Charlotte is crawling

Charlotte is officially crawling! She is now using her hands and knees to get places!  Brett says she has been doing this for a few days but I didn't see her do it for long distances until today.  Here's a video!

We have two crawling babies in our house. That's so crazy to me I need to say it again.  We have two crawling babies in our house. Aaaaaaaaaaaah!

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Fire truck hats

When Hank sees a firefighter he called them fire truck guys.  Their hats are called fire truck hats.

The other day we found a fire truck hat at the park (it was destined for the trash so totally OK to bring home since I didn't think a little kid was going to come back for it) and Hank brought it home from the park and put it to good use on Ruby.

 

 

Then he got a matching hat from his toy box and put it on Charlotte.

They were pretty tolerant of this dress up play.  Good thing, because I am sure in a couple of years Hank will have to be on the receiving end of their dress up ideas!

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Tangled

 

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First professional hair cut

In April Hank got his first professional hair cut.  He was really patient and sat as still as he could.  The stylist was great and all his wiggles were no problem at all for her!

 

 

He looked so sweet with his short hair cut.  He also got his first lollipop ever this day after his hair cut was finished.  He loved it and kept laughing and looking at the lollipop.  So cute.

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Hi. We are adorable.

 

 

 Charlotte on the left, Ruby on the right.  Very adorable.
 
Classic Ruby and Charlotte.  Ruby gives smiles so freely and Char makes you work.  On this day, I wasn't working it enough.
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Worst idea ever

Brett and I have a phrase we like to use whenever we do something out of the ordinary with our kids and that something ends up being a big mistake.  We like to call it "the worst idea ever".  This phrase entered our vocab a week or two after the girls were born.  I suppose we never needed it before the girls came simply because when one baby is crying or one baby's schedule gets messed up it's not such a big deal.  But with three little ones, when we embark on a bad idea, our failures seem like the worst idea ever.  The worst idea ever is kinda like a bad momma moment but in our case we are usually doing it together.

So, to give you an example of one of our worst ideas ever, about a month ago we decided to take the plasma car out in the neighborhood and all of us went out on the journey.  Nothing unordinary about that, right?  You see, the problems started when  Brett thought it would be a good idea to attach a jump rope to the plasma car so he could pull Hank around if needed.  That was problem #1.  Problem # 2 was that we also had our minds set on going to Starbucks which is not a short walk from our house, but it's no problem for us when all of our kids are cooperating or in a stroller.

Now that I have set the scene, I will just cut to the chase.  Basically, once we got really far away from our house, Hank decided he didn't want to ride the plasma car like normal anymore.

Ruby and Charlotte watch the events unfold.

Hank wanted Brett to pull him around and do all the work.  Hank refused to ride it on his bottom and would only ride on his tummy.  At the time, it was very awesome and hilarious to watch him cruise around like this but it got real lame when he wanted to do it permanently.

So, we had to go 1 MPH on our walk since Hank wouldn't go fast on the plasma car like he normally does.  It was such a long walk and took us forever.  The whole way back from Starbucks (which we still went to since we were committed to it) we kept mumbling about how this was the worst idea ever.  I might have declared several times that we were not allowed to tie a jump rope to the plasma car ever again.  Brett might have declared several times that he really didn't think I needed to state the obvious.

We have the "worst ideas ever" more often than we'd like but at least each time we are learning from our mistakes!!

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Hank at the dentist

 

Hank had a dentist appointment a couple of weeks ago.  This was his second time going to the dentist but the first time to get a cleaning.  He was so great and I was so proud of him!  The whole visit took no time at all because he cooperated so well.  The fact that Sesame Street was playing on the television might have helped just a **wee** bit.  On our way out he got to rummage through a little toy chest and pick out a few things for himself.  He had a great time and since then he's actually been letting me brush his teeth better!  The hygienist said his teeth are looking great and there were no cavities.  Also, he doesn't have all of his teeth yet.  We're still waiting on the second set of molars on top and bottom which typically come in some time before age 3. 

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Freedom on wheels

This is my new stroller.  This is Brett posing with my new stroller before he went to work as the kids and I embarked on our first ever walk with the new wheels.  In the few days since it arrived, I have already gone on more outings and walks with all three kids than I did for the last seven months combined.

It is my ticket to freedom. Plain and simple.

 

And Hank loves it...which is the best part about it!

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Visiting Daddy at work

Big girl Charlotte gets to work with Dad!

Ruby and Brett watch the Caltrain going by.



At the end of March, Charlotte and Ruby went with me to visit Brett at work.  I love bringing the chaos to his office!
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Daddy and Charlotte reading

 

 

 

This took place back in March, but the pictures are so cute, I had to post!

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Blog blast

As you can see, I am in the midst of a blog blast.  As I go through my pics from the last two months I am finding tons of stuff I want on the blog!

More to come...

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Gigi's visit in March

 

Gigi visited us in March.  It is always so fun to have a Grandma around!  Hank loves being with family and having someone fun around to explore with.  The girls also love getting the extra attention.  Gigi is coming back to visit next weekend so it's about time that I got these pictures up on the blog.  LOL

When Gigi was here we took her to Happy Hollow.  We had SO MUCH FUN!

 

 

 

 

Dad and Ruby

We always have fun with Gigi and can't wait to see her next week!

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Children's Discovery Museum

In March, we took Hank and the girls to the Children's Discovery Museum in San Jose for the first time.  I love this museum as it is near and dear to my heart.  A few years ago I was on the Board for the Junior League of San Jose and I managed our relationship with the museum.  The Wonder Cabinet exhibit at the museum was one of JLSJ's Signature Projects and we contributed $50,000 to the exhibit that year in addition to many, many volunteer hours.  I have been wanting to take Hank for a long time and finally we went!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hank had a BLAST!  We can't wait to go back!

Earlier that morning, the kiddos posed for a picture when everyone woke up.

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Washing the toys

Lately, we've been washing toys in the afternoons to kill time.  These pics are from a while ago when it was still chilly out.

Yes, Hank sometimes eats bubbles. 

 

Now that the weather has warmed up, he likes to get out there a lot more often to wash his outside toys.  It is a great activity for him because he concentrates so hard on the task of rubbing the sponge on all of the toys.  Even though it can be messy I love this activity because he is really using his energy in a slow, focused way.
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Trying out the sippy cup

 Recently, the girls got a little practice with the sippy cup. 

Char asks "Are you getting anything out of this?  How did you do it?"

To which Ruby replies "Do it like this.  FYI, Mom ripped us off and only put a little bit of water in there so it's kinda hard,  You gotta really tilt it."

 

 

They have only had water a few times here and there.  I forget to give it to them a lot.  Please don't judge.  Things get a little hairy around here.  These cups do get a lot of use though - by Hank.  He loves the handles and kind of throws a conniption if he can't have them when he sees them.  It seems like he wants everything the girls have so I need to start buying everything in threes.  Now I see why my parents always bought everything in threes.  It just makes life a lot easier!
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