marin's 15 month check up

she may not have much hair, but she has the prettiest blue eyes ever! i think the pizza sauce helps set them off nicely, don't you?
she loves her daddy!
marin went in for her 15 month check up on thursday. i guess she is trying to catch up to big sis ellory because she had gained 4 pounds in the last 2 1/2 months and is now in the 90% for weight! she is still the 75% for height and 30% for head. poor little head. guess she takes after her grandpa steinke. :) i think i've mentioned it before but the girl loves to eat. veggies, not so much but pretty much anything else. the funny thing is, she doesn't look chubby or anything. marin has also been really increasing her vocabulary lately. to date we have, "daddy, mommy, bye-bye, hi, day-doo (thank you), melmo(elmo), gih(again)" and of course she understands tons more. you can ask her to get her sippy cup or blanket or toy and she will scuttle off and bring it back. her hair is slooooowly growing. it seems to be growing everywhere except the sides. i still get asked, "what is HIS name?" sigh. (especially when she is dressed in pink!) she is starting to show some of her mommy's stubborness. we can't keep her off the coffee table and she gets so mad everytime we put her back on the ground. we do this dance over and over and she just keeps trying to get back on the table. does not give up. my personal favorite thing that she has started doing is rocking on the couch. she throws herself full force back and forth, back and forth. makes a momma proud. (in case you didn't know, i have been a rocker since my parents found me in my crib banging against the side as a baby.) well, just wanted to give an update on our little bear. we are so grateful to be her parents.

easter hunt #2

the monday before easter i started scheming and decided to have an egg hunt and cookie decorating party for the kids who live around us. we have been trying to get to know our neighbors and thought this would be a good chance to hang out with some of them. norton made the invitations-very nice, of course. i walked around and handed them out. friday night i was up making various shapes of sugar cookies and norton helped fill about 250 eggs. i tried to keep them candy-free but norton didn't think that was very "easterly" so he drove to rite aid and bought some candy. i think the party turned out well. there were 10 kids and their parents. they decorated cookies while parents hid eggs and then we all went out and turned the kids loose in our yard and the next door neighbor's yard. this time townsend and ellory knew what to do so they had pretty full baskets. :) we were thankful that it didn't rain which was predicted. just a bit windy. but all in all a good time.

easter hunt #1

the first time we lived in denver we attended hope community church in platt park. such a great church and people. every year they host an egg hunt for the community. so we decided to head over and give the kids some practice before the one at our house. : ) i think townsend pretty much got it-he ran around looking for eggs and putting them in his basket. ellory picked up her first egg and then threw it back down. it took her a little while to figure it out. marin just wanted to walk around. but it was fun to see friends and hang out for a little while.

the gate

norton and i are always trying to keep the kids out of the kitchen when i'm cooking. they just really aren't all that helpful yet. :) the other day townsend took it upon himself to go get all his shoes and line them up across the entryway to the kitchen. he said it was a "gate" to keep the kids out. as you can see he didn't apply the rule to himself. but if ellory or marin got anywhere near the gate he would immediately yell at them to get away.

the office

yesterday i went to a children's consignment sale. i got a thomas the train backpack/suitcase with rolling wheels. it's for "everyone" although townsend obviously has taken over ownership most of the time. this morning he was wheeling it around. as he headed for his room he told norton and me that he was going to his "office." we hadn't heard that one before. we asked him what he was going to do in his office and he said, "papers." later on i went in his room and he was in his closet with the doors closed. he said he was working. must have super night vision as it was completely dark in there. :)