1 year

claudia is walking! she can do about 15 feet by herself but mostly likes me to walk with her. she gets very excited when jack is running around the house–trying to run while holding my hand. very soon, she will be running after him all by herself. these days claudia's favorite fruit is blueberries with strawberries coming in second. she utilizes her 2 bottom teeth and her new top tooth very well. she is a determined little girl who can be feisty and loving. she laughs and smiles a lot!

babble & speech

jack is a great brother. he keeps claudia entertained and also is encouraging her to use her voice. often at dinner jack talks with her (loudly) and she reacts. lately, he's been getting her to say da da. she can say ma ma too. and today i think she said "all done" after she ate a cheese stick. exciting stuff!

claudia is also able to stand alone for a wee bit and has now taken 2 steps on her own. she loves the attention it brings her.

4 years

jack is a four year old boy. tonight he will sleep in his big boy bed! it's getting harder to remember a time without my sunshine. he has been wonderful to watch this past year. he is so smart and passionate and creative. a great big brother. i love you jack!

mother's day weekend 2011

yes, it is a whole weekend. claudia said dada & jack needed to have a big talk with daddy.

9 months

my beautiful kids love to make funny faces and at 9 months, they look a lot alike

easter 2011

jack makes the funniest faces. claudia was perfect and i love how i am in the frame!

spring!

i am so happy today is the first day of spring. it was a long winter!

a couple days ago we went to grand rapids to see the butterflies! it's great to be in the tropical greenhouse while it's still cold. early that morning jack didn't want to see butterflies. he wanted to stay home and play blocks. i was a little worried that we would have a rough ride there. after chocolate milk in the car, jack was ready to see some butterflies. when we got there, jack watched a butterfly emerge from it's chrysalis. he really showed a lot of interest in what was happening. jack and claudia both really liked looking at all the plants and seeing the morph butterfly. it's a big, beautiful blue butterfly, the size of my palm.

claudia can climb stairs. she babbles a lot and is doing quite well with food. currently her game is to crawl really fast to the dog bowls and dip her hand in the water (if we don't get there in time). she likes to giggle with jack and be tickled by daddy. she has great empathy and cries when jack does too!