Milestones

Josie is learning so much so fast!  The purpose of this post is to serve as a record for our family, but y'all might enjoy reading what she and Ellie have been up to

Josie
-climbs up the slide, sits down, and slides back down
-climbs stools, climbs into her walker, climbs on to the ottoman
-climbs the entire staircase lickity split
-easily walks a series of 5 or 6 steps and frequently attempts bigger spans
-I swear today she ran across the living room! ha!
-waves bye bye and even said "ba!" repeatedly to Amy and Henry as they pulled away
-is getting wise to the magic of the remote and iPhone :(
-protests
-SCREAMS when she's told "no"
-loves peekaboo and has the sweetest bashful response: turns her head with a little smile and keels over.  

Ellie
Yesterday I pulled up to the coffee drive thru and ordered a carmel latte.  From the back I heard, "Mommy!  Can I have a chocolate milk-a-latte??"
-counts to 30, frequently leaving out 13  (which I think is good luck)
-knows letters, their sounds, and can match pictures to the letter that starts the object shown
-jumps off the diving board :)  life jacket on
-can count objects in a line
-can spell her name aloud
-knows her city and state
-clears her plate, cleans up toys, feeds Lucy Dog, gets Josie ready for nap by turning on her fan and music cd :)
-summer challenges have been learning to ride a bike (starting to think she's unwilling to peddle) and learning calendar concepts (seasons/months/days)

Auntie Amy and Cousin Henry

Amy with her arms full of wonderful.

Uncle Seth  taking Buster Brown, Elle Belle, and Amy for a ride on his "tractor"

Ellie being a bad influence :)

Josie knows what she wants!  Here she is with her eye on her Little Crunchies tin.  She'd been enjoying the snack on her walker tray until she ran out.  I guess she was going to bust loose and track some more down!  After I snapped this picture I said, "Josie! What are you doing?!" and she pointed to the tin, grunting and smiling. 

Our Little WALKER!

We finally took our canoe out on the Hiwassee!  Josie stayed home with Abby while we worked out the kinks on our maiden voyage.  

Ellie loves to help daddy around the house on Saturdays.  She's such a good helper.  She helped daddy trim the the Wisteria and change the oil in the lawn tractor.

Josie has been taking a few steps here and there, but yesterday she decided she could cover larger spans!  She definitely still prefers crawling, but is growing in confidence!

VBS Dance Party

Operation Overboard

Ummmm....

Dive Deep

I'm Diving In

"See what I'm doing? Just like this."

Dare to Care

Independence Day

I'm blown away when I consider that Josie will be one next month!  Where has this year gone?  She has taken quite a few steps, but I wouldn't call her a walker just yet.  I'm waiting for a little tooth to pop through any time.  Ellie's first tooth crowned when she was 11 months old...maybe Josie's will too!  They are such sweet sisters, though Ellie is a bit rough.  We spend a great deal of time just trying to keep Josie from being maimed.  By the end of most days she's had it and scrambles to escape her bruiser of a sister!

 

Family Fireworks on the 4th

Ya know...just getting dressed for gymnastics

Matching Missies

Ellie went to VBS at First United Methodist (where her PDO program is, too). She LOVED it and has been singing all the songs this week.  

 Naked babies!  A little pre-bath rough housing.

More 4th pictures

We had the craziest windstorm (no rain) on the 5th.  Our electricity went out for a few hours so we spent the time trying to eat all of the popsicle in the Coulthard's freezer. We lost some big limbs in our back yard...just a good excuse for Seth to break out his chainsaw and John Deere hat.

Time down in South Ga with the Fords