Ibbie :: 11 months

We have a walker! Ibbie has gained a great deal of stability and her balance is improving. She walks in little spurts, with a personal best of twelve steps. She is a happy, happy girl. And so chill. She's very content to play alone though she still loves to play with Cole and the girls just love to laugh together.  Sometimes Cole will crawl with Ibbie they both think it's hysterical.

Ibbie is a good eater but her preference is smoothies! She gets so excited when she hears the blender going. She prefers protein more than Cole ever has: chicken nuggets, sausage, eggs, ground beef, and so on.

We've been phasing out Ib's morning nap. She handles the extended wake time fairly well but is more than ready to nap when the time comes. Typically, she'll nap for 75-90 minutes. Nighttime is a different story. She'll sleep for 10.5-11 hours waking two or three times to nurse.  I suspect that her teeth are keeping her up. She has eight and some of those are still erupting.

Ib watches Cole like a hawk. She has quite the sense of adventure and a very curious spirit. These two ladies are quite the duo.

month one, two, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten

Cole at eleven months

Clemson Cozy Coupe

Our neighbors recently passed on to us a well-loved Cozy Coupe which their girls outgrew. As soon as we wheeled it across the street, I was conjuring up plans for a Clemson makeover.

After breaking the car down and giving it a good scrub, we used spray paint to apply fresh colors. I had no idea how long it would take between coats! Each time I painted, I was able to get 2-3 light coats applied before waiting 5 days for the paint to dry. No doubt, our humid conditions were less than ideal for painting.

Once the base colors were set, I painted stripes on the roof, applied vinyl paws to the doors and glued a custom vanity plate to the back.

Getting the stripes on the roof was a bit more of a challenge than expected. I used painters tape to ensure clean lines but when I pulled the tape up it brought all the paint up with it. After a few rounds fighting with the tape, I got out a paintbrush and touched up the spots that needed it and moved on.

As for actual use, there is some scratching on the door which happened as soon as the girls started playing with the car. Otherwise, the car has held up well through a few weeks of daily play in the driveway and yard.  

As for the critics, they love it! The girls take the car out every day for racing or running.

The only problem is that both kids can't fit in at the same time. And sharing really is hard. 

Back to the Beach

Last Monday afternoon, a case of mastitis hit me like a ton of bricks. By 8 o'clock, I was at Urgent Care begging for an antibiotic. While I got the medicine, the pain, as it does, persisted for a few days. Still, my dad and I had plans to take the girls to the beach on Wednesday and Thursday. While I wasn't feeling 100%, I figured why get over my mastitis at home when I could do it at the beach. So Wednesday morning we left for Rehoboth.

We got to Rehoboth around noon which meant it was time for lunch and naps. By the time we got out of the house again it was after 3 o'clock. Cole's request was for rides and ice cream.

My grandparents hosted us for dinner Wednesday night which was a treat. I think my grandmother may have cooked everything in the house. We had tuna steaks with at least six sides. 

We finally made it to the beach Thursday morning. The girls beelined for the water and Cole kept begging to get in the ocean. After taking her in the ocean the week before, I realized I'm not yet comfortable taking Cole beyond the breakers. Despite her love of the water and eagerness to go under, she's not a swimmer. Maybe in a few more years.


I didn't take my DSLR camera with me but I had my phone and was able to steal the date-stamped pictures from my dad's camera.