Another trip to the zoo...just a swingin'....rain rain go away....and a few other things

Pics: Clark, Emma and Kendall each laughing it up with Daddy at the zoo. Outside on the back porch...three pictures. Pictures from our first trip to Brusters for ice cream. The first picture showing up is the "carnage" resulting from three 13+ month olds eating their own kiddie cones with vanilla ice cream. They all didn't seem to think much of the ice cream, but loved the cones. Note for next time - cones ONLY. Much neater, I'm sure. Swinging at the park. Clark (in the swing) was smiling at Emma swinging next to him. The picture of Clark on the back porch with his face against a toy is him getting a real close up of himself in a mirror. Too funny. A little gross when he was spitting on it, but hey, he's a boy. Kendall having a fit in the car. The picture of her in the sunglasses actually came just moments before the screaming. She was mad that I wasn't back there with her - or something like that. Kendall and Emma reading books. And then Ems with her pal, monkey. She was hugging, petting and humming to her monkey. It was too cute.


Once again, I've been a bad blogger-mommy and haven't posted lately. If you know me on Facebook, you know that I just now posted pictures and thought I should probably get some on here too for those who (are smart and) do not Facebook. Side note here: If you haven't been there, STAY AWAY. Run fast and don't look back. Facebook will SUCK YOU IN!!! :) Believe me, you do NOT have the time to Facebook.

Anyway, on to the babies. There have been a few warm and beautifully sunny days here lately and we have tried to get out and take advantage of the weather whenever possible. On Sunday, we went for a walk at a nearby park with Nana and Daddy, did some swinging and sliding and then went for our first ice cream cones (at Brusters - YUMMY!!!). We also made another trip to the zoo this week with Daddy. Again, gorgeous weather and fewer people since the locals were back in school.

Kendall has taken a few steps on her own and is often standing without assistance or the aid of a neighboring prop. It is obvious that she WANTS to be more vertical and loves the new-found freedom of standing and not holding on. It allows her to clap and dance and that is always a good thing. She also has this really cute new tantrum thing she does where she lays on the floor and buries her face into the pillow (or just face-down on the mat) and cries. Nice. She is jabbering away and says something like "all done" when she is finished with a bottle or her meal. She still LOVES to put on sunglasses, though they never last long and she LOVES to be photographed. What a ham!

Emma has taken the most steps so far. She is getting a lot steadier at standing alone and also loves to dance and clap now that she can do so from much higher up. She has also learned to clap with her arms open as wide as they will go. If you try this (standing up), you might notice that this does require some balancing and she is doing great. She's also doing the funny crawl/walk thing where her back legs are straight, but she's crawling. I've heard this is just another part of the learning to walk and balance thing, so I'm expecting her to just stroll across the room on her own any day now. She did take 8 steps (the most I've witnessed so far) to me this evening and I was elated. She still loves to laugh, squeal, scream, sing and hum. She chatters and continues to yell for Daddy with her "DA!!" even when he isn't home.

Clark has started to become more vocal. We've heard some "B" sounds from him (buh buh) and also something that sounds like mama, though it's more "muh muh". He's also a lot chattier and has learned to squeal like his sisters. He can almost compete with Emma in the bathtub with his squealing. It's a small space, so I'm considering providing earplugs to anyone helping out at bath time. :) He is still pretty sturdy standing up, though he isn't letting go very often. He seems much more interested in playing with his sisters and still wants to inflict a little torture by biting or pulling hair (we're working on those issues). He seems to have hit an ornery phase and is proving to be all boy these days. I made have said that before, but this week, I mean it. :)

We are hoping that the rainy weather doesn't stick around too much longer. In fact, we'd be just fine if we woke up tomorrow to dry roads and porches and lots of sunshine. I found a new double stroller that will (hopefully) make getting out and about a little easier, so I'm hoping to give it a try this weekend. We always have our trusty choo choo wagon, but it isn't great for napping, though Kendall has proven that it can be done....see post from Halloween for pictures.