a boy and his toys

i think i've mentioned before that otto seems to take pleasure in being told "no" and then proceeding. things like climbing the stairs, attempting to remove wine bottles from our wine rack, and pulling on ANY wire in sight....he often begins these behaviors, stops to make sure we're watching, and then smiles and continues on. taking the remote and my phone also rank high on his list of things he likes to do. so when he got both in one try....man, was he pleased with himself. he kept looking at them and then looking at me, like he couldn't believe what he was "getting away" with. what a stinker!!

U-S-A!!

watching the olympic games on tv has really gotten greta into the spirit. i've got some video to upload of her playing "hockey" with the swiffer. and here are some pictures of her "skiing" with some gift boxes. i think the bottom picture is her about to do the giant slalom.

poor baby

so glad that otto is feeling better. running a temperature is not too much fun....

Greta and Otto - Time to Share!

Greta and Otto are doing a lot more together. Below is Otto checking out snack in the learning tower with Greta. That's followed up with some dual bathtime. Greta thought that was hilarious that Otto was in the big bath tub with her!

Bath Time!

Snow

Greta has been having a great time in the snow... though I think we've about had enough of the snow. You can see we have quite a bit of it.

We've built snowmen, gone 'hiking' and sledding. We've had snow ball fights and made snow angels, but I'm pretty sure that Greta's favorite is getting burried in the snow.

Sledding on the "Mountain"

snow ice cream

greta and i had snow ice cream for snack not once, but twice today. otto even got a few bites.....yum!

school

lately greta has been sort of obsessed with playing "school". i have no idea how she knows what to pretend since she's never been to school, but she's got it pretty much down. she especially likes to pretend that she is riding the school bus. in the first picture, she lined up all the seats for the "friends" to ride the school bus. in the second picture, she got all "ready to go" to school, including her fireman boots and halloween necklace. and see that crib bumper pillow laying on the floor next to her? that was what i had to pretend was my school bus....she wanted me to sit on that and then drag/pull myself around the room on that while she did the same on the toy car. fun.....

can someone say "teething?!"

to otto, our 9 month old cruiser!

and just like that, you are EVERYWHERE! it is amazing how mobile you are for not yet being able to walk. your pulling up has turned to cruising, and you are all over the place. you unintentionally are terrorizing your sister, because there are few places that her lego creations or baby dolls are safe anymore. you are cruising and you are also able to stand without support for a few seconds (until you realize you are standing by yourself and then you sort of panic). you also started trying to climb the stairs....the first time you did this you got to the 3rd step before we saw you.
you seem to think that "no" means to smile sweetly and then continue doing what you aren't supposed to be doing. like how you make a beeline for greta's monitor everytime we are in her room. you crawl towards it, and then before you grab the cord you turn around to smile at me and catch my eye. you are such a stinker.
you have learned the sign for "more" and "all done"....you have also started clapping your hands and you continue to wave bye bye. because your sign for "more" looks like a clap and your sign for "all done" looks like a wave, we are constantly trying to figure out what you are trying to tell us. but you know to clap when someone says "yay!" and you like to sign "more" when you are in your highchair, so i think we're beginning to get it sorted out. you say "bye" and "baa" (when we sing baa baa black sheep) and you also say "greta", which i find so endearing. you will look at her and say her name, but you will also say it if she's in another room and hear her voice. you will look around and say, "deh ta" and it melts my heart.
you have four teeth now (two top, two bottom) and you like to grind them together which is NOT so endearing. your toothy smile is, however, and so is your laugh. you like to be tickled and teased and you LOVE to dance. you will dance to anything that sounds remotely like music, and you will dance in any position. if you are sitting and a commerical jingle comes on, you rock back and forth. if greta and mama sing the ABCs while you are getting your diaper changed, you kick your legs to the beat.
you are looking at books more on your own and you can turn the pages. you like books with touchy feely parts and will very deliberately explore them, and you seem to like books with pictures of actual babies in them. you like to play with anything you can put in your mouth and chew....you spend a lot of time in the play kitchen and with greta's clock toy.
you have eaten a ton of foods and there doesn't seem to be anything you dislike yet. well, maybe pureed tofu, but who can blame you. you eat like it's your job. if we aren't feeding you fast enough, your little legs get going and you grip the tray and lean forward like you are trying to will the spoon closer to your mouth. you are getting pretty good at holding a sippy cup, and you are way too interested in everything going on around you to spend much time nursing or taking a bottle.
now that you are mobile you seem to be happier in the evenings, but as the day draws to a close sometimes you like to lay your head on mama's lap and suck your thumb for a few minutes. and sometimes at night after i nurse you but before i lay you in your crib, you will snuggle on my shoulder and let me rub your back and sing you songs.
people keep saying how much you are starting to look like greta, and it's hard for me to see it. mostly i just see a happy little guy.....you have your 9 month checkup tomorrow and i can't wait to see how you've grown!

otto's in an empire state of mind

here is a video of otto rocking out, much like greta in this video at around the same age. sweet....

"greta, get the meatballs!"

i guess i left the cupboard door open after getting greta a snack. otto decided he'd like to have pasta for dinner. what a mess....

baby paige

here are a couple pictures of baby paige....what a tiny little cutie!! it was so great to meet ella's little sister and welcome paige to the world!

and even though it looks like it, i swear i am not giving greta a death grip on her arm. just lovingly trying to stop her from mauling paige.

snuggling

we went over to the nawroth's last night to meet their new baby, paige elaine. usually we get together with janet and ella at least once a week (sometimes twice a week) for playdates, but with the holidays and illnesses it's been since mid december since we've seen them! ella and greta were quick to make up for lost time, and were busy running around and playing for most of the evening. here are the girls, snuggling together in bed. makes me think of future sleepovers....

icing

mama may or may not have been caught eating icing right out of the can. and greta may or may not have asked for a bite. did i give her a bite of chocolate icing? i'll never tell.....

vacuum