posting it. Ah, the life of a mom with a non-stop toddler and an infant. *

Noah celebrated his first Christmas this month. He didn't get much - just some letter cards for his room and a very nice binky clip that we have already gotten a ton of use out of. He's grown a ton - in the 80th percentile for weight and length and his 3-6 month clothes are starting to get snug already.He is usually a pretty happy baby and I'm really good at reading his cues. He loves bath time in the evening. He goes to bed around 6pm and gets a good 6hr stretch of sleep at night and then sleeps every 4 hours or so after that. He rolled over from his belly to his back for the first time a week ago and has consistently been able to do it again. He is definitely a little boy - he has very stinky farts and gets nasty funk build up in his crevasses if I'm not diligent about cleaning them.He loves to coo and smile and gurgle. He's still very tolerant of Violet. Most of the time she likes to hug him, touch the top of his head or hold his hands, but occasionally I catch her with her finger half way down his throat or trying to smother him with a blanket or her stuffed animal. He even puts up with her pulling his blanket off and ripping his binky out when he's sound asleep in the double stroller on a walk.

Yay Obama!!!

Violet is 2 years old!

Our sweet little princess turned 2 years old on January 4th. Above is her birthday photo montage showing how much she's grown over the past year, starting with a picture from last January in the upper left hand corner and a picture taken from each month all the way around clockwise ending in December. Violet has had tremendous physical, social, and educational changes over the past year and just gets more amazing every single day.

Physically, Violet has grown over 6" this year. That's a lot when you're not even 3' tall. She went from having 4 teeth to a mouth full of 16 teeth. She went from only being able to walk while using the furniture to cruise around to running, jumping, and climbing all over the place. Her hair has grown from a few inches long to past her shoulders. She's working on her potty training but has only gone a few drops in her potty. She tells us when she needs to go, when she's gone, and usually demands a diaper change as soon as its soiled, but she just isn't comfortable with going on the potty yet. I'm sure once she runs around in big girl underwear she'll prefer the potty. Lastly, Violet just keeps getting cuter and cuter the older she gets.

Socially, Violet has grown into a very well rounded, well adjusted, social butterfly. She loves her playgroup friends and her family and she knows everyone's name. She only gets a little shy if she enters a busy environment like a party but warms up within a few minutes. She loves being the center of attention by showing off her sign language or doing push ups, but she is also very happy sitting back and just absorbing what's going on around her. She's very comfortable being with her friends and family and isn't clingy to Mommy or Daddy. Violet is also very polite. She says "please" and "thank you" as well as "yes ma'am/sir". Violet has adjusted very well to having a little brother in the house. She almost never gets jealous of the attention he gets and is extremely helpful during diaper changes or by bringing mommy a towel when he spits up. Her supply of hugs and kisses is never ending.

Educationally and intellectually, she is simply amazing. She can sing her ABC's all the way through and the only letter she leaves out is X, although she does know the letter X. She can count to 20, although she randomly leaves out certain numbers. She knows her left from her right and also knows the days of the week. Violet knows tons of sign language and loves to practice. If she gets fussy in her high chair or during a long car ride, we just list off different signs for her to show us and she's instantly entertained. Violet also loves to read books and knows most of them so well that I can usually pause at any point and she can continue the next phrase. She uses sentences and has an amazing ability to remember words and phrases.

Sweet little shot of the birthday girl.

Violet loved wearing her party hat.

Signing "thank you" as she opened her gifts.

We practiced blowing out her candle before the party with a candle stuck in her play dough. She was so good at it that she had it blown out before it hit the tray.

Violet thoroughly enjoyed eating her special birthday cupcake.