9 months and 3 1/2 years

Checking in on both kiddos this post...pretend this was posted near the beginning of the month.

Caroline

weight: 17 pounds, 15 ounces (45%)
height: 28.35 inches (76%)

What she's up to these days:
• cut her first tooth (bottom right--1/24/15)
• rocks back and forth while sitting--her feet usually come off the ground
• ends up with lots of bumps and bruises due to her new mobility
• wildly throws her head back when being held--consider yourself warned
• clicks her tongue
• has started to do "so big"
• loves to snuggle Grandma Schmutz
• is very expressive
• pulls herself up to her knees frequently
• naps in her crib rather than her window-less bathroom in the pack n play
• is back to sleeping well after a long stretch of traveling and illnesses
• both eats and claps enthusiastically

 Sweet and sassy

 Precious moments

 Chub.

Emmett

His latest quirks and interests:
• He's got a new dinosaur attachment.  His little dino "Reck" hangs out with him 24/7.  This includes bath time, bed time and meal time.  It's cute, but slightly stressful because it's a small dinosaur that can be easily lost--especially when he gets thrown in the air as part of their imaginative play.  Sometimes his dino is replaced or accompanied by his little Duplo man, Emmett.  :)
• He's slightly OCD about his eating utensils.  Currently his spoons must match the color of the bowl--although he's recently developed an affinity for baby spoons (which is a new preference) and then he pretends it's a matching color.
• He now attends primary.  On the first day of class his teacher brought up Heavenly Father and Jesus to which he stated, "I don't like Jesus."  We have our work cut out for us.  He's interpreted our reading and teaching about Heavenly Father and Jesus in a rather convoluted way...
• He's got an impressive swing of emotions and perhaps the most expressive frown ever.
• He loves Family Home Evening, which we just started doing this year.
• He can sing an embarrassing number of songs from the Taylor Swift album 1989.
• He loves to fight monsters with his buddy and cousin, Khalil.
• He is becoming more and more independent, which is both wonderful and maddening.  He is pretty handy at making mac n cheese (with a little help) and he's learned how to get dressed all my by himself.
• He loves our family squeeze (family hug).  He initiates them multiple times a day.
• He likes his dad (especially when his mom isn't around)...but he's kind of obsessed with his mom.  That's kind of normal, right?
• He's discovered video games and the wii.
• Loves going to preschool once a week with his friends Ethan, Ollie, Rosy, Marcela and Andrea.

 Meet "Reck"

 No utensils needed here.

 Preschool shennanigans

 Cute Emmetts

Reck's family

 Emmett and Grant sword-fighting