2 1/2 Years and so fun!

This is such an awesome age!!! OF course there are the "2" moments, but overall we are having a ball with the crazy silly things that come out of the girls little mouths. They are talking sooooo much and really want to be heard and talk about everything they do. All three girls seem to have a bit of a Boston accent when they say certain words. For example they say Paaark, Diiiiiapor, etc. It really cracks me up when they come over and say Mama change mi---i Diiipor. Brooke and Taylor have it really strong at times.
Sydney is still taking shorter naps than her sisters so she gets a lot of alone time everyday, which she seems to really enjoy. She is such a chatter box during this time. She is super sweet with Vaughn and since he is usually up when she gets up they play together a lot. Sometime it is less play and more aggravation over wanting the same toys. There are times when he is heading for a toy that Syd is not interested in at all and she gets up quick and swipes it away. You know, the normal sibling stuff. 90% of the time they are really adorable together and she kisses him and shows him how things work. Her thing these days is when she has a little melt down, or a big one, she will be working toward the end of it and between sobs she will say Mommy, Sydney is happy now. It is super cute but usually so not true. I think she got this one from Taylor. She counts really well and with her toenails painted she has really enjoyed counting her toes.

Taylor is our little performer. When she melts down it is big and really sad. She is a great independent player and does her own thing a lot, often her "big" sis Brooke follows her lead. She seems to get the most upset when Vaughn messes with the toys she is playing with. She loves to line up her people and animals very neatly and pretend play.  She absolutely loves playing doctor and likes to be called Dr. Taylor.  T loves to sing and dance and do anything where she can preform.  She still tends to be pretty shy with new faces, but is not afraid to be the first to explore something new.  She doesn't have a lot of fear in that regard.  Taylor likes to say things are very very _____.  She tells me she is very very cold, or her tummy hurts very very much (usually before breakfast and a long night of sleep), or that she is very very sick ( a ploy to get medicine).  It's strange, all the girls love getting medicine, I think it is all the flavors that medicine has these days, it never tasted any good when I was a kid. They sure are sill.  

Brooke, silly girl.  She is full of mischief and fun.  She loves to make up words to make us laugh and I can't get enough of her sweet little voice.  This is one of my favorite shots, Chris was laying in the grass and Brooke came over and did this.  I just love this!

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Vaughn's Turns One

This may have been the fastest year of my life so far.  Everyone always says kids grow up so quickly and I am realizing that in full force.  On one hand I feel like I have known this amazing little guy my entire life and yet I remember so vividly the morning of my c-section and the excitement and anxiety I felt.  Our little buddy has changed so many things about our lives and has given me the joy of experiencing a single birth like most women do. The first few weeks were rough getting little sleep and all the things that come with a newborn, but once we got into a rhythm and routine Vaughn has been a near perfect baby.  He slept through the night (12hours) at 9 weeks, is incredibly laid back with all the activity in the house with his three, two year old sisters and rarely fusses other than if he is hungry, tired or needs a new diaper.  He loves attention from his sisters and always laughs when they come around.  He loves to be part of the action and ALWAYS has a smile on his face.  Vaughn is extremely vocal and amazingly to me he says a bunch of words already, ball, more, mama, dada, hi, bye bye, up, yum, bubble, monkey noises are the ones that come to mind.   I think it goes to show how much quicker things happen when there are older siblings to learn from.  He is watching the girls all the time and clearly learning.  I often wonder if he really IS just easy, or if it is that our previous experience was the opposite of easy with 3 babies at once.  Hmmm.

Vaughn has his one year check up  a few days ago and he is doing fantastic, here are his stats:
Length  31.5inches  (80th percentile)
Weight  21.9lbs   (65th percentile)
Head     didn't get the size (99.9th percentile)

He has been off the bottle and on Vitamin D milk since a few days before his birthday, so it feels like he is no longer a baby.  Making the transitions were a breeze, he is such a champ!  He eats pretty much anything I put in front of him. He loves turkey, peanut butter sandwiches, all veggies, chicken, beef, then only thing he is a little hesitant with is fruit when it is cold and slippery.  Naps on the other hand area huge difference with this kiddo.  While the girls were taking two naps until they were two, Vaughn barely needs a nap at all.  If he misses a nap completely you would never know it.  He has pretty much cut out the morning nap and in attempt to create a time where all kids are sleeping for at least an hour during the day, I decided to put him down to nap when his sisters nap at 11:30.   He is definitely ready to go to bed at 5:30-6pm and sleeps until his sisters wake at 7am.  All things considered, it is a great schedule we have going. I would much rather he sleep less during the day and more at night than the other way around. 

Vaughn loving his new tractor from Auntie Ang and Uncle Eric.  I had a similar tractor when I was a bit older.

He gets really silly when he gets out of the bath, when I wrap him in the towel he shivers and makes really funny faces and noises.  Vaughn is a very silly boy. 

BIRTHDAY CAKE!!!  He was a little unsure what to do with the cake in front of him, thank goodness for his his sisters, they were more than happy to show him what to do.  They even gave him finger fulls of frosting to lick off their fingers.  Super sweet! 

Taylor gave him his first sample of frosting

Brooke, crazy blue eyes

Syd enjoying the frosting too!

Might be my favorite picture of the girls yet!  They really LOVE each other, most of the time!

My favorite shot of the day!

Our happy family