The Balches

Shout, shout!

2012-01-13T11:16:00.000-08:00

Joshua's favorite music is the World Mandate cd. He would listen to it 24/7 if we let him, and when it isn't playing, he is singing it. It is pretty incredible to me how quickly he has learned most of the words. (And amusing that he insists he is correct even when he is mixed up on some words.) On another musical note, David now sings the 50 States song while he brushes Joshua's teeth. I never learned this song, and my 3 year-old now knows it better than I do! Aside from some minor, (and some more major), pronunciation issues, he can sing the entire thing!

Almost 2

2012-01-13T11:08:00.000-08:00

I am about ready to explode, and Ellie is turning 2 on Sunday! I think I will have time to catch up a little now that classes and Christmas chaos are behind me... at least until Baby Girl is born. :) To add to the chaos, we have had a lot of computer trouble over the past month, so I can't post pictures for the time being.

We were hesitant to plan anything major to celebrate Ellie's birthday because we had no idea what the month would look like. With no signs of a hospital trip in sight, we decided to have Chick fil-a and made-by-someone-else cupcakes at the museum last night. We had Elmo cupcakes, Ellie had an Elmo balloon, and Joshua gave Ellie a stuffed Elmo. Ellie enjoyed her "pah-dee," and she appreciated all of the "Mo-mo" things. Joshua has done reasonably well actually letting Ellie play with her special Elmo. Definite progress!

Roomies!

2011-12-06T05:13:00.000-08:00

As soon as Thanksgiving passed, we shifted gears drastically. Time to get ready for Christmas, and time to get ready for our newest family member! David had to work the day after Thanksgiving, and he surprised us with our first real Christmas tree! It makes me smile every time I come in the house to smell the fresh pine. We moved Ellie into Joshua's room, and the transition has been pretty smooth. They absolutely love it... maybe a little too much! I was nervous about making the move before my class was over. It's true, it was a distraction, but a very pleasant one. I had to work hard not to sit and listen to the radio show that inevitably took place during each nap time. Ellie had brief struggles the first few times she went to bed in her new room, and Joshua was a very sweet big brother to comfort her after I closed the door. Now, they laugh hysterically and throw their socks and stuffed animals around the room for as long as they can stand it! I went in yesterday to find Ellie with no pants on in the freezing room. As David puts it, she "hits the deck" when she hears that door open.

Marrrr!

2011-12-06T05:09:00.000-08:00

This is the way Ellie says "more" now. It is very well articulated. I am trying to figure out what accent she has. Ellie most often says "more" when we get in the car to see Christmas lights... which for Ellie, is every time we get in the car at night. She notices the few on our street and immediately begins her chorus of "marrr!"

Out of hibernation

2011-12-06T05:06:00.000-08:00

I have been taking some classes since June, and it they have consumed every ounce of spare time that I didn't even know I had! Yesterday was the exam that ended this little season of back-to-school, so I thought I would celebrate by doing something on the computer other than an assignment! I am sooooo excited to have these few weeks of less pressure before Baby comes... just 6 weeks left!

Ahhhh!

2011-10-05T18:09:00.001-07:00

Or, "Hiiii!" Our Ellie has turned into quite the socialite. She eagerly and repeatedly greets others, and it never gets old to me! Ellie is very enthusiastic and cheerful as she waves frantically. If she doesn't sense a response, she gets closer and puts her hand right in front of her target's eyes... just to make sure she is seen! Recently, we were wandering around Target, and Ellie was saying good-bye to her good friends Cookie Monster and Elmo. She especially has a think for Elmo; I think it is because she can kind of say his name.

So. What did you do today?

2011-10-05T18:01:00.000-07:00

This is a conversation Joshua and I have frequently these days. It is so sweet to see his awareness of others and watch his mind grasp new social skills. Joshua has recently realized that I wake up before him. As we sit down to breakfast, he asks me about everything I have done so far. The conversation usually ends with a few rounds of: "And what ELSE did you do? And what ELSE?" I think Joshua's favorite part is the end of the story when I say, "... and then, I got my Joshua out of bed!"

Buckets and Baths

2011-09-13T17:45:00.001-07:00

It seems almost laughable to me to post anything these days for a number of reasons, but here goes! We were pretty disciplined bathers-of-our-children for a long time. We bathed both Joshua and Ellie on a daily basis for a long time; the only time we skipped it were those winter nights with no power and no hot water in Lebanon! Now, however, we are such seasoned parents, (read: lazy, busy, slightly more relaxed, or a lot more tired,) that we bathe the kids every other day. (Usually...) Anyway, even though we get a bit weary on bath nights, it is actually pretty fun these days. I guess it has always been fun, but now it is an easier fun. Our kids have so much fun in the tub, and they recently came up with a new game that entertains them both for as long as we allow them to play. I am pretty sure Joshua started it, and Ellie quickly decided she should imitate him. Here's how the game goes: get some buckets and some cups, and then pour water from one into the other. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat. Yep, that's it. It's that simple. The really cool part is that when they pour, both kids can usually keep the water in the bathtub. We can throw away all of the other bath toys!

Bumper cars

2011-06-29T11:53:00.001-07:00

Well, folks, I am trying to get back in the habit of posting. However, we are leaving on Friday for about a week, so it isn't going to happen soon!

We find ourselves in a very new season all of a sudden. Each morning, I get the kids up. It is straight to the potty for Joshua (!), and straight to the changing table for Ellie. They both promptly go to their respective vehicles, and then they go nuts until I get breakfast on the table. People who aren't around during these times have said, "Well, that sounds good; they are entertaining themselves!" Yes. Yes. Well, for a moment... that is, until one is going to fast in the game of chase or the other gets stuck between a car and a wall or one runs over the other one's toes... you get the idea! It is fun to hear their delighted shrieks and watch them become friends as they grow.

In case anyone out there hasn't heard, we will welcome Baby Balch #3 in January. We are so excited, and it is fun to be able to talk about the baby with Joshua.

Coffee Parties

2011-06-15T10:53:00.000-07:00

Ellie's Great-Grandmommy brought her a tea set when she visited recently. I wasn't sure she would enjoy it immediately, but it was an instant hit! We have coffee parties regularly. Nope, no tea drinkers in this house! David orders a caramel macchiato from Joshua who is dressed in his Starbucks apron, and Joshua returns with David's guacamole and cream. Really, that is how he says it every time. :) Just a whole lot of consonants from some other language, right? Ellie likes to stir hers and take sips, but she especially loves to carry around the coffee pot.

Lately

2011-05-15T12:35:00.000-07:00

Bubbles and a school bus!

Watching Daddy mow the yard

She's all grown up!

Our kids have been oh-so-sick for 3 weeks now. We have "up days" here and there, and I keep thinking they are getting over it. Then... BAM!! It's like their little bodies are building up for a grand finale or something. Last Friday was hands-down the hardest morning of parenting I have had so far. Here I was having a nice Friday morning, enjoying the fact that Joshua and Ellie were sleeping in some after a difficult night. A couple of hours later, all sheets and pajamas were in the washing machine, I had made many trips out to the trashcan, the bathtub had been Cloroxed, and the kitchen floor mopped. Well, the mopping part is deceptive... that is because I was clumsy and dropped a full cup of sticky juice!

Anyway, in the midst of all of this, we really have had some fun days.

Where have you been all my life?!

2011-05-01T17:10:00.001-07:00

Every time we finish a meal, we have two child clean-ups and one kitchen clean-up. Joshua hardly needs help in this department any more, but Ellie, well, she is very creative during meals! We have this great little Space Saver highchair, and my only complaint about it is that the single-handed feature doesn't exist. Therefore, you really need to be a monkey to successfully clean Ellie. It goes something like this:

Hand #1: use a wipe to clean Ellie's face... but recognize that those hands are going to go right back to the face once you finish.
Hand #2: wipe off the tray while holding clean-ish hands before they go back to spread things around a bit more. Picture it. One hand holding two little hands; the other hand is ready to single-handedly remove the tray. But what to do when you require two hands for the tray? No doubt, you need to wipe the face again at this point.
Ok, you have given up on removing the tray with one hand, so you have to let the two little hands loose! In the amount of time it takes you to remove the tray, Ellie has grabbed some stray food, smeared it on her face, and then proceeds to grab her previously clean feet like her life depends on it. I am not kidding! Hence the title of the post... it really seems like Ellie misses her feet when she can't see them at meal time!

Did you touch the curtains?

2011-05-01T17:09:00.001-07:00

I guess you could call this one "A Big Move" part 2. Joshua is a smart boy. I mentioned that I hoped he would remember the cheers and be able to resist temptation so we can cheer every time we get him up. Well, he remembered the cheers. So every time I come in his room, he eagerly says, "I obeyed! I not touch a curtains, I not touch a blinds, I not get out of bed, I not open a door, I not touch a clock..." I think he likes spouting off his list... and perhaps it is his way of stressing false innocence. Yep, we are pretty sure that he lies about it every time. Well, not ALL of it, but at least the mini-blinds and the curtain part of it. On Sunday, David went to pick up a lawnmower during Joshua's nap. He put it in the backyard, which happens to be outside Joshua's window. When I went to get Joshua at the end of naptime, Joshua immediately said, "Lawnmower!" He was thrilled until he realized he was busted!

There is the side of this that is funny, and there is the side that is more serious. How do we know what boundaries to set? How do we teach Joshua that telling the truth is the right thing? How do we change the boundaries we thought we should set without appearing inconsistent to him? We have to figure this stuff out while the stakes are low!!

Easter rolls

2011-04-29T11:30:00.001-07:00

I found a new roll recipe that I wanted to make for our Easter lunch. It was kind of last-minute, so I had to do things while the kids were awake that I normally wouldn't do. I was able to find them some cheap entertainment, thankfully!

More dress-up

2011-04-29T11:18:00.000-07:00

Two thrilled kids on Easter Sunday

Believe it or not, those are my ankle socks!

The bathing suit pose

I think she actually put the hat on correctly by herself!

A Big Move

2011-04-29T11:02:00.001-07:00

Taking down the crib

Sweet boy!

About 2 weeks ago, Joshua slept in his crib for the very last time! I think I was the biggest advocate for this transition, partly because my twiggy arms and I had a hard time getting my big boy into his bed! The kids and I left town for a couple of days, and Daddy stayed to work faithfully and to build a Big Boy Bed! We have been talking about this for awhile with Joshua, and he has always been receptive to the idea. I don't know that he would ever have tried to climb out of his crib, which I think is a common reason some kids say good-bye to their cribs. Still, cribs are for babies, and he is certainly not a baby any more!

The transition has been pretty smooth. Joshua did fall out of bed one night, but I think he may have been partially awake to make it happen. It was scary for him, but it hasn't happened again. Being in a bed has been fun for Joshua, but it has inspired him to push boundaries like never before! We have replaced one set of mini-blinds, and we realized that a book that Joshua decided he needed during nap time is broken. Enter the next stage of discipline and growth. This concept of sitting in a room for hours at a time by himself and having to resist this very attainable temptations has proven difficult to grasp. To his credit, this morning we all cheered because Joshua didn't touch curtains, mini-blinds, or get out of his bed last night! I hope he remembers the cheering and the fact that it is so much more fun than the alternative!

Beach Weekend!

2011-04-23T11:49:00.000-07:00

Ellie's participation in feeding the seagulls...obviously!

An evening stroll on the beach. Aaahhhh. Life is good!

Perhaps Joshua's favorite new thing... feeding seagulls!

First beach experience for Ellie!

Joshua also loved playing in the "dirt"

Last weekend, we had a wonderful family vacation. It was our first vacation since before Joshua was born! The week leading up to our vacation was pretty rough. Both kids were congested due to allergies, and they took turns waking up throughout the night. We were waking up more than we used to with a newborn around the house! Thankfully, everyone slept really well during our getaway, and it was so refreshing and fun!

And on to the knees...

2011-04-19T11:41:00.000-07:00

Most of you know that Ellie has become a very talented "scooter." She has been scooting for months, and it works quite well for her! I have been happy for her to be mobile, but I still wanted her to crawl a little before she took off on her little feet. I wasn't sure it was going to happen. Well, last week, Ellie and I were baking and decorating Easter cookies with our close friends Amie and Landry. (Well, Ellie decorated the floor with the contents of the diaper bag while Landry took her morning nap, but you get the idea...) I went to check on Ellie who had scooted out of sight. She was giving me this funny look. Kind of like she had done something wrong, and kind of like she was trying to tell me something. I kept trying to figure it out, and I realized she was doing this funny thing with her hands. Ellie was picking them up alternately, reaching up pretty high, and than plopping them back on the floor. Can you see where this is going? Yep, my girl was crawling! The funniest part of the story is that it took me several moments of watching her to recgnize that she was doing it! Why on earth is she doing that with her hands? How strange! You are a funny one, Elle-girl! Oh! Oh my goodness... did she just crawl?! She was crawling! And thus commenced the celebration that would probably wake Landry... (sorry again, Amie!) Since then, Ellie still prefers to scoot, but she will crawl on command, and she will crawl to get over things since she can't scoot over a step! This also came in handy on the beach this past weekend. I think Ellie realized that crawling was a little more comfortable than filling her diaper with sand... but she still scooted a lot out there!

A few of their favorite things: Ellie

2011-04-04T12:33:00.000-07:00

These days, Ellie especially loves her independence! She loves to:

play with clothes. Sometimes she "wears" them, and other times she shakes them intensely.
dance. Ellie waves her arms and bounces up and down when she is enjoying a song.
play on the bed. She likes to let herself fall back or roll around on the soft blankets. Recently, she realized the carpet in our room has a similar appeal.
play "water bottles and the ice chest." What, you don't know that game?
"tickle" with Daddy. He tickles her, she laughs, and she asks him to do it again... and again!
brush her teeth. Simply seeing the bathroom causes her to ask to do this wonderfully thrilling activity!
read books
see animals

A few of their favorite things: Joshua

2011-04-04T12:14:00.000-07:00

It is so sweet to watch our kids develop and see their personalities more each day. I love seeing what interests them. It is also nice to have more of a glimpse into the way Joshua's mind works as he learns to express himself more. For example, the other evening we were sitting down to a lovely pizza dinner. It was fresh, hot pizza, so David warned Joshua to wait a minute before digging in. Joshua politely asked David to "pour a little bit of milk on it." He was very serious about this request, so I had to hide my amusement. Joshua was thinking of oatmeal, which is one of his favorite breakfast foods. We make it and then pour a little splash of milk on it to help it cool faster. (We did not fulfill his request!)

On to some favorite things. These days, Joshua is happiest doing the following:

playing with plastic animals
practicing "tessiss" ball (it is actually sort of baseball, but we lost the plastic baseballs for awhile, so we used tennis balls instead)
reading books or having books read to him (Joshua has a few books memorized, and he likes to read to Ellie... but she doesn't usually behave for him. She either tries to take the book or wanders off to play with something else.)
putting Mommy to sleep
drinking milk out of an open cup
going somewhere... anywhere... He simply likes to "go somewhere"
building trains out of anything from toy train cars to regular cars to animals to people... you get the idea!

It's all part of having a scooter.

2011-03-27T12:06:00.000-07:00

Well, I guess spring is officially here, even though it is going to be in the 40s tonight. We have been enjoying the park more regularly, leaving the Benadryl out on the counter, and putting the kids to bed in broad daylight!

As the season has changed, so has our Ellie... again! We had this brief window where we could go places for longer amounts of time because she was only napping once a day. She still only naps once a day, but when I am flying solo with the kids, I know my minutes are numbered... at least until Ellie can walk! She is no longer content to sit in the stroller and watch as Joshua stays busy and active. Nope, Ellie wants to participate! I can't blame her for not wanting to be strapped the stroller, but I also can't let her mop the floors of every public building we enter! (or the concrete at the zoo, for that matter!) I have memories of the knees of Joshua's pants getting worn through during his crawling months just in time for him to start walking. Still, it is one thing for some rugged little cords to have holes in the knees. It seems entirely different to wait as Ellie's sweet springy dresses and onesies turn brown on the bottom! So far, Shout has been working, and she has a pair or two of "park pants." Hopefully we will make it to walking without ruining too many cute things!

Cozy Coupe Garage

2011-03-21T11:44:00.000-07:00

I have mentioned Joshua and Ellie's car several times recently, but I have to do so again. We use it all the time these days! And I do mean "we;" Ellie throws fits when she doesn't get her fill. And I don't think she has gotten her fill yet. And she doesn't realize she isn't completely self-sufficient as a driver just yet. It started out being so sweet because Joshua would push her around in the car and it was fun for everyone. Well, now Ellie feels very entitled to her never-ending turn, and Joshua practices his use of the pronoun "my," and before long, we all take a break from the cozy coupe by putting it in the garage... also known as Mommy and Daddy's bathroom. It fits quite nicely, and I get it out again when I have the patience to deal with it! (And I promise, I am not complaining! I am simply remarking on how these stages of our kids lives are coming and going so quickly! Joshua's new bed is in pieces on our living room floor as I type this... EEK!!)

Let the dressing up begin!

2011-03-17T11:26:00.000-07:00

Our camera's memory card is full, and I have missed several fantastic photo opportunities today as a sad result! I will still share a couple of stories...

When I was little, I played dress-up. I don't know when it started, and I don't know if you would say I played it a lot. Having a 14 month-old little girl, I had not yet asked myself when she might be interested in such things. Well, I found out today that she already is! My friend told me that her girl has always liked to play with her clothes. She said her daughter would happily sit among the clean laundry piles. We wondered if this was a boy/girl distinction because Joshua certainly never did that! Whether it is a girly thing or not, I don't know, but Ellie has shown that she, too loves to play with clothes.

They are using a generator to work at our neighbor's house, so I can't hear anything from one room to the next. Today, I poked my head out of the kitchen to make sure I wasn't missing any shrieking. Ellie was making a beeline for me with one of David's t-shirts around her shoulders. I thought, "Oh, that's cute. I wonder if she did that or if Joshua did that." As I watched her, I realized she was kind of showing off. It was almost as if she was trying to strike a pose! Later, repeat these actions with my pajama pants. She had trouble getting them on her, so I put them around her shoulders. Ellie then requested a plastic bucket on her head, and she proceeded to play this way until nap time.

A growing vocabulary

2011-03-15T11:43:00.000-07:00

Ellie has begun the incredible process of English language articulation. I continue to be fascinated as I watch and listen to Joshua's speech develops. Not only am I a proud Mommy, but a lover of linguistics and self-professed nerd! :) Ellie has learned a few signs, but she has also really surprised me with her new words. Her list of verbal achievements includes (no, I am not trying to be obnoxious, and yes, I know that maybe I am being obnoxious! My defense is that I want my kids to read this blog when they are older!):

car
bye bye
hi
da da
ma ma
ya ya (Joshua, not as certain, but I think that is what she is calling him)
ball
book
cracker
no
more
head

Also part of Ellie's verbal achievements... much yelling. She is obviously aware that we have constant conversation with Joshua, so she has taking to shouting and protesting until she gets the audience she desires! :) No, this is not the first time we have mentioned her yelling, but now there is a new intentionality to her noise!

Cuteness

2011-03-15T11:41:00.001-07:00

Enough said!

Making Memories

2011-03-15T11:34:00.001-07:00

I think Ellie may have loved her hot dog more than anyone else. She kept eating and eating and eating!

Last week, David got the idea to go and eat hotdogs outside. As we did it, I thought it would be one of those things that was a nicer idea in theory than in practice. It was a bit colder than we thought, and it was extremely windy, and, well, Ellie is 14 months old TODAY, so she is not all that proficient at eating a hotdog while sitting on a bench! However, we have the pictures and Joshua's enormous smiles in those pictures that prove that a little... or a lot of wind and awkwardness are worth it from time to time!

Christmas trees and the Christmas season

2011-03-04T11:32:00.000-08:00

Why am I posting about Christmas in March? Well, that is kind of the point of this post. Joshua was really impacted by Christmas this year on many levels. I shared about how fun it was to tell him the story and watch his interest. Well, there were a few other things that really struck him during Christmas... I mean, the Christmas season. For example, Joshua asked about seeing Christmas lights for weeks after most people had taken them down. If you are familiar with our area, you might know that can find a green porch light here and there, and Joshua refers to those as Christmas lights. He continues to talk about the museum Christmas tree almost every time we enter the building. It was a large and impressive show, and it actually did remain in tact well into 2011. I wondered if it would ever come down, and I wonder if Joshua will continue to picture it until it reappears next winter.

It's funny how we work out our theology as we try to explain things. The reason I stressed the Christmas season is because we didn't want to imply that Christmas ever ends. We are always celebrating the birth and life of Jesus. So Joshua and I have the same conversation each time we go to the museum, only now he explains to me that the Christmas tree is not there any more because the Christmas season is over for this year.

Still another example of Joshua's intense interest in the more secular/cultural side of Christmas is the fact that he ALWAYS builds Christmas trees with his blocks. I really don't think he has ever told me that he is building a house or even a tower... just a Christmas tree. Today, he built a Christmas tree for Ellie. He gave it to her, and she promptly broke it into pieces.

Nostalgia

2011-02-28T11:26:00.000-08:00

The obligatory family photo on the balcony of our Lebanon apartment. At least David looks nice!

Photo shoot of our new walker

Pink lil' bundle of joy!

Last night, the last day of February just around the corner, I was swarmed with memories of what was happening in our lives at this time last year. It is incredible how much can change in such a seemingly short amount of time!

Joshua had barely started walking... now he runs everywhere, including up and down hills and steps without hesitation.
Joshua had barely started talking! I remember the doctor's concern when she asked how many words he knew, and we kind of looked at each other, thinking... ummm... two?! Now our little chatterbox is trying to learn that he has to take breaks between sentences from time to time so Mommy and Daddy can have a conversation!
Ellie weighed less than 10 pounds. We are currently waiting for her to hit the 20-pound mark so we can use her new carseat!
Ellie hardly ever showed her eyes. She is still an AWESOME sleeper, but she is also quite the socialite. She loves to chatter as well, and she scoots around exploring every nook and cranny she can find.
I was two weeks out of surgery, 6 weeks out from having a baby, and we were two weeks away from making our big move back. We were living in an empty apartment. Phew!
David was preparing to put us all on a plane while he stayed behind to finish things in Lebanon. He still can't remember much about his last busy days there!
David was about to begin the job search

It has been quite a year for us. I am so thankful for all of the support we have had from friends and family. We certainly miss our friends and life in Lebanon, but God has truly blessed our transition back to Waco.

Pushing Miss Ellie

2011-02-25T11:32:00.000-08:00

Joshua loves pushing Ellie around in the car, and Ellie loves "driving," so it works out nicely. Ellie can drive herself backwards, and she also sits happily and tries to eat the horn from time to time. Yesterday, she got her shoulder stuck under the steering wheel somehow, and it made her very sad!

Tummy trauma

2011-02-22T13:44:00.001-08:00

Ellie has had an upset stomach for over two weeks now. It finally got to the point where we called the doctor. The nurse said we should continue with the BRAT diet as we have been, but she also said to hold off on the milk for 24-36 hours. Umm, excuse me, but as David told her, that is kind of what she drinks! That's it! Maybe it is something about us and the way we do things, but both of our kids of stuck with milk for a very long time. We started giving them each water early on so they could have it and get used to it, but I guess water isn't all that exciting! So it has been just over 24 hours of straight Pedialyte for Elle Belle, and I must say she is doing well. Well, I mean, her tummy doesn't seem any better, but she is coping with the lack of milk well. She asks for milk constantly; wouldn't you know that we have to do this milk "fast" about 3 days after she learned to ask for milk?! The good thing is that she doesn't seem to bothered by the fact that I keep telling her she can't have milk until tomorrow. Pray that she is better soon!

Super signs!

2011-02-22T13:35:00.000-08:00

Baby sign language seems to be all the rage. We didn't think too much of it until I got tired of hearing Joshua whine for things in his high chair. I probably posted something about it. I then learned that proponents of baby sign language say to start way earlier than you think the baby can understand because they comprehend more than we realize. Apparently you might see your baby's first signs as early as 6 months of age! Well, we still aren't major signers in our household, but if you have read any of my posts about Ellie and her preferred decibel level, you might guess that we have started to working on signing again. And, while some say to start early, I will argue that it is much more fun to wait until you feel desperate and then be amazed at how quickly they learn! It has only taken one or two tries to teach Ellie her most important and valuable words: eat, milk, more, cracker. "All done" is important to those of us who clean up after her, but she prefers to toss the food to the side or smear it around on her tray. Hey, I guess her methods yield fast results!

E-B-D

2011-02-20T13:31:00.000-08:00

You might not realize it, but that is the name of a wonderful grocery store. :) (Translation: HEB!) I used to do anything I could to avoid taking the kids to the grocery store. Now I find that not only do they enjoy it, but it probably helps me spend less money because I don't want to stand around looking at new things. (Maybe some of you remember excited I used to get about the cereal aisle...) Some of you more experienced Moms can probably tell me when this season will end, but currently, Joshua gets excited about going to HEB. In fact, he likes to pretend to go there. He gets his sunglasses, his keys, and his milk. He gets in his car and heads to the store.

Ellie likes the store as well. I think "balloon" is her second word. Each child gets a balloon when we check out. Well, unless they are out of balloons. A couple of times that has happened, and a nice worker has handed Joshua some sort of HEB dollar that he can collect and try to get a toy or something like that. Whatever the deal, Joshua was not impressed. He listened politely and then handed the paper to me when the man was gone. Nice try, sir, but we all know everyone prefers the balloon!

A hard-working man

2011-02-20T13:25:00.001-08:00

Well, the door seems to be working fine...

Oh, but the cars eyes are a little dry!

Joshua and Ellie got this car from Grandmom and G-pa at Christmas. G-pa likes cars a lot, and he has always checked mine for me to make sure things are as they should be as I come and go from Houston. Joshua noticed G-pa working on Mommy's car, so he decided to go out and work on his car, too!

Table Manners

2011-02-10T11:01:00.000-08:00

If you are a first-time Mommy of a child around a year or younger, TAKE NOTE! Enjoy your meal times as they are right now, because it is not likely to remain this way! I mean, I can only speak for my children, and there are only two of them, but it seems like the shift happened right around the same time in both of their lives. Both Joshua and Ellie have loved to eat. Ellie took a little longer to figure it out, but she still consumed pretty much whatever we put on her tray or in her spoon. Joshua was the same way. I spent months with both kids being shocked at the amount they could fit in their little infant tummies.

And then the shift. It is like someone whispers in their ears, "Hey, you actually don't have to eat everything they put in your mouth!" Joshua was relatively forgiving; he just flat out refused things. It seems like texture was his biggest turn-off, so he detested vegetable pieces or things like mashed potatoes. It was frustrating because he wouldn't even try things for a long time, but it has had its perks I'll let you know my theory with Ellie next year; all I can say right now is that she might be a bit more difficult to handle in the highchair. She all of a sudden spits mouthfuls of food out or rakes up a tray full of pieces and casts them away to the floor. And it isn't easy to predict, either. Ellie will be pretty relaxed, eating a bite here and there, and then look out. Here come her hands, and they are wild and crazy! Still, at other times, like when peanut butter and jelly are involved, she is eating double-fisted and literally alternating hands as quickly as she can get them into her mouth! Sigh...

Blossoming

2011-02-10T10:48:00.000-08:00

Snuggling with a safari hat. Hey, why not?

Ok, I apologize for posting twice in a row with no pictures! I know no one looks at this thing for the text!

Ellie is into her second year now. You might be saying, "Well, yes, that is what happens after the birthday party!" But it is worth noting because I forgot how fun this second year is... since it has been sooo long since I had a 1 year-old! :) I don't want to slight Ellie by failing to mention her milestones... and making note of some very significant differences between her and my first one year-old.

My girl might be fiercely independent. Quite often lately, she will scoot off to do her own thing no matter who is sitting with her. She puts her hands on her head and recognizes the word "head" as well as the song that goes with it. I think this was also one of Joshua's firsts. After Ellie got "head", we taught her tummy. She says "Hi!" into pretend phones or other random toys, but she just looks surprised if there is a real phone involved. Ellie loves to dance and play with balls. She puts socks on her feet. That sounds pretty advanced, but I mean she simply lays them on her feet because she realizes that is where they go. Again, that seems smart to me, but Ellie also lays hats and gloves on her feet, so I guess she isn't quite there yet!

It is fun to watch her blossom!

Valentine's Day at MDO

2011-02-10T10:39:00.001-08:00

We went to "school" on Tuesday morning very eagerly. Joshua loves it these days, and they canceled it last week. I dropped him off with his teachers, and Ellie and I headed out. As we were walking out the door, I heard someone mention bringing things, and it hit me... this is Valentine's party week! I am a pretty diligent planner; I like to think ahead, and I even bought Valentine's cards a couple of weeks ago just to be ready. But we didn't get our usual reminder about this week since we didn't go last week. I felt kind of terrible, which is ironic. David and I had talked about how silly school Valentine cards are since you simply buy them and write names down 20 times. Still, when you are a kid, it is fun, and that is why it happens! And I knew that Joshua would have enjoyed writing on the little cards with a pen. It made me realize how diligent they often are at MDO to remind us about everything 10 times. I wrote out Joshua's cards, closed the little envelopes with stickers that didn't stick, and he got to put them in his friends' bags. At the Valentine's party, all of the little kids were talking about how they were having a birthday party, and they enjoyed the hearts. When Joshua went through his bag later, he was wondering where his monkey card was. I don't think he got the concept, but at least that means we were right in which cards we selected on his behalf. And I have to say, I was a little surprised at how much candy was in my 2 year-old's bag!

Mommy and Daddy's bathroom

2011-02-04T18:02:00.001-08:00

Our bedroom isn't really a bedroom; there is an outside door on one wall and the only entrance to Joshua's room on another wall. There are 5 doors on the walls of our "bedroom", and none of them are closets! There is a random little half bathroom that has become pretty useful for us. It is more the size of a tiny closet; two people can barely share the space. However, to Joshua, it is known as "Mommy and Daddy's bathroom". Ellie just discovered this bathroom pretty recently. She scoots her little self right on in there and just has the time of her life. She doesn't even care if there are any toys. She will pull at the threads on the rug at times, but her favorite thing is just to pat the walls because they are extremely textured. I have my sanitary issues with my daughter playing on the bathroom floor, but sometimes it is nice for her to be content... and it helps that she doesn't crawl, in this case, because her hands aren't on the floor!

Ice Days

2011-02-04T18:01:00.001-08:00

David got Joshua up and told him about the snow, and Joshua wanted to share it with Curious George as well.

Cold weather = pjs all day

Loving the wagon!

Learning how to warm hands by the fire

What a week it has been! We spent last weekend in Houston celebrating Ellie with family and running the marathon. Marathon day was relatively warm, but most of the rest of the week in Waco was well below freezing!

Monday: It is a gorgeous "spring" day, but I can't muster the energy to take the kids out. I think they are happy for a lazy day at home as well. After all, Tuesdays are MDO, which means lots of activity for all 3 of us.

Tuesday: 6:30 a.m. MDO is closed, and I will kick myself for the first of many times that we did not go to the zoo on Monday! Tuesday ends, and it still seems silly to me that they closed.

Wednesday: We start to go to the museum, but I decide that it is too cold to even walk from the parking lot to the front door. (In my defense, it is kind of a long walk!)

So, we pretty much stayed home for 4 days... but we still got to use the wagon! I did not plan to ever use a wagon inside, but it bought me several hours of content playtime for Joshua and Ellie. They are so precious as they interact and enjoy each other more each day!

Friday: A real, live SNOW DAY! I really am not sure I have ever been in the right place at the right time for one of these. Sure, ice days here and there, but SNOW! So fun! And on a Friday, so it made a 3 day weekend for David. We have certainly enjoyed it! Both kids liked the snow pretty well, which surprised me. We rushed out with them before breakfast and oohed and aahed. Later, we went down the block on their first outdoor wagon ride in Waco. :)

Saturday: You know it has been a cold week when you think a low 0f 31 is warm and debate whether to double-layer the kids' pjs.

Curious George and friends

2011-01-31T11:41:00.001-08:00

Joshua's new thing is a manly version of playing with dolls, I think. He got a Curious George monkey for Christmas, and it is his new best friend! Joshua sleeps with Curious George, lets Curious George drive his car, and George even has a seat at our table! Joshua also loves Noah, Girl, Driver, and "Missin' Mal". They are little people that came in a school bus that we have had since Lebanon. The last boy's name is Jamal. We couldn't find him for a few days, so we said he was missing. Now his name is "Missin' Mal" because I guess Joshua got confused about the concept of "missing". :) Noah is Joshua's favorite. Noah and Jamal enjoyed a trip to the park last week, and Joshua let them look out the window as we drove. He also set them up on the coffee table to watch his dvd with him.

And just like that... SIBLINGS!

2011-01-21T13:09:00.000-08:00

During a single day this week, Joshua and Ellie introduced to me the next phase of "siblinghood." Joshua asked to feed Ellie, and he sat next to her and put food on her tray as I cut it up. He kept saying, "Here you go, Ellie!" It was so precious. Fast forward a few hours later, and we had another first: Joshua's first time to be disciplined for hurting his sister intentionally. I hope it won't take too many tries to learn that lesson!

Happy Birthday, Ellie!

2011-01-15T13:37:00.001-08:00

Today we are celebrating our precious girl. I can't believe she is one year old! I have been flipping through pictures from the day Joshua turned one. We had just arrived in the States for the first time in his life!

We had a "Tiny Party" with a few friends. Ellie ate a tiny burger and got to dig in to a tiny cake for a few minutes... the tiny cake looked pretty big on her high chair tray!

Ellie is a joy to be around. She likes to point at everything now, and she loves to cuddle. Ellie loves to have her head rubbed, and she dances to whatever rhythm she hears. I thought she said her first word, "bah", and then I realized she was calling everything "bah." We love our girl!

Little Drummer Boy

2011-01-11T04:25:00.000-08:00

Joshua has loved drums for as long as he has been able to express that he loves anything. He has played a plastic toddler drum with sticks attached, a battery-operated hand drum, and now, drum roll please... the real deal! Aunt Angela gave Joshua a wonderful set of drums for Christmas, and we spent the next two days talking with Joshua about being social and not throwing a fit when it was time to stop playing the drums. To his credit, Joshua does much better now, and he is even allowed to play during Ellie's nap sometimes because he plays softly when he needs to!

So it comes as no surprise that Joshua's favorite song (forget "Christmas" song; he still wants to listen to it every day), is "The Little Drummer Boy." He likes to sing the song into his little dollar store-style microphone, as he reads through his drummer boy book, while wearing a bucket, I mean, a hat on his head, while walking and drumming like in the music video, you name it! And when I say "sing", I mean that it is the first song he learned to sing pretty well by himself. (Followed pretty closely by "ABCs" and "Jesus Loves Me.") And the Drummer Boy song got us through 3 legs of travel in the car. On the 4th leg, our "music was broken". (No, it really was. At first, I was relieved to not listen to the song time after time, but after an hour or so I was ready to hear it again! Joshua still requests to listen to his Christmas song. When I start to sing it, he says he wants the "Mommy's Car" version. :)

Mommy's Little Kitchen Helper Part 2

2011-01-11T04:19:00.001-08:00

Somehow this picture didn't make it into Part 1, and I think it is pretty cute! As I post this, it is in the 20s here in Waco, so it is funny to look at Joshua in his shorts a few weeks ago! Oh, Texas!

Scooting

2011-01-11T04:09:00.000-08:00

Elle-belle is nearly one year old, and she still refuses to crawl! But that doesn't mean she can't get around! She scoots and leans and thrusts and leaps... whatever it takes, as long as it doesn't involve tummy time or for more than a moment. She has reached a very important point in her life. Ellie is no longer satisfied to look at Joshua's balloon at the grocery store. She must have her very own!

Mommy's Little Kitchen Christmas Helper

2010-12-23T05:36:00.000-08:00

Cooling sweet rolls

Joshua "making"... we all stayed in our pjs for most of the day!

Dinner time!

Our friend Landry

We have been very busy in the kitchen over the past couple of weeks. We kicked off the festivities with a baking day with our friends Amie and Landry. What began as an afternoon baking party turned into eating chili in shifts among lots of cookies as Amie and I scrambled to finish while our husbands played with the children. It was exhausting, but it was so much fun! Last Sunday, I made sweet rolls for our Waco Christmas morning. I chose Sunday because David could run interference with the kids. This is the first year I would say that sweet rolls were easier than the peanut butter balls, which I attempted with both kids awake and no other adults around... hmmm. I envisioned Joshua's playing with a blob of peanut butter dough happily while I rolled and rolled and rolled... and rolled some more. He made one ball for Daddy, ate a little ball, and then made me nervous for a while until I quit trying and waited for nap time to continue. My kids just aren't hands-free enough yet for me to be up to my wrists in margarine and peanut butter for such a long time!

Mommy's Little Helper

2010-12-21T04:22:00.001-08:00

Joshua loves to help me with things. He is very sweet about giving Ellie toys and playing with her. Sometimes Joshua is actually helpful; other times, I smile and remind myself that he is being very sweet as I restrain myself from discouraging his efforts. (Picture bath time: Making sure Ellie isn't about to fall over or eat peeling paint or get pelted by the generosity of her brother giving her "many toys!")

The Griffin in him

2010-12-21T04:16:00.001-08:00

When we sit down to breakfast at my Mom's house, there is a sea of beverages. Christmas morning is the ultimate example: juice, milk, coffee or tea, eggnog, and homemade cider... and even water for me, usually! My Mom says Griffins like lots of fluids! I guess Joshua is related. He likes to have his options. This is our morning snack. Maybe some "Bissy Da-das" (Goldfish) and "many wups"!

The Pink Car

2010-12-15T13:13:00.000-08:00

Well, I have been stalling because it has been so long since I last posted anything! I guess I will get started even though I don't have pictures to go with many of my stories lately. At Thanksgiving, cousin Lily brought Joshua - oops, I mean ELLIE :) a little pink car riding toy thing. (How is that for a word picture!?) The reason that I forget that it is for Ellie is because although it is pink an purple with a little detachable purse, Joshua LOVES that car! He has a rocket as well that he loves, but there is just something about that car. David and I have been working on reminding Joshua that Ellie is sharing her car with him until she is old enough to use it by herself. He disagrees!

Ellie loves the Pink Car as well, I have learned. What's not to love? There is even a detachable purse! (To Joshua's credit, he refuses to drive the car with the purse attached...) Ellie thinks it is quite delightful to sit next to the car roll it around. She gets a grip on it and moves it back and forth. Yesterday, I put her on it and held her while I pushed her around. (Of course, this took place during Joshua's nap time!) Ellie was all grins. When I stopped pushing her, she kind of bounced in the seat as if to say, "Come on, now, keep it going, Mom!" When I took her off the seat, she shrieked and shrieked in protest. She knows what she wants!!

Stroller Seasons Part 2

2010-12-06T13:50:00.000-08:00

Awhile ago I pondered how I noticed changes in my kids based on their stroller behavior. Well, it has happened again! These days when we are out in the stroller, Joshua only rides for a short time, and Ellie leans forward and bounces in anticipation. I think that she really would leap out if I didn't strap her in! During times when Joshua sits next to Ellie, she bothers him a little, but more often they end up just laughing at each other. No more snacks for Joshua in the stroller because Ellie will get mad that there is nothing for her, and the stroller where they can't sit next to each other? Forget about it! That's too boring for both parties!

Ree riss yats!!

2010-12-04T13:31:00.000-08:00

Well, in case you didn't guess, this is yet another lesson in Joshua's language. It is also a Mommy thrilled with the beginning of the Christmas season as always, but even more because it is so fun to explain things to Joshua as we go. We are enjoying day-by-day reminders of the Advent of Jesus with Joshua and Ellie's Advent calendar, and we tell Joshua the stories of the different characters every day. This week, we have told the story of Mary each day. I decided to be very redundant this year so that Joshua will remember the couple of sentences I share with him.

Joshua loves the Little Drummer Boy. He likes the song, but he really loves the book that his Great Aunt and Uncle sent to him. I think we read it twenty times yesterday! I thought it was so interesting that he recognized Mary in the book, but he kept asking where the drum was because it is shaped a little differently.

Oh, and the title of this post... Joshua loves Christmas lights! (Can you see those words in the title?) He likes the kind that are really porch lights and street lights as well. Easy to please! David told him that the lights are for Jesus' birthday party - even if lots of people don't realize it! I have been thinking about making a birthday cake for Jesus each year as part of our Christmas Eve celebration. What kid can't relate to birthday cake?! :) I haven't taken any pictures of Christmas in our home, but I will soon!

Thanksgiving and beyond

2010-11-29T12:36:00.001-08:00

We had a wonderful couple of days with family here for Thanksgiving. We also loved having Daddy "home. all day!" (in Joshua's words) for several days in a row! Today it is back to normal in our household. We all were sad to see the long weekend end, but I think it is nice to "get going" in life again. Joshua woke up this morning and said, "Miss. People." But he has also been very happy playing by himself! He is currently 1.5 hours into his nap and chatting away with his alligator and Ellie. (Ellie is not in the room with him.)

For Thanksgiving, Ellie ate turkey, roll, and winter squash. What a grown-up Thanksgiving meal! Joshua loved the ham best of all. Unfortunately, we don't have many pictures from the weekend, but I love the chaos in the kitchen in this picture! I guess we can put that big space to good use from time to time.

I loved opening up a couple of boxes of Christmas decorations that had been stored for us since before Lebanon. It is so fun to be back for this time of year, although it was fun to make traditions there and share them with our friends.

Sibling non-rivalry

2010-11-21T12:08:00.000-08:00

Maybe I have posted a lot about Joshua and Ellie together, but it is just too sweet, and I appreciate it every day... so I will continue to talk about it! Joshua has picked up on several phrases we have worked on teaching him. (Phew... finally!) He runs into the house and announces when he is "home", he says "thank you" (sometimes,) and he ALWAYS remembers to say "Morning, Ellie!" or "Morning, Elle-Belle!" whenever she wakes up. I encourage him be telling him that some day she will answer him when he greets her! There bath times overlap from time to time simply because they have so much fun. I am trying to think about what they do together, but I think they pretty much get excited, laugh, and squeal. Ellie flaps her arms in an effort to handle her delight, and Joshua scoots around and shares toys with her.

Dealing with Dogs

2010-11-12T17:21:00.000-08:00

Joshua loves dogs... at a distance. A decent distance. When he is certain they are not going to come toward him. There are three dogs that he has been around with relative ease. Two of those three are gentle, laid back golden retrievers, and one we just recently met.

Ellie loves dogs. She probably doesn't realize what a dog is at a distance as Joshua prefers, but let her get close and even get her toes licked, and she will bounce and laugh in excitement. It is really funny. We will see if she continues to have fun with dogs or if she gets a bit more skiddish as she grows.

Meet the dog that is perfect for both of our kids. His name is Raleigh. I have never met a dog like Raleigh before, but this is just Joshua's type of dog because he keeps his distance. The other evening we were in the room with Raleigh for hours, and he never once approached anyone except Ellie, much to her delight. So Joshua could walk around and not get attacked, and he could enjoy looking at the dog as he felt safe. And Ellie got her toes licked because Raleigh felt comfortable approaching her... I guess because she can't walk yet. And Mommy was relieved because the dog didn't have to be banished for our visit!

Movin' and Groovin'

2010-11-12T12:19:00.000-08:00

Our kids like to dance. It surprises me how much they are aware of rhythm and music. It is like they can't resist moving, no matter how young they are or how uncoordinated they seem! Joshua loves to bounce and drum when he hears music. He has also been learning motions to songs at church and MDO. He nods his head and taps his fingers to different beats. Ellie bounces as well, but on her little rear end. It is hard to see in the picture, but Ellie has taken quite well to Joshua's little drum. It sat on the shelf for awhile, but now each child holds a stick and has a blast!

More on movin'... Ellie still hasn't crawled yet, but she gets around! It's not as if we watch her scoot around, it's more like, "Hmmm... I am pretty sure I did not set her down right next to that electrical outlet," or "Wait, how did she get my shoe and shove it into her mouth?" or "Oops, Ellie is stuck halfway beneath the couch!" Maybe she doesn't want to crawl because she doesn't ever see Joshua crawl. All I know is that she wants nothing to do with hanging out on her tummy! She can get onto her hands and knees or hands and toes easily, but she never tries long enough to get the movement down in that position! The more I notice all of Joshua's little pieces and toys strewn about, the more I am just fine with waiting for Ellie to get going!

Maturing interaction

2010-11-12T11:55:00.000-08:00

I love watching both Ellie and Joshua as they figure out how to interact with the world and the people around them. Joshua enjoys jumping into conversations with an insistent, "uh-huh!" He also tells a "joke" and jumps in with exuberant laughter when he hears others laughing. Ellie's current favorites are peek-a-boo and patty cake. She also is quite conversational as she initiates and responds with grins, "da-das", and claps.

Working

2010-10-27T13:04:00.000-07:00

I recently mentioned Joshua and his concept of "working." It continues to develop. The other day, I was in the kitchen, and Joshua came in carrying something. There was a flurry of activity, and he was gone again. I went into the living room, and he had all of the mixing bowls and other random items out of the lowest cabinet in the kitchen. I wondered what had inspired him to empty the cabinet, and David explained that Joshua was "working." Joshua had picked up his bag (a puzzle carrying case), gathered his utensils, and set to work!

Clap, clap, clap your hands

2010-10-26T13:40:00.000-07:00

Ellie is, as they so graciously say on Sundays, a "very social baby." Translation: put her down and act like you might walk away. Just try it. The response you will get is an extremely dramatic leaning back of the head, opening of the mouth, reddening of the face... wait for it... that shrill scream will begin shortly! Maybe I have mentioned it before, but it really reminds me of a cartoon or something! Our sweet little girl simply loves company! She loves to play games and to be cuddled. I realized that she would clap in response to me when I started. Soon after, she started initiating the game herself. Then, David noticed that she started clapping when she heard the word "clap!" Hmmm... I wonder what all goes on in Ellie's head that we don't even understand!

9 months!

2010-10-15T05:07:00.000-07:00

And how did it fly so quickly? Elle-belle, as we affectionately call her, is 9 months old today! I remember how for her first months, she never wanted to stretch her arms away from her body. Now, she flaps them all around in excitement as she explores. We love our girl!

Trips to Baylor

2010-10-15T04:54:00.000-07:00

getting butterflies

running hills

Enjoying the grass

visiting the bears

Friday pizza picnic!

I just mentioned our outings to Baylor, and then I realized that we have lots of pictures of some of our favorite things there...

You light up my life

2010-10-09T04:35:00.001-07:00

Ellie's look of sheer joy and excitement. She balls up her fists, makes a funny face, and looks like she can't contain herself. My words don't do it justice...

Ellie has a stuffed pig that plays music when you pull on a plastic link attached to the tail. When it plays music, two little red lights in the cheeks blink. It is sort of weird, but she absolutely loves it. When I start the music and show her the lights, her face breaks into an immediate grin... many times in a row. It has never gotten old to her!

Ellie also seems to love walls. Yep, I meant to type "walls." The first example is the couch in the living room. She had gotten pretty unhappy any time I set her on the floor. One weekend, she was perfectly happy every time David set her down in the living room. I said, "Oh, sure, be content when there are actually two sets of hands to hold you!" David pointed out that she really liked facing the couch, maybe because it made her feel like she was in a smaller space on the floor. Well, we recently stopped using the baby bath tub, and Ellie's favorite bath toy is the wall! She likes to hold the rubber duck, but she usually drops it and turns away from me to look at the wall. Ellie flaps her arms, pats it, and squeals at it. I just wish I could get inside her brain! The third example is the kitchen wall. If I put her near the wall, she will inch her way over, (not crawling), until she can pat the wall.

Joshua-isms

2010-10-09T04:27:00.000-07:00

looking at the dik-dik

Some new phrases/concepts/words Joshua loves:

Woh-een: (working), when he sees construction vehicles, where Daddy goes each day, the men on the roof of a building at the zoo, I think he gets it!
up-ee: (help me), the first example of pronoun mix-ups, Joshua most often uses this phrase when he wants to help Mommy with something rather than when he wants Mommy to help him with something
mnum-mnum: Most of Joshua's words make sense to us, but I have no idea how this means "raisin". Not to be confused with "Mum-mum" which is the name of Ellie's little teething biscuits
bee-woo: Baylor! Joshua loves to go to campus and see the bears, walk around, chase squirrels, etc. We recently found lots of butterflies, too! The last time he chased a squirrel, the squirrel had a nut he wanted to hide, so he wouldn't climb up the tree away from Joshua. David actually had to intervene Joshua kept getting soooo close to the squirrel, and the squirrel was getting obviously agitated.
dik-dik: this is actually the real word! It is Joshua's current favorite animal at the zoo.

Cleaning with Kids

2010-10-07T12:25:00.001-07:00

HA...! :) I imagine that no one ever finishes a to-do list. As soon as you do, there is something else to do. Well, I have had a running to-do list of cleaning tasks since we moved in to our house that had been "cleaned" by the property management company. Today, I reached that rare place where it seemed nothing was pressing AND I had a burst of energy and motivation. I put Ellie in bed for her nap, and I spent some bubble time and Play-Doh time with Joshua. We tried out a new recipe together, and then I set to work on the baseboards and leftover grease-grime from who-knows-how-many-tenants before us. (In my defense, I have attempted this once before, but it needed a second round.) Joshua did great for awhile with his trucks and blocks strewn around me. About halfway around the kitchen, Ellie woke up. Now, she is perfectly happy to play in her crib for awhile, so we let her. However, the inevitable happened, and Joshua was ready for a diaper change. I pulled off my gloves and figured that while I was taking a break, I might as well get Ellie up. And since it was close to lunch time, we might as well have lunch. Which was followed by a near-immediate meltdown by Joshua who was ready for a nap. And then I realized I needed to clean the kitchen. By the time I finished that, Ellie was hollering because she can't crawl to the toys she loses yet. That mop bucket with the gloves hanging over the side is going to have to wait a little longer. Ellie and I hang out in the living room for awhile, and I dust. She is throwing one fit after another, it seems, so maybe she is ready for a nap. I put her in bed, and one hour later, she is still yelling (playfully) in her bed. I guess she wasn't quite ready to sleep! And here I sit, my burst of motivation and energy spent, telling you about the mop bucket that is still sitting in the kitchen...

Welcome, Autumn!

2010-10-06T04:24:00.000-07:00

Joshua's "yat" from his first winter that Ellie will wear this winter.

Putting away the itty bitty socks... Ellie is enamored with socks. No matter her mood, if I give her a sock or two, she is occupied for awhile.

As everyone in Texas knows, the weather has been so nice lately. In some places, fall means the leaves change colors. Here, it means we can go outside without melting! In Waco, most nights and mornings have dipped into the 40s in the past week, so I have been busy sorting and washing winter clothes and sizes.

Anything but crawling!

2010-10-06T04:09:00.001-07:00

When Ellie started to sit up by herself, I noticed that she didn't fall over very much. I remember that Joshua's learning-to-sit process seemed to last a long time because he would sit very well, but then topple over and whack his head on the very unforgiving tile floor of our apartment. Ellie hasn't had that issue until now, which leads me down a little rabbit trail...

It was so fun to watch how Joshua developed. Everything was very new and exciting, and the first year went by so quickly. It is equally fun to watch Ellie go through this process of the first year, but I thought it wouldn't all seem so new. Well, naturally the second time around we are more confident in many ways, but from day one, I realized how true it is that every baby is different. I have enjoyed watching Ellie develop and noticing the ways that she is different from Joshua. I often wonder how these differences will look when they are older. But I digress...

Ellie has started to topple over quite a bit. She has a big gash on her nose to prove it. There is no tile floor here, but there is Joshua's race track. Ellie's problem with falling is not because she has a balance issue; it is because she wants whatever she sees, but she is NOT willing to crawl for it! She leeeaaaaannnnsss over until she just isn't sitting any more. Sometimes it is graceful and gradual; other times, her arms give out and she hits the race track she so desperately wanted on the way down. Either way, it makes her MAD because this girl only wants to sit now!

Adventures in parenting

2010-10-02T11:43:00.000-07:00

I guess you can't really have parenting without adventure because the normal things turn into adventures with little ones in tow. And with every adventure, we learn many lessons. :) Yesterday, we decided to go and have a picnic at Baylor. Our picnic was pizza that we picked up on the way. This may have been Joshua's 3rd picnic. I think it was Ellie's 2nd, but she slept in her carseat for the first one. Lessons learned:

1. ALWAYS use bugspray. Poor Ellie has two big mosquito bites on her sweet head alone! I will admit, they seem to bother me more than they bother her, but still...
2. Bring LOTS of napkins. Actually, I will go a step further and say bring lots of wipes.
3. If you think you don't need a stroller, you are wrong. You might disagree, but I promise, you will wish you had a stroller later. If not because one child gets heavy after awhile, maybe the other one will spit up her bright orange squash straight down the front of your white shirt. Not naming any names...
4. College campuses are not very stroller friendly, so maybe even use the jogging stroller for the hiking through the grass you are bound to do.
5. Also newsflash for parents spoiled by the conveniences of America: why WOULD the bathrooms at Baylor have changing tables? Really... how often is a student going to need to change a diaper between classes? (I didn't need the changing table; I just had to chuckle at the Mom who was irritated that she couldn't find one. I remembered the days in Lebanon where it was a pleasant surprise to find a changing table every now and then.)
6. Pizza is not the most picnic-friendly food for a 2 year-old.
7. Ellie likes grass a lot more than Joshua used to like it.

Appy!

2010-09-29T03:45:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow is the end of Joshua's birth-month. I make note of it because it really feels like we have been celebrating him all month. I have had so much fun! Yesterday I took cookies to Mother's Day Out. They will have one day each month to celebrate the birthdays from that month. It just so happens that Joshua's was the only birthday in September.

Anyway, on Joshua's actual birthday, he said "Appy boh-day" a couple of times. Since then, it has been "appy" no matter how much we try to stress the word "birthday."

Parent: "Joshua, say 'Happy Birthday!'
Joshua: "Appy!!"
Parent: "Great! BIRTH-day!"
Joshua: "Appy!!"
Parent: "Look at me. 'B-irth-D-ay'"
Joshua: "Appy!!"

So there were "appy" cards strung from the mantle, "appy" cookies, and "appy" pictures on the wall. (David printed out pictures from the past year of Joshua's life and put them on the wall of the dining room. We have loved looking at them!) I have a feeling there will be many of these little talking stories in the coming months that we won't want to forget!

Helpful and hurtful

2010-09-29T03:34:00.000-07:00

Ellie has been sitting well by herself, but I still like to put a pillow or two around her if I am going to be up and about while she is playing on the floor. I guess the other day I forgot to put the pillows out, so Joshua did it for me. Only, why stop at two pillows when there are five pillows in the room? I thought it was very sweet that he laid them out for Ellie. As I was praising his gesture, he snatched the giraffe right out of her hand. I considered taking a picture of the face that followed, but I thought it would be too mean. If you have ever been around Ellie when her feelings are hurt, you know the face!

Ah-poh-dee

2010-09-23T12:47:00.000-07:00

This is a commonly used phrase/word for Joshua. The meanings we know so far include "alligator, elevator, apple juice, applesauce, and have patience." Sometimes, he says it very clearly, but it very clearly means something that I can't guess! It is so fun to hear all of the words Joshua is learning. David realized that he actually thinks the elevator is an alligator. When we approach an elevator, Joshua says his word for it, and then he claps his hands the way we taught him an alligator mouth closes.

On another communication note, Joshua is quite the conversation-maker. David and I will be talking in the car or house, and Joshua will repeatedly say, "Uh-huh, " in his most grown-up voice. It is funny; especially because I don't think we really say "uh-huh" all that often... but maybe we do!

Toddler's Day Out

2010-09-21T18:45:00.000-07:00

Also known as "Mother's Day Out, " but I am now positive that we send Joshua for his sake, and not for mine! At least at this point, with Ellie at her current stage, I don't do much more during the time that Joshua is at "school" than I do on a normal day. However, I know that it is good for him to be around other little kiddos his own age. He always leaves a little sad and comes home extremely happy and ready to chat. Joshua doesn't sleep at all during nap time, but then he takes his normal nap 2 hours late, so that is pretty nice! Joshua now has a new backpack, and while he loves seeing it and carrying it, he doesn't love the fact that carrying it means he is on his way to school to play with his friends. You might laugh and think, "Why in the world would he need a back pack?" Well, he doesn't, but I need him to have a backpack so that I can put things on his back! It got a little ridiculous: Ellie on one hip, purse over my shoulder, Joshua's big bag overflowing on another shoulder, lunch box in hand, holding Joshua's hand, and usually chasing the sippy cup he dropped from time to time. Yikes. I like his back pack. :-)

Happy 2nd!

2010-09-20T03:59:00.000-07:00

Our precious Joshua turned 2 yesterday! We had such a fun weekend with grandparents and Aunt Ashley celebrating him. Weekend festivities began with a trip to the zoo with Granddaddy on Friday afternoon. Everyone else joined us on Saturday for hot dogs and cake. Joshua was a bit out of sorts, and it turned out that he was actually sick. :-( He was a trooper, and he ended up eating half of his hot dog and opening many of his presents. On Sunday morning, Joshua had muffins, spared the Children's Ministry his fever by staying home, and said good-bye to Grandpa. We went to the Waco Cultural Arts Festival... I think that is what it was called... for about 10 minutes before we decided that it was too much for our sweet little sick boy. However, in that 10 minutes, Joshua colored a birthday rock that he enjoyed several times throughout the day! (And to think that David wondered if we should even keep it!) We love our son so much, and we are so thankful for him! (Pictures to follow later!)

Getting ready for the day

2010-09-15T04:46:00.001-07:00

Clean diapers: check!
Breakfast: Check!
Taking a break before the clothes part :)

Saturday!

When Ellie wakes up first, she sits with Joshua in his crib for a minute.

Mornings are a juggling act, especially since Ellie started eating from a spoon. We have a pretty decent rhythm, and it goes something like this:

Joshua talks for a little while; I go in and get him. He tells me about things, and then he gets out of bed. He asks for crackers, and when I say, "no crackers for breakfast," he asks for cereal. Every. Morning. :) I gauge from his mood whether it is worth the diaper change battle right away. Sometimes, I go for it. Other times, I wait until after he has eaten. He hasn't realized that it feels great to shed that 5 pound overnight diaper!
We go into the kitchen, and Joshua gets a bowl for his cereal. He eats cereal and yogurt most mornings with the occasional scrambled egg. During the breakfast moments, enter: Ellie
She hears Joshua, and she starts to talk. Joshua is very insistent that she needs to get up!
Diaper change for Ellie; she usually gets dressed for the day
bottle and food for Ellie at the table with Joshua
Everyone finishes, and we move on to getting Joshua dressed (Mommy has been showered and dressed for hours... ready for game time!)
gather a sippy cup for Joshua, a car toy and burp cloth for Ellie
We are in the car by 8:30 most mornings for our daily outing!

Bowhead!

2010-09-15T04:20:00.001-07:00

Trying out the big bow

Very proud of the noise she can make by hitting that plastic bowl!

Until this week, my daughter has been virtually bow-free. I think Ellie a headband bow to church one morning, and that is about it. It was kind of on principle that I protected her from those things that look so large they might cover her face or make it difficult to hold her head up... I mean, really! Well, even though Ellie is getting LOTS of new hair, the term "lots" is relative, so I decided to give bows a try... little bows. I bought a little variety pack last week, and the headband made a big dent around her sweet head, so that was a fail. On Monday, I went into a store looking into nap pads for Joshua's school, and of course, I ended up buying headbands and bows. (In my defense, I did not buy the nap pad!) I must say that I am hooked! I think Ellie looks so pretty! I bought two little tiny bows and one bigger one, and then I returned the bigger one the next day. Ellie just kept looking at the ceiling to see what was on her; it was pretty funny! The little bows don't seem to bother her, although she pulled the headband down over her eyes once.

Look at me!

2010-09-07T04:19:00.000-07:00

Practicing standing

Hmmm... sometimes those are in my mouth, but now they seem so far away!

Big girl!!

Well, somehow Ellie is officially sitting up! For the baby book's sake, it is hard to say when it first happened. Over the past couple of weeks, I realized she could sit with very little support, then with no-support-but-don't-go-too-far-because-she-needs-help-balancing, and now, I can walk around and do things while Ellie sits there and plays! (However, I must stay in the room, or she will let me have it!) I thought these milestones came quickly with Joshua, but I had no idea everything would happen faster the second time around! Ellie is all smiles, and we are having so much fun watching her personality blossom.

At the park with a 2 year-old

2010-09-07T03:54:00.001-07:00

Ellie's in the swing I want!

Finally Mommy got her out.

Happy swinging...

But I don't want to take a picture!

Joshua is not two yet... not according to his birth certificate. According to his behavior, yes, we have a two year-old! Don't get me wrong; I am not complaining. He is terrific, but the ways that his temperament has changed over the past month have been pretty clear and surprising.

Oh, the fun that is to come!

2010-09-07T03:32:00.002-07:00

Joshua helping Mommy bathe Ellie

Ellie's ability to sit has opened a new realm of possibilities for Joshua. Ellie grins at Joshua, and he loves to sit and play with her! We sat together one evening, and the entire next day Joshua patted the floor next to him saying, "yit!" to Ellie. (He also likes for Mommy and Daddy to yit with him. We are working on the "peez" part...)

Role Play

2010-09-07T03:32:00.001-07:00

This is another sweet new thing for Joshua. All of a sudden, he is taking care of his Baylor Bear. Bear got to eat breakfast just in time for the big game on Saturday! He even got a 3 second nap, I think. The only problem for Joshua is that he couldn't figure out how to open the banana...

More Little Drummer Boy

2010-09-03T18:53:00.001-07:00

In case you wondered if Joshua is still into drumming...

More stages

2010-09-03T18:41:00.000-07:00

Ellie has reached that clingy stage in her development... well, one of the many, I imagine. I say that because as she has become more clingy and needy, so, too, has Joshua. Imagine that! When I leave the room, Ellie shrieks like I just broke her heart. Never mind peaceful swinging during dinner time, she wants to be held... or better yet, eat at the exact same time as the rest of us. Not that I can blame her, it is no fun to eat alone... but you should have seen me with the kids by myself the other evening at the dinner hour. (Joshua does pretty well on his own these days, but he still needs some help.)

Anyway, I realized that Joshua was unusually needy. He wants to cuddle more, and he will charge David and me to give us a big bear hug spontaneously. (Talk about trust... he really takes us by surprise sometimes, but we have caught him every time up to this point!) Sometimes I think his desire to cling is simply because he sees Ellie shriek and get a response. Other times, I think that he has reached yet a new level of awareness of who he is who we are.

Stroller seasons

2010-09-02T03:49:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, I took the kids out in the jogging stroller for the first time in a few weeks. They sit side by side, which I think they both prefer. (Until Ellie is a little older and we have to draw an imaginary line, right?) Anyway, we went to the Cameron Park area to run and go to the zoo. (I know, pity the other people at the zoo, but if I am going to be outside with both kids, I might as well get a run out of it!) I noticed some changes in the kids during our outing. Ellie was a little bit more fidgety, and she stayed awake the whole time. Every other time we made this trip, which was weekly over the summer, she took a little cat nap. Joshua was a little less restless. He would usually sit forward and grip the bar in front of him while pointing out every duck, squirrel, bird, and dog. Yesterday, he leaned back, crossed his ankles, and pointed out the big trucks along with all of those fun animals. Every now and then, Joshua sat up for a few minutes to look at something. When he leaned back, he gestured for me to arrange the cushion behind him because it had shifted. It made me smile!

Swimming debut

2010-08-28T18:38:00.000-07:00

A reassuring kiss from big brother

Looking on longingly as Joshua plays because Mom didn't want to do extra diaper changes

Mom gave in, and Ellie's taking the plunge!

Ellie finally got to swim this month! At the beginning of the month, we put her in our little plastic pool with Joshua. Since then, she got to play in the "big" baby pool near Grandmom's house as well as the inflatable pool at Grandmom's house. The girl really likes the water, even though the pictures show her uncertainty with her firs pool experience.:-) Joshua is more and more confident in the water; he loves to lay down in it and get it all over his face.

Roll call!

2010-08-28T18:30:00.000-07:00

If you wondered about my blogging hiatus, two words will explain it: David gone. David had training for his job for two and a half weeks, so it was the kids and me. Do you believe that I found a few things to do besides sit at a computer? We spent some time in Houston with family, and then we went up to the Northeast to see family and meet David for a weekend in the middle of his training. As Joshua has been talking more, he has been learning people's names. Each time we were around a new group of people, Joshua listed their names over and over. It took him a few minutes to learn, and then he was hooked! Each time we left a household, he would name all of the people he met in that household. Our sweet boy loves people!

Blocks

2010-08-28T18:23:00.000-07:00

New in the life of Joshua this month: lots of words and a new love for blocks and cars! We don't have much yet... just a few rubber blocks for babies and a some Duplos, but Joshua loves to build towers and push cars around on lots of different surfaces. It is so fun to watch him as his interests develop! And in case you were wondering, Joshua still loves to drum!

New perspectives

2010-08-27T17:49:00.001-07:00

I have a lot of catching up to do, I know. We have been pretty busy this month! I have to start somewhere... Ellie has gotten a lot stronger, and she sits up pretty well on her own now! Not well enough that I would leave her sitting by herself, but well enough that she sits with me without leaning against anything for quite awhile. Now, this is our second time to walk through these stages, but the things that strike me are the differences between our kids and the way they respond to life. Ellie loves to sit upright. In fact, our girl who liked tummy time quite a bit is not very content to be all the way down there on the floor any more. She wants to sit up, see things, and lunge at them! She doesn't fall backward like her brother did; she falls forward or to the side. Maybe it is a small difference, but I think it shows some of her personality. Ellie loves this new perspective on life in the bathtub as well. I still bathe her laying in a little tub, but I let her sit for some play time at the end. You would think I had put her in a new place; it is like she didn't know the water was there while she was leaning back! As soon as she is sitting, Ellie splashes and reaches out to grab at the water. She now spends as much time as her big brother in the bathtub, and she is not pleased when I take her out!

Infant Feeding 201

2010-07-31T17:02:00.000-07:00

101 would refer to liquid feeding. Ellie has been on "solids" for about a month and a half now. The method we learned to approach this period of introducing solids is that you always do the liquid feeding before the solid feeding. When you introduce food, you don't increase the number of meals per day, you simply stick on a little spoon feeding after the liquid. The milk is still the most important source of nutrients for awhile, so you want Baby to get that before filling up on other things. Anyway, that is a great reason, right? Well, tonight, I learned another great reason. We were planning on going somewhere for a little while this evening. Since Ellie and I are still awkward at this spoon-thing together, we typically prefer to do it at home if at all possible. So I usually feed her the "solid" and then bring the milk along if we are going to be out at all in the evening. I decided in the middle of her solid food that it might not be best to take her out tonight, so instead of feeding her the milk an hour or so later, I just went ahead and gave it to her. She finished it just fine, no problem there... but then she had prune and broccoli spit-up when I burped her! Gross!

What's with the tags?!

2010-07-31T11:46:00.000-07:00

Above, you see Ellie playing on her little floor gym. This thing is pretty remarkable, and Ellie seems to enjoy it. There are all kinds of things to grab, textures to feel, and even music that plays when she rolls a ball. It is designed to be entertaining for tummy time, back time, and sitting up. Each direction she turns, she is greeted by a loud, colorful thing that seems to scream, "Overstimulation!" Maybe that is why she has lately taken to playing with the one thing on there that is not actually intended for play... the tag. She bats at all of the different things, but the tag is the one thing that grabs her attention for "long" periods of time... like, oh, maybe 5 minutes. :-) I remember that Joshua loved tags as well. It must be a pretty standard baby thing because we even have a book that has all different types of tags sticking out of it for the baby's exploratory pleasure. Who knew?

Dinner with Joshua

2010-07-29T04:07:00.000-07:00

Last night, we had a pretty random meal. I made chicken caesar salad. Joshua ate the chicken that went with the salad, and I made biscuits to add a little more "substance" to the meal. :-) (And to encourage Joshua to eat his chicken!) Meal time had been pretty hit and miss with Joshua lately. I gave him a little barbecue sauce to dip his chicken, and it worked. (Yes, the chicken had spices on it, and no, the spices should NOT have been paired with barbecue sauce!) Anyway, Joshua did a great job eating his chicken. I brought out honey for the biscuits. Joshua had been happily eating his biscuit, and then he noticed us putting honey on ours. He indicated that he wanted some, and the next few minutes went something like this:

(Joshua licks the honey off of his biscuit and asks for more)
David: Joshua, there is still honey inside the biscuit. You don't need any more.
(Joshua gestures for more honey.)
(David gives Joshua a little bit more honey, then hides the honey behind something on the table.)
(Joshua licks his biscuit some more, then asks for more honey.)
David: Joshua, it's all gone. Eat your chicken and your biscuit.
(Joshua indignantly points to the object obstructing his view of the honey. He clearly knows it isn't "all gone." Guess we have to re-phrase...)
David: Joshua, we are finished with the honey. Eat your chicken and biscuit; you can dip it in your sauce.
Emily: Gross! Don't tell him to dip his biscuit in barbecue sauce!
David: I don't think he cares...
(Joshua dips his biscuit in the sauce and happily finishes his biscuit.)

Routines

2010-07-24T17:47:00.001-07:00

I have read that children do well with schedules and order; I have heard that they like it when they know what to expect. We have seen that first-hand with Joshua in different seasons of life. These days, David kind of "does" Joshua in the evening by taking charge of feeding, bathing, and putting him to bed. I do the same with Ellie. Tonight, I bathed Joshua. He started throwing his toys at me at one point, and I was pretty surprised and kind of irritated. I started to reprimand him, and David told me that he usually throws his toys into the bucket at the end of his bath. That made me feel a little better about my wet shorts! Things went smoothly from there as I held up the bucket for his clean-up routine. From bath to bed, Joshua marches his little self around the house because he knows exactly what comes next. It is sweet! After cleaning up the toys, this is how it goes:

drain the water and watch it go
lay down on stomach and feel the water level lower
once the tub is empty, pretend to sleep several times before getting out of the tub
dry of and race to the bedroom for diaper, pjs, lotion, and hair brushing
go out to the living room and play for a few more minutes
brush teeth
kiss Mommy and Ellie good night
back in the bedroom, read from the Bible
clean up bedroom
close curtains, turn on fan and sound machine, get "Lambie"
turn of light, sing a song, pray,

Na Na! (Night night!)

Baby Sounds

2010-07-24T07:45:00.000-07:00

Holding hands. Yesterday when they held hands, Joshua bowed his head to pray with Ellie. :-)

Talking to Daddy

That is a Bumbo chair. For any who don't know, it is to help infants sit up. Well, Joshua thinks it is still his, so he sits in it... and it stays one him when he tries to get out of it!

Now for a little on Ellie and talking. Well, as the books put it, she has been babbling and cooing... and hollering. Mostly hollering. A lot. Shouting, yelling, and hollering. Very ladylike, my precious girl! The first couple of days, it was clear that she was yelling instead of crying because of a tummy ache. Each day, I had a very full diaper to prove it. Unfortunately, those yelling periods coincided with our dinner hour. Nice. Over the past few days, I thought that was just her preferred way of chatting with me. However, as soon as I picked her up, she stopped. Hmmm... yep, Ellie, you got my attention! And Joshua's attention during his nap! And the neighbor's dog's attention... At one point, I wasn't sure whether yelling or screaming and crying would be better. Apparently, it makes a big difference to Joshua. The couple of times that Ellie has gotten really upset for one reason or another, it has made him really upset as well. So I guess we will take the yelling if it means we can keep the content almost 2 year-old!

Words

2010-07-24T04:30:00.000-07:00

Joshua's vocabulary has been growing a lot over the past couple of weeks. It has been fascinating to this language-lovin' Mama to witness his speech development. It is funny; as much as I studied language development, I could not have been prepared for this process! Joshua had been mainly using a few sings to get his point across to us, but now he says lots of different "words." I just realized a day or so ago that he probably says 30+ words, but I wouldn't necessarily have called them "words" at first.:-) It seems like I hear him say something nearly every day now and that light bulb blinks in my head.... ooooohhh, that's what that means! It's like we are learning his language as he learns our language! And each time that light bulb blinks, Joshua seems just as thrilled as we are that we understand him, so he says his new word over and over and over again. I imagine it is nice to be understood when he tries so desperately to communicate at times!

On a more nerdy note, I have thought about the definition of a word as this process has continued. It is one or more units of sound that carry meaning. That is what makes me realize that Joshua is kind of speaking English, and we are kind of learning "Joshua" at the same time. :-)

Little Drummer Boy

2010-07-20T04:07:00.000-07:00

Pah rum-pum-pum-pum! Joshua has several little drums. He has always enjoyed playing them. In fact, we have kind of wondered about whether he will play the drums as he grows older. In the last few days, Joshua has reached a new level of love for his drums. He pretty much keeps one with him at all times. He will begin to play in one room and then rotate from place to place. David started putting of worship music on the computer, and Joshua will sit on the couch and play along for as long as we will allow him to do so. David said that he recognizes when the drummer is visible, and it also seems that Joshua requests a song change when there isn't much drumming in it! I think he has his Daddy's love for music for sure!

Eating lessons

2010-07-20T03:52:00.000-07:00

Ellie has been eating out of a spoon for just over a month now, and there are a few things I have noticed during that time.

Every baby is different. Of course! Joshua pretty much just started eating... just like that! He gobbled up whatever I gave him, and I kind of scoffed at the books that said my baby was likely to only eat a teaspoon or two at first. Ellie is my dainty little girl; well, she is dainty in the amount that she eats, but maybe not so dainty in the way that she gets food all over everything in the process!
Forget the bib. At least for now, there is really no point in using a bib when Ellie eats. Sure, it might protect the front of her outfit for awhile, but it is no match for my little girl! Even though I am the one holding the spoon, Ellie somehow manages to get food on her hands, her feet, and her arms. Of course, when you are a baby, anything that is on your hands will get everywhere else. Therefore, by the end of her meal that is usually less than 1/4 cup of mush, her bib is soaked with food, there is crusted rice mush deep in the folds of her neck, in her hair, and on the chair around her. Oh, Ellie! So I find that removing her clothes and fashioning a "bib" for the chair out of a receiving blanket is the way to go for now!
How quickly we forget and move into toddler mode! Joshua didn't take his first bites very long ago, but I am amazed at how much I have forgotten about the beginning stages of eating! I puree the food a LOT longer than I had to for Joshua when I stopped making it. Ellie's bites hardly seem like bites at all because they are so tiny, and everything is an experiment... from the amount of food I prepare to watching her reaction to different flavors to the position and chair we use at mealtime. It also takes a LONG time to feed a learning baby! I have said good-bye to leisurely quiet meals for awhile, but I have to allow Ellie to eat at her leisure, for sure! I catch myself ending the meal at times because I am just tired of being patient rather than because she seems like she is finished! (But don't worry, I am getting more patient and feeding her more food!)

Ayeiiiii!

2010-07-16T04:01:00.000-07:00

(Pronounced like a sing-song "bye" without the "b")

Joshua has been playing "pretend" lately. There is some special term for it, but I can't remember it right now. He takes his little metal pail, waves and says "Ayeiiii!". He heads to the door and tries his hardest to open . Thankfully, even I have trouble opening it, so we should be okay for awhile! Now, I am not sure exactly what he is modeling. Perhaps Daddy heading out the door with his lunch? Well, Joshua is never awake at 5:45 when David leaves for work. (Thank goodness!) And Mommy avoids carrying a purse at all costs! Either way, it is pretty cute! Joshua also had his first encounter with a doll a few weeks ago, much to David's chagrin. He did exactly what any toddler with an Ellie would do. He fed her a bottle, and he gave her licks - I mean burped her.:-) Joshua also enjoys making his animal crackers gallop around on the table. He also made his Ritz cracker gallop around on the table last night. It is so sweet to see his little imagination at work!

Dressed to impress

2010-07-12T04:02:00.000-07:00

I don't know about other Moms, but I have a hard time really dressing little babies. Don't get me wrong, I love to look at and imagine sweet little put-together outfits, but I just have not generally put them on my kids for long. Those decorative little dresses or accessories may sounds like a good idea, but both of my kids have mostly worn onesies for most of the first year of life. They sleep so much, I feel badly leaving them in much else! I mean, who wants to nap in a dress or a pair of jeans and shoes? Some of the outfits, while not uncomfortable, are simply not practical. For example, why wear something cute as a newborn when you are likely to have to change it after the diaper explodes, and if the diaper doesn't explode, you know you will change said diaper about 15 times in a 24-hour period? Ellie's little dresses seem comfy enough, and they aren't much hassle. She wore one to church, but she just ended up chewing on it, and when nap time came around, we just worried she would pull it up over her face and get disoriented! The exception would be what you see pictured, an outfit donned so that we could get a picture of the shoes while they fit Ellie. I mean, they are sooo cute, but what use does she have for little sneakers?! I thought she might humor me and wear them for a little while, but she was unhappy for most of the time she was wearing them. I tried to imagine how heavy they must feel on Ellie's very busy, kicking feet, and I took pity. She probably got quite a workout with those little weights!

Di-di!

2010-07-12T03:51:00.000-07:00

Joshua loves his music. He would listen to it all day long. I think that he recognizes songs better than I do at times! Some of Joshua's current favorites are David Crowder, World Mandate 2010, and Humpty Who? Recently, I decided that he should learn to say "different" rather than whine or have to run over to the speakers when he would like the song to change. Each morning, each afternoon, in the car, after lunch, any time of day, Joshua gestures for music by dancing with his arms. He then says, "Di-di!" until we find a song that he likes. I think he also says it to inform me of the end of a song lest I be surprised by the beginning of the new, "di-di" tune.:-)

Singin' in the Rain

2010-07-07T04:13:00.000-07:00

or playin'.:-) Last week was pretty rainy. I realized it was my first really rainy week since I have had a busy little toddler. Everything was fine as long as we got one little outing each day. Joshua likes water any way he can get it, so he even laughed gleefully when we ran to the car and got absolutely drenched after the doctor on Thursday. Since it is light so late these summer days, we usually have about an hour between bath and bedtime. Last week, we were able to go to the park one day, and then David and Joshua went to the water park in our backyard one evening!

Joshua's first report card

2010-07-01T17:46:00.000-07:00

Today was a very big day for us. Joshua went to Mother's Day Out! Before we moved back to America, Joshua had been away from us for maybe a total of 12 awake hours of his life. (And I should mention that those 12 hours all occurred since Ellie was born!) Since we returned, he has really enjoyed participating in the Children's Ministry at our church. For a few weeks, we were taking a class, so he stayed for 3 hours on those Sundays. His "camp," as David prefers to call it, is for 5.5 hours, and nap time is included! Joshua brought home some artwork and a report card from his day. Here is what his report card says:

Art: creating nighttime pictures
Today's Theme: summer fun
Today I was: happy and friendly
Lunch Time: Ate well
Diaper changes...
Nap time: No
etc.

Did you catch that last one?! Joshua loves people, so my main concern was what he would do when they tried to get him to sleep in a room full of people. When I went to get him, (to take him to the doctor, I might add,) they said that he had not slept AT ALL!! The ladies told me he was in bed simply playing. They tried different things to help him fall asleep, but he stayed happily awake. After 45 minutes, they felt bad for him and let him get up to play. Apparently he never cried or got grumpy. I was dreading the trip to the doctor with a kid who never misses a nap and already detests the doctor, but Joshua stayed relatively pleasant for the rest of the day! In case you haven't read about our typical doctor visits, I will tell you this was probably the first visit in nearly a year that Joshua didn't scream the entire time the doctor was in the room. All things considered, I think it was a successful day!

Do your ears hang low?

2010-06-29T17:41:00.000-07:00

I have often wondered what inspired this funny song; apparently it is debated. All Joshua knows is that it is fun to listen to it! We have a cd of nursery rhymes that he has been thoroughly enjoying lately. It is a little painful to listen to some of it as an adult, but Joshua has been requesting this music every day after lunch. He points to his head to let me know he wants to listen to "Do your ears hang low?" and he throws his hand over his shoulder... well, as best he can! Other Joshua favorites are "Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes" and "The Itsy Bitsy Spider." I think he likes that one simply for the motion you do when the rain "wash[es] the spider out." I am glad there are no video cameras around when we do our little sing along times!

Roll over! Roll over!

2010-06-28T04:06:00.000-07:00

I recently told you about how Ellie has been rolling over. She is doing great except for this one little detail... getting stuck. Over the past few days, whenever it is nap time, our former champion sleeper gets to rolling in her crib while she is supposedly winding down to sleep. She talks and plays a little, no big deal... until she wants to return to her back to fall asleep and is unable! Our days are now filled with listening for the frustration, checking on her, turning her to her back, and repeating. Oh, and when David is gone, Joshua loves to accompany in these little moments and turn on noisy toys in her room! Yikes!

Gotcha! (the good kind... not the scorpion!)

2010-06-21T17:48:00.000-07:00

I finally did it! I captured one of Ellie's precious, joyful grins. I think they should make infant-friendly cameras. Ours has a little orange light that lights up when you push the button to take a picture. Ellie sees the light and immediately stops smiling because of her curiosity. I began to cover the light with my finger; I am not even sure of the purpose of it. Then I noticed the little beep that happens the split second before the picture is captured. Well, I can't cover that with my finger!

Table for four!

2010-06-18T04:02:00.001-07:00

Yesterday, we took a big step. Ellie had her first food! I was hoping she would make it to six months, but she has been unusually wakeful at night, so we will see if this helps. Ellie made her spoon-eating debut with a whopping tablespoon of rice cereal. She pushed some of it out with her tongue in a futile attempt to eat in the only way she really knows how, but all in all, it was a successful first meal. An especially interesting part of the meal was Joshua's reaction. This sweet little person is actually starting to do stuff, and he notices the difference! He thinks it is fun, but he also wants in on the attention!

Hmmm....

The priceless face

Pause to clean the floor... Ellie was so excited after her first bite that she kicked the bowl right out of my hand!

Joshua decided to act like a monkey so that we would take his picture, too.:-) Don't worry, honey, you are still cute!