Caption Contest

Ari and Ashlyn were in their skivvies the other day and I grabbed the camera for some sweet shots. There is just something about their sweetness together. Did you hear that we went out to eat a couple weeks ago and our waiter asked me if they were twins? Really? Really? (Seth and Amy edition)

Well, nows your chance to tell me what YOU think Ari and Ashlyn are saying/doing. Include your initials/name/domain in the comments section and I'll announce a winner with the next post.

Photo A

Photo B

8 months (and a few days)

While I was sitting around eating bon bons and watching the Weather channel, I forgot to update Ashlyn's 8 month stats. Woops.

Ashlyn weighs in around 20 pounds... yes, she carries it well. You can hardly tell behind all those rolls. She is fitting into 12 month pajamas and pants. Guess we're skipping the 9 month clothing box of Ari's hand-me-downs.

She's pretty much officially crawling. She gets where she needs to very quickly. She can get from her back/belly to sitting upright rather quickly and rolls all over the place. It is fun to spy on her after her nap and watch her sitting up playing with her bunny.

Besides the two teeth, Ashlyn has a personality that is exuberant one minute and the next, it goes downhill when she doesn't get what she wants. She's vocal. We'll stop there.

She eats anything and everything that is put in front of her. She prefers to feed herself and independently refuses spoons in her face. So, messy meals ensue and we clean the floor four or more times a day. It's a mess, but also freeing because I can just put food in front of her and she uses her two-fists to shovel it in. She still is nursing late at night/early in the morning and is growing and thriving fast.

Ashlyn loves her sister and kicks and squeals when Ari walks in the room. They play well together but Ash grabs/hits/pulls on Ari when she's close by. Sometimes, Ari likes it and sometimes she doesn't. Sharing is tough too because technically, everything is "Ari's" and Ashlyn doesn't understand sharing at all, so many lessons of kindness are taught each day.

Can't believe its been 8 months already. Only 4 left? Are you serious...

Ari's Favorites

Every toddler has his/her preferences or favorites (of the week, day or hour). Ari's favorite lovie is her bunny. Her favorite fruit, grapes. She likes her purple shoes and pushing the shopping cart. She prefers her socks off of her feet and her toes, pink.

Consistently, Ari wants to sing the Buses song. The Wheels on the Bus Go Round and Round. We got bored pretty quick with the wheels, wipers, driver, horn and baby so we've made up our own versions and visitors on the bus. Ari has too. The same people make the cut when I sing the buses song and when Dan does: Uncle Dave, Aunt Katie and Uncle Todd. I'll start by singing "The ____ on the bus says ____" and she'll fill in the blanks. Sorry to those who don't make it but trust me, you're requested and remembered at different times and for different things ('talk Aunt Shell, Ella-- computer').

Ari's memory is impeccable and she can tell me which baby/child goes with which Aunt/Uncle pair and who is who in all the family pictures. "Aunt Bex with Zachy and Allie." She even surprised me the other day when my computer slide show was on when a photo of her Great Grandma Haller came through. She yelled "GiGi!" I was so surprised. She remembers my Grandma Claire's dog's name too: Biscuit. Crazy! She remembers the name of a dog we saw at the park "Nikki" and says "Bye Bye Nikki" because we had to leave. She remembers that my dad drilled a hole in the table out back for an umbrella. "Grandpa theeeiiis hole." Ari remembers who purchased what gifts for her "Shoes, Baba got" and "Kitchen, Grammy got". I could go on with story after story of her intelligence and memory. She's a smart one.

Teeth!!

Ashlyn's teeth came Noah's Ark style:

in twos!

The Tooth Poem

Taken from a blog post back in August 2010 (that long ago?)

The tooth is cute

But causes much strife.

From the sounds of it,

It's cutting like a knife.

She's handing it well

As any girl should.

By chewing on metal,

Sharp objects and wood.

With her spirited smile

She's still a joy to be around.

We're just hoping this tooth

Doesn't put us in the ground.

Ashlyn, stop growing!

We aren't ready for this.

Your cute little self

We will soon very much miss.