more parenting wonders

Well, some might argue, but this looks pretty close to the end result of a roll from back to front. Just get that arm unstuck and it will be 100%.

And who taught my son not to eat his crusts? Is this a nurture vs. nature issue? I certainly did not nurture it. How many years of crust removal await me?

bird is the word

I was happily typing e-mails until something caused me to glance up at our cupboards....and what to my wondering eye did appear? 

weekend story time

Lydia's getting into story time too now...although her favorites are baby faces. Micah likes to join in as long as he doesn't run the risk of being touched by baby sister. (this is my bubble, please do not enter it)

more discoveries

 After my little boy gets full of dirt at the park each morning, we have quiet time with the water bucket. It calms us all down and makes washing down a dirty boy a much easier task. We keep adding things to our discovery box to find out: sink or swim? (do the objects stay up or down?) rocks, flower petals, jar lids, sponges, endless fun.

Micah invented his own way to do water colors when I had my back turned. Olabilir. It can work!

storytime

Micah and Dad love bedtime story time. One book in the chair and one book in bed. Richard Scarry and truck books are favorites currently. Won't we be sad when the new bunkbeds arrive! Hopefully those will be even cooler than this bed...and Dad will fit better.

lydia smile update & fists

big brother strikes again

 In addition to her doll, Micah thought Lydia would enjoy some (8?) of his toys for a change. I think she felt a little overwhelmed by all the loving attention, but she played it cool.

Thanks big brother!

afternoon naps

 We took lots of pictures of Micah when he was little sleeping, and I realized the other day that we don't have any of Lydia.....because she only sleeps in the carrier. After 10 attempts holding the camera behind my head, I finally got this shot without much of me in it. She's much cuter in person, but this gives a fairly accurate picture of what I see 3 inches below my chin 5-6 hours of the day. :)

And this is what I usually feel like after both of the kids "go down for their naps". What can I really get done without killing my back or burning my child? Here are a few things that work well:
-watching Turkish soap operas
-peeling potatoes
-folding laundry (because our dryer is on top of our washer - making it such that I don't have to bend over!)
-ironing Rick's shirts (isn't he so lucky!)
-posting blog updates

what doesn't work so well:
-baking things that need to come in and out of the oven
-picking up toys
-sweeping the floor and trying to use the dustpan
-napping
-sitting on the couch for more than 10 minutes (someone gets restless and threatens to wake up early)

I'm open to suggestions!

finally summer

hooray! We've finally hit weather warm enough for the pool to open again. Micah is taking advantage of another location to play his favorite game: copy cat.

old and new words

Good parents are supposed to record every major milestone in their kids' baby books....but I question, how do you know when your kid finds her fists? Don't you just do a double take and see it one day and wonder how long she's been gnawing on those?

So, Lydia has found her fists.

And Micah has gone from one word pointing, to three word sentences that form mini-conversations! This makes my eyes bug out as I am amazed at all he thinks and says...and how soon he'll be graduating high school.

So, I want to memorialize on our blog the following words that I hope he doesn't replace too soon:
motorcycle: gree-ah
airplane/bird: ku
train: toot toot
farm: e-i-o
dog: how
frog: bey
Lydia: ee-ah

I'd also like to just state how confusing it is to have these three words:
mom: mom
driving cars: mum
time to eat: um
especially when he is yelling Muuuuum from the living room....where he is contentedly driving his matchbox cars.

strange request

Yesterday, before nap, Micah was sooooo tired that he was just making ridiculous request after request in order to prevent naptime from starting. He finally asked for juice…but he wanted it mixed. He has often requested milk and juice together and he has noticed that we are now mixing his juice with water.

When I brought him his juice/water drink, he had a fullblown face on the floor meltdown.– He wanted it mixed with something else from the fridge.  We walked into the kitchen to play the pointing game.What was that something? A can of Efes beer that has been in there since last October.  Who’s kid is this???

I said no, that is Daddy’s. Meltdown. No, that is for adults. Meltdown. No, sorry, you just can’t have that. Meltdown. Streams of tears. Crying shrieks. I can’t even remember how I finally got him to drink his normal juice and go to sleep. But I did. And he did. And we survived another day.

mo peeze pleeze

Another fun day of shelling/podding/whatevering peas. Except this time, my little worker bees got to help! Micah thought it was good fun to pick those little peas out of there...and I caught Lydia gnawing on the end of a pod. Gotta love those veggies!

science experiment

so...this is what happens when you don't eat up your fresh fruits and veggies in a timely manner. And this is why people typically buy only what they are going to eat in the next couple days! This will be your first and last (I think) picture of things gone bad in our fridge.

too cute

 

One of Micah & Hugo's last play dates together.  I predict they will still dance like this in college.

Monkey See Monkey Do

Micah has learned a lot from his buddies this year. And we are just now seeing the fullness of it this week. Hugo and Luca have been rambling in English and French for at least a month now and Micah has self-assuredly kept to the vocabulary he established back in November. ("green, uh oh, up, down, and in" being most frequently heard).  All of the sudden, Sunday morning, he decided he was going to start saying all the words he had been storing in his head.  Sunday and Monday he repeated back whatever word we would ask (within his pronunciation zone) and by Thursday he has been making up phrases of his own and asserting more and more of his desires. Wow! It seems like he has aged a year! His favorite phrase the past two days had been "Come Mom (sometimes with Please)".  "Spin Please" also ranks pretty high after diaper changes. (referring to being swung round and round til we both fall down dizzy). Very cool. A whole new phase of parenting...as it becomes harder to "not understand" what he clearly tells us he wants. :)

antics

 Whoever said M&Ms melt in the mouth, not in the hand? I'm here to tell you, they melt in the hand, and on the head. Don't ask.

Micah was seeking out a bit of personal space yesterday. A hat box was the perfect spot.

2 months!

Wow. It seems like it has gone by so very fast. Lydia is smiling more each day. She has more awake time and “play time” with the fam. She is sleeping fairly well at night – only waking once or twice between 9 and morning. During the day, she only sleeps in the front carrier – which we hope to break her of when we get a new stroller in the States this summer. (We’ve tried the bouncy seat, the crib, the swing….to no avail! L ). She likes to watch Micah drive trains and cars. She is beautiful and we marvel at the miracle she is in our lives.  I have had to practice saying her name more often, as "Peanut" has been fairly firmly established as her Mamma's name for her. (This is in homage to Great Grandma Sally Peterson....who wanted to call Micah Peanut.)