Mattie eats her toes!

Mattie enjoyed some time chewing on her toes today. I was helping her sit, and she dove for her toes. It wasn't that comfortable, though, so it didn't last long. What a beautiful, cute, adorable, hugable, kissable, unbelievable baby!

Window Crayons

Santa brought Celia some window crayons for Christmas, and this afternoon Auntie let her play with them. She made beautiful drawings for us all to enjoy.

Playing Together

Auntie Allison got some good pictures of the girls playing together. Celia was helping Mattie grab toys, although Elmo eventually won all her attention. What sweet girls

Celia back in her walker

Along the lines of Celia loving her baby toys - she has decided that she wants to sit in her walker again. She's a bit big - but hopefully it won't last long.

Mattie and Elmo

Mattie has a favorite toy - and it's one of Celia's. She LOVES Celia's Elmo doll. We're getting into the realm of learning to share now. Celia isn't so happy that sister loves Elmo, but she's doing a good job of letting her play with him sometimes. Now, we have to work on her not being so possessive about the other baby chew toys. Although, if she wants to take a toy away from Mattie she will sometimes bring another toy to replace it with. It's a start!

Celia finally likes the baby swing - only she's 20 months old

Celia recently decided that she likes the baby swing - only it's too big for her. I had to correct her and talk about who can go in the swing, but I had to take a couple of pictures first. Hopefully it doesn't give too much the wrong impression. It's just so cute. It seems like she finally likes her baby things - now that Mattie is using them!

Under the Couch

So ... Celia crawled under the couch for the first time. For the most part she enjoyed it, but she scratched herself a little on the way out. No where is safe!

Falling Asleep Like a Big Girl

Celia is a big girl now, and we have taught her to fall asleep by herself. This has been a long time coming. We've always had trouble with Celia and sleeping, and ever since we got back from Christmas, she has decided that bedtime means playtime. So, we decided she was ready to try putting her to sleep on her own.

It was surprisingly easy. We put do her bedtime routine like normal - bath, PJs, brush teeth, baba and book. Then, we snuggle for a few minutes and tell her we're going to leave but we are listening so if she needs us she can call for us. She's tested it a few times to see if we're really listening, but all in all she winds herself down and falls asleep! She goes to sleep more quickly, too. Instead of 1-2 hours of trying to coax her down, she's asleep by 8 or before. She doesn't cry or complain, and if she needs us she asks. The best part of it is that she is asking for what she needs. We are SO proud of her and this major accomplishment. Plus, we have our evenings back. We have 15 minutes after she goes down to finish up odds and ends around the house before going to bed. We are getting more sleep and so is she. We probably needed to do this earlier, but as with many things with the first child we're a little slow on the uptake. For now, she's still in bed with us, but the day where she moves into her own room is fast approaching. It's sad how fast she's growing up, but so rewarding to have reached a new milestone. Good job little girl, Mommy and Daddy are so proud of you!

No more "oh oh ah ah" for Monkey

It's official. This week Celia stopped making monkey sounds when asking for her blanket. Now she calls his monkey. I think my heart will break. She talks more everyday and is so smart. Good for you, Celia Jo.

Celia Getting Ready to Play Outside

Well, it's definitely winter because most our pictures involve Celia and winter gear (hat, snowsuit, snow boots, gloves, etc...). She's really excited to spend some winter fun time outside with Daddy.

Snowstorm AND Icestorm

We had a snow storm of about 10 inches in combination with an ice storm. It was a terrible commute, but we got to enjoy the beauty of it. Celia came outside with Mommy for a while to play in the snow. It was getting dark so we didn't have a lot of time, but she had fun watching Mommy make snow balls and snow angels. She did deign to touch the snow once, though. It's so beautiful! The icicles it made were huge (Ben didn't take pictures before knocking them down - darn!).

Celia's First Photoshoot

Celia got to play with Mommy and Daddy's camera and take a couple of pictures of Sister and Daddy. Here's a sampling of her best work.

An Evening of Play

The girls are really growing and learning to play with new toys. One of Celia's favorite pasttimes is coloring. She's getting really good at it. She holds the crayon correctly and is starting to make smaller, controlled movements. She works on it everyday and really enjoys it.


Mattie has started playing with toys, too. She loves to grab them when you dangle them in front of her and she's started putting them in her mouth, too.

Mattie's other favorite game is kicking at things. Here she got her leg stuck in Celia's babydoll stroller. It didn't bother her though.

Just another night at the Swoboda house!

Celia's First Time In Snowboots!

We got our first big snowfall of the year, and Daddy took Celia out to play in the snow. She doesn't like to get into it much, but she likes to watch other people play in it. She loves to watch Daddy throw snowballs, but she's leary of actually touching the snow herself - even with gloves on. She has begun to walk on the snow, which took a little working on. Yeah for winter games!