Books, Books, Books

Over the past two months, I've been coming our library for applicable or interesting parenting books for parents of children 0-6. Here's a list of books, each with a synopsis and some opinions thrown in:

Could It Be Autism? by Nancy Wiseman, founder of First Signs
Written by a mother of a child diagnosed with an Autism Spectrum Disorder, Could It Be Autism provides excellent developmental guidelines for parents of children 4 months (yes! 4 months!) and up as well as warning signs and "red flags" of Autism. Wiseman guides a parent through the "what do I do's" of concerns, evaluation, referrals, Early Intervention, second opinions, therapy, choosing professionals and advocating for your child in the school system. The information presented is factual and relevant. She strongly urges parents to be a cooperative but persistent advocate for their children regarding school-based services. While this perspective caused me some discomfort as a professional she rightly stressed how creating positive, cooperative relationships with school staff was the most effective way to get help for your child. This book is going immediately to my reference list.

Anne from "A Little Bit Crazy" referenced a book called Wonder Weeks in her blog. I have not yet read it (and apparently neither has Anne) but I have recommended it to several parents. It's on my "watch list" for the library. You can read Anne's blog and her review of this book on her blog, annesasylum.blogspot.com

Beyond Baby Talk: from sounds to sentences - A Parent's Complete Guide to Language Development by Kenn Apel Ph.D., Julie Masterson Ph.D
Written by Speech-Language Pathologists, this is ASHA's official language development publication for parents. The book does a great job of breaking down language development into stages by age (0-6 mo, 6-12 mo, 12-24 mo, etc.) and providing information for each area of language (comprehension, spoken expression, social use). I learned a few useful items to easily apply in my practice as a Speech-Language Pathologist and would recommend this book for parents of children who are under 12 months or for parents of children with language delays (versus a motor speech/articulation delay or disorder).

The Late Talker by Dr. Marilyn Agin, Lisa Geng, Malcolm Nicholl
Dr. Agin is a SLP-turned-pediatric physiatrist (rehabilitation doctor for children) and feels that Apraxia of Speech is under diagnosed or unrecognized by most pediatricians. While Agin does address other areas of speech and language development, her book is a focused bullet for parents seeking answers and treatment for children with severe speech delays or disorders. She gives a useful table of speech and language development milestones, how to cooperate and get results from the school system and how to go about getting insurance coverage for private speech therapy. I would reserve recommendation for only families with the most severely impaired children. I thought her descriptions, concerns and advice were realistic for children with Apraxia, though it might give other parents a scare. This book gave me a great professional "kick in the pants" to be aggressive in my therapy plans and a reminder of how parents rely on professionals for quality intervention, answers, help and support.

Positive Discipline for the First Three Years by Jane Nelson
The best and most applicable I've read lately. Nelson's big themes are "kind and firm" and a child's developing autonomy. She addresses all manor of "behavior issues" (biting, hitting, exploring the forbidden, running away, obedience) and developmental milestones (sleeping, eating, toileting). She holds that it takes just as much time an energy (or more) to yell, lecture, or discipline using a slap/spank/time-out as it does to firmly and gently re-direct, provide an appropriate substitute or ask simple questions to help a child solve a problem (such as sharing) on his/her own. She feels that young children understand actions better than words. Included is an excellent chapter on choosing childcare/daycare. Coverage of special needs is cursory. She also authored Positive Discipline A-Z and Positive Discipline for the Preschool Years. I am most anxiously looking to read these next!

Meat-less Loaf

While we are by no means vegetarian, occasionally I like to experiment with "meatless" recipes. Since Thing Two doesn't eat meat, it's a good way to get in some extra protein. Every time this dish has been prepared it has received accolades and requests for the recipe. So as the weather cools, whip up this wonderful Cottage Cheese Roast and enjoy a meat-less meal.

Cottage Cheese Roast (Recipe Zaar) with My Modifications in italics

16 oz. Cottage Cheese
4 eggs, scrambled
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup diced onion
1 oz (about 1 package) Onion Soup Mix
1 cup sesame seeds
2 cups Corn Flake cereal

Grease loaf pan. Combine all ingredients til well mixed. Spoon into loaf pan. Bake 60-70 minutes at 350 degrees. Let rest 5-10 minutes prior to serving.

Add my favorite meatloaf topping: 1/4 cup ketchup, 1 T mustard, 1 T brown sugar mixed together.

The Rest of the Summer

Summer is not a time to be indoors on the computer.... so in an effort to catch up on my blogging, here's our past six weeks in a picture/nutshell:

Riding with Grandma at Family Camp, Northeast, PAVacation should involve some golf.....
And swimming [lessons] with Tante....

Take in a ball game and too much junk food...

Or make the children into food (we were playing 'burritos' here)...

Speaking of food, one should always eat blueberries off the bush for at least 30 minutes solid when picking...

Maybe get a few in the bucket (we did manage to pick 14 lbs in about an hour; most of them are now in the freezer for winter cereal topping)....

And celebrating some one's 2nd birthday! Not just once,

But twice!

Ahhhhhh, summer!

Cottage Vacation

We spent the past week at a cottage with my parents and sisters. While I wait for my dad to upload his 500 pictures, I pulled the best ones of the 20 on our camera. My aunt and their children & grandchildren (a.k.a. "our cousins") cottaged about 1 mile down the road from us. We spent the week biking or driving between the cottages, sharing meals, playing in the water and sand, reading novels, boating, lying in the sun, splashing on the "rack" (interpreted as 'dock'), painting and enjoying long naps!

Thing Two squashed in her bed (she's sideways in a pack-n-play, though she barely fits the long way) during nap time.
This pic of Thing One with my dad is my very favorite picture of all. I'm pretty sure we had to record "rack" time in hours rather than minutes.

On the suggestion of a very smart friend with little boys, I bought 3 foam craft "paint brushes" for $0.99 and provided water in a bucket and an empty yogurt container. And I don't know where Thing Two's pants are.

Cherry Fest

Sweet Cherries were ready today at Moelker's Orchard so off we went. The kids and I met a friend and her boys there and we picked for about an hour. Her boys were quite helpful with the picking! My children were more apt to climb a ladder and get stuck or just eat cherries of the ground. Together we picked 6 full buckets (approx 4 qts each) which totaled 20 lbs for her and 18.5 lbs for me. They are priced at $1.50/lb. (less than 2008!). At 8:30 am, we were the second set of customers to arrive and had the trees and ladders mostly to ourselves. My friend, who is smarter and more experienced than me, brought a wagon (to pull both children and cherries and have a place to put the diaper bag) and a bib for her youngest. We didn't have to go far into the orchard but it was wonderful to load all our six buckets of picked cherries in the wagon and haul them easily to the weigh station and the car.

The cherries we picked today are firm, dark, nice size and very, very sweet!

From 18.5 lbs, I have several pounds for eating after canning 7 quarts and 7 pints. I loved canned cherries as a kid. They were the easiest fruit I've done yet. Here's what I did:

Wash cherries

pack into warm canning jar (I just keep the jars in the dishwasher after I washed them)

add heaping 1/4 cup sugar; fill with water to 1" from the top of the jar

wipe the edge of the jar, cover with lid and lightly screw on band til just stops turning easily.

Process in boiling water bath for 25 minutes for quarts, 20 minutes for pints.

When my mom and I were remembering and researching how to do this, many of the sites recommended a hot pack (using hot water to pour in jars, slightly cooking the fruit first), pitting the cherries and soaking them in a salt/vinegar solution to retain color. I do not plan to sell them. We just want to eat them all winter. So I left the pits in so they'd retain a nice shape and not get soggy.

Well, the first batch is out and I have heard three "pops" of the lids sealing so far.

Content

There is just something special about holding a newborn baby. Friends of ours delivered their first baby over the weekend and I've been lucky enough to have held her twice this week. It's special because they are so fragile and new, so innocent and sweet, so small and helpless. A newborn is only a newborn for a few short, sleepless weeks. A newborn is meant to be held.

God has been attempting to teach me a thing or two over the past year. I have been slow to listen and slow to learn. From the point of deciding we wanted to have children, "more than two" seemed to be the goal. For the better part of a year, this desire for "more than two" has turned into an emotional and spiritual struggle. Mid-winter my soul finally heard God's calling to me: Be Content. That was it. No further instruction.

God intended this to be a comprehensive reform, starting with our desire for more children. Content with our finances. Content with my husband. Content in my job. Content with my children. Content in His provision, His blessing, His calling on my life. Whatever it may be. It doesn't matter what anyone else has or has been through. It's as if God said to me, "I AM the Alpha and the Omega. I AM all you need."

The learning process is tough. I see hope, humility and answered prayer in the good days. I see pride and stress in my failures. What's next is unknown, except that God is Sovereign and Jesus is Lord. So I'll go snuggle my babies, clip some coupons and greet my husband warmly, knowing that God's mercies are new every day.

The Homefront

I'm holding down the fort while hubby is on a mission trip with the high school students. Usually we like to keep busy while he's gone. We are doing that quite well. Maybe too well this week. The house ... well ... no one is here to run it. So it's not running so well...

• the dog is eliminating on the carpet (yuck!!!), a feature which is not being helped by our lovely fire-work-loving neighbors


• we ran out of milk. I don't think that has ever happened before!


• the power went out


• Thing One is having a very difficult time separating... at church on Sunday it took two of us to pry him off me when I brought him to his room. When I returned he said "I was sad because daddy left and then you left." Sorry buddy.....


• I couldn't figure out why the dishes were piling up... until I realized my dishwasher was on a mission trip and I was going to have to fill in for the week


• the lawn is going to seed


• I feel completely scattered because we've been too busy


• went through a complete snafu at work involving a mother who was possibly lying to get services for her child, a forgotten $300 assessment kit I left outside an apartment complex, completing an evaluation that we weren't supposed to do, and way too many phone calls in Spanish to locate said family in the first place


• spending 15 minutes I didn't have prying off the thermostat cover to turn on the A/C. 80 degrees inside at 7:30 am is not going anywhere good....

On the other hand, there have been a handful of lighter moments to remind me to slow down, enjoy life and take care of the priorities:

• Thing Two (22 months now!) talking motherese to her baby doll


• swimming with friends and family three days this week!


• an unexpected phone call from a friend, just checking in since she knew I was solo this week


• extra time with my parents


• Watching the wheels in Thing One's head as he learns about Jesus: "Zoie can gwow up and be n angel instead... instead of a lady."
  "Was I born? Was I born in a manger????"


• and our first attempt at pigtails

Phases

Grandma E discovered the inner diva of Thing Two. She's really into accessories lately - shoes, hats, and sunglasses.
She wears is passing through a phase where the glasses never leave her face. We had to make a "no bed, no table" rule. Outside, I can definitely see the need.
I wonder where she learned to wear her glasses on her head? Don't ask me how I got so lucky to score the pink stars...

The only picture I didn't get was wearing the yellow-lens glasses to church. Didn't think it was appropriate to be taking pictures of that sort in church.

Rhubarb-mania

My dad picked me a paper bag full of rhubarb a week or so ago. I told him I'd take as much as he wanted to pick for me. I chopped 24 cups worth of stalks.

2 - 4 cup packets went into the freezer for later use

8 cups + 2 cups frozen strawberries + 1 cup fresh strawberries + 3 (sm) pkgs sugar free strawberry jell-o + 1 (lg) pkg orange jell-o + 1/3 cup sugar + 1 pkg no sugar pectin = a double batch of jam. (NOTE: I doubled and combined several recipes - if you try it, the amount of sugar should be 1/3 - 1/2 cup for 4 cups rhubarb, or a little more if you use the sugar free jell-o)

4 cups reserved for cake

4 cups reserved for pie
The pie turned out tart, with pockets of sugar here and there. Husband was a big fan of the sugar pockets. I'm not. Next time I'll mix or layer the sugar in rather than just covering the top of the rhubarb, as the recipe suggested. Overall, a good pie experience. One piece remains...

I'd like a little more to have another go at the jam. Additionally, some of my friends make homemade jam and its great to swap so everyone has a variety. We've been able to trade away some spice pear jam for some fabulous strawberry freezer jam (Marcie - it's amazing!), sweet grape jelly (a treat we never buy compliments of Missy) and a yet-untasted cherry jam (super excited about this one!) from Maria. Last fall I landed 3 bushels of pears (free) from which I made 5 batches of jam (both canned and freezer) and canned 24 quarts and froze 6 quarts. While I really enjoy spiced pear jam, a little variety is always welcome.

On My Heart

If the Holy Spirit prompts you, please pray comfort and hope for Kristin from Our Journey (see sidebar) today and tomorrow as she experiences the first anniversary of Ryan's journey from death into life. She also has two young children who have been asking some very difficult questions. You can also join me in praying that she will have the patience and wisdom beyond her years to answer her 3-year-olds' questions about their daddy.
Thanks.

Hats For Sale

Grandma E. is cleaning out the attic. She found a large quantity of hats. Thing One now wears a hat practically everywhere. We had actually purchased this hat for general summer wear. If I recall, Thing One made quite the scene in the store as he wanted a particular color that was not available in his head size. We compromised and he gladly wears this one.

Papa Eckstein has always thought we'd have a little red haired girl. Well, here she is.

Elmo also participates in hat days. The engineer hat belonged to my husband - I let him (son, not husband) wear this one in public.

Howdy! This one was a favorite of Uncle Ames as a boy.

Not Me!

Who would ever drive without proof of insurance or registration? Not me! I would always put them in the car where they belong rather than absent-mindedly file them in the drawer. And since I don't speed, I would get pulled over for some other infraction such as having a tail light out. For two months. It had been so long, I'd forgotten and thought it had been replaced. Gotta' love those "warnings".

Give Me Neither Blog

I added a new blog to the list on the right side of this page. If you live in the West Michigan area, you may be interested in keeping tabs on Give Me Neither. The writer does amazing things with internet coupons, insert coupons, sales and "shopper perk" cards. Hello food pantry donations and decreasing my grocery budget in one fell swoop!

Remembering it All

As a wife and household manager, I try to keep it all together. Somewhat. Somehow, I managed to forget both bread & butter in my weekly grocery shopping. I make every effort to only buy groceries once per week. I like efficiency. I like to plan. I do not like to part with money and each time I go into a store, more of it flies away. But at least once a month, I find myself calling my dear husband, asking him to stop by Meijer on the way home to pick up _______ so I can finish cooking supper.



This time, I decided to stop at Meijer myself, on my way home from work. I think it was partly because I was embarrassed about forgetting essential sandwich components. Also, I went myself because I could go all by myself. There is just something precious about "running to Meijer" and it really only taking 20 minutes rather than the 45 it takes hauling 2 small (also very precious) children.



As I am at the checkout, my over-friendly cashier noticed I also was buying contact solution and men's razor blades. She launched into a story about her husband who "always forgets to tell me....". On and on she went about her poor husband who is apparently not the detail-oriented person in their home. In truth, the reason she started the story is because I mentioned that my husband just ran out of contact solution. (Truly, sweety, I didn't complain or pull a martyr-mom stunt.) In my head I started to empathize with her when... I realized that I was only there because I forgot to buy bread and butter. So as quickly as my empathy arrived, I dismissed it. Husbands have an awful lot to keep track of, too. I really do enjoy a more relaxed pace of life at home - as relaxed as I want it to be. Husbands carry a burden to support their family, love their wives (we do make it difficult sometimes) and are away from home for most of their day. The stress!

While this is a tiny example, it really provoked my thoughts to be gentler with Todd in regards to his responsibilities at home. In our division of labor, it's really my job to make sure we have what we need in the house. It's his job to make sure we can pay for it. : ) It also spawned thoughts about how easy it is to jump on the "dumb spouse" bandwagon. The things that most irk me about my spouse are typically my most secret and deepest flaws, wounds and failings.

"He who began this good work in you will carry it though to completion." (Philippians)

My favorite Soda

I hail proudly from the mid-west where we call sugary, carbonated beverages "Pop" and are on day two of dreary but much needed rain. I have been contemplating why we are called the mid-west, as we are quite far from the true midpoint of the country in Oklahoma but... back to soda.

I have three favorite sodas:

I don't recommend consuming them as is. I find the flavor a bit salty.



Soda #1 - the classic Baking Soda is obviously for baking and deodorizing the refrigerator. I most commonly use it for my daughter's eczema and "cradle cap" head. My previous hair specialist (who moved to Texas and is much missed!) recommended 1 Tbl. Baking Soda combined with 1/4 cup salt. Add water to the mixture to form a paste and scrub into baby's hair and scalp instead of shampoo. The salt exfoliates skin while the Baking Soda cleans hair and skin. Since both my babies had hair, the "baby oil under a cap" trick was rather messy. This is easier, less time consuming and more effective. Find Baking Soda in the baking aisle of your grocery store.



Soda #2 - Washing Soda. My mother brought me a box of this wonderful agent and a plastic tub. She taught me that Washing Soda softens laundry water in addition to having cleaning and deodorizing power. I soak soiled clothing in a tub of cold water with 1/8 cup Washing Soda. It helps clean the "soils" and prevent stains from body fluids, if you catch my drift. I also use 1/4 to 1/2 cup Washing Soda in lieu of detergent to "wash" brand new clothes, clothes from storage that were put away clean, in really dirty loads of laundry and as an additive when washing cloth diapers (1/4 regular amount of detergent plus 2Tbl Washing Soda per load of diapers). I buy Washing Soda at Meijer.



Soda #3 - Club Soda. As a baby, I vomited on an airplane, all over the man in a suit behind my mother (she was holding me on her shoulder). The airline attendant used Club Soda to deodorize and clean the affected clothing of all parties involved. Again, the soda works as a deodorizer and cleaning agent. On our recent vacation, I visited four stores before finding the above pictured bottle of Club Soda (over-priced in my opinion) at RiteAid to clean Thing One's car seat after he vomited in the car. Lovely. I typically keep some on hand for potty-learning mishaps on the couch or carpet. While Kroger in Kentucky does not carry Club Soda, Meijer in Michigan does.

Happy Cleaning!

What Were We Thinking?

Our family is on vacation this week in the southeastern part of the country. We made a stop in Nashville and it was recommended to us to visit the Rainforest Cafe, which was very close to our hotel. Todd and I thought, why not? The kids love animals! Yes, but not animatronic jungle animals who move and make loud noises in a dark restaurant and are bigger than Daddy. We stepped into the mall entrance at the restaurant and Thing One stopped stiff in his tracks at the sight of the restaurant gift shop still 25 feet away. Clue #1 ignored. Stepping into the gift shop with our "passport" should have been our second clue to go find a Micky-D's. Thing One jumped into my arms and clung to me for dear life as a python loomed 10 feet overhead.

We were then ushered into a dark dining room. At the precise moment I was putting Thing Two in her highchair, a "thunderstorm" started - lights flashing, sounds of thunder and hard rain. Coincidentally also at the same moment, the animatronic animals started doing their 'wild thang' and the gorilla which was approximately 4 feet from our table started shaking the trees, growling and grunting (or whatever it is you call a gorilla noise).

Our waitress took pity on us as both children cried for mommy and daddy to save them and seated us in the bar area which was well-lit and had NO jungle creatures in the vicinity. We were seated next to a lovely mist and rain machine and the kids enjoyed the "wa-fa" (waterfall) and the neon frog and alligator above the beer signs. Though I think at least Thing One was still a little nervous as he kept referencing the gorilla (which was now far behind him). They both adamantly refused to go look at the elephant but were interesting in viewing the hippo from a distance. I believe this is what they call a "character enrichment" experience. Yup, I am a stronger, smarter parent than when I walked in there and my kids are scarred for life.

Discipline Delimma

As our dear, sweet son is about to enter his fourth year (he's turning 3 next week!), I am re-evaluating our method of teaching and disciplining. I'm sure you are shocked to hear that we have to discipline our children, because, of course, they are perfect. But don't be shocked. Imperfect parents parenting imperfect kids. No wonder the Bible tells "children [to] obey their parents" and "parents do not exasperate your children." I've thought since becoming a parent that maybe there was a translation error there and it should read, "children do not exasperate your parents." Then as my kids got a little older, I am beginning to realize that if I nag, beg, punish, remind, ask, order and threaten my kids, I am first of all not getting consistent results and second not always teaching them how to monitor their own behavior and make good decisions on their own. The Bible must be right. "Parents do not exasperate your children." In trying to follow this wisdom, I am finding difficulty with two things:

1) the balance of power - putting my foot down as an adult and parent who really knows better anyway and his choices and then deciding whether to imposing consequences or allowing natural consequences to teach him - and...
2) how to hide my laughter when he does something really funny during a teaching time. I'm supposed to be calm, "flat affect" and not indicate a strong emotional response, right? Except for a little problem. "Mama! The naughty spot is broken. I need a new one." Yup, that's defiantly going to be a problem. My friend, Missy, told me a story about her 4 year old who decided she was only ready to say "sor-" when it was time to get out of time-out. I have no idea how she managed to keep a straight face.

I'm pretty sure little ones are cute and funny for a reason. Their little sweetness just begs love and forgiveness and makes it difficult to carry bitterness and anger. It's a good thing too. Thing Two pulled a "chubby bunny" with a pink bunny 'peep' today and ended up with pink drool all over... Snacks stay in the kitchen for a reason!!!

Hide and Seek

This week with hubby out of town, I needed to find alternative child-care arrangements. A friend (whom my kids know well enough but one who had never watched them a full day) generously offered to come to my house for the day. My day started off with a hormone headache which was compounded by three hours in stale cigarette smoke and not enough lunch. I was just pulling up to the curb at my afternoon appointment when my cell phone rang.

"Joy? I just need you to listen." Okay
"Your son is missing." What???? He wanted to play outside and someone snatched him.
"Are there any places in the house where he likes to hide?" Are we sure he's still in the house?

After asking questions and confirming that there was no way he could've gotten outside, nor was he in any of the bathrooms, I was really confused and growing more concerned. She had checked through the house at least twice already.

The younger kids were reportedly playing nicely in the living room, so I sent my friend on a treasure hunt.
"Check the cupboard behind the couch."
"What about the coat closet - he can open those doors and used to hide in there a lot."
"Did he crawl into the dog's cage downstairs? We were talking about it yesterday."
Where could this kid be? He's never done this before.... Is she sure he's in the house?
"Go upstairs. He sometimes goes in my closet or my bathroom. Check under the bed, too. It's a tall bed."
"What about behind the rocking chair in Thing Two's room?"
"Check his closet - he can get in there and it's hard to get out."

Sure enough, that's where he was. Hiding in his closet. I apparently maintained a calm veneer, but inside my imagination was filled with police helicopters and bloodhounds. At that moment, Todd came home and in relief, my friend hung up. I didn't have the opportunity to decompress as I then attended my afternoon appointment with another 2 hours of stale cigarette smoke. And I think I have yet to get the full story, but in the words of Pa Ingalls, "all's well that ends well."

Sinking Sand (i.e. the stock market)

Over the past few months, I have noticed that I am doing certain things less often including opening any investment statement, listening to the Wall Street reports of the day and taking in any media regarding the economy. I did manage to catch that the unemployment in Michigan is 8% (which really means that 92% of people ARE employed). I know people who can't get a call in to the unemployment office as the lines as so busy. Our investments would bring only half the value of a year ago if we decided to cash them out (which we are NOT going to do...).

There is a lot at stake for many people - jobs, businesses, homes, retirement income. It's stressful. It's emotional. It's discouraging. It's only money. It's not eternity. One of my favorite hymns has been playing through my mind and I wanted to share the first verse:

My hope is built on nothing less

than Jesus love and righteousness.

I dare not trust the sweetest fame

but wholly lean on Jesus name.

On Christ the Solid Rock I stand

All other ground is sinking sand

All other ground is sinking sand.

Thing One and I were talking about 'scawy sings' (scary things) tonight. We talked about a special verse from the Psalms that he knows well enough to repeat on his own. "He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty." As one of our favorite characters from The Pond puts it, "My friends, we are well taken care of."

Warning - Not for Children Under 3

One of the kids' adoring Tantes (aunt) bought my daughter some hair clips. We had been discussing how she (the daughter) doesn't like things on her head and in her hair but... her hair is growing in and I'd like to hold it back with something. Just hadn't found what I wanted. I'm not really up with the "doing the hair" thing. Mine rarely gets brushed. This is what Tante came up with:

Times 15. There are 16 of these little buggers in a rainbow spectrum of colors. And, they are cute!

They are not cute when Mama steps away from the lunch table to check on potty-boy and returns to find my little bugger using her hair clip to scoop yogurt into her mouth. I'm pretty sure I caught her on the first swipe as there was more "wo-gut" in her hair and on the barrette than on her face. Good for me. Did you see how tiny they are? Definitely swallow-able size. Bad for me. If I were receiving punishment from an old-school teacher, my lines would read: "I must not leave my 18-month old unattended with objects intended for children over 3." There is a reason they put warnings on stuff you know...

We All Fall.... Down!

You may need to hike up your volume to hear the her singing. And please take some Dramamine prior to watching.

No More Babies

Today is my daughter's half birthday. Since I celebrate half-birthday's, I put together a little "day in the life of..." to commemorate both her step into toddler-hood. These images were collected over the past three days and by no means capture all aspects of her.

She's really a morning person, often greeting us with "mo-nin'" when we get her out of her crib. She gives hugs to "bun-bun" and "ugy" upon waking and insists I give them kisses. After breakfast, we watch out the window yelling "bye! Soon!" (as in, see you soon) to those going to work.

Favorite toys include blocks, books and anything brother is playing with. She's quite the accomplished builder.

If I am preparing lunch after 11:30 am, it takes me twice as long as it's hard to do anything with a little person attached to your legs.

However, once we get eating, it's all fun and games. "Wogut" (yogurt) is a family favorite. This picture was taken prior to spoon proficiency.

I typically get a lot done during nap time, but lately she's been practicing "crib gymnastics" which includes about 60 minutes of jumping, throwing things, removal of clothing, screaming, shrieking, singing, crawling and bouncing in bed. And also leads to less comfortable sleeping positions.

Eating is also a favorite activity.

Unfortunately, so is walking around with a cup. Since I don't use valves, we have a 'kitchen only' rule with the cup. That often leads to..... tears & tantrums.

This week was very exciting for new milestones... we are learning to jump, can use three words in a sentence (yay dow good = lay down Isaac, good dog) and have discovered a love of climbing. In fact, quite absent from the photos are all her renegade trips up the stairs to play in the diaper pail, the toilet or sit on her potty and climbing to play with the printer buttons. I some great cardio in today!

Yup. this means I'm preparing supper. Favorite bedtime songs are "a-ways" (The Lord is my Shepherd), "a-night ... a-day" (Angels Watchin' Over Me) and she is beginning to help pray by filling in blanks we leave and naming some of her favorite people (like Daddy and Bwoler (brother)) for God to bless.

Happy Birthday Sweetheart!

Bathroom Candy

This is me and the little one ignoring the leftovers gathering bacteria on the table. My hubby surprised me by ordering, receiving and setting up a new computer in our kitchen (awwww, how sweet!). I'm hoping it will allow me to blog a little more frequently since this computer doesn't take over 5 minutes to load up a new webpage or new program. Thanks Sweety!

In other news, I have a new strategy regarding the keeping of chocolate. Mmmmmmmmmmmmm.... chocolate................ The strategy has several tiers of protection and will-power ain't one of 'em.

1. Don't purchase chocolate. This method fails when chocolate is received as a gift or if I have an intense craving, which happens about once a month.
2. Don't open the chocolate. This only works when the chocolate is reserved for something special, such as a dessert or special occasion and is purchased no more than one week in advance. And even then, there's more at the store!
3. Store chocolate in difficult to access locations including top shelves, freezers, sealed in several layers of zip-loc etc. After a while it becomes such a pain to get it out each time, I just move it to an accessible location. But this works for a while.
4. Keep chocolate in the bathroom. I discovered this as we use "en-en-ems" to help teach our son to use the potty. For as much time as I spend in the bathroom, I am not tempted. It is the bathroom, but I think the real reason is accountability. It's much harder to sneak off upstairs to the chocolate stash. Most of the time when I'm up there anyway, at least one of the kids is also with me and there's no sneaking anything past either one of them. Now my moral delimma is whether or not it's okay to use my toddlers for accountability partners rather than weigh if it's okay to eat an entire package of Oreo's in two days....

What We Are Up To

I think this says it all....