Greg and Angie Cole

Isn’t it so crazy how different two kids from the same family can be? Take for instance the fact that Johnny walked at 10.5 months and Lucy didn’t even start crawling until 11 months. Or that Johnny (baby) signed his first word at 13 months and didn’t really start talking until 20 months, but Lucy can sign and say 30 words already at 11 months!

I started a quick list and amazed myself at how many she actually knows and uses. Of course they are in context and some of them only I can recognize, but still, it’s a start. Here’s the list of words she signs (and usually says) together:

1. Daddy
2. Mama
3. Johnny
4. More
5. Eat
6. Drink
7. Bath
8. Swing
9. Baby
10. All Done
11. Book
12. Play
13. Bye Bye
14. Ball
15. Num Nums (milk)
16. Nuk (pacifier)
17. Movie
18. Help

[I tried to capture her signing 'More' but couldn't catch her in action very well]

And these are words she can say, but she doesn’t always use the sign associated with them (again, context is key in understanding what she’s saying ’cause a lot of them sound the same!):

1. Pretty
2. Duck (her fave animal!)
3. Dog
4. Cat
5. Puff (her little snacks)
6. Head
7. Toes
8. Nose
9. Poo Poo
10. Night Night
11. Boy
12. Girl

Actually, she tries to say almost any word. And she also knows basic farm animal sounds (cow, pig, horse, etc).

Yes, pretty amazing how different the two of them can be!

My kid sister is 25 today! We celebrated earlier this week with her husband and the rest of the family at their new house.

I cannot believe she is 25. I still remember betting my twin brother $1 that she would be a girl (you don’t have much $$ when you’re only 8)!

I feel so blessed to have such a talented, beautiful, passionate, genuine sister. Happy Birthday Stacy! 

By now you’re probably aware of my love affair with my Vita-Mix blender I got a few months ago. Yet another reason? Green smoothies! I make one of these for my family almost every night with dinner — it’s a super easy way to get tons of raw fruit & veggies into their bellies. Even Lucy loves them!

This recipe’s called “It’s Easy Being Green” since there’s so much fruit to disguise the taste of raw spinach. I usually add the following (but you can substitute for what’s in season and/or what you have on hand):

• Red or green grapes
• Carrots
• Frozen Pineapple
• Strawberries
• Frozen Mango
• Frozen Banana
• Apple
• Baby Spinach
• 1/2 – 1 cup water
• Ice (optional)
• YUM!

I’ve been having fun experimenting new ways to make hairbows for Lucy. Here are a few I’ve made lately. (Now if only she’d actually wear them longer than 5 minutes…)

Johnny and I had fun today creating this homemade marble track. I originally saw the idea in a magazine about a month ago, so we started collecting/saving paper towel and toilet paper tubes. We finally had a big enough stash, so Johnny went to work cleaning off the tubes, decorating them (e.g. night, ketchup, water, slime, etc), and I helped put them up on the wall with wall tack/putty. Fun!

…to screaming in the car (because Mom said it’s not okay) is to provoke/encourage your 11 month old sister to scream instead. Nice.

I’m not really sure why they call it the ‘dog days of summer’ but these are definitely it. It’s been miserably hot (like 115 for the past week), throw in a little humidity (not as much as the Midwest, but enough to be noticeable) and there you have it. Yuck.

I seriously don’t want to do anything right now…not even dishes or cleaning or folding the laundry or clearing up the clutter…and normally I’m all over that. (Really, I’m not kidding). All I want to do is nothing or swim. Bleh.

But life must go on…

On a happier note, I had an awesome time last week with the kids and my sister up north for a few days…and I must *cling* to the memory of cooler temps…’cause we won’t see highs below 100 for another 2 months or more. Pray for me!! [grin]