Into everything.

We had our neighbors and their two little ones over for fish tacos on Friday night. It was lots of fun and the kids all played very well together, so well that Hadley was able to do this to her face for a few minutes before we caught on! Washable crayons pretty much disintegrate upon contact with moisture....




Brooke was giving her tricycle a try after a long winter. Hopefully she catches on to how the pedals work this time. We don't want to be pushing her around all summer. We didn't get a photo, but Hadley also sat on the trike today - like a pro! She has very good balance.




I also must apologize to Hadley for grumping so much about how Brooke held her own bottle at age six months and Hadley shows no signs of starting to. I was looking at old posts and Brooke was 10 months old before she could put her own binky in and Hadley has been doing that for months!

Happy 2 Year Blogaversary!

Yes, it was two years ago today that I started this blog to chronicle our family's journey. I have vastly enjoyed creating this blog and hope you readers continue to enjoy the day-to-day narrative of our lives.

In that thread....Blake's boss gave Brooke a purple purse filled with hair accessories. It was a big hit!

Cherub

And her big sister.

Little Girl in the Big City

They have been learning about the concept of City and Farm in Brooke's class at school. That, combined with our staycation last week and visiting my office yesterday, has made Brooke obsessed with "going to the city".

This morning the ladies and I went to Pioneer Square and did a little sightseeing. There are these bronze sculptures all around - beavers, ducks and sea lions, etc. - and Brooke ran right up to hug them. I think we will be visiting The City plenty this summer, especially when the AAA Baseball season starts up again.

Oh - kind of fun, Portland is hosting some of the NCAA Men's Basketball games, so the Purdue and Washington fans and cheerleaders were all over downtown this morning.

Staycation and fighting over who drives ALREADY.

This weekend was a big one. Not only did Hadley crawl for the first time on Friday, we went to downtown Portland for a one night "Staycation". We checked into the Embassy Suites hotel on Saturday morning and then it was off on the MAX train up to the Childrens' Museum. After all that excitement we headed back to the hotel for naps. Then we hit the indoor pool. Hadley wore a bathing suit for the first time and we all almost passed out from the cuteness. We rounded off the day with dinner at a fun Greek restaurant with a giant purple octopus on the facade.

Brooke was trying something new out - she was asking everyone their name. People in the elevator, our waiters, people at the pool. It was pretty neat to see! Sometimes the person would tell them their name and Brooke would just stare and ask them again - like she didn't really believe that was their name.

Sunday morning was breakfast and more pool time. Then naps and a return home. Awesome! Thanks, Blake, what a good idea! The whole photo album may be found here.








We put away some baby contraptions this weekend (jumparoo and swing) to make room for some new contraptions - the push/ride car! Brooke ripped it away from Hadley immediately and we were treated to a broken record request for the next hour "Can I have a turn?". Hadley LOVED the car and was playing with it like an old pro right off the bat. She is not a little tiny infant anymore. (wahhhhhhhh, sniff, sniff.)




"Helping" sister out with the car.


Showing Hadley how to play with the car.

"Yeah, Sis, I've got this handled. Now MOVE, I have places to go."

She Crawls!

Hadley Crawls from morgan swanson on Vimeo.

Take a walk. Get some fresh air. You will feel better.

We had a little break in the rain today and I took the ladies for a long walk around the neighborhood (close to a 2/3 of a mile round trip). It was really nice. Brooke walked next to me and held my hand while Hadley checked out the scenery. It was the first time we had done something like that and we will make it a regular event as the weather warms up.



Look closely and you can see Hadley making her "monkey lips" in these photos.


Little Sister's hood would not stay on.

Growing and changing.

Little Hadley turned nine months old this week. She is looking so grown up, on her way to being one. Still no crawling and she babbles "mama", "dada" and "baba", but no real words yet. I wonder if her eyes will stay the dark blue color they currently are?




Here she is playing peek-a-boo!


peek-a-boo from morgan swanson on Vimeo.


And because we always like to compare:

Brooke at nine months #1
Brooke at nine months #2

Items of note:

Developmentally, Hadley is at exactly the same place Brooke was at this age. Except for holding her own bottle, of course... Size-wise, however, Hadley's feet are a full two shoe sizes larger than Brooke's were! (Brooke's feet lagged behind the rest of her growth, I thought.) Hadley is fitting into 18-24 month clothes most of the time. She is cute little tank. Brooke and Hadley have always both been in the 90th percentile or greater for height, Hadley just has more meat on her bones!

Fun Hair

Blake gave Hadley a mohawk on Friday and I gave her a ponytail for the very first time yesterday. She also has her second tooth...another bottom one!