Smart Girls

The girls both love to color. They were sitting at the dining room table coloring and Kaylee came and showed me what she had been working on. It was a piece of paper and she had taken foam letters and spelled "See that cat a". I told her sentences don't usually end in "a" and helped her sound out "and". I told her to put "and dog" because that would make more sense, so she did. She was so proud of the sentence that she made 3 or 4 more copies of it and kept walking around the house reading it to whomever would listen. It was very cute.

Since starting preschool last month, Kianna has made tremendous progress in her coloring abilities. Kaylee used to say that Kianna scribbled. She would begin a picture and then scribble on it and then be done before the picture was close to being finished. Now all of a sudden Kianna is coloring beautifully, finishing her pictures, and staying inside the lines. It is amazing how quickly things changed. I remember the same thing happened last year with Kaylee after she started school. I'm not sure what the teachers tell the kids, but something definitely clicked!

Trace's 8 month pictures

He is starting to look so grown up!


I have this same pose of both girls at this age. So cute!!!

Trace is 8 Months Old

Our little guy seems to be learning new tricks constantly. This past month Trace has learned to crawl and has been gaining speed and distance daily. We are currently working on teaching him what he can and can't touch. He seems to be catching on little by little, but being so young I'm sure it will take some time. He currently has an affinity to one of Mommy's picture frames, a plant in the office, and the CO2 detector in the hallway. The girls like to help keep Trace away from all the "no no's". What big helpers they are!!! Trace learned how to bring himself into the standing position a couple days ago. He is very proud of himself. I'm sure it won't be long and I'll be reporting that he is walking around objects. It is crazy how quickly he is learning all these new tricks.

Trace got his two bottom teeth this month, within days of each other. They didn't seem to bother him too much. He is a tough little cookie! Trace switched to eating 3rd foods baby food this month, which actually has little chunks of food in it. It was actually an easy transition for him. He also began eating finger foods. He wasn't quite sure if he liked them at first, as he would make a really yucky face when we put one in his mouth. However, this past week he has started to down them pretty good without making any faces. It is cute though because he can't seem to get the finger food into his mouth without us placing it there for him. He doesn't have his pincher grasp yet, so he will pick it up in the palm of his hand and bring it to his mouth and then he just starts sucking his thumb because he doesn't know what else to do with it. It is cute! Trace has tried using a sippy cup a few times, but isn't showing much interest in it yet. I'm sure it will come with time. No rush.

Another new thing for Trace is that he started taking his bathes sitting up instead of lying down. He likes to play with his bath toys and even chases them around the tub. Trace went on his first bike ride this month. He rode in the bike carriage with Kianna while Daddy pulled him. Kaylee rode on a tag-a-long bike attached to Mommy's bike. We actually made it 14 miles. Trace fell asleep, so I can't say it was too memorable for him, but the rest of us had fun!

Trace continues to have an extremely happy demeanor and loves dishing out smiles. He has started giving kisses (AKA: sucking or biting on my chin). Trace is super ticklish and loves to giggle, especially when tickled underneath his chin. He has such a precious little laugh. He thinks peek-a-boo is hilarious. Trace is such a joy. We love you buddy and hey, slow down, you're growing up way too fast!!!

My Morning Surprise

If you look closely you should be able to see his two new teeth.
I walked into Trace's room and there he was on his knees peering over the edge of his bed looking at me. He has been working on this lately, but never in his bed. Later in the morning I found him standing next to his standing table. What a big boy! I'd say it is time to lower the crib again...

Clean Freak

The place I forgot to dust.

So this may come as a surprise to my college roommates, but over the years I have gotten a reputation for being quite the clean freak. With that in mind, I spent part of the morning giving my basement a thorough cleaning. By thorough I mean I decided it was time to dust off the tough to reach window ledges above the basement stairs. Of course the ledges sent dust flying all over the stairs so before I was finished I had to vacuum the stairs, something I really do not enjoy. With satisfaction I declared the basement clean and came upstairs. Soon I hear Kaylee going downstairs and hear her yell up "You missed a spot". I came over to see what she was talking about and hear her explain farther "There is dust here. You missed a spot. You missed here too." Sure enough after an inspection on my part I discover my 4 year old is correct. I did dust the railing going down the stairs, but did forget to dust off the part where the railing attaches to the wall. Silly me! I had to laugh because I have heard more than once that Kaylee is a 30 year old in a 4 year old body. My poor little girl, I'm creating another clean freak!!!! Have I mentioned that she often has her bed made before she comes in my room in the morning to wake me up???

I'll leave you with a couple cute stories:

Trace hasn't been around the vacuum cleaner too much and I thought it might scare him. However, instead of being scared he was constantly trying to get it. It would come towards him and he would go after it. It would go away from him and he would stop. Over and over again. It was really cute to watch.

Another cute thing that happened was while I was nursing Trace the girls decided they were hungry for lunch and were looking through the pantry for some macaroni and cheese. Kianna found some marshmallows and brought the bag to me to see if she could have one. Since she didn't eat her breakfast all gone this morning she was on a strict no snack policy until lunch. I told her she wasn't supposed to have a snack and she told me "This isn't a "nack" it is breakfast (AKA: lunch-she gets her meals confused)." Being it was minutes before lunch and she is so darn cute. I had a hard time resisting...

Trace is on the move...

Trace has been trying hard to perfect the art of crawling. The past week or two he has been moving backwards and then this weekend we caught him taking a move or two forwards and today he is officially crawling. What a big boy!!! I'm excited for this milestone but will admit I'm a little nervous as to what this means in terms of all the "no, no's" he will soon be discovering. I'll let Trace tell his version of the story:

"Mommy caught me touching something I'm not supposed to...""I really want this football. I need to practice since the Hawks play the Cyclones this weekend."
"Yes, I got it. Watch me boys, this is how you pick up a loose ball."
"This is my other new trick. I'm on a strict training regimen these days. One, two..."

Quotes by Trace Curtis Cook (age 7.5 months)

Kianna's 1st Day of Preschool

Kianna turning in her first "homework" assignment to her teacher. It was a picture of her. Daddy helped Kianna glue green M & M's on for her eyes and gold ribbon on for her blond hair.

Kianna was so excited to finally get her turn at going to school. Since Kaylee started school a couple weeks ago, Kianna has frequently been asking "Do I get to go to school today?". Well her day finally arrived and she was literally jumping up and down. She already knew the teachers from Kaylee going to the same school last year, so there were no tears as she entered the room. Since her birthday was just a few weeks ago it was her turn to bring snacks and a treat. When everyone was leaving she got to hand out the M & M's to her new friends while wearing her birthday crown. It was pretty exciting! When I picked her up from school she was proud to tell me all about her day. She had played outside, colored, heard two stories (one about little kids and the other about Elmo), sat on the yellow and green dots for rug time, and made some new friends although can't remember their names. I hope she continues to be so descriptive. It is much better than the "I can't remember" that I'm used to hearing from...well I won't name any names!