16 months old and Happy Mother's Day

Hi all. Tuesday marked our 16 month birthday and Sunday was mommy's second mother's day. It was a rather uneventful week. We played outside lots, swam in the pool, got stuck in some baskets (although one was happy about it, one was not, see above pictures). On Mother's Day, we went to church, then to brunch with the Hoefs at Firethorn. Very yummy and the triplets were very well behaved. Home for a nap, then to the Niebuhrs for dinner. We played a little with one set of twin cousins we have. They are a little younger than us, but very fun.

We have a couple new words this week. They all say something that is supposed to be cracker but sounds more like "quack-k". We call their pacifiers "plugs" and they also try to say that, but it sounds more like "gak". The point is that they're trying, though. On a good day, Xander has also mastered the horse sound. When we were at Kara and Wes' house on Saturday, Jack, their black lab, was sitting in the living room and panting in the heat. Will started imitating him and panting. The next morning, we asked Will "what does a dog do? " he started panting. It was pretty funny. He also really liked their cats. He was touching them and grabbing their tails. An animal lover maybe? Grace has been trying to say "shoes" and "juice" but they both come out the same kind of like "sss". I know what she means in context. When she wants shoes, she lifts up her feet and legs. When she wants juice, she signs please, says "sss" and holds out her hands. You can see the bite mark on Grace's arm in the top picture. That was courtesy of Xander. I'm afraid we haven't gotten rid of the biting, and if he's tired or mad, he'll do it a lot. Anyone have advice about this one? Hopefully next week I'll be able to report that Will is walking more. He is quite capable of walking on his own, he just doesn't. He needs a little motivation, but he is starting to do it more. He thinks it's funny to walk and let go of things. I hope he'll figure out soon that it's faster and more fun to be upright. I'll keep you posted. More next week.