My little Angels

Little Joe plays with one of his toy fire trucks at our cabin in Normandy, France. Little Joe turned 15 months old over the weekend.  He's come a long way in just the last month, both physically and developmentally.  He has grown at least two inches since he left for Florida in March, which has partially reduced our concerns about possible hormone issues and his short stature for his age, and seems to be eating and sleeping more than he had been even just a few weeks ago. On the development side, he can now stand on his own without any support or assistance from a person or object and can walk (cautiously) across a room if there is nothing in his way.  He generally prefers to be near a box or wall that he can grab onto for assurance but just in the last few days has been walking a lot more and crawling only when he gets tired from walking.  He can also climb stairs on his own, including the steep, twisting staircase in our home. He also has been doing a much better job of c

Baby Joe and 'Uncle Firetruck' Baby Joe is now a little over 14 months old and has had quite the adventure over the last month.  He traveled with Rachael to Florida last month to spend time with Holly and Mike and their new daughter and was supposed to go see Melody for a few days before coming home.  Unfortunately, my mother got into a car accident on April 12th and I had to cut their trip short so they could meet me in New Jersey.  Mom is recovering well and she got to see the baby before we left, albeit for only a few minutes.  He was also able to visit with Rachael's mom in Delaware for lunch one day and made his rounds with my aunts, uncles, cousins, and grandmothers during his time in New Jersey. On his trip we learned that baby Joe loves firetrucks - he got to visit one with Mike at his firehouse and also my friend Pat in New Jersey and he now owns several firetruck toys.  He can also say 'firetruck' in his own way and refers to his Uncle Mike as &#