15 Months

On the fourth of this month you babies turned fifteen months. FIFTEEN MONTHS! And I still call you babies. But you're toddlers now. You amaze me with how much you understand. You like to give your Dad 'fives' and show off your belly buttons. You bring me shoes and point to your feet. You are obsessed with our toothbrushes, wanting nothing to do with yours. But I know if I bought you the exact same ones...you'd still want ours.

Summer is here and we are having the best time in the sun and the water. We love going to the beach and the Borba's to swim. At first neither of you liked the sand but now you have fun flinging sand with your shovels. Last week at the beach you both took steps into the ocean! The waves came and knocked you down. It was just us so I had to scramble to keep up with two babies toddlers. It is so fun watching you walk. At first you kept toppling over but you're turning into walking machines!

I am leaving on my first vacation without you in four days. I'm very excited to have a fun trip...but I'm so afraid that I'll miss you too much. How is it possible that I miss you already? Your Daddy laughs at me because I keep telling him how scared I am that you'll forget me. Promise you won't? I'm being serious, please, please, please don't forget me. But also don't be sad that I'm gone. Be happy and have fun with your Dad. I know you will. I'll be thinking of you all the time.

Maxwell,
You want so badly to be able to talk. You and Ella learned a few signs from your cousin Abby, but mostly you just grunt 'uh! uh!' or 'mo! mo!' You are such a cheerful boy. I see you understanding so many things and I get so excited when I see that you understand me and I understand you. On your Baby Einstein movie there is a part where dinosaurs walk across the screen. You anticipate them coming and when they do you point and call for me to watch with you. It cracks you up every time. You love reading stories. Your two favorites are Brown Bear and I Love You Through and Through. You want to hear them over and over. In the morning sometimes I'll be lazy, wanting to lay in bed just two more minutes so I'll tell you to go get Brown Bear out of your room. You scurry out and seconds later come back with it, "mo! mo!" OK honey, I'll read it more. You like riding your motorcycle from Nana and Papa all by yourself. You stand up on both feet and tug on the handle bars, trying to make it go faster. You also like Daddy's skateboard.

You are still a picky eater but the things you love, you really love. When I'm tired and we're having a hard day eating, I give in and let you eat these Gerber puff things. They basically look like Cheetos, but they're not. It kills me that you eat these. But the look on your face- man, have you got a million dollar smile. You have me wrapped around your finger when you come up and love on me. You will be in the middle of playing and sometimes you'll stop and come up to me. You wrap your arms around my neck then look at my face and pucker up your lips. You lean in for a kiss and I am 100% yours. We LOVE you big boy.

Ella,
You are still our sweet girl. You have so many sides to you. You can be so silly. You are still doing this fake laugh that sounds like an old man, 'Ho! Ho! Ho' You discovered that your brother and I can't stop laughing when you do this SUPER high pitched squeal. You also love to laugh at Maxwell. He does the littlest thing and you laugh hysterically at him. You are also a vary affectionate girl. You love to cuddle up and give kisses. Often throughout the day you lean into Maxwell and purse your lips together.

You are an animal lover. You love cats (I do not). You have some PJ's with a kitten on the front and you love to rub your belly and say 'mow-mow,' your version of meow. You are adventurous. You like to try new foods and like most of them. You are a good sport when Maxwell sits on top of you. He love to play tough but sometimes he accidentally hurts you. He doesn't mean to. Most of the time you laugh and play right along with him. You notice trucks. Even when we are driving in the car you'll look out the window and when you see a truck that looks like Daddy's you point and wave, 'da da da da.' You also like to ride your motorcycle. You steer very well and it's obvious that you think you look pretty cool. And you are. We love you sweet girl.

I was so bummed I didn't have my camera this day at the beach, but I took these on my phone because I wanted to remember how intrigued you were with everything around you.