Finally!

After some gentle reminders that it's not the New Year anymore, I decided that for posterity sake it's probably a good idea to update (after all, this blog is the lazy man's baby book).  Let's see, what have we been  up to?

Zoe will be one in just a couple of weeks.  Due to an awful bout with the flu, and my lack of milk production, she was weaned just last week.  I had wanted to take her up to her one year, but decided now is as good a time as any.  She has made the transition beautifully and takes milk from a sippy cup like a champ.  Although, every now and then she nuzzles really close to my chest and gets a faraway look in her eyes.  I think it's possible that she's reminiscing.  She's crawling and cruising, and much to the chagrin of her father and I, she's learned to climb stairs.  If only she could get the down part, as well as the up! She has six teeth and is popping another through as we speak.  She's loves babies and baby dolls, and loves to give them kisses.  She's also blowing kisses, waving, and has discovered that an exaggerated shake of the head for "no" gets big laughs.

Here are the girls at Sam's Club.  We love that place for three big reasons: 1) Double seating shopping carts, 2) Huge bags of precooked bacon for $6, and 3) Saturday morning samples!

We had our playgroup's annual Valentine's Day party at the end of February.  Unfortunately we were missing some kiddos that day. The girls loved all of the sweets and commotion.

Grandma J sent Zoe her birthday gift via USPS.  Here she is modeling her new coat and hat.  So CHI-CHI!

Lucy thought it looked fun, so she decided she'd give it a whirl.  Her noggin was a bit too big for the hat, but you get the idea, right?  Nice face, huh?

Grandma was so sweet she sent Lucy some books in the package.  Here she is reading to Zoe about "mer-mae".  That's what you and I would call a mermaid.

Yay!  Another bird that chirps!  Give it's belly a squeeze and the blue birds sings.  The girls already have one.  They love those things.  What's new with Lucy these days?  She's talking more and more.  She's such a good big sister.  Every morning she gives Zoe a hug and kiss, and she loves to share her toys.  She's two, so we're starting to see how stubborn she is as well.  She's loving, affectionate, and sensitive.  She's really a sweet-natured girl.

My older daughter.  What can I say?  I tell her to "step away from the television", "don't stand so close", etc.  So, what does she do?  She pushes her blue chair up to the television stand.  What a smartie.

This is Lucy's "Cheese!" face.

Zoe decided that she didn't want to take a long after noon nap.  It caught up with her later that evening, because three bites into dinner, this is how I find her.  My favorite part is the milk dripping off her bottom lip.

We train em' early in this house.  Here's Lucy helping Daddy vacuum.  She's too young to realize that it's really not the most fun.  So, until she does, we'll continue to take advantage.

Seriously, have you seen anyone with a smile that big while vacuuming?

The big news:  We (Charles and I) have our bedroom back to ourselves!  Lucy has been sleeping in her room, by herself for two months now.  She's back to sleeping through the night and loves her big girl bed.  At the beginning of February, Zoe moved from our bed into Lucy's bed that was in our room.  She was getting way too mobile and was escaping from the twin at naptime, so this weekend we broke down and bought a crib (again).  We decided, "What the heck?  Let's set the crib up in Lucy's room and see how they do."  They've both been in there since Saturday night, and after one rough night, things are going swimmingly!  I can't express how wonderful it's been to have the bedroom back to being adults-only.  Sleep is so much better. After all, it had been two and a half years!  And since I've yet to post any pictures of the half-way completed reno, here are some of the somewhat-newly furnished kids' room.