My Idea of Happiness: 9 month / 39 month update

I feel like as the kids get older, doing these updates monthly is borderline overkill. "Well they each gained an ounce and continue to enjoy playing and eating..." Maybe Dakota's 1st birthday can be the cut off and I'll do some less frequent things from there on out. That being said, here's the update.

Dakota had her 9 month check up and is 17 lbs 8 oz and 28 inches long. (I think?) She's getting places but in a non traditional crawling form. And she's saying "Dada", in fact she began saying it when Calvin was out of town with his band. I think she missed him. She enjoyed doing more swimming with her Ma this month and she also had her longest session ever being babysat which was 2:30-10:00pm for a wedding. She leaned to successfully drink from a bottle which was troubleshooted by a friend of mine who realized she needed a bottle nipple that is designed for breastfed babies. So now she can enjoy water and cashew milk at her leisure. I will be returning to work before her 10 month update so a bottle will be essential for pumped breast milk. And Dakota has just about outgrown her baby car seat so she's ready to go rear facing in a convertible car seat -- Christmas present! Dakota's favourite activity is dance parties.

Oliver was also weighed at the appointment and is 30 whole pounds. He cycles between eating like a maniac and being too busy to barely eat a bite. I am forever offering him an overflowing spoonful of peanut butter because he didn't finish his lunch and we need to leave he house soon. My fridge is full of half eaten plates and bowls that he might finish later. His favourite is still cherry tomatoes but he's been devouring raspberries also. "Gimme 1, 2, 8, 10, 14 raspberries!" he'll say. He's discovered Lego Junior games on his tablet and loves them because they're exciting but not too difficult. We signed him up for introductory hockey starting this winter at an arena near our new house. He loves going over there and playing trucks or planes in the basement. He's also been building rocket ships out of my packing boxes... yay. I noticed this month just how popular he is at church: as soon as we walk in the door he is bombarded by boys and girls anywhere from age 3 to 12 who just seem to be in love with him and immediately want to play with him. I'm starting to feel more comfortable with letting him go off and play as long as I know where he is. Lots of scootering and biking (with training wheels) and rides in the race car shopping carts at Home Depot.

Ollie and his bestie Abigail who just became a big sister to Ellianna, the newborn all wrapped up in the wrap on MY bestie Bethany.

We realized our feet are the same size.

Kota got a new batch of hand me downs from Megan. So much Disney.

Oliver tripped carrying his dinner to the table and food went flying. Minutes later he burst out laughing when he realized one cucumber had stuck to the pantry door. He told me to take a picture.