Charlotte 21 months & Jocelyn 4 months

I'll interrupt my Seattle posts to do an update on the girls' growth and development. I promise I will get our last few days of Seattle posted with picture eventually.

Fall is officially underway and the weather is getting cooler. The girls continue to amaze me with their milestones, and developing personalities.

Jocelyn is getting stronger and stronger. She is rolling over from back to stomach, starting to grasp toys, and enjoys sitting up (with support) and watching the world go by, or watch her sister play. She is no longer content to sit in the swing for any length of time unless she is sleeping. The Jumperoo is one of her favorite things. She doesn't "play" with the items on it yet, but loves to jump and move around in it. She is much more vocal than I remember Charlotte being at this age; blows raspberries, squeals, coos, and giggles. Charlotte loves to imitate, which isn't nearly as cute because she does it three times as loud as Jocelyn--it has made dinner time quite noisy these days.

Jocelyn had her four month well check on Monday and checked in with these stats:

Weight: 14lbs and 2oz (75th percentile)

Height: 25 inches (75th percentile)

Head Circumference: 16 1/2 (75th percentile)

Charlotte has continued to be a great big sister. I have officially lost track of all her expressive vocabulary. She talks non stop. I can't understand all of it yet, but quite often we get it figured out. She labels things everywhere we go: lights, cookies, cracker, car, tree, etc. She is putting multiple words together up to two or three words. Walking through Target today we passed the Johnson and Johnson Baby Wash and she said, "Soap hair". She is so observant!

She loves pretending. Her babies are her favorite things. She carries them around with "urp rags" and puts them in all of Jocelyn's gear (bouncy seat, bumbo, jumperoo, swing, etc). The other day she got into the pantry and got out cereal after putting her baby in her booster seat at the table. It keeps her entertained longer than any other single task.

Another love of hers is music. She is always requesting "isik, isik" (while signing the sign). She loves it and love putting actions with it. Her independence and personality is shining through with each passing day. She loves helping herself to snacks and requesting drinks by going to the kitchen saying, "Gulk juice" (milk juice) rather than saying "drink please"...we're still working on that...or at least only requesting one drink rather than two. :)

We have been blessed in the fact that Charlotte has still been taking two naps a day, which most children her age do not. This week we are transitioning to only one longer nap in the afternoon. Partly for my sake, but also for Charlotte. We have done one nap here and there over the last few months, and most days it has worked well, but she tended to be happier with two, and admittedly, I enjoyed the quiet time. So far the transition is going smoothly.

Seattle: Day 4

On Thursday morning of our trip we decided to spend some time at the hotel and have a slower paced day. We started the morning swimming. Every time we walked by the pool Charlotte would get excited and say "bath bath!". She has been swimming many times before, but she had no fear. She tried to get in without George or I in the pool - she is so independent! This was Jocelyn's first time swimming...she seemed to like it, but despite the warmth of the pool, she got cold fast.

Pardon the messy hair and the bad picture...Charlotte was not interested in the camera...she just wanted to get in.

Splashing Daddy

After swimming we headed to Snoqualmie Falls. But first stopped for some lunch. Although we aren't Twin Peaks fans, there was a restaurant near where were going that was featured in the show, Mar-T Cafe, now known as Twede's Cafe. We decided to check it out. The food was nothing to speak of, but we took a picture for a few friends that are fans (you know who you are!)

Next we headed to Snoqualmie Falls, just a few miles down the road...

Charlotte was such a trooper the whole trip.

The Falls were beautiful...the construction however, was definitely not. We were going to attempt the steep mile hike to the bottom. Since it was steep we knew we would have to take it slow, putting Jocelyn in the sling and holding Charlotte's hand. We decided to check out the trail once we arrived to see if it was going to be doable...unfortunately the trail was closed due to the construction. It won't reopen until mid 2011. We were disappointed, but enjoyed what we did get to see.

After the Falls we decided we were worn out. We had had several busy days and rough nights, so we headed back to the hotel for some nap time. I hate to say we wasted time in Seattle with naps, but we were all in need of them and it made the rest of the trip more enjoyable.

That evening we splurged and went to a nice seafood dinner. After getting suggestions from the hotel we headed to one particular restaraunt suggested to us. We walked in and immediately saw a sign that said "Must be 21 to enter" The particular location we went to was in a hotel and very much had a "bar feel" to it. I am sure the food would have been spectacular, but we looked at our girls...clearly under 21, and walked out. We ended up at the Crab Pot. We decided it was a more family friendly and comfortable restaurant anyway. We feasted on seafood and we headed back to the hotel and called it a night.