The Keene Family

15 Months and 40 Months

(Also known as 1 1/4 and 3 1/3) Haley had her fifteen-month checkup today and we are pleased to report that she’s gained a whole two pounds since she turned one. Hooray! I was busy celebrating while her doctor was reminding me to continue a high-calorie diet. Haley would have to gain another three pounds overnight to be in the first percentile. Hmph. Her doctor suggested baked potatoes with sour cream and bacon, guacamole, and high-fat ice cream among other things. I’d love for Haley to be able to appreciate having a doctor order her to eat like that. Anyway, Haley is now almost 29 inches tall (still using the infant car seat, thank you very much) and weighs 16 pounds 9 ounces.
In other news, Haley has almost 30 words at her disposal and signs about ten. She answers questions with yes or no, follows two-step directions, climbs stairs, walks, scribbles, and knows basic body parts and a couple of animals. It is clear she has been focusing on language development!

Here she is wearing a dress I made her (!) on Sunday. It turned out pretty well but it cost me $8 in materials and three hours of time… not sure whether or not I’ll do that again. I really thought it would be easier. Next time I might not worry about making it fully lined. Anyway, I love the fabric and the green buttons!

We weighed JT quickly while we were there and he’s up to 34 pounds. I thought that boy was getting heavy! He also got his flu shot while we were there for Haley’s checkup and he cried… for the first time ever. I was so surprised. Haley, on the other hand, took it like a champion for once. They’re just trying to keep me on my toes.

As soon as Haley saw JT on the stool, she wanted up too. He offered to hold her and she shook her head with a big NO. Get off, big brother, I can handle it.

Haley’s First "Ski"

I don’t even know what to type other than 1) this was his idea, and 2) leave it to an older brother to do this for fifteen minutes all around the house!

A Year with Frog and Toad

JT and I had our second date to Seattle Children’s Theater this week. We saw A Year with Frog and Toad. It was so good. I would see it again today! The music was amazing, and the choreography was outstanding. JT’s favorite part was the “large and terrible frog” that was actually a man behind a screen, with a scary deep voice. My favorite character was the snail, who sang a song that has been stuck in my head for days. We would highly recommend it!

I would also highly recommend date nights. We have a great time and JT says things like “yeah, because we’re on a date!” anytime he can. So. Much. Fun.

Cooking Assistant(s)

Haley has learned how to climb up and down our two-step kitchen ladder all by herself. This means that I have not one, but two kitchen assistants. It is a little dangerous because Haley doesn’t yet know about not touching things on the counter. We are quickly teaching it! The other day she pushed the (empty) ladder over to the stove and started messing with the buttons. Nice. We’ve had to make sure the ladder is folded up and put away when we’re not directly monitoring it ever since. JT does an excellent job of sharing the ladder while he works. This is what making dinner looks like!

A Trip to the Ice Cream Store

Here is the best clip yet of Haley walking. She walks a lot when she thinks no one is looking. 🙂 JT asked her if she wanted to go on a walk to the ice cream store.

This is what they looked like coming back… they kept tripping and falling over each other and cracking up laughing.

Friends

Now that Haley is more capable, it is fun to watch my two play together. Today I watched JT hold his sister’s hand and, ever-so-slowly, walk with her across the gym at workout. It was so sweet! I looked at Jim and said, “And that’s why I wanted two.”

Here they are looking at magazines at JT’s table.

Here JT helped Haley put her sunglasses on so they could be matching. Then he taught her “sunglass kisses,” which was hilarious to watch.

Their current obsession is pulling ALL of the books out of the bin and sitting surrounded by pages. Not a bad problem to have. I love how JT looks happy and Haley looks guilty all at the same time. 🙂

Haley is learning to play catch and she does a great job getting the ball, it’s passing it back that’s the problem.

Somersaults and Steps

Haley has continued to take between two and eight steps at a time each day. She has great preserverance in this area, and she doesn’t seem to mind landing on her bottom a million times in a row. I haven’t been able to get a ton of great video footage yet, mainly because she normally has one or two times a day that she really goes for it, and the other times she sticks to cruising or crawling. It’s hard to make a compilation video like I did for JT when it’s so stretched out! Here are two I got this week…

JT recently conquered forward somersaults. He is very excited and sometimes lands straight and everything! 🙂

School Update

JT has continued to enjoy our school time. Currently, his favorite is math.

He does a good job reading but it is harder for him than numbers (so far), so we sandwich it in between writing and math. He has been practicing some reading on Haley, which she loves!

Just this week he finished his first schoolbook (Kumon Tracing). He was so proud! Now we’re reading to move on to mazes and letters. Wow!

Halloween

We kicked off Halloween festivities with a package from Grandpa and Grandma Keene. The kids loved getting something special in the mail!

Opening the box

I wish her eyes were open… you would think someone sent her candy she was so excited.

JT got a football and kickstand. He’s been kicking ever since!

Haley couldn’t get enough bags of Pirate Booty in her arms… she finally gave up with four of the six.

Then we carved pumpkins a night later. JT had picked out the pumpkins at a farm with Grandpa and Grandma Cole, and he’d already carved one. They left one for us to do as a family. Thoughtful!

Kitchen smooches!

Haley, of course, went for it and wanted to touch the insides. This made JT grumble and say that he would at least try it. It’s tough being outdone by your little sister.

Jim’s carving tradition is to do exactly as JT says. This means the pumpkin gets a little crazy.

You might be able to guess which one Grandpa Cole did and which one Jim did with JT’s direct instructions.

The big day… JT was ready to be Peter Parker. This wouldn’t have been possible without a friend’s idea, another friend’s Spiderman costume, and frames from Maple Valley Eye Care Center – all for free!