Thursday, January 31, 2008

Get to Work


First Son helped Kansas Dad clear some of the snow today.

Sharing a Room

We moved First Daughter's crib from our room to her brother's room today. She's sleeping in there right now and First Son has just snuggled into his bed (though I doubt he's asleep yet). Wish us luck!

Wednesday, January 30, 2008

Name Recognition

Today, First Son was looking at an envelope from a card addressed to him and announced, "Hey, that's my name!" What do you know? He recognizes his name! Until now he's gotten upset whenever we try to spell it out for him. Especially with his alphabet puzzles; apparently he's under the impression that the letters can only be in alphabetical order.

You'd think we never read to him.

Tuesday, January 29, 2008

Weak on the Visuals, Aren't I?

I know, I know; in the past week we only took two pictures (both of the car wash). We're really going to have to improve on that.

Monday, January 28, 2008

When She's Sick, She Wants Pancakes

For breakfast, lunch and dinner. When we calmly say "We have no pancakes," her face crumples into that sweet heart-breaking but still funny pout and cries inconsolably. It's been three days now. When do you think she'll stop asking?*

* No, she can't say pancake, but she can sign it.

Sunday, January 27, 2008

Car Wash


First Son helped Kansas Dad clean the cars today. It was a relatively warm day and they certainly needed it. Remarkably, First Son was more a help than a hindrance, though he did get soap on his face at one point and Kansas Dad had to hose him down. He came in sopping wet, but insisted on going back out once he'd changed clothes and had a piece of bread.

"The cars were dirty so we had to clean them off," he said.

Saturday, January 26, 2008

Uh Oh!

First Daughter was running excitedly down the hallway to greet me after a rare shopping trip (successful, thanks to this book) and tripped. As she looked up from the floor I waited to see if she'd cry. She grinned, "Uh oh!"

Now she drops things or pulls them apart over and over again just so she can say "Uh oh!" and crack up laughing.

Thursday, January 24, 2008

Fourth Word

First Daughter is on a roll, and so very polite. Her fourth word is please, pronounced either mes, bes or buz. It's so adorable I want to give her whatever she wants.

"What's that, love? You want to live on an island full of bananas, blueberries and mandarin oranges? I don't think so...Oh, you said please. I'm sure we can figure something out. Where can I book a cruise ticket?"

Wednesday, January 23, 2008

Inspired

First, read this post from Simcha and laugh or cry (or both) in sympathy.

It's So You! Fitting Fashion to Your Life by Mary Sheehan Warren

I loved this book! It has chapters to help you determine your style, fit and colors. Then it has chapters that walk you through a step by step guide to creating your wardrobe. Now I know what I need to complete a look and have a plan to get there on my budget! In fact, I'm pretty sure I'll spend less money than I have in the past because I know exactly what I need and how to pick something I'll actually wear.

I've already cleaned out my closet and will be adding pieces as I find them. I do have a large pile of clothes to give away. They're all things I've kept around because I thought I should even though I never liked how they fit, how they looked on me or how they looked with the other parts of my wardrobe that I did like.

My favorite line of the book (which is written in a friendly style) encourages women not to settle. With all the clothing for sale in America today, you shouldn't own anything that doesn't make you look fabulous! (I also liked her advice to look stunning when shopping; you'll be less inclined to buy something that doesn't match your look or wardrobe just because it looks better than what you were wearing.) Actually, there are tons of little tips I loved. That's why I'm going to buy this book the next time we're book shopping. (My copy is from interlibrary loan and is heading back to Ohio.)

Third Word

First Daughter said something besides mama and dada! Her third official word is baby and it's perfectly pronounced. Too bad only Grammy heard it, but First Daughter said it multiple times, so I'm sure we'll hear it soon.

Tuesday, January 22, 2008

Baby Time Out

First Daughter had her first time out today for viciously attacking her big brother's pirate ship of Veggies--multiple times. I couldn't remember how to handle a time out in one so young (First Son didn't get one until he was over two) so I just plopped her in a chair and left her there. After a minute or so she slid down herself and I let her.

She gave her brother a hug and didn't bother his ship again, so I guess it was a success.

Our Future

Today, Kansas Dad received an offer letter for a tenure-track position at a local university! We've heard lots of rumors the letter was on the way, but it's a great feeling to have it in hand.

Congratulations, Kansas Dad! We're so proud of you (and very happy to be staying in our adopted city)!

Monday, January 21, 2008

Boost Her


First Daughter moved to a booster chair today. She's a little short, but is very happy to be in a real chair like her big brother.

She also loves her broccoli. That's my girl!

Sunday, January 20, 2008

Party Girl


Of course we had a little conference championship party. First Daughter promptly fell asleep at the lunch table (which is pretty rare, really).


Later on, she took advantage of her brother's distraction to play with the Veggie pirate ship. Shhh...don't tell!

Saturday, January 19, 2008

Pirate Daughter


She waited until her brother was out of the house before asking for a turn. Wise baby sister.

Thursday, January 17, 2008

Wardrobe Malfunction


New Resource

I've added a new resource called For Your Marriage. It looked pretty interesting when I was checking it out today. I have to remember to get Kansas Dad to take the monthly quiz with me. (I have a feeling we're not in the same time zone.)

Wednesday, January 16, 2008

Pirate Mania

Please ignore the mess. (Why do I feel like I'm always saying that?)

Completed!

The dissertation was emailed at about 3 am this morning. Kansas Dad is exhausted with limited sleep in the past week, but he finished.* It's been a lot like the week his senior thesis was due in college...only worse.


* Of course, there will still be a few corrections before his readers get copies. And then there's the defense. But that's nothing...really.

Monday, January 14, 2008

Sharing


The easel has two sides, but they seem to prefer sharing.

Wednesday, January 9, 2008

Peanut Butter for Baby

Based on recently reported research that waiting doesn't matter so much for food allergies, and because we eat peanut butter and peanut sauce nearly every day, First Daughter had her first taste today. She loved it and hasn't had any bad reaction yet.

We stopped by Kansas Dad's faculty party today with the kids because we didn't have anyone to watch them for us. They had a blast eating and dancing. (We fed them before we went, but you'd never have believed it if you saw how much First Daughter ate!) First Daughter tried to join the band by grabbing herself a microphone. They seemed to take it as a compliment...I hope we're invited to the next party.

Tuesday, January 8, 2008

All Night Long

First Daughter slept all through the night last night. We never had to go in to her and I don't even remember hearing a peep from the room.

It's amazing what she can be like when she's not sick. We've had some wonderful sweet fun times in the past few days. I'm ashamed to admit I was beginning to think our little girl had a grumpy personality. Now I'm convinced she's as delightful as ever, just sick all the time.

Pray her health continues well as she's back to day care (aka "the germ factory") two days a week!

Monday, January 7, 2008

Morning with the Doctor

First Son had his four year appointment followed immediately by First Daughter's 15 month appointment. First Son is about 75% for weight and 85% for height. First Daughter is more than 90% for height and about 25% for weight.

First Son played a "listening game" with headphones. He was supposed to raise his hand when he heard a beep, but never did. Instead he would get a big grin on his face and the nurse would ask, "Do you hear the beep?" and he'd say yes. He didn't quite follow the rules of the "game" but they decided he really could hear just fine.

First Daughter has not thrown up for nearly a week and isn't really congested for the first time in months. The doctor said "It's a shame she's been sick, but she seems fine now." So no medicine for our girl. I anxiously await her return to congestion, which is inevitable given that she spends two days a week surrounded by other one year olds.

The doctor also thought she was only a little delayed in her speech. (She firmed up mama and dada over the holiday, consistently using it for the moms and dads, but doesn't say any other words.) He gave us some information on screenings but seemed to think we could wait a while. So different from New York where we lived when our son was fifteen months old and not talking. I think we'll wait to see how she's doing at eighteen months.

Sunday, January 6, 2008

Trust

In a twisted version of the trust game forced upon the adult world in corporate and relationship retreats, First Son stands on the bed and yells "Abugie!" before falling face first to the mattress.

The Doggie Book

Good Dog, Carl by Alexandra Day

We received two copies of Knuffle Bunny (which we love) and exchanged one for a few board books for First Daughter today. She's fallen in love with this mainly wordless book. For some reason, she finds page after page hilarious. It's not clear to me that she understands the humor of the dog taking the baby to jump on the bed, dressing up with mama's make-up, sliding down the laundry shoot (she doesn't even know what that is!), or making a big mess on the kitchen floor with milk, chocolate and cookies, but she laughs. So that makes it a good book.

As for myself, I'm not so interested in a dog I can leave as babysitter for my baby, but I do love the idea of a dog that could give baths and clean up the kitchen. In fact, my kitchen floor could use Carl right now.