10 Months!

March 26-April 25, 2011

We had a lazy weekend this weekend. The weather was overcast and a little chilly but we still enjoyed getting out for walks and treats. Before our walk with Daddy.
Our new fun toy! This little walker wagon provides lots of fun. I have given the boys a full tour of the apartment. Pretty sure they had never been in the guest room--they have now. After playing with it for a couple of weeks I had to put it away until they are bigger. It falls down on top of them, mostly Eli, and he's fine but Porter cries every time because of the loud noise it makes.
On one of our walks. Eli got a treat--his first gelato. Evan says it wasn't on purpose, as he winked at Eli. The overcast afternoon kept some of the Italians away so the swings were free on our nearby playground. We promptly had a group of Italian ladies fawning over the boys and at the same time scolding Evan and me for not bundling the boys up more. Please note the fleece hoodie zipped up, and they are wearing socks, pants, and a long-sleeve onesie.
After our walk. Eli has gotten really good at getting down from standing. He can pull up on most anything: the window, the bookshelf, or a stool. Once he's up, he gingerly lowers himself down and gets his balance back. Both Porter and Eli are still army crawling but have brief spouts of time up on their knees, then after a few moves, they are back to their tummies.
I just love sleeping pictures. They can get themselves into the cutest positions. But I assure you, they don't just sleep. When they wake up early from their naps or before falling asleep, especially lately, they have been carving their cribs. Porter's crib is now a different color across the top and sides and he is quite proud when I walk in and find him gnawing away. Eli's is not as colorful because he still only has his two bottom teeth. Porter has top and bottom so he's more dangerous. Because of all the climbing they do, the bumpers are now permanently out of the crib.
On our way to base sometimes we see the sheep tending the fields. There are hundreds of sheep, a few dogs, and one guy with a stick and sometimes a book. I finally had my camera ready to snap a photo. They get so close to the road and the guy just stands there with his book.
This is Porter at playgroup on a rocking elephant toy. We have started feeding them more and more of our own food: chicken, beans, cheese, tortillas.
Porter has started clapping his hands together. I have been showing them 'more' in sign language which is sort of like clapping but I'm pretty sure he hasn't put the two together yet. Especially since he claps a lot when I'm changing his diaper--I like the appreciation though P.
Eli caught in the basket. He has started to raise his hands high when we feed him and sometimes he'll give us high-fives.
This month also started the army-crawl-to-mom. If I walk in the other room to change a diaper or run to my bedroom for something, I have a little person following me. It takes a while but I hear the hands hitting the floor from the mat surface, then a few moments later a head peeks around the corner at me. They also crawl all over each other which I don't mind, but sometimes other kiddos at playgroup don't love it as much.
They are both pulling up on lots of toys and especially the bookshelf and window. Eli can pull to standing and Porter is still on his knees but he's close. They really investigate all the toys and their noises.
We went to Laura's house to walk and after putting Eli back in the car-seat, this is the fun he had with his hat. What a ham!
It's almost bath-time and Dad got home just in time. Our bath-time routine is always the same. Porter goes first and Eli second. Porter gets to watch the bath fill up with water and Eli watches it get dumped out.
I corral them in one crib when I need to put their clothes up in their room or refill diapers/wipes. This is how they entertain themselves.
We went to a baby shower at the office and the boys played with everyone and it was nice to have my hands free. They really liked Sara's sparkly shirt. We also went to Cellini's tonight with the office and Porter and Eli did great. It was nice to be out and about at night again!
During meal time Porter has started to take off his bib constantly. He pulls and pulls until it comes undone. I clipped it in the back with a chip clip. He's left it alone since. Elie has started this blowing move. He furrows his brow, puffs out his cheeks, and blows through his nose, like a bull. This was on our afternoon walk with Laura. All the beautiful nature and country-side the boys saw helped them take a nap, instead of being surrounded by concrete and stone on our normal Sacile walks.
Lino is always working on something. The past few weeks it has been the yard. Today he had a lift in the driveway to help him get the tops of his trees trimmed. He brings friends over to help and they make lots of noise and yell in the stairways, but our yard always looks very well taken care of.
Ceci's exersaucer still provides loads of entertainment. Mostly they stand around it or play with the toys from the outside. The play"yard" is also losing it's boundaries. They have found the way out!
Yeah! Porter pulled to standing all by himself. He's still a little shaky but he loves that he can see all the same things Eli can!
Taylor had spring break this week so she came over a few afternoons to play. We ventured out to the park and tried the grass again--Eli is getting better and better. Porter loves it! Eli also made a friend. She liked to give him grass because he would put it in his mouth and make a face which made her laugh.
Laura and Callum have been coming over Tuesday nights for dinner. Tyler is deployed and she leaves soon for the states, so we have to fill up our Laura/Cal time before she leaves us. Callum is such a champ and falls asleep in the pack-n-play while we all enjoy dinner and chatting sans kiddos. Laura is a champ because she has to wake him up to drive home, and he goes back to sleep once he's home. My hats off to her! We have had a lot of fun on our Tuesday nights!
This is my attempt at forever remembering this outfit. I bought these in the states in November and thought, "9 month clothing, of course it will still be cold." Not knowing that my 9 month old children would still be wearing 6 month old clothing and not need the 9 month clothing until it was already starting to warm up. Mid-month we had some days of full on heat and I was regretting not putting them in the clothes even if they were too big. Then we got a cold front=my second chance. From then on, all the 9 month clothes were out and worn everyday. There are others but the fleece type vests only made one appearance.
We celebrated Nana's birthday!! We will get to celebrate again when she comes in May with Grandpa.
Porter has another top tooth making 5 total. Does he want out?
Eli was in his crib as I was changing Porter's diaper and I could see him against the side closest to the wall. He was raising his hand and laughing. He did this a few times before I noticed what was making him so happy--he found his shadow. Peek-a-boo!
Callum came over today to play with the boys. What a nice addition he made to our day! For a few minutes it was a game of hide-and-seek. In the bottom right picture, Porter and Eli were playing. It was really cute.
Callum is so easy-going and just watches and observes whatever Porter and Eli were doing. Callum isn't quite moving yet but Eli and Porter really tried to convince him that it was "the" thing to do. He's so close!
If you want to know what Porter ate, check his hair. Squash.
Another hide-and-go-seek game with the desk for Eli.
This was the final day of the bouncer. It's green and on the right side of this picture. It was on our coffee table for a while and then had to be moved to the floor as the boys became more mobile. Since then I usually put Eli in the bouncer while I take Porter to his chair after I feed them. Eli is good about entertaining himself or chewing on the straps. Porter doubles over his little body and usually spits up so Eli made the most sense. Well not today. Believe it or not he was strapped in. He maneuvered the bouncer forward, got his legs, out, crawled to the table and took out the newspaper. All this in the 60 seconds or less it takes me to walk Porter to the dining room and get him in his chair. Bye-bye bouncer.
Eli is now clapping his hands together and Porter is shaking his head 'no'. Eli has been doing this for a while so they swapped tricks.
On the GO!
We went to Laura's house to dye some Easter eggs. The boys played in the grass and were very entertained by Laura's landlords who were working in the yard.
In addition to the desk and stool, the rocking chair is a fun new toy. Rock, rock, rock, rock, rock. They run over each others toes, slide down, hit their heads, pull up--whatever the case they like it.
We also celebrated Great-Grandpa's birthday. Looking out the windows is fun, and when they get to stand on the couch to do it is even better.
Laura's landlords teaching Callum to walk.
Showing our support for the Astros!

Happy 10 Months Porter and Eli!