The Nelson's

We had a great time when Jillyn, Lance, and Noah Nelson came to visit. Sadly, I'm not as great a photographer as Angie is, and so our only pictures are from two small photo shoots. Hopefully Jill can find her camera cord and send me some that I don't already have. But for now, here are the little tykes:

Cousin Noah (aka Aunt Jill) got these cute little dresses for the girls for Valentines Day, so we took some pictures on Sunday all dressed up.



Everyone was trying to help Claire out in this one.

Cute cousins

Summer was so cute with Noah. Unlike Graham, Noah was quite immobile so Summer took it on herself to bring the toys to him. She would run around the room and bring him things to look at and check out.


Summer's Current List of Vocabulary:
mommy, dada, owie, hi, bye, duck, quack, yuck, bubble, more, eye, nose, baby, hot, cheese, juice, uh oh, and thank you.

Claire's doing great--she sleeps from about 10pm until 6 or 7ish, usually only waking up once. She actually smiles at Summer now, rather than giving her crusties. She has also almost rolled over quite a few times--she loses her pacifier, and works so hard to get it back in that she almost rolls over. We're cheering her on.

While waiting . . .

While waiting for pictures of Jill, Lance, and Noah's visit, I thought I'd share this.
I don't usually link YouTube to the blog, but I thought this was so cute. Can't wait until it comes out!
(Summer will sit and watch this over and over again--for twenty minutes straight!)

If it doesn't work, click here to pull it up in YouTube.

Growing

I can't believe how fast Claire is growing. She gives us so many smiles now. We love it.
Sleeping
Pretty in Pink
Sisters
This is how we keep Claire protected during the day. I don't want to just leave her in our room when she's awake, so we put her in the pack'n'play. Summer tries to get to her, but for now, this is the safest place.
A cute clip of Summer feeding Graham water from her little cup. She'd stir it, then give him a bite. And he'd take it!

Partners in Crime

Last Sunday night, my sister Angalee flew in from Pennsylvania with her little boy Graham. Graham just had his first birthday about two weeks ago. He and Summer LOVED playing together. Whatever one was doing, the other just had to be right next the them doing it too. (One of the funniest moments this week was when we were all over at Heather's, and it got mysteriously quiet. We found them at her pantry--Summer pulling things off the shelf and handing them to Graham where he would then inspect them and then put them on the ground. It was so funny!)

We had such a great time. And thanks, Ang, for being a great photographer!

Playing at the toy box:
Graham reading to Summer:
Summer reading to Graham:
Graham taking the lid off:
Summer helping him put it back on:
Getting the cans out:
Stacking cans together:
Sharing graham crackers:
Conspiring . . .? (And yes, that really is her morning hair!)
Summer sharing her raisins:
Practicing:
Getting into trouble:
Cornered:
Caught!
Drawing:
Drawing some more:
And while Angie and I were baking bread, Summer got into our pantry closet, found the cornstarch and dumped it all over Graham.
Graham wasn't too excited about it, and when we bathed them, the cornstarch in his hair turned to gooey gunk. I told Summer to grab some toys because she was going to take a bath, and she came running out, grabbed a handful of cornstarch, and went running back into the bathroom ready for her bath.One of my favorites:
Contrary to what it looks like, they were fully clothed--most of the time. But sadly, yes, the apartment looked like this last picture pretty much every day. Oh well. We had a great time!

The trip ended with a last minute shopping trip at the mall. Angie pushed the double stroller with Graham and Summer, and I pushed the single stroller with Claire. We got lots of looks as we tried to sprint from store to store (we had limited time--bedtimes to keep!). But it was worth it.

The trip home for Angie and Graham was a little rough, but we're so glad they came. And thanks again, Ang, for this AMAZING outfit and booties for Claire that you made. They are beautiful!