"Mine!"

As with the bouncy seat, which Abram would not stay in when he was Katie's size, he has decided that the bassinet is really his bed. The only problem, he doesn't really fit anymore! Don't worry he doesn't get in when Katie is there.

Pool Time

Well, summer has begun at the Fletcher house. The pool has come out and Abram is having a blast with it. Not only is it a great energy burner, it is a great way to get him used to the water for all the lake trips with Papaw (hint, hint!). When we first put it out, he wasn't so sure. He would walk in splash a little and then move off to the swing or slide. He is now getting very brave and will put his face in the water to blow bubbles, lay on his front and his back in the water. We don't know much about teaching kids to swim, but hope these are some good first steps.

Signs

Abram continues to amaze us with how fast he picks things up. We decided to teach him sign language but didn't do a great job of being consistent but still continued to try things here and there. One day a couple months ago, he just started doing signs. He has signs for more, hungry/eat, hot, airplane, juice, duck, bath, and the one he is doing on Daddy-hat.
We think he developed his own sign just yesterday, he was playing in his pool and walked up to me and started blowing his lips and shivering. I asked if he was cold and he reached for the towel in my hands which he then wrapped around himself. It is so neat to be able to communicate with him. People ask us, won't the signs keep him from talking and we tell them no because for every sign he does there is a sound of some kind that goes with it. As you can see in the picture, he is doing the sign for hat on Daddy's head, but his mouth is saying "at." We hope to keep learning more and more signs and that someday Abram will teach them to Katie so we can communicate with her too.

Look out world...

here comes Katie.
Katie is getting so strong. She is trying to pull herself up to a sitting position (and often makes it up) and pushing with her legs. We think that watching her brother run around makes her want to go even faster. The Fletcher house is going to get even busier very soon.

What is that?

Katie has learned that there are things all around her. Sometimes she just enjoys laying by herself and watching those things. She likes to lay in her gym and look at herself in the mirror. It is so much fun to watch her learn and explore the world around her. If only we can keep her brother from stepping on her as she does this exploring!!

Mommy and her Girl

1 Going on 16

Chillin' with Dad

Katie is a great baby. She is almost always happy and is content to sit in her bouncy seat and discover the world.
She does enjoy being played with and if you are lucky you will get a great big smile. Daddy is really good at getting those adorable smiles.

Growing Like a Weed

Abram put on these pajamas after his bath the other night, only to realize that they were no longer his size. In case you can't tell, his belly is hanging out.

Photo Shoot

Mommy and Daddy took Katie and Abram to have their pictures taken. Katie worked hard to get out a smile, while Abram had a blast posing for the camera.

Happy Mother's Day

Abram helped Mommy with a special Mother's Day project for all of the "Moms" in our life. As you can see he had lots of fun making his special Abram originals and he only tried to eat the paint one time!!! Katie gave all her special "Moms" one of her own personal smiles.
Just in case you were wondering Abram and Katie gave Mommy the best present ever, they let her sleep until 10:00.

Big Shoes to Fill...Literally

Abram has discovered the wonders of Mommy and Daddy's closet. His newest pleasure is pulling out and trying on all the different shoes...
and he is so proud of himself when he actually gets them on.

Flashlight

We recently had a power outage. During this outage, we pulled out the flashlights. Abram thought this was the neatest thing he had seen in a while. He would shine it at the ceiling and try to catch up with the light and then he would shine it over his shoulder and turn in circles trying to find the bright light. After a while that got old and he decided to just chew on the rubber around the edges. It doesn't take much to entertain this one year old.

Discoveries

Abram and Katie are making new discoveries every day. Thought we would share a few with you.
Abram's Latest Discoveries
*Shadows-His shadow and Mommy's are lots of fun to try to hide from but they just keep coming back and they move at the same time he does.
*Shoes-Mommy and Daddy's shoes are lots of fun to put on and try to walk around in.
*Squirt bottles-Being able to squirt himself in the face and on the belly is so much fun and still surprises him every time.
*Kicking-He is into kicking anything laying in the floor (including Katie's head that looks an awful lot like a ball) and when he kicks it, he must say "BOO!".
*Tiptoes-Not to sure where this came from but every now and then he will just decide that he needs to walk on his tiptoes and will do that for a minute and then go back flat footed.
*Knocking-He makes a fist and knocks on things. The funniest time is when he wakes up from a nap and knocks on the inside of his door and then waits for someone to open it, keep in mind he has been opening his own door for months. He has also learned that before he barges in the bathroom, he stops for just a second to give you a warning by knocking.

Katie's Latest Discoveries
*Smiling-She has the cutest smile and unlike her brother and father often wakes up with a smile on her face.
*Laughing-She will sit in a lap and smile for a while until you make a funny face and then just starts laughing.
*Following-She is starting to really follow anything that moves with her eyes, she will also turn her head to get a better view.
*Holding up her head-She has been holding her head up since she was born, but just yesterday she started holding it up when she was laying on her belly.
*Sleeping-She has been a good sleeper since she was born, but last night she slept all night. Mommy feels like she was able to sleep for days.

It is amazing to watch them grow and change so much everyday.

Brother and Sister

Katie had her 2 month check-up today. All is going well, though she didn't enjoy the three shots she had to get. Can't blame her for that one. Here are her new stats. Head: 15.5 inches, no %. Length: 24.5 inches, 97th%. Weight: 12.5 lbs, 90th%.

And here's a nice picture of the two Fletcher kids.

Belated Happy Birthday!

So, we didn't forget about her two month birthday, it was just it would have been post #3 yesterday so we decided to hold off. Still trying to get a picture of her smiling for everyone to see. Trust me, it's cute.

There's Always room for Jell-O

What better way to relax after eating some Jell-O than kick up your feet and make sure the spoon is clean.

Take Him out the Ballgame

So I finally fullfilled one of my good father duties and took Abram out to his first baseball game. The Tourists were in town, my friend Eric had nothing going on, and Mommy needed a break. What more could you ask for? Oh yeah, just gorgeous weather. Talking mid-70's with a slight breeze and clear blue skies. Couldn't have had a better day for a taking in a game.

Eric and I took out traditional seats down the right field line, just behind 1st base. We did sit a little lower than normal being sure to be behind the foul ball screen.


Oddly enough, Abram spent most of the game sitting in my lap. He only really wanted to get down two or three times, which if you know Abram is a bit of shock. I wasn't going to complain. We didn't get a picture of his first taste of Dipping Dots, a McCormick Field treat.



Abram eventually decided it was time to ignore the game and play with my hat. This naturally led to a game of hide and seek. Where's Abram?


There he is! This delighted Abram to no end. Note, I missed a good chunk of the 5th inning taking turns "finding" Abram and then "hiding" behind the hat myself. Completely worth it.


This will by no means be the last game Abram takes in at McCormick Field.

Boxes

Uncle Marc came to help Mommy and Daddy pack some stuff up the other day but ended up entertaining Abram (which was just fine). As you can see they had a great time with the boxes. In case you can't tell in the second picture Abram and Uncle Marc both have their heads in the box looking for something very important.

Strolling

Now that the weather is getting warmer and Mommy feels like getting some exercise, we are trying to get out and walk much more. As you can see Mommy is the only one getting the exercise. Don't know if it is the fresh air or just that they play so hard, but it works everytime. Not to mention that Mommy gets a major workout pushing the 10 ton stroller up all the hills around the house.

No Pictures

So there have been a few things happen in the past couple of days that were really cute, but we couldn't get to the camera fast enough to catch them. So you will just have to use your imagination.
1. Katie laughed for the first time. She was sitting on my lap smiling her big cute smile and then she just started laughing. I tried to get her to do it again but with no success.
2. Abram has really started to enjoy his bed. He will go in his room and cover up with the blankets and then begin a really funny fake snore. The other day he went in there and got quiet (always a concern) so I peeked around the corner and he was talking to his stuffed dog, hugging it, and giving it kisses. As silly and wild as he is, he sure can be a sweetheart.

I hope your imagination can enjoy these moments with us.