Scenes from June

 We have had a great summer so far! Greg has had some time off of work and we've had a chance to travel some, visit a few places around town, and also stay home and just spend time together. Now that summer is wrapping up, I'm taking a minute to update the blog with some pics of our summer.

Lauren has grown so much and is really reaching some big milestones. She is a speedy crawler now and can crawl up stairs quicker than we can run and catch her. We've recently installed the baby gates, so that helps, but she is determined to get into mischief wherever she goes! She is constantly putting everything in her mouth, climbing on things, exploring new places around the house, etc. So, I guess she's a typical 11 month old!  She delights in crawling as fast as she can as we try to catch her. And whenever she knows she's put something in her mouth that she shouldn't, she laughs and shakes her hands wildly and is so excited :) She is so cute, though, and seems to think everything is a game. She is able to spot the littlest speck of dirt, crumbs, etc on the floor and has them in her mouth before we can even see them. Hannah is a little helper and will tell us if she sees Lauren start to put something in her mouth. Lauren is able to say "mama", "dada", and we think she says "nana" for Hannah. She is eating table food now and loves most fruits. She still will not eat anything that is spooned to her...very strange, but this makes choosing foods quite interesting. For example, she will eat yogurt, but only if you give her the whole container and she eats it all with her hands.  Lauren took her first step on July 6th in a hotel room in St. Louis when we were visiting the Zoo and Magic House. She loves to cruise, holding onto the furniture, and walk while holding onto someone's hands. She continues to be a very happy baby. She's cuddly, loving, smiley, resilient (when big sis loves her a little TOO much), strong, observant (always watching to see what everyone else is doing), and an all-around sweet girl :)

Hannah is doing great too. She continues to be a really loving big sister and helps with Lauren a lot. She loves to give Lauren big hugs and joke around with Lauren. Hannah has also recently started to love to do puzzles and rapidly moved from 24 pc to 100 pc puzzles, which she usually prefers to do with no help. She likes for us to keep her company, but doesn't like for us to put the pieces together :) She continues to be extremely independent. She wants to do most everything on her own...from picking out her own clothes, to getting dressed, to brushing hair, putting her barrettes in, to even helping prepare breakfast, trying to write her name, and buckling her car seat. I love that she is independent and she really has a strong desire to learn how to do things for herself. She has a great sense of humor and likes to goof around and be funny. She also loves to pretend...she loves to act out stories (Wizard of Oz!), play doctor or veterinarian, play pretend "doggies", or play with her dollies. She also continues to love art, drawing, etc and has recently started to draw people (stick figures, etc). She is loving, independent, free-spirited, funny, energetic, quick to laugh, opinionated, talkative, and always running!

Hope you enjoy the pics of this summer. They will be coming in several installments as it may take some time to catch up!

Lauren at 9 1/2 months

A typical Lauren look...Looking back smiling as she crawls away as fast as she can! Hannah will say "Lauren! Don't get into any mischief!"

Hannah dressing up like a ballerina. She likes to do dances to music. This started after seeing Grace and Kate's dance recital :)

Hannah and her friend, Rollins, dressed up as ballerinas :) Who says boys can't be ballerinas?! So cute. These two are quite a pair!

Hannah and Nate and Nora Drymalski on their visit to KC. After swimming at the neighborhood pool.

Greg tickling Lauren at dinner time. She has a great, hearty, laugh and a huge smile! She looks like her Daddy here :)

Hannah getting ready to go swim. She loves to swim and has gotten a lot braver this summer. She took a few swimming lessons, but really it is just repetition that has made her braver in the water. She wears a life vest so she can be "independent" and not have to hold on to me. She loves to jump in from the side of the pool and also likes water slides when we go to a place that have them.

Lauren-Lou (her nickname...not sure where it came from, but it has stuck) crawling around at almost 10 months.

Hannah and her friend Olivia (same exact birthday!) at the KC Zoo

Lauren riding the carousel at the zoo! Big girl!

Hannah on the carousel. Always a zoo favorite.

We went to pick out a couple of puzzles from Target. I tried to talk her out of choosing the 300 piece Dorothy puzzle, but she really wanted it. She was so cute...she worked so diligently and completed it with help! This girl really loves puzzles!

Lauren-Lou hanging out in the driveway with some toys. This was in the early summer before it got REALLY hot. Lauren seems to really like to be outside; even if she is upset or tired, if you take her outside she will normally be really happy.

Ha! A typical pose for these two...Lauren putting something in her mouth quick as lightning (in this case tiny mulch) and Hannah showing Lauren that she needs to stick her tongue out so she can spit out whatever is in her mouth. Always an adventure :)

Greg took the girls to Paradise Park on the day that I had an all day meeting for my MOPS group. They had a great time! What a great Dad he is :) This picture is of Lauren playing with the little animals in one of the pretend play rooms.

Face-painted Hannah acting silly :)

Hannah with her baking creation at Paradise Park

Trying out the new neighborhood sprayground! Quite a hit!

Hannah and Joey the Cow at Chick-Fil-A Daddy/Daughter Date Night :) 

Lauren after eating a whole container of baby yogurt (well, whatever she managed to get into her mouth!) with her hands! She won't eat it from a spoon!

Greg and the girls on a beautiful summer evening night on the deck.