Eleven Months

She was eleven months old Monday the 28th and she started crawling on Friday the 25th. Her sister walked at a week before 10 months. They're so similar... but so very, very different.

Two. Different, But Not Too Different.

...Or, the title in which I demonstrate the importance of spelling and punctuation. :-)

My two girls - The Jones Clones, as I sometimes call them - are very similar. For better or for worse, I don't think they'll ever have to worry about people not realizing that they're sisters. Sometimes though, their similarity only serves to point out their differences to this Momma.

My oldest is the consummate first child. She takes it upon herself daily to make sure that others are following the rules and "doing it right". She already bosses around her little sister and then tattles on her when she doesn't follow directions. It's been months since we started having talks about the fact that she's not the mommy and her only job is to be a good example so that her sister knows how to follow the rules. It's not her job to force her sister to do things her way or to discipline her when she does them wrong.

She's also a spitfire, a spark plug, a live wire. When she grows up, she will be one of those people that other people call "indomitable".  When she sets her mind to something.... It. Will. Get. Done.

We have known since she was very young that she will be an influencer. Whether for good or for mischief, she will lead others. It's our responsibility as her parents to teach her how to make wise decisions so that her influence will be positive. We have been working, little by little, in age appropriate ways, to teach her to be a discerning decision maker. Even now, we're so proud of how well she thinks through her choices before making them.

Teaching her to hone her critical thinking skills has created some pretty funny "toddler logic" situations. For instance, just after she turned 3, she started to practice "leading questions" to help her get the answers she wants. A typical scenario would go something like this:

"Daddy, are you making dinner in the kitchen?"
"I sure am."
"And you have to stay in the kitchen while you make dinner, huh?"
"Yup."
"But I don't have to stay in the kitchen, do I?"
"Nope"
"So... since you have to stay in the kitchen while you're making dinner and I don't, can we turn off your movie and I can watch my movie?"

Wow. That's my girl!

Well, that's my first girl. My second girl is a little bit different.

Girl #2 is a whole different kind of handful. Much more easy going than her big sister, she's used to not being the center of attention every single second. She also uses this fact to her advantage and quietly gets into mischief when we're not looking. This talent has resulted in few smashed fingers from playing in drawers and probably a handful of crumbs (or dog hair, ew!) eaten off the floor. Obviously a second child, she yells when she needs something, usually because it's the only way to be heard over her jabbering big sister.

She's already played the little sister victim card. At about 10 months of age, no less! The girls were in their car seats and her big sister playfully patted her hand. She started screaming bloody murder, looking at me as if to say, "Big Sister hit me!" I had been standing right there watching and said to her, "She didn't do anything to you. Cut out the screaming." Little Sister stopped screaming immediately, looked at me, and shrugged as if to say, "Hey, it was worth a shot." Seriously, already!?!

She's not as progress-focused as her big sister. She seems to just "enjoy the ride" a little better. By that I mean that when my first girl discovered sitting up, she never wanted to lay down again. When she discovered standing, sitting up was so five minutes ago. Once she could cruise the furniture, she wanted nothing to do with standing still. When her baby sister is sitting up and falls over, she says, "Uh oh" and rolls off to find another fun activity. For her, it's not a giant failure. It's just a new opportunity to see the world from a different angle.

Because of her easy going nature, she seems like she might be developing her physical skills a little more slowly. Her big sister had been walking for over a month by this age. Last Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, she started to crawl. I alternate between being slightly worried and being really excited that I don't have to deal with a walking infant - which is exactly what her big sister looked like. The truth is, she's still developing faster than the "normal" development curve.

We thought that since we had such a verbal first child, we would perhaps get a quieter one the second time around. Not a chance. She talkes up a storm. Actual, recognizable words include all of our names (Mama, Daddy, Sister, Bob), "Thank You", "uh oh" and most recently "cracker". She also makes the following animal sounds/faces, puppy, elephant, giraffe, fishy, monkey, cow, dog and dinosaur.

We can already see that our sweet girl #2 is a sparkler. She's going to be the girl who lights up a room. Even her presence is uplifting, I can't wait to see the way she encourages people when she can finally form a sentance or two. She is already so sympathetic and tuned in to the feelings of others. I know that as she grows she will be the kind of girl who has just the right words to speak life to troubled friends and family. Just like with her sister, our main job will be to make sure that she develops discernment so that she can encourage others to do the right things. Neither of our girls will be followers, so we need to teach them to be good leaders.

Did I ever think I'd be the mom of two exceptional, active, sparkly, tough girls? Honestly, no. But I've got two. Different, but not too different daughters. And that suits me just fine.

Stay tuned for a crawling video! I've been trying to upload it since she turned 11 months on Monday but Blogger hates me. It'll be up soon, I promise!

Little Helper

Her absolute favorite thing to do at Great Grandpa's house is help feed Annie, his horse. Needless to say, at three *whole* years old, she's an expert helper.

The Perfect Quote

I bought two blank canvases way back when Penny was born that I've been planning on doing something fun with.

I decided to find a quote and do a little art piece with it for Norah's Big Girl Room. She made such an awesome transition from the nursery to her own room, I wanted to find a quote that really highlighted her independence and spirit.

I looked everywhere for the right sentiment. I just couldn't find the words I wanted. I almost went with, "She thought she could, so she did." but it didn't quite convey the sass I wanted. Finally, I was browsing Pinterest one day and came across a Shakespeare quote from A Midsummer Night's Dream.




I think it captures my girl perfectly. Don't you?

Hacked for Thanksgiving

Hi there, Blog People. We hope you had a good Thanksgiving. In honor of the holiday, we're going to tell you what we're thankful for!

Norah: I'm thankful for little sisters. Even when they're really, really loud.

Penny: I'm thankful for big sisters, even when they keep patting you on the head.

Mom says she's thankful for portable high chairs to keep little girls contained, and aunts who keep lots of toys around to keep big girls entertained. Wait. Do you think she's talking about us?

Heard Around the House

It's been a while since I recorded any of the (often unintentionally) hilarious things that Norah says for posterity. So here's just a sampling and a picture for fun.


Guess who's excited about winter!

"Mom, when I grow up I'm gonna marry Jackabo. I'm gonna tell him next time I see him. Actually, I'm gonna ask, like this, 'Please, Jack, will you marry me?'"
"Well that's nice."
"Yeah, and if he says no, I will say, 'Please, please PLEASE!' because that's good manners."
"Well it's important to have good manners when you ask someone to marry you."
"Yeah, and if he still says no... I just don't know what I'm gonna do."
"No Plan B, eh?"
"No. Because all the other girls already took the other boys."

********

{Me calling to my parents out the car window} "Bye! Have a good date!"

"Mom, what's a date?"

"It's when two people who really like eachother go and spend time together doing something fun."

"When I grow up and get a husb... I mean, when I marry Jackabo, we're gonna go on dates. Oh! And I have to have a daughter too. Not one daughter, two daughters, just like you!!"

"Are you sure you want to have two daughters just like me? My life is pretty crazy."

"Yeah, but two daughters is awesome, right Mom?"

********

"What happened in Sunday School today?" {Normally she tells me all about the story they heard.}

"We played Duck, Duck, Goose. I said, 'Goose' to Mr. Josh and he caught me and I had to sit in the middle."

"You did!? Then what happened?"

"Someone else got caught and they had to sit in the middle so I got out."

"Well, when you're playing Duck, Duck, Goose it's a good idea to say, 'Goose' to someone who you think is slower than you instead of your teacher so that you don't get caught."

"Oh, ok. Cause Mr. Josh is really fast."

"I bet. But what I was really asking was what did you learn in Sunday School today."

"OH! What did I learn?"

...

"Well, Mom, I learned that I don't want to play Duck, Duck, Goose in Sunday School any more."

The Giraffe is Silent

Here's another little trick she's been doing for a while that we finally caught on video. My friend taught her daughter this one and we thought it was so cute, we had to teach it to our kiddos. She dances a little first, but at the end, she gives a great demonstration of what a giraffe says.