We have had such a great month! I can't believe how quickly you change and grow up... It is hard to believe that you were born 10 short months ago!
We got to visit Shreveport for Christmas this year and got to see Aunt Katelyn marry your Uncle Joshua. What a blessing! It is a good thing she was a gorgeous bride or you two would have stolen the show. Everyone loved you, of course, and it was great to get to introduce you two to the extended family and so many good friends.
Your breakfasts are now two scrambled eggs with milk and cheddar cheese, about 1/4 c. yogurt and banana for each of you, and a handful of cheerios. The cheerios compete with the yogurt now for your favorite food. Lunches usually consist of a piece of peanut butter bread and a large bowl of pasta with veggie sauce. You are both great eaters when I feed you things you love!
You both discovered an old wooden puzzle (from when I was little!) and you love taking the pieces out and trying to put them back in. You don't quite have the fine motor skills for it yet, but you definitely understand the concept!
Jack, you are 21 lbs. this month. I really can barely lift you out of your crib these days. It is a good thing that we aren't using your infant car seats any more!
You still fit into 12 month pants if you are wearing a disposable (size 3), but in cloth you can't squeeze into them, so it's up to 18 month pants for you. I also can't button shirts around your bottom any more, so you're now wearing big boy shirts in size 12 and 18 months. You are also in 18 month pajamas now because you're too long for 12 months.
Your hair is getting really long, really fast. Mommy gave you your first haircut on December 29, a few days before Aunt Katelyn's wedding. She cut your bangs, the back, around your ears and a little bit of your ear itself... Whoops! (Really it was just a scrape, but man those scissors were sharp!)
You can sign please, milk (which to you means any food), and all done, although sometimes Mommy forgets to instruct you and then you forget how to use them. You generally get your point across with loud screams.
You are a master Cheerio picker-upper. It took you about 15 minutes to figure out the pincer grasp and how to get those guys into your mouth. They never stood a chance against Jack-who-loves-to-eat.
You got your first two teeth this month (finally!). Your bottom right incisor came first on December 23 and then your bottom left incisor came on December 29th. You look so adorable with two teeth!
You did your first real crawling for Mimi and Papa on Skype. Daddy set up the laptop, webcam and cell phone on the floor for our Skype session and you decided that that was enough electronic motivation to crawl for the first time! Crawling really clicked for you this past week and now you are everywhere and in everything. You are so curious and find things faster than I can keep track! For instance, I turned around the other day when I heard a door stop go "thwaaaanng" and you were just about to put the plastic cap from the end of the doorstop into your mouth. Yikes! You can go from crawling to sitting now and then onto your knees. You frequently try to stand up in your crib, although you haven't quite managed it yet.
You learned how to wave this month, without much instruction, and you love to show off your skills to everyone you meet. You waved to Mimi from across the room for your first wave! You also wave to Daddy when you wake up in the middle of the night. Aunt Naomi (Na Na) taught you how to high five and you caught on really quickly to that. You don't hit hands very hard, but you do the correct motion!
You say two words now (albeit selectively), Dah and bah-bye. Seriously, kid, what about me? You know, the one who feeds you and spends every waking moment of your day with you? In other words, "mama"?
I am thinking that you may be a baton-twirler someday. You have got a twisting wrist action down pat, from this noisemaker we have that you have to flip back and forth to get it to make noise. You think that anything that makes noise requires this motion and so you will do it to balls with bells in them, the mallet for the xylophone, Sophie the giraffe (who squeaks). It is pretty cute!
You started sleeping with a blanket this month, one that Uncle Matthew gave you when you were just born. It is white with different types of balls on it (footballs, soccer balls, etc.). You can be crying and mad when I lay you down on your belly, but as soon as the blanket covers you, you are happy and start sucking on your pointer and middle fingers and close your eyes. Sometimes I come in after your nap to find you have covered your head with the blanket and have wrapped it around yourself real tightly. I was wondering why your hair kept looking so unkempt after naps!



Ben, you are 18 lbs. this month. You still feel so light compared to Jack, but you have passed up the Osborn twins who are two months older than you, so you must be pretty big still!
You are too big for 6-9 month clothes any more, so they are all packed away now. You fit nicely into 12 month clothes and pajamas, although I'm not sure how much longer that will last.
Your hair is starting to get really long, although you've rubbed another bald spot into the back because you sleep on your back again. You are next in line for a haircut, although I haven't had the motivation to do it yet.
You are pretty stubborn about not signing. Your method of communicating with Mommy is grunting and screaming your displeasure. She usually figures out what you want that way. Sometimes I think you sign "all done" one time and then if I don't catch on immediately you start the screaming. So perhaps you are just frustrated with me!
You started out getting too frustrated with picking up Cheerios and then just wiping them off your tray all over the floor. But over the past few weeks you have learned how to pick them up and are very good at it now. If you get frustrated, though, you will just bang your (saliva-covered) hand on the Cheerios a few times and pick up about 6 at once. You usually can get one of the six in your mouth.
You got your first two teeth this month (finally)! You got both of your bottom incisors on December 12th (the same day). You look adorable with your scrunched up nose grin and two little teeth in there!

You are not quite crawling yet, but you can go backwards and are able to fling yourself forwards when you want something that is in front of you. You can also rotate on your hands and knees really well. You are so close to crawling! I think the fact that Jack can move faster than you really bugs you and you are ready to figure it out.
You learned how to wave this month. Your first wave was to strangers on the airplane ride back from Shreveport. You are SUCH a flirt! You wave far less often than Jack does, but you love to wave to him first thing in the morning.

You started saying "Mah-mahhhhhh!" when you cry now. I'm not sure if it is intentionally my name, but since I respond to it, I'm thinking you're going to catch on fast that it calls me over. You like being held (especially by me), so if it gets you held faster, I think that will be great motivation.
I think you are going to be a pogo stick champion when you get bigger. You LOVE jumping (you spent the entire plane ride from here to Dallas jumping in my arms) and you can jump for about 10 minutes straight without stopping.
You are now my flipper during diaper changes - you do not want to stay on your back! Mommy has to swat your thigh multiple times sometimes to remind you that you are not supposed to flip. You are just a stubborn boy, like Mommy and Daddy both are.
You started sleeping with a blanket this month, one that Uncle Matthew gave you when you were just born. It is white with airplanes and trains and cars on one side and blue fleece on the other. You sleep on your back now and when Mommy lays the blanket down on you, you grab a corner and hold it in your hand while you suck your thumb. It is so sweet! You finally took your first good nap at church the other day when we brought your blanket with us!


I love you both so much. I just said to Daddy the other day that my family is perfect - I can't imagine better kids or a happier life.
Love,
Mama




