Cooper and Chloe at 10 Months and the Jr. Higher...

On Oct. 8th, Cooper and Chloe turned 10 months. I ran out of time when I posted their pics, the bed was calling my name! So, now I wanted to update you on a few changes since the 9 month post, as well, as what's up with Maddie (or Madi).

Sweet Chloe:

• Stands for a few seconds on her own. Claps while standing on her own too! Do you think she's proud of herself?
• Totally into Reba. She pulls at her hair, ears, etc. She has even laid on her. Reba is totally into her too. I believe Chloe has become Reba's favorite. When Todd is tickling Chloe on the floor, Reba growls at him. No longer Daddy's girl! (Reba that is!)
• Plays with Cooper. She will lay on him and smile. When she is standing up by him, she pats his head and squeels!
• Loves music and dancing. (Uh oh, future Drill Teamer!)
• She is wearing 9 month clothing perfectly. I do sometimes put 12 months on her and her little booty doesn't seem to hold her pants up.
• Only has 2 teeth still!  

Super Duper Cooper:

• Makes a sound that really sounds like "ma ma" or "mum mum"...at times he really does seem like he's calling me but that might be my wishful thinking!
• Plays with Chloe (this includes taking her toys away from her-she just laughs and gets another one).
• Walking along the furniture. He holds on with one hand and walks. Funny how he's not standing too much on his own but doing the walking. Chloe stands more and then when she wants to move she sits down and crawls.
• Likes "rough housing". He loves to be flipped upside down, rolled along the floor, etc.
• Likes peek-a-boo.
• Only 4 teeth still!
• Has discovered his shadow. When he sees it, he reaches for it and pats at it.
• I don't know why this totally impresses me, but it does. If a ball rolls under the couch, he will lay down on his belly and reach for it. He lays his head flat on the floor so he can see where it is. That's a pretty smart thing for him to do at this age, right!?

Both Cooper and Chloe:

• Wake each other up! No longer can we run into the room and grab the one that is awake to prevent the other one from waking. They pretty much sleep together and are awake together.
• Love taking a bath. They take one together and absolutely love it.
• Meal Schedule:
• 6:00 AM - 8 ounce bottle (just recently started drinking this much)
• 8:00 AM - oatmeal and jar of fruit
• 10:00 AM - 6 ounce bottle
• 12:30 PM - sampler platter - 1 jar of veggies, 1 jar of fruit, and 1 jar of something starchy like mac and cheese or sweet potatoes
• 3:00 PM - 5 to 6 ounce bottle
• 5:00 PM - 1 jar of something meaty and 1 jar of veggie
• 7:00 PM - 7 to 8 ounce bottle
• We have tried table food. They love tortillas, little pieces of chicken, lunch meat, pasta and bread. Tonight, I'm trying cubed steamed sweet potatoes. I try to give them something to grasp to eat once a day. They are getting pretty good so we will probably be adjusting their meals soon.
• Nap Schedule: One can't really post about a nap schedule when they don't take more than one nap a day, right? Doesn't it have to happen more than one time to consider it a schedule? Anyhow, they typically take about a 2 1/2 hour nap once a day. For Ms. Shelley, it seems to happen around 12:30 (after lunch). For me on the weekend, it seems to happen in the morning after breakfast.
• They both wake around 5:30 and are asleep no later than 7:00. You do not want to be at our house around 6:30 PM. And yes, preferrably we need two sets of hands at that time. If it's left up to one, it can get pretty tricky but it's doable. It's getting easier or we are just getting used to it.

Update on Madison (the Jr. Higher!):

• She made the club volleyball team. Practices start in November and tournaments begin in December. Right now, she is participating in the Power League that is being offered until Club begins. The competition will be kicked up a notch and her practices will get harder. She's doing great! She was asked to play in an exhibition game (truly KVA's way to advertise what they can do with the girls over a period of time...prepare them to make the volleyball team in jr. high...yada yada), but we were proud of her. She played great with girls who had more years of experience. She claims she wasn't nervous. :) I would have been if I was asked to play in front of that many people watching me. They are what the club considers the best! They hand picked the girls to participate in that game! No pressure.
• Maddie is participating in a Life Group with our church. This is a group of girls her age, I believe 12 girls, that get together to study God's Word on Sunday evenings. Her participating in this group has been totally her doing. She has homework she completes weekly which when she is over at our house she does completely on her own. We haven't had to remind her at all. She even listened to the sermon that she missed on the internet so that she could take her sermon notes. Before Jr. High, the kids would go to a Kid's worship and then to Sunday school. Now, the kids attend their Sunday school class and are asked to go to "big worship" and sit together in a section. We meet her outside the sanctuary when it's over. One of the Life Group assignments is to take sermon notes.
• She told us last weekend that she wanted to spell her name Madi. I told her that would be a hard habit for us to break. We'll see how that goes!
• Is as sweet as can be! :)