Tunnel Crawl

Josie is on the move and has figured out the joy of the tunnel.  Finn loves playing with her in it too and she thinks that is quite fun!

First Tooth

Josette's first tooth popped out today...bottom left incisor!  I was very surprised because Finn didn't get his first tooth until 11 1/2 months.  I just assumed Josette's would be a late arrival as well.  Very exciting, but I am going to miss those toothless, gummy grins.  Picture to come soon as soon as I can snap one!

Mud Season Preview

First, I wasn't trying to be artistic with black and white in this post, but somebody set my camera to black and white and I didn't notice.


Just when we were getting warmed up (or cooled down as the case may be) to winter, we got a thaw today with a high of 47.  We met up with a friend of Finn's to get some sledding in this morning before the snow melted.  They were very sweet taking turns and helping to carry the sled:

 We were using the hill behind the playground, so after some sledding, Finn decided to do some swinging:

 Then, he realized the snow under the swing had melted into a nice slushy puddle.  So, what would anyone (or just Finn) do with such a discovery?  Put your head in, of course!

 Make ice sculptures:

 Watch your hair drip:

 Then, the boys discovered a wonderful puddle:

 And, quite literally, jumped right in:

 Found some good sticks:

 The sled is a good boat:

 Up to his knees in cold water fun:

This is a good preview for what we will be doing in the spring thaw!  

Sledding Fools

Finn can't get enough sledding in.  It is his first suggestion upon waking in the morning.

 Luckily, yesterday, Sean was able to join him:

 Lily decided a game of chase-the-sled was in order:

 And then, tackle at the bottom:

 And, then, she went and stole the sled:

 It is my sled, Lily!

 Oh, so you want to sled, do you, Lily?

 Everyone on!

 Josette and I chose to snowshoe instead:

First Snowshoes

Finn got his first pair of snowshoes for Christmas and after another few inches of snowfall, he was eager to give them a try yesterday.  He was a natural and had a blast walking through the snow.

Cozy

Pulling Up

Lately, Josette has one mission, and one mission only - to stand up.  Her drive to learn how to crawl was strictly for the purpose to get to places where she can pull up.  She has even started to pull up and then take her hands away to wobble on her legs before falling back on her bottom. 

Here she is pulling up on the fireplace gate:

 Then, one day we were stripping Finn's bed and she found that was a great place to pull up.  Finn then started jumping about in celebration and she thought that was really funny:

Sledding Time

If you haven't noticed, we are fully embracing winter here in NH.  Finn couldn't wait to dig out his sled yesterday.  Luckily our neighbors have the perfect sledding hill.


Finn probably did 40 runs yesterday:

 

 I never tire of seeing her all bundled up.  We call her the "abominable snow baby."  She thought her brothers gleeful peals of laughter on the way down the hill were very fun:

 Lost his hat:

 How to get the sled back up the hill:

Ice, Ice Baby!

We had a most magnificent morning on the pond yesterday.  Cold temps have finally come and the lakes are ready for some icy fun.  And, boy, did we have fun sledding and ice skating and watching the cousins play with wild abandon!

Carrie tugged the littles around:

 Josie Bean and Gracie Pie all bundled in for the ride:

 Finn and Liam checking in with their little sisters:

 Josette got a little fussy so I held her....

 ....and she promptly fell fast asleep:

 Libby is quite the figure skater and practiced her twirls:

 The shovel crew clearing the ice of our recent snow:

 Finn enjoying the snow hills:

 Finn and liam found new uses for shovels:

 Sean (and Lily) pulled the boys on the sled

 and took them off of snow bank jumps.  This elisited peals of laughter followed by "AGAIN, AGAIN!"

 I gave it a go pulling them around on skates and it was a tough workout!

 Finn and Liam are best buds for certain!