First Day of Toddler Class

Julian and I are starting the toddler class at Seattle Central that I did with Leana.  The birthday cutoff is Sept but they let me in with Juju even though he is a little young, so he is definitely the smallest guy there.  But he loved it!  He crawled all over, played with all the fun new toys, loved snack and singing time.  He crashed out early this afternoon from all the excitement too.

making friends

compare to Leana's first day of the same class, 2 years ago: http://picollins.blogspot.com/2010/09/first-day-of-school.html

New Skills

After about 3.5 months of army crawling, juju finally started testing out his hands and knees, and after just a few days has gotten pretty good at it.  He still goes for army crawl when he gets real excited about something and wants to move fast.

Leana's been working on her climbing, swimming, and monkey bar skills as well...

Juju - 11 months old!

I am having a hard time accepting that this is Julian's last month birthday before the big one year mark!

Juju is now pulling up to standing all the time: in his crib, on boxes, the sofa - usually trying to get closer to me, Jeff, Leana or Miodowa.  He is "talking" a lot, and even started crawling around on all 4's (barely though, he still prefers his army crawl since he has gotten so fast at it).  Juju is also really into music too, he likes the Beatles and does a little dance sometimes when their music comes on.  Leana is having more and more fun with him the older he gets - even telling him how she loves him, it's the sweetest.

Leana took this photo

Uncle Greg & Aunt Jeannene's Wedding

Jeff's brother got married last weekend and they had a beautiful wedding in Normandy Park.  Juju slept through the entire reception in his pack n play right next to our table.  Leana was a beautiful little flower girl and she had a great time dancing and playing with the other kids.  Of course she also loved the cake and got the first slice after Greg and Jeannene.

Now, I know that "mother of the bride" is supposed to be a stressful role, but what about "mother of the flower girl"?  You have to get a three year old into a new dress and shoes (usually white) and then expect them to stay clean, put clips in their hair and expect them to stay in, get yourself dressed and presentable (and stay that way) and then hold them back when they are filled with the excitement of throwing petals and walking down the aisle.  Then you have to direct them down the aisle, hope they do what they are supposed to, and not make too much noise.  I guess the payoff is that they look SO adorable in their dresses and everyone oohs and aaahs about how cute they are.  Definitely worth it.  

 Most family pictures turn out like the one below, but we got one decent one!

Buddies!