Vivi babbling

Vivian has always (in my opinion) been a quieter baby in terms of vocalizations compared to her brother. She's been better at fine motor skills versus the talking stuff. Now, don't get me wrong, she can really use her lungs when she's hungry or overtired. But she hadn't really done any true babbling until this week. Maybe she just wanted to wait until those first two bottom teeth popped through to start using her voice?

When she woke up this morning, the first thing she said when I pulled the paci out of her mouth was "da, da, da". Super cute. I took her into our bathroom where Ben was getting ready for work, but she got shy. Later this afternoon I shot this video to document her first babbles. :)
I only know one thing:
I love, love, love hearing her begin to talk.

Vivian is 8 months old!

Each month when it comes time to post the "sticker-picture", I get a little sad. Our baby girl is growing up so fast! Here's what she's been up to lately:

* Wearing mostly 12-month clothes

* Wearing size 4 diapers in daytime, size 6 overnights

* Drinking 4 7-oz bottles a day

* Eating cereal/fruit for breakfast, Veggie for dinner

* Loves Mum-mums and fruit in her mesh feeder

* Has fun eating Cheerios before dinner

* Drinks water from a sippy cup

* Sleeps with her paci and sleepy giraffe

* Is pretty serious-faced most of the time (see pic above) and is a challenge to get her to giggle, but we try our best every day :)

* Crawling all over the place!

* Started pulling herself to standing - can almost do it!

* Started talking! Says da-da the most, and some other sounds.

* Has lots of fun at the pool - wants to splash and blow bubbles

* LOVES her brother so much ~ huge smiles and giggles for him all the time

Can't believe that in just four months she'll be a year old already! Where does the time go???

Dinner at Kel's

Kel invited us over for dinner tonight. We got to catch up with Missy who is getting married in less than two months! Kayla let Owen read her "Everybody Poops" book to try to help his pooping issues. We were out past bedtimes, but had a great time laughing, eating and just hanging out.
Thanks for having us over Kel!

Vivian's Baptism

We were so lucky to be surrounded by family and friends for Vivian's baptism. Kelly and Matt graciously agreed to be Vivi's Godparents, and Kayla was so sweet to let Vivi borrow her beautiful baptism gown for the special day. Just as Kayla fell asleep at her ceremony, Vivi followed suit and fell asleep during the final portion of the service and the first half of her baptism luncheon at our house. Must be the dress.

Grandma and Grandpa Marshall and Aunt Hillary came, along with Ben's Uncle Phillip and Aunt Leota and cousins Katie and Tori from Wisconsin. Molly, Tim and Nate came too, and helped with Kayla and baby Ryan while Kel and Matt were doing their Godparently duties (like holding Vivi over the baptismal font and getting hot wax dripped on their hands holding the baptismal candle). :)




We appreciated everyone being with us to celebrate and want to thank everyone for all the beautiful gifts you showered Vivian with on her special day!

German Bistro & Virginia winery

GiGi, Grandma Killi and Poppy came into town this morning. We decided to visit a local winery since Mike and Lindsey had never been wine tasting before. For lunch we stopped at a cute little German Bistro in Leesburg and enjoyed some Doner sandwiches. The babies were all very well-behaved.

We decided on Lost Creek vineyard and had fun trying the various whites, reds and dessert wines. Then we came home to relax a bit before dinner. It was a fun day spending time with family.

Uncle Mike, Aunt Lindsey, and Cousin Max are in town!

Mike, Lindsey and Max got in this afternoon to spend the weekend with us for Vivi's baptism. Kelly was so sweet to come over and stay with Vivi for me while I picked them up at the airport. We hung out until Ben got home from work and then he dove right into cooking up his famous quesadillas (You can see him hard at work in the kitchen in the background of this top picture.)

After we put the kids to bed, we hung out on the couch playing "Apples to Apples" and had a few good laughs before calling it a night.

When Daddy puts Vivian to bed

this is how I find her jammie drawer the next morning.

Vivi and her babydoll

like to dress in the same color sometimes. :)

We officially have a crawler!

Over a month earlier than her brother when he first crawled!

(The quality is low because I took this with my phone.)

Mister Independent

Lately Owen has been all about doing things by himself. Whether it be getting up into his chair for lunch, washing his hands and picking out his clothes. I know I need to let go and let him do these things on his own, but part of me gets frustrated because I know it's faster and easier for me to just do it for him.

Yesterday he wanted to use the potty by himself. I definitely think that we are getting close to him being ready to really dive head first into potty training. But I am terrified of the poop accidents that I know are bound to happen. I'm also terrified of his little independent self wanting to wipe his bottom all by himself which he did yesterday after saying he needed to poop on the potty when he had actually just pooped in his diaper. He would rip off one square of toilet paper, do a little wipe, then drop it in the toilet. He did this about fifteen times. When I tried to help, he said, "No Mommy! I can do it myself!" so I had to wait until he was bored with it to get him really clean with some baby wipes. Just the thought of poop grosses me out beyond belief. But again, I know I need to get over this soon.

We've been using the potty successfully for peeing for a long time now, it's the pooping we're having trouble with. He turns 3 next month, but I'm not going to push him if he's not ready. Right now I'm thinking we'll give it a good try in October and see what happens.

Wish us luck!