Hess Times Three: July 2011

Summertime means lots of fun outside and we've all been enjoying the fresh air. The babies know exactly what it means when I say, "time to get your shoes on" and they run to the closet and anxiously await their sandals. Braden has even learned to go to the door and side "ou-side, ou-side?". Too cute. Besides the recent heat wave, we have been able to go out and do some fun things like using our new little swimming pool and taking a big trip to the zoo. (see pics below)

At 19 months old now, they really keep me running all day. My parents come over almost every day for a couple of hours to help out, which really gives me some sanity! They play hard now and love to run, run, run. I find myself wanting to keep them busy so we go to storytime at the library once a week and have playdates with friends to help wear them out.

Little personalities are definitely showing themselves now. People ask me all the time if they seem different, and I always say definitely! They are three very different people and it's so fun getting to see them develop.

Kayla is my girly girl. She is very feminine but yet holds her own with two brothers. She is the smallest of the bunch but I've seen her pin her brothers with little effort! She loves to read and will bring you book after book after book until finally you have to cut her off. She will definitely be my little book worm. She is also mommy's helper. She loves to help me do laundry and loves to clean up too. Kayla is also our best eater when it comes to eating a variety of foods. She'll try anything and there isn't much she doesn't like. She can really eat too and will literally stuff her face! In fact I have to monitor how much I give her at a time because she will try to put everything in her mouth at once. So funny coming from the peanut of the group! We love our little Kayla girl, and she already has daddy wrapped around her little finger. :)

Braden is definitely the dominant personality of the three. He tends to be the leader and if he wants to do something, the other two like to follow along. But he also really cares about his siblings and if one is crying, he has been known to go up and give them a hug or rub their back. So sweet! He is also the biggest talker. He is saying all sorts of words now and communicates really well with us. He loves to try to mimick us as well and imitating sneezes has become one of his favorite things. Braden is very observant too. He took up baby sign language really quickly and remembers things we would never expect him to. Braden is also very social. In fact in our storytime group at the library, he doesn't hesitate to go right up to other kids and hand them toys or try to play with them. He also loves girls. He's been known to plop in the lap of any female who walks through our door! Sweet Braden boy, we love watching him grow.

Daniel is our shy guy. He definitely is more hesitant in new situations, but once he's comfortable, look out! He loves to laugh and his laugh is really contagious. Nothing cracks him up more than his brother and he admires Braden so much already. He also seems to be our most independent child. He can sit on his own and play for a long time without needing any attention. He studies everything he does and loves to figure out how things work. Daniel is also a cuddle bug and every so often will need to find mom and dad and just get some love. He is our little energizer bunny too. The boy will just run and run and run until you literally have to stop him. He has the best smile too and he knows just when to turn it on just to melt your heart and make you forget whatever you were mad at him for. We are so proud of our precious Daniel and the little person he is becoming.

Obviously with three very busy bodies, our blog posts have been scattered to say the least so please forgive us. I guess things won't be slowing down anytime soon though so this will probably be a norm for us. But we hope this at least helps you stay in touch a little and we'll do our best to keep the pics coming. Lots of love from all of us until next time!

Here are some pictures from our trip to the Zoo: