Lady Leah & Sir Samuel

Joining Up

2009-04-26T22:00:00.003-06:00

Okay, so having a separate blog for the kids was becoming too complicated. I decided to switch over to just my blog, so I won't be updating here anymore.

See us all together at my blog: www.supermomstrikesagain.blogspot.com

Birthday Brownies for Samuel

2009-01-12T22:41:00.005-07:00

We tend to do holidays and birthdays in clumps, have you noticed?

Thanksgiving, Leah's birthday, Christmas, New Years', Samuel's Birthday, our anniversary...all in the same 8 weeks---wow. Then of course, Chris and I have birthdays just a week and a half apart in the summer. Maybe we should use better planning the next time we have a baby (well, I guess Samuel wasn't planned...) I am so happy to have this little guy, surprise or not. Can you believe he is already a year old?

Well, here are some pics from Samuel's first birthday. Chris was out of town, so it was just Leah and I. She was very happy to sing happy birthday to Samuel, and of course, she wanted to share it with him, so I let her blow out a candle, too. Why not? Oh, and please disregard my leprous-appearing skin in the video--I had just finished staining the chairs.

Samuel celebrated his first birthday with Leah and mommy, a diaper rash, a couple naps, and a brownie. He also successfully learned the sign for cheese.

The second 3rd Birthday Bash

2008-12-02T21:18:00.001-07:00

Dec 2, 2008

Happy Birthday again!...on the real day!

Here we are having another party with the little kids in the neighborhood. Little did Mom know that the parents would drop their kids off and come back an hour later--leaving me alone with seven two and three year olds all at once. (Chock one up to anti-anxiety medication that I didn't throw the kids in a room full of toys and lock myself in the bathroom to wait it out in fear)

While the menu may have been less sophisticated at this party than the first (apple slices and crackers as opposed to deli sandwhich wraps and fruit with fondue), it was no less fun. Leah enjoyed playing with her friends and showing off her rocket (which I think we had to put away in order to avoid a mutiny). We got to visit the cupcakes with birthday candles outlet again, and it was a blast for all the kids.

Here is Leah opening up some of her presents. She got story books, coloring books, and a princess tiara with bling! She also got a cookie decorating kit which we made the next day (pictures to come!)

I did surprisingly well managing all the kids solo. Thank goodness it was only an hour! I busted out the bubbles and a dollar-store game that turned out to be quite a hit. Whew!

Samuel was not left out of the fun!

Leah's Birthday Bash

2008-12-02T21:03:00.001-07:00

Nov 28, 2008

Happy Third Birthday, Leah!

Ever since her Mom and Dad had birthdays in the summer, Leah has been asking if her birthday was ready yet. Well, it's finally ready! Here's Leah's Little Einsteins birthday party with Aunt Rebecca and Great-Grandma Benac.

Leah was very happy to have special visitors at her birthday party and was treated as a princess. We even let her have chocolate for lunch followed by several cupcakes.

Grandma Benac gave Leah a 25th anniversary Cabbage Patch Kid, who we named Belle (contrary to Sorenson family tradition, which would have dictated that the doll be named Leah CP. CP for Cabbage Patch).

Aunt Rebecca's present to Leah is a trip to the DuPage Children's museum, which we will go to when we are in Naperville at Christmastime.

And of course, what would a Little Einsteins party be without Leo, Quincy, Annie, June and a red Rocket? Leah is inseparable from her new Rocket, which plays music and responds to each character as they sit in their respective seats, and only takes about 5 minutes to get really annoying. She brings it with her in the bathroom, to bed, and even tried to bring it to church.

Here is the birthday girl with her special visitors:

What they are saying

2008-12-01T18:01:00.001-07:00

Samuel: dog

Leah: I want pickles. With a hamburger on top.

Samuel's Latest and Greatest: 10 months

2008-11-17T22:43:00.003-07:00

Bad Dream

2008-10-30T08:47:00.002-06:00

Mom: Did you have a bad dream?

Leah: Yeah.

Mom: What happened in your dream that was scary?

Leah: A pumpkin.

Mom: What was the pumpkin doing?

Leah: It was growling at me.

Mom: Awwww. Did you growl back? You should make him smile. Sing "When you chance to see a frown..."

........

Mom: You should just run away from the scary pumpkin.

Leah: (with comprehension, her face lightens in joy) Yeah, because he doesn't have any legs!

Rude Awakenings

2008-10-21T23:12:00.005-06:00

We are trying to get Leah to stay in her bed a little later. Since moving the start of our bedtime ritual from 8:30 to 7:00, or right after dinner (I said start time, mind you), she has been waking up before 7:00am. Just ask my Dad, I am not a morning person. (Of course, I am writing this at 11:00 pm). 8:00 is much more preferred than 7, and you'd think that with the shortening days, our potential sleep time would be increasing. This is not so.

At least she can stay in bed until the sun rises, right?

We've tried encouraging her to look out her window to see if the sun has "woken up" yet. We've tried setting her up with a bowl of cereal, a sippy cup in the fridge, and the Disney channel just a button away. We've tried encouraging her to go potty all by herself in the morning. But not only can we not train her to let us sleep just a little bit later, but she wakes up the baby with her loudness and then there is no going back to sleep for anyone.

Here are some of the things we've heard her shout--repeatedly--first thing in the morning when we're trying to get a few extra minutes of shut-eye:

IS THE SUN AWAKE YET?
IS IT MY BIRTHDAY? CAN I HAVE MY BIRTHDAY CUPCAKES? (no, her birthday is "not ready yet")
I GOTTA GO POTTY!
I'M HUNGRY SOME FOR LUNTZ.
MOM-SAY 'BLESS YOU'

And on the off-chance that she's downstairs, hopefully watching TV:

MOM! MOM! WHAT'S IN YOUR PUMPKIN? (the candy jar--it's candy corn)
WHAT'S NEXT? (Handy Manny)
WHAT HAPPENED TO WOODY? (his arm ripped)

Of course, there are those rare mornings that she trots into my room and climbs into bed with me and we snuggle and make faces at each other for a few minutes before going down to breakfast.

Ah, the joys of parenthood!

Miss Independent

2008-10-21T23:01:00.005-06:00

Leah wants to do everything herself.

If I open the fridge to take out a sippy cup, a cheese stick, the milk jug...anything, Leah will most likely replace said item, close the fridge, and start over, doing it herself.

Opening doors, turning on light switches, putting her potty seat on the toilet, turing on or off the TV, turning on the faucet, zipping up her pj's-you name it, she wants to do it herself. For every one of these activities, she will un-do whatever it is that I've done so that she can do it herself.

Here's the best one yet: we were at a store when she had to go. It was a really nasty public bathroom and I wanted to get out of there as fast as possible. She went. I flushed and proceeded to the sink. She immediately started crying "No, I want to flush!" She then proceeded to remove her pants again and start the entire process over. And going through the motions was not good enough. She had to sit there and wait for more pee to come out before she could be done and do the "flushing" herself. Yeah, makes a lot of sense.

Now why can't I get her to dress herself?

The point of no return

2008-09-28T22:17:00.002-06:00

If only she had known the true significance of my offer, she might not have so willingly collected all of her binkies and ceremoniously thrown them all away in exchange for this balloon. Leah was very excited to finally get to play with this balloon that has been hiding in the bathroom for several days, but when bedtime came around...not so much. (can you see how jealous the baby is of the mysterious new entity in the room?)

Of course, I waited until after our traditional Sunday nap. After the bathroom routine (where she is fully potty trained and finally starting to let me brush her teeth), we adjourned to the bedroom for story time, and she immediately recognized that her binky was in the garbage can, a permanent resting place. Oh, the tears and decibels of sorrow! I continued our normal routine, reading normally despite the wailing and gnashing of teeth, had a bedtime prayer, and I blew out the light. I locked the door behind me.

After 15 minutes of feeding the baby and breathing deeply, my guilt had truly gotten the better of me. From behind her door, I heard such things as "I don't want a balloon!" and "I don't want to be a big girl!" How pitiful! Did she think she was being punished? Would this be the end of peaceful nights and afternoon naps? Will she resort to thumb-sucking? Would she ever trust me again? After consulting with Chris and receiving some encouragement not to give in, I went back in to Leah's room.

I comforted her and assured her that she was not being punished and I was not mad at her. I told her that it is hard to give up something we love and it is okay to be sad. I'm not sure how much of my pep talk was understood, but after signing and rocking quietly for 15 minutes, the thunder died down. I told her stories and we talked about the upcoming holidays. She is excited to be Jesse (from Toy Story 2) for Halloween, to have a birthday, and to "be nice to Daniel" after we go on an airplane at Christmastime. We looked out the window and talked about the seasons and how the leaves would soon turn colors, fall off and dry up. "We better wear shoes," she decided, so that we can crunch around on the leaves and not have our feet get cold. She was a little sweetheart and I could tell that she had already forgiven me.

Then I laid in bed with her for a few minutes hoping she would fall asleep. When it was finally time for me to leave, she was still awake, but I could tell that she had come to terms with this new development, at least for the time being. I'm hoping that in the morning, she will know to be proud of herself for going a night without a binky. I'm sure she'll parrot back to me that she got a balloon and we said bye-bye to her binky, and then she cried a lot.

I'm beginning to understand why so many people call the two's terrible: we expect so much of such a small creature. Since she turned two not even a year ago, Leah got a baby brother, transitioned from a crib to a big-girl bed and from diapers to panties. She talks in complete sentences but doesn't quite know enough words or have the emotional capacity to understand and fully communicate. It's no wonder they have a hard time.

Here's to my super-daughter and the opportunity to grow up a little. How I love my little girl!

Practice makes perfect

2008-09-26T09:47:00.003-06:00

I have started practicing french braids on Leah's hair when she's freshly out of the bathtub and fully entertained by a movie. I did it a couple weeks ago for church, but it was pretty loose. Last night was a good opportunity to practice again. I think I'm getting better--I just can't get them very tight or even. Now, if only she'd leave them in for more than 3 minutes!

Motherly Sisterhood

2008-09-26T09:40:00.002-06:00

Leah likes to play mom to anything and everything. She feeds her dolls and toys a toy bottle, then rocks them to sleep in a blanket. "Shhh mom, baby frog is sleeping!" I've even seen her put Buzz Lightyear under her shirt to nurse. (embarrassed grin)

In the rare event that mom wakes up before the baby, I pump a bottle for him. Leah was excitedly willing to be the one to feed a real baby a real bottle!

I think these kids like each other, what do you think?

Leah-speak

2008-09-19T00:29:00.002-06:00

The latest installment of Leah-speak.

puger (computer)

scoofdiver (screwdriver)

scratch-back (back scratch)

Mom, I don't have any dressed (Mom, I'm not dressed)

I'm hungry some for luntz (I'm hungry for some breakfast, lunch, or dinner--this is usually the first thing I hear in the morning)

Mom, how was my nap? (Mom, ask me how my nap was--it was good)

Today Leah opened up an empty notebook and started reading to me. She said:
"Once upon a time there was a little girl named Leah. Loooong hair. And Samuel was crying and crawling."

Daddy Daughter Date

2008-08-26T11:00:00.000-06:00

Leah and Daddy had a Daddy-daughter date last month while I was visiting my Grandma in Texas. They went to Thanksgiving Point and had a blast. It was a hot day. Leah got to go on a pony ride and a horse-drawn carriage ride. She saw the animals in the petting zoo--ducks, goats, donkeys, llamas, baby chicks, and horses. Her favorite thing by far was the pony ride!

After spending some time at Farm Country, Chris and Leah went inside to the dinosaur museum and looked around while they waited for their movie: Wall-E. This was Leah's first ever movie theater experience, and she is still talking about it a month later!

Of spending the day with Leah, Chris said "I kept looking at her thinking 'she's not always going to be like this.' I took a mental picture while she was riding the horse so that I would always have that moment in my mind. I always want to remember what she was like as a little girl."

I think Daddy-daughter day was a big hit!

Samuel's Latest Hits: Addendum

2008-08-24T21:22:00.005-06:00

Okay, here are a few things I failed to add last time.

Samuel is pulling himself up to a standing position on everything. He is very proud of himself for this.

Samuel loves to play and splash in the bath! I just graduated him from the bath seat in favor of bare-bottom on the bottom of the tub. I had to bust out the old non-slip mat or he would just slip and slide all over, but he loves the freedom!

Object permanence: Samuel looks for whatever it was that you just took away from him or that he dropped. Also, it is so cute, but when he drops a cheerio, he looks down after it and reaches for it. If it is just on the chair or in his lap, he very determinedly reaches and pinches is up and eats it.

Did I mention this kid is determined?

Samuel's latest hits

2008-08-21T10:17:00.006-06:00

He's growing so fast that I can't keep up informing you of what is going on!

Samuel is teething. He has one bottom tooth with its next door neighbor coming in. He's never inconsolably cried quite like when he was getting his first tooth. Poor guy! I'm sure thankful for Orajel!

Samuel is eating solids and loves it! He is a hungry boy!

Samuel is sitting up on his own, crawling, grabbing, and putting everything in his mouth. He is very determined. Leah never could get herself from crawling to a sitting position or from sitting to crawling, and she could hardly sit up unassisted until nine months or so. Samuel had it mastered at 7 months.

Samuel is already trying to pull himself up on stuff. He does this crawling "move" where he sticks his bum up in the air with his legs extended below him, like he's a camel, and it looks like he's trying to stand up. He has already tried lifting himself up into a cabinet or onto a toy. I can see the wheels turning--he keeps lifting one leg hesitantly trying to figure out how to get it over the edge of the cabinet, and then he chickens out and does something else. It is so cute, because he's not quite there yet, but I can tell that he really wants to be.

Here's some more evidence that Samuel is more of an independent thinker and a problem solver than Leah. Leah never held her own bottle--she made me hold it for her, and Samuel figured out how to hold a bottle the very first time I handed him one. Nowadays, Leah will complain that she is stuck on something, or she'll climb into his crib and not be able to get herself out, and she'll whine and wait for me to come rescue her. I show her how to get herself unstuck, like "put your leg over the edge and reach down," or "push the chair away from the table and you'll be able to get out." She still doesn't get it. I can already tell that Samuel will be the kid who gets himself unstuck on his own. He also recovers faster after bonking his head. Maybe it only takes a few months of minor older-sibling "abuse" to toughen up a younger sibling. It is so increasingly amazing to me how different my children's personalities are at such young ages. And it is so much fun!

Samuel Meets Great-Grandma Helen

2008-08-07T10:12:00.004-06:00

Here is documentation of our weekend hiatus to visit Grandma Helen in Texas. Samuel is among 40-something other great-grandchildren, but that doesn't make his any less special!

Grandma was thrilled to meet our little guy, and they hit it off great! Please pardon the poor quality of these camera-phone pictures.

I'm a big kid now!

2008-08-04T23:37:00.006-06:00

Leah is such a big girl! She is mostly potty trained (how do you really know when you are completely done potty-training, anyway?). This would have been a week and a half since her last accident if she hadn024't has so many blueberries yesterday... She also has a big girl bed! No more crib for this girl, c0heck out her latest tent bed setup:

Today we videotaped her making a commercial. Okay, so she may not be the most articulate, but don't you think she is just the most beautiful, intelligent, sweet little girl ever? Is this how every parent feels about their own children?

Laughing and crawling

2008-08-04T22:37:00.006-06:00

Here are two videos that are quite possibly only appreciated by grandparents.

Samuel (army) crawling, with Leah providing the commentary:

(He is actually quite a determined little mover!)

Leah spinning in circles and causing uproarious laughter--at least they are entertaining each other!

Fashion Show

2008-07-31T14:37:00.002-06:00

Fabulous Friends, Fabulous Fun

2008-07-16T08:26:00.005-06:00

Oh Where, Oh Where has our cousin gone?

2008-07-15T22:07:00.002-06:00

Someone is missing from this picture. Here are four out of five Sorenson cousins in the same place at the same time. PAUL--WHERE ARE YOU? WE NEED YOU!

Crawling or not?

2008-07-02T22:50:00.002-06:00

Yes, dear sister, I am copying you and asking for votes on whether or no you all think this is genuine crawling or not. 50 bonus points if you can name the movie that is playing in the background.

Faceoff and a new Friend

2008-07-02T22:10:00.004-06:00

Faceoff between the two kids. Sometimes I will come into the room and discover that they are just sitting there laughing at each other! It is the earliest form of them playing together or entertaining each other, and I love it!

Leah meets a grasshopper for the first time. This little discovery engrossed her for at least half and hour.

And here is a video of Leah spinning in Samuel's exersaucer. She thinks it's hers.

Latest Developments

2008-06-26T16:12:00.003-06:00

Samuel can roll over and "scoot" across the room. I laid there on the floor recording him for half an hour trying to catch the latter on video, so as soon as I got up to transfer laundry for 2 minutes, he got himself all the way across the room. Figures.

Leah has mastered the alphabet!

Overdue Videos

2008-06-26T16:00:00.001-06:00

I know I'm grossly overdue for more videos of my kids. So here are three.

At the Park

2008-06-26T12:03:00.003-06:00

Storytime

2008-06-26T11:55:00.003-06:00

Eating Toes

2008-06-26T11:49:00.004-06:00

Here are my two little ones when they have each discovered their toes. I'm sure you can tell which one is Leah and which one is Samuel based on color clues, but still, I thought it would be a cute comparison. Also notice how much chubbier Samuel's little legs are!

The darndest things, Part II

2008-06-20T22:14:00.007-06:00

Here are some more "quotables" from Leah:

Eating coffee cake and leaving only the cake part on her tray, "I want more top." (as in more topping--who wouldn't want more topping?)

Eating shredded cheese, she dropped one piece in her yogurt and said, "I dropped my chee!"

Eating Honey Bunches of Oats, she picks up a cluster and says "best part," apparently based on my comment from long ago, "Oh, that's the best part!"

She refers to all non-adults as "kids" even though they are usually several years older than she is.

poopace (toothpaste)

Sammy-el (Samuel)

I'm hungry some luntz (I'm hungry for some lunch, only non-specific for time of day)

lawn-dory (laundry)

Ly-meen Naqueen (Lightning McQueen)

Little Einsneins (Little Einsteins)

Here are some pictures of Leah after using a different kind of "chee," mommy's new straight iron. The popcorn was the reward for sitting still for 10 minutes. Can you believe how long her hair is? Can you believe that she left the clips in through three hours of church?

Family Portraits

2008-06-16T23:44:00.000-06:00

We finally got some new family portraits taken, and they turned out really great. If you'd like to see the pictures from our sitting or to place a portrait order, follow the link below.

https://www.smilesbywire.com/home.asp?AC=LTPP0722107170JCP

Use mommy's name as the customer name.

Access Code: LTPP0722107170JCP

The portraits will be available on SmilesByWire until August 14.

Playtime

2008-06-16T09:18:00.003-06:00

Leah and Play-dough.

Leah figured out how to climb into the crib with Samuel--they both seem to be entertained by this practice, so we'll let it go!

And here are Leah and Daddy playing on the trampoline on a hot day. Leah called the hose a waterfall.

New Toy for...Mom?

2008-06-16T09:09:00.004-06:00

Here's how this game works: Mommy sets up a really cool house or tower with Lincoln Logs, while Leah anxiously waits for her turn to knock it over.

I may enjoy this new toy more than Leah. Who said they were just for kids?

Here are a few before and afters:

Ra-Ra-Ra for Rocket!!!

2008-06-07T19:02:00.004-06:00

Lately we've become a little preoccupied with the Little Einsteins around here (thanks to potty training, of course). Leah would rather not watch anything else. This is only a problem because we have to watch the same four episodes over and over and over again. So while Leah is commiting each episode to memory, reciting the songs and saying "Blastoff!" every 45 seconds, I want to curse classical music and I begin to bang my head against a wall.

Naturally, Leah wants to ride in a rocket. Sometimes we are able to convince her that our red car is a good enough substitute. Here is the "Rocket" that I made her, complete with steering wheel, rocket phone, and pipe cleaner antennae. The puffs and wrapping paper are supposed to be buttons (but don't feel bad--Leah didn't get it either). And I'm not sure about the significance of the star headband. Don't ask.

Sumo Samuel

2008-06-01T22:14:00.001-06:00

I just couldn't resist. He is just so darn chubby and has so much hair, I had to see what he looks like with pigtails, and if we're not going to say he looks like a girl, we might as well say he looks like a baby sumo wrestler!

The darndest things

2008-05-29T11:30:00.005-06:00

Whatcha doin' honey? (Leah says this to anyone and everyone. It must be the precursor to "why?" because she asks about every 15 seconds.)
What's this? (Usually I can ask her right back and she'll tell me what it is.)
Oh, poor panties. (When she has had an accident)
Are you blooding? (When someone gets an owie. You have to be bleeding to get a band aid at our house.)

slipperly (slippery)
rackinaw cheese (macaroni & cheese)
poopace (toothpaste)
p butter delly (peanut butter and jelly)
Pliget (Piglet)
Floodle (Pluto)

The other day for lunch I was feeling lazy and gave her a slice of bread with peanut butter on it. (She usually only eats the peanut butter anyway...) She said "I need jelly." I slathered some jelly on top of the peanut butter, after which she replied "I want to hide it." So we ended up with a complete sandwich anyway. She is very resourceful with her words!

She's such a big girl!

2008-05-13T15:44:00.000-06:00

I can't get over how grown up my little girl is. She wears big girl panties, can say the alphabet and count past 10, knows the words to songs and nursery rhymes, can open door knobs and even the fridge, and so much more. On the other hand, she still sleeps in a crib and has a binky. When does the baby stage truly end and the big girl stage start?

Fun times for Leah

2008-05-13T13:27:00.004-06:00

Here are a few photo highlights from the past few weeks. Leah had the opporunity to ride on a horse! There are two horses that currently live in the field behind our house, and we can always see them from the kitchen table. We decided to trek out to feed them some oats and apples, and they were docile enough to pet and ride. What a treat for Miss Leah! She really enjoyed riding the horse.

Here are a few pictures of Leah playing with the little girl across the street. These two have a love-hate relationship. They will hug one second, and then push each other away the next. They get along great until they both want to play with the same thing, and then they fight like cats! I guess that's just how it goes when you're this age.

Samuel's 4 Month Checkup

2008-05-13T13:08:00.007-06:00

Samuel had his four month checkup yesterday.

Length: 24.5 inches, 25- 50th percentile

Weight: 14 lbs 6oz, 50th percentile

Head: 42.5 cm, 50th percentile

Compare his growth to his 2 months checkup. If I remember correctly, Leah was always tall and skinny(75th and 25th percentile), so Samuel seems like a chubster even though he is pretty average size. Samuel didn't like his shots at all, but Leah enjoyed comforting him by patting his head and holding his hand while he was getting his shots. She is such a nurturing big sister!

The only concern we discussed with the Doctor is that Samuel has a fairly marked asymmetry of his head shape, so he will probably need a helmet in the next couple of months. :( There must be something about the second child; I'm so distracted by a potty-training toddler that I haven't even thought about solids even though I know we tried starting Leah on solids at four months. I'm in no hurry this time, maybe because it's not quite as exciting as starting your baby on solids when you've never done it before. Is this how middle-child syndrome starts?

I can't believe how fast Samuel seems to be growing! He is always such a happy baby and is always ready to smile!

His latest milestones include:

Discovering his hands, holding his hands together, and bringing things to his mouth
Rolling around (although not rolling over)
Reaching for things (and very determinedly!)
Sleeping through the night regularly
Baby babbling, and with lots of drool
Recognizing faces of family members
Enjoying his baths
Being so super cute! He already needs another hair cut!

In Their Sleep

2008-05-08T14:15:00.002-06:00

Here are my two little angels sleeping. It is the best moment of my day to sneak into their bedroom at night, tuck them in, and watch them both peacefully sleeping (and even snoring), and sigh in relief that we survived another day.

Potty Progress

2008-05-08T13:58:00.006-06:00

Here's Leah potty chart. This picture was taken 2 weeks ago when we started, and since then, she has filled 3 rows with stickers (and therefore earned three prizes)! Every time she goes, she gets a treat from the treat jar. I thought she would pick the same thing every time, with the options being cookies, candy, fruit snacks, or popcorn, but she picks something different every time. Several times she's even asked for "bubbles." This is what "bubbles" looks like:

She will stand at the sink and play with bubbles for hours if we let her. It's a really great trick for me when I need to get something done.

When the entire chart is filled, Leah gets to go to Chuck-E-Cheese! We are making progress, and she's learned how to go on command, but we still haven't had much luck with #2. This is a lot harder than I thought it would be! Leah loves to wear big girl panties, but some froofy character is a must. For those of you who think this next picture is indecent, just remember that it's my kid, not yours, and all you can see are her knees:

When I took that last picture of Leah, I looked over to see Samuel being really cute and anxiously awaiting some attention from me, so I took this one:

And here's a cute picture of Leah ready to splash in a puddle:

Mommy 'n Me

2008-04-21T21:15:00.002-06:00

Leah always wants to join in on the girly stuff whenever I do my makeup or paint my toenails. This time, I decided to let her.

Some new clothes. Don't you think she could be a model?

Mommy's Little Celebrities

2008-04-21T21:08:00.001-06:00

Sibling Rivalry?

2008-04-10T21:06:00.007-06:00

I guess sibling rivalry knows no age limit. Normally these two tend to like each other, Leah is a little mother and takes care of the baby, prentending to feed him a bottle, fetching diapers, and plugging in his binky whenever he looses it. Samuel is always ready to give a smile to his big sister who is quite the entertainer.

But...Leah accidentally stepped on the baby. She is just such a busy bee, and I guess he blends in with the carpet? It's okay, though, he got her back when she got too close and he got a hold of her hair. She doesn't seem to understand this phenomenon.

Actually, come to think of it Samuel punishes himself--this afternoon during tummy time, he managed to gag himself when he got his entire fist into his mouth. Poor guy.

In this series of pictures, Leah was getting down on Samuel's level probably to see what was so exciting about laying on your tummy. Then she proceeded to give him a back treatment with a wire wisk.

Outside Adventure with Daddy

2008-04-10T20:51:00.004-06:00

Chris is the designated babysitter during presidency meeting, so last week he took Leah to the duck pond to run and play and chase ducks. I may be biased, but I think she is the most beautiful little girl in the world!

Favorite Songs

2008-03-28T09:09:00.007-06:00

Here's Leah singing the alphabet song, Twinkle Twinkle Litte Star, The Itsy Bitsy Spider, and Jesus wants me for a Sunbeam. Can you believe that a year ago, she wasn't talking at all? Contrary to the representation of Leah in all these videos, I promise she is not always wearing pajamas, although as I write this, we are both wearing pajamas.

Enjoy!

Easter Celebration

2008-03-28T08:47:00.007-06:00

Two cute kids in matching outfits. You can bet that if I had two little girls they would have had matching dresses, but since #2 is a boy, I had to go with a vest instead...

We celebrated Easter by having friends over for dinner after church. It was a delicious and laughter-filled event. We had marionberry pie (now on Leah's dress) and strawberry shortcake, then had an overdose of Easter candy during the Easter egg hunt. Then we finally got to see Enchanted, and it was super cute. We let Leah stay up late with us to watch the movie--she was extremely hyper and was climbing all over Dad when she fell on her face and cut her lip yet again. *sigh* Overall, it was a good day.

Here is Leah trekking down to the basement with the expectation of an Easter egg hunt. She had no idea what we were talking about but sensed our excitement and heard the mention of candy. She didn't really get the concept of "find all the eggs as fast as you can and put them in this bucket" because every time she found an egg she wanted to open it up and eat whatever was inside!

What Leah has been up to

2008-03-21T22:58:00.008-06:00

Here are some videos of Leah doing what she does best--playing (imitating!) and helping us.

This week we've played in the sandbox, tried (desperately, but in vain) to fly a kite, discovered a "fort" underneath Samuel's crib, gotten tangled in thread while Mom sews, ran around outside with the neighbor kids, and played all of our board/party games including Scrabble, Rumikub, Clue, Jenga, and others. (When I say we "played" them, I mean we opened the box and Leah spread the peices all over the room for a few minutes). She didn't really get the concept of Twister, but has learned to match letters or pictures from the other games.

Helping out around the house:

Playing. She's painting Woody's boot with a paintbrush (Sorry it's kind of dark):

The "fort" or "hiding place" as she calls it. It's high enough for her to sit upright underneath and read a story or play with a secret toy.

Mermaid Leah. This is what her hair does in the tub. She's learned that if she gets messy enough at dinner she takes a bath afterward. Hmmm....How many baths does she expect to take in one day?

What Samuel has been up to

2008-03-21T22:47:00.006-06:00

Here is a video of Samuel doing what he does best--being cute!

This week Samuel accidentally rolled over a few times. And as for the sleep update, we've plateaued at about a 5-6 hour stretch at night. The second stretch is about 4 hours. I guess I can live with that.

Baby Fat and the General Cuteness of Samuel

2008-03-17T22:46:00.002-06:00

Language

2008-03-11T20:54:00.003-06:00

Leah is a very perceptive talker. I tried cataloging all her words one day to see how big her vocabulary is and had gotten to 300 words before comprehensively listing foods, vehicles, animals, clothing, or body parts among other things. Since then I know she's learned even more new words. Recent vocabulary acquisitions include "badge," "n.aked," "stack," "hide," "fort," and the verb "match."

We've also observed Leah applying the rules of grammar. For example, I've overhead the following self-talk which shows she can change tenses: "Don't drop it. I dropped it. I'll get it. I got it." She can give posession to things (Mommy's shoes, Daddy's shoes, Leah's shoes), and I've even heard her say "It's mine's." She can differentiate between a singular and a plural: take the cereal Kix (which she sometimes pretends are meatballs). When she finds a single piece by itself she says "Look, a kick!"

She can conjugate verbs. She'll say "I want to color" followed by "Leah's drawing a picture." She has an imagination to go with it and identifies for me the things that she is drawing such as an egg, a tree, a fishy, etc., but that's a story for another day. While its obviously good that she can combine words into a sentance, what does it mean if she talks about herself using the third person?

One thing she hasn't quite gotten a grasp of is pronouns, as I'm sure is the case with most toddlers at this stage. Standing at the top of the stairs she says "Me to carry you," since she's heard me ask her a million times "Do you want me to carry you?" Another thing we've noticed recently is that she always asks for "This." What do you mean "this?" I then pull out a box of cheerios and say "Is it this?" No wonder we're all confused! Everything is "this!"

She can count to ten all by herself without skipping any numbers (for awhile, she always left out four and five for some reason) and then counts 12, 14, 16. And thanks to Mary Poppins, she can even count backwards from 5. She numbers things that are in pairs, such as "two shoes," but she doesn't actually count things above two accurately--instead she just points while reciting the numbers in order.

She can do the alphabet with assistance and pieces of it in the song format, and always identifies letters anywhere and of any kind by saying "Look! ABC's!" When I ask her what color something is, she picks a color and guesses. At least she know that blue, red, purple, green, pink, and yellow are colors!

2 Month Update

2008-03-11T20:36:00.002-06:00

Samuel had his 2-month checkup today. Here are his vitals:

Length: 23 inches, 50th percentile
Weight: 11 lbs 11oz, 50th percentile
Head: 39 cm, 25th percentile

So in 9 weeks of life, he has gained over 4 pounds which averages about 1/2 a pound a week! Leah has always been tall and skiny, so Samuel seems relatively chubby even though he is pretty average in comparison to other babies. I'll put up a picture of his fat little thighs as soon as the batteries in the camera are charged! Samuel had three shots today and has been very grumpy as a result. His cry is much more urgent and panicky sounding than usual, and he's just been crying on and off all evening--poor guy!

Other than that, he is usually a very happy baby and has been sleeping for 6 hour stretches at night. I'm happy to report that we've made it 9 weeks before his first all-over blowout in which his clothes required scrubbing and the bouncer cover needed to be removed and laundered--yes, this was today. I'm grateful for the infrequency of such events, but I guess I'm in for it.

More to come--I'll keep you posted!

Oh, the injustice!

2008-03-03T15:57:00.003-07:00

Leah is learning that life is not fair.

Case Number 1
The other day she got a pretty big owie--tying to climb onto a bigger kid's bike, she made it topple over on top of herself and cut her lip up. At dinner a few hours later, she realized that it hurt to eat when the food came in contact with her owie in her mouth. She asked me to kiss it better. I did. A few seconds later she tried another bite, only to burst into tears because it still hurt. "Kiss it better!" she demanded again, this time through a veil of tears. I had to feel bad that we've perpetuated the myth that kisses make things better, and that all of the sudden she must learn with brutal honesty that we've been lying to her. Her world is crashing down all around her: she must deal with an owie! Her parents can't make it better! We have been dishonest with her! Oh, the pain and the cruelty! How will this affect our Superhero status?

Case Number 2
Today I offered her graham crackers as an afternoon snack. I presented her crackers in a little pink bowl and handed it to her in her booster seat. All of the sudden, she got up and indecipherably told me something very important and hurried upstairs to her bedroom. She returned with a yellow bowl, which yesterday had popcorn in it. Then she very politely presented me with the empty bowl and said "Some popcorn please." I said, "I'm sorry, we don't have any popcorn" which was the truth, but even if I did have popcorn, I would have said "not right now." She has learned that a "no" is usually followed by the words "maybe later" (even though she probably doesn't understand the concept of either maybe or later) and when I said "no" to the popcorn, she again burst into a tearful and pitiful "maybe later."

Oh, it is so hard to be two years old and 36 inches tall!

Blessing Day

2008-03-02T20:58:00.007-07:00

Samuel was given a blessing today by his daddy during Sacrament meeting. Daddy was very proud to be able to bless our little boy. In the circle was Bishop Wilde, our good friend David Coombs, and our home teacher John Pyne.

Samuel was blessed to develop his many talents in this life, for this life is the time for men to prepare to meet our Heavenly Father. He was blessed to listen to others, for there will be many he will be able to learn from. He was blessed that through living faithfully, he would have leadership opportunities. Throughout his life, he will be preparing to serve a mission and receive the covenant of an eternal, celestial marriage. He was blessed to develop physically, socially and spiritually, and thereby be prepared to be a servant of the Lord. He was blessed to lead a balanced life, to be an example, and to be strong.

He was a very happy baby and didn't make a peep during all of Sacrament meeting!

Here is a little video of Samuel being cute and barely vocalizing a little laugh (and in dinosaur camo!). He doesn't really do much else yet. He looks a lot like his daddy did as a baby.

Plus Pig-Tails, Minus Mullet

2008-02-26T17:10:00.007-07:00

Hair cuts all around for this bunch!

Leah got her bangs trimmed and there was minimal cutting in the back (just to even things up). I can't understand why she has a fit when I brush her wet, silky, post-bath hair, but lets a stranger comb and spray and cut and pig-tail for 45 minutes. Samuel got his mullet and sideburns removed--we left the Fonz hair on the top (some have also termed it "Elvis" hair). Here they are in all their cuteness. I hope you can tell from the pictures that his hair has been cut. Compare to the long sideburns and the below-the-collar mullet in this photo to see his hair before. Can you believe he was born with that much hair? I think he looks so debonair! We make dang cute kids, if I may say so myself.

What is the occasion, you ask? Leah had hair in her eyes. And Sammy is being blessed next Sunday, March 2!

Happy Boy!

2008-02-17T15:01:00.006-07:00

I went to church today. Check out my awesome duds from David &
Michal! Don't you just love baby smiles and dimples?

Big Sister and Little Brother

2008-02-14T13:12:00.009-07:00

Since Leah became a big sister 5 weeks ago, she cut two molars and had her first 2 year old tantrums; she learned how to climb on top of the changing table by herself and can finally reach light switches (seizure, anyone?). She is the queen of imitations, and has now decided she wants milk in her cereal bowl even though she still uses her fingers instead of a spoon.

She is a very nurturing big sister. Whenever Samuel sneezes, she says "Bless you, Sammy!" and she runs to him when he cries, saying "Baby crying. I'm coming!" She giggles when he makes noises. "I wanna hold it" is how she asks to hold the baby, which she tires of in about 10 seconds. When we go places, she stocks her arms with as many toys she can carry: "I wanna bring Buzz. I wanna bring Nemo. I wanna bring Sammy." It is very endearing. At least she has realized that this little guy is here to stay. She seems to like him!

As for being the baby brother, Samuel has recently started showering us with cute little smiles. We just love those dimples! He is a very happy kid! When Leah was a baby, we had to rock her to sleep and constantly hold her to give her comfort in those inconsolable moments. Well, either Samuel is narcoleptic, or he's just really good natured and gets over it fast. He falls asleep really easily. He is a good eater; he's starting to get some chubby rolls on his thighs, and his face is filling out quite a bit. He teases me at night though--his first leg of sleep is 5 hours, but the second two are only three hours long, and since I stay up later than he does, I don't usually get to sleep for more than 3 hours at a time. Boy, am I tired!

Three cousins. Samuel and Leah meet cousin Paul for the first time!

A day in the life

2008-02-10T14:02:00.003-07:00

Typical activities for each child. Samuel is sleeping and Leah is playing. In the first pic of Leah, she is drinking pretend medicine (water) from a medicine cup, and saying "Strawberry, mmm. Lime Cordial, delicious!" Isn't she beautiful?

In the umbrella picture, she's sitting in a box watching Winnie the Pooh float up to the Honey tree with a balloon. "Tut, Tut. It looks like rain!"

And yes, this is a picture of both children asleep at the same time. A blissful moment. Unfortunately, it didn't last for very long.

A little something

2008-02-04T20:06:00.001-07:00

Samuel's update

2008-01-24T15:41:00.001-07:00

Samuel is 2 weeks and 2 days old.

Birth weight: 7 lbs 9 oz
2 week weight: 8 lbs 1/2 oz

Birth length: 19 1/2 inches
2 week length: 20 1/4 inches

So this means that he is growing! Not much of a surprise since we can tell there is a lot going in and a lot coming out. He is a very good baby!

Here are the surprises we weren't expecting:

Samuel doesn't really care for a binky that much and sleeps just fine without one. It takes lots of convincing to get him to take one between feedings (so that mommy doesn't have to be the pacifier)
Leah's eyes were dark dark brown from day one. We would have expected the same with Sammy, but on the contrary, his eyes are quite smokey looking with a very slight hint of blue. Hey, I was convinced they would be dark brown, and since they aren't, who knows what they will turn out to be.
He has a very strong gag reflux that sounds like choking and it makes me nervous, but the doc said its pretty normal.

No one would forgive me if I posted without including a picture, so here you go:

Snow Day!

2008-01-23T21:49:00.001-07:00

Alright, I realize that every day for the past month has been a snow day, but we've finally come to our senses and taken Leah out to actually play in the snow, thanks to Lola for sending snow pants! (Actually, I stayed warm inside with the baby and watched from the window)

Check out the video. As you can tell, she "moon walked" in the snow boots at first, but progressively got used to them. She looks like she's having fun, doesn't she?

Brother and Sister

2008-01-21T10:43:00.001-07:00

I tried to find a picture of both kids at about the same age so you could see how similar or different they look as babies. I think they look distinctively different, but distinctively like siblings (of course!)

(Samuel is the one sleeping on the striped shirt in case you couldn't tell the difference)

Pictures of Samuel

2008-01-21T10:09:00.000-07:00

No Explanation Necessary...

2008-01-20T18:52:00.001-07:00

The First Week

2008-01-16T21:45:00.002-07:00

Samuel is 8 days old. Here are the highlights of the first week.

Samuel has learned how to eat, sleep and poop. These activities occupy his entire day.
He sleeps very well. When we're lucky, 4-5 1/2 hours at a time. He eats all day, so that's okay with me.
Today he learned how to spit up. It was gross.
Since he was born, we've done five or six loads of laundry.
We've used approximately 100 diapers so far. When he's awake, we're lucky if a diaper lasts 30 minutes.
Grandma is really good at changing diapers, and willing too.
Leah is a very nurturing big sister and continues to be a generally happy little girl. She likes to "hold it" (the baby) and keeps asking mommy to feed her milk, too. She can tell she's not the center of attention anymore, but so far is handling it well.
It took us all week to finally capture Samuel's adorable dimples, featured in the last picture--look closely. (click any picture to see it enlarged)

Hiro or Hedgehog?

2008-01-12T22:41:00.002-07:00

Welcome Sir Samuel!

I kind of think he looks like Hiro Nakamura from the show Heroes. I also think he kind of looks like a hedgehog. Either way, I think Sammy is the cutest of any of them. What do you think?

The braid

2008-01-07T10:37:00.001-07:00

Okay, so I am officially the wrong mom to have a daughter with mounds of beautiful long curly hair because I have absolutely no idea how to do anything with it. She hardly even lets me brush it unless its super silky after her bath and she is transfixed by her favorite movie. I took advantage of her willing lap-time this morning to attempt a french braid. I understand the concept, but have never actually been able to execute one successfully. So instead, I decided to start with a simple braid on each side. Here's how it turned out, and I think it's pretty cute even though its not very good. I need the practice and Leah needs to get used to having me play with her hair. By picture day in kindergarten I should have it figured out!

Snuggle Time with Daddy

2008-01-05T16:41:00.002-07:00

In the Kitchen

2008-01-05T16:27:00.001-07:00

This morning Leah helped me make coffee cake for breakfast. She helped me measure each ingredient, and then I let her pour it into the bowl. Here we are stirring and stirring together. Boy, did we make a mess! I think she liked being a part of this activity.

Leah wishes you a Merry Christmas

2007-12-23T22:49:00.001-07:00

Nostalgia

2007-12-16T18:00:00.001-07:00

Last month while visiting my parents, I had a strange sense of familiarity as I watched my daughter play and learn inside the very walls where I had done the same as a small child. She played in the same room of my parent's basement with the very same toys I played with when I was her age. She went to Sacrament Meeting and nursery in the same rooms of the same church building where I attended them as a child (In fact, nearly two years ago, she was also blessed in the same chapel that I had been blessed in 22 years earlier, and in the presence of many of the same people). I sang her the same goofy bathtub song while she took a bath in the same tub where I learned the song myself so many years ago. Very nostalgic, no?

Here she is singing along to "The Bathtub Song"

Teaching and Learning

2007-12-10T09:37:00.001-07:00

What a fun age Leah is right now! Everything we teach her is new and exciting. We got her a play kitchen with her birthday money from Lola. It is so fun to see her explore and make believe! Thanks Lola!

Leah doesn't remember her last birthday, last Christmas, or last winter, so for everything we teach her, it's like she's learning it for the first time. I imagine it will feel this way again next year. How exciting is it to teach your little one about the birth of Christ and what snow is and to see the comprehension on her face several years in a row! She's learning so much...new traditions, new songs, new stories.

Here's a list of some recent things she's learned for the "first time":

Snow (and cold)

The Christmas tree and its twinkly lights

Blowing out birthday candles and opening presents

Not opening the presents under the tree

"Ring around the rosie"

Baby Jesus

"How the Grinch Stole Christmas"

Make-believe with her play kitchen

Winnie the Pooh (and his friends, of course!)

The bathtub song

...and so many more.

She always likes to sing along to songs she's heard. At 6:00 yesterday morning I heard her shout "Let's go fly a kite" and in the car she sang "You've got a friend in me!" This morning I heard her chanting something about Jesus, then I realized she was signing "Jesus wants me for a sunbeam," which she had to have learned at nursery, because I don't remember singing it to her. What a great feeling it is to realize that she is learning things at home and away. She is a very perceptive little girl.

I'm So Glad When Daddy Comes Home!

2007-12-07T18:24:00.001-07:00

The Highs and Lows of Being Two

2007-12-03T20:52:00.001-07:00

Leah had a relatively tear-free birthday; no major owies, no time-outs or spankings. We were busy partying, so she didn't get to bed until 10:00 last night, which made for a not so happy toddler today. The poor girl was under-rested from the start, and thanks to two different doctor's visits and an afternoon in the car, didn't get more than 1 hour of nap time. Chris came home at lunch time and was witness to Leah getting knocked in the head as she stepped in front of a door as it opened. Then when he came home from work, within an hour she pulled a chair over onto herself, getting a nasty forehead bruise, and in her traumatized state wouldn't eat dinner. By this point in time, we couldn't yet tell what part was hurt, so in case it was her mouth that hurt, I gave her ice to munch on...and she choked on it. I did a finger sweep and made her gag and it was actually quite scary. Yeah, it wasn't such a great day.

We were all a little traumatized by the time bed time rolled around. We are glad for the perspective that life is fragile and are appreciating our little girl so much right now despite the grumpy moments, or should I say days (we just don't want to be reminded of that fragility every day...).

On a good note,

the Dynamic Duo has been reunited!

Leah and Ophie are together again at last! Our friend at the Conoco in Laramie followed through on his promise to mail Ophie to us, and she arrived today! Here is Leah beaming as Ophie's return was revealed! Any ideas what to send this guy as a token of our appreciation?

2nd Thanksgiving and Birthday Pie

2007-12-03T10:11:00.001-07:00

Leah was so happy on her birthday yesterday! She somehow knew that it was a special day because we were so happy and kept singing "Happy Birthday" to her. At first when I asked her what day it was and how old she was, she responded with "Elephants" and "Monkeys." Hmmm...obviously, we've programmed certain answers into her.

After church, she took a four hour nap during which the proud parents created a Thanksgiving dinner. We had some of our good friends and neighbors over to share it with us. Kudos to David for being willing to share a birthday bash with Leah. Dinner was followed by presents and a dessert buffet, then a rambunctious game of Balderdash. (Picture of candle-blowing coming soon...)

She really enjoyed opening her presents:

"Where the Wild Things Are" and a giant picture frame for her Pachyderm Painting from Grandma and Grandpa
A portable booster seat from David & Michal (we can take it to their house!)
From Mommy and Daddy: a plush Nemo (should have opened this one last), "Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What do you see?," a Winnie the Pooh video, and a new shirt.

She also got cards with Target gift cards from Lola, and cash from Aunt Joy and Great-Grandma & Grandpa Fosdick in Savanna. Thanks everyone!

Here she is with her spoils (click on a picture to see it bigger):

Circus Souvenir

2007-11-29T17:26:00.002-07:00

While in Chicago last week, Uncle Carl treated us to something very special: a night at the circus! I don't think Leah quite knew what to expect, aside from elephants which we programmed into her. We arrived early for the pre-show in which you can get really close to the animals and performers. There was a lady who did a hula-hoop act, and her finale was to hula 16 hoops at once--that was pretty cool. We saw the poodles dance on their hind legs and do other tricks, acrobatics up close, and watched while Asia the elephant painted a picture by holding a paintbrush in her trunk. We entered to win the painting.

Well, the show was awesome. Leah was a little sleepy at first so it took her awhile to get into it, but eventually she was clapping and announcing whenever a new animal came out onto the stage (at least, when she wasn't concernedly plugging her ears because of all the noise!). During the show they announced the winner of the Pachyderm Painting, and it was our very own Leah!!!! This is the painting, complete with a frame from Grandma. What a treasure!

Leaps and Bounds

2007-11-27T09:31:00.001-07:00

Leah is learning so much. She is really good at relating things that she has experienced (but with some coaching). On her own, she has identified that the circus was noisy and fun and that the elephants danced. Although she can't identify a circle from a square or triangle, she did voluntarily identify the set as "shapes" which was a big surprise to me! She is learning her colors, she sings along to the alphabet song, and can count to ten all by herself. She knows where baby brother is and calls him Sammy, gives my belly a kiss, and can re-create the hearbeat sound we heard at the doctor's office. She knows a boy from a girl since she's watched me change diapers. She is learning to use words instead of whines, much at my encouragement since I have zero tolerance or patience for whining. She can make two and three word sentances including "Baby sad," "Big truck," "Daddy's book," "I like bubbles," and "I love you". She knows how to ask for help, can answer when asked what her name is (E-ah), and can ask for things she wants such as food, a binky, to go swimming, or for a toy. She's recently decided she doesn't like having dirty hands and insists I clean them for her mid-meal. Leah can identify people in pictures, and even said that Uncle Carl, who wears a beard, was Jesus. She liberally gives smiles, hugs, and kisses. She is the queen of imitating. She's recently decided to start snuggling again. How we love our little girl. I'm so glad we didn't leave her at a gas station in Laramie, Wyoming!

The Lost may be Found!

2007-11-27T09:24:00.002-07:00

Perhaps my last post was premature, because Ophie may not be gone at all! I desperately and without hope called the Conoco in Laramie, Wyoming where Ophie was suspected to have been last seen. The attendant (unforgettable with a nose-ring, 1cm diameter earrings, and a tongue-ring) remembered us and kept Ophie safely under the counter should we return! He said he is going to mail her to us, which is quite believable considering there is a post-office station inside that very Conoco! Hooray! This emotional pregnant woman cried tears of joy! Leah has asked for Ophie in the meantime, and I usually just changed the subject or replaced Ophie with another stuffed animal, but on the one occasion that I told her Ophie was "all gone" and lost, I think we were both near tears! She saw the picture of Ophie on the post, and very dejectedly remarked "Ophie, lost!" and kissed the screen. I am very hopeful now that we may be able to reunite the two friends. I will undoubtedly keep you updated as more breaking news develops.

Farewell, Dear Friend

2007-11-26T00:16:00.001-07:00

We've kept track of her and her precious Joey for almost a year. She's traveled with us to Illinois, Washington, Texas, and all places in between. She's gone through the washing machine many a-time, she has been retreived from multiple lost-and-founds, and she has absorbed pancake syrup, vomit, spaghetti sauce, orange juice, tears, and countless other substances, may they remain unknown to us. She was greatly loved, her fabric becoming threadbare and her stuffing lumpy. Leah has enjoyed parenting her favorite kangaroo, diapering her, feeding her, giving her a bath, brushing her teeth. Oh, how we will miss our dear Ophie. May the finder at that gas station in Wyoming enjoy her soft lumpiness for years to come.

I think I was perhaps more attached to Ophie than anyone else, for I actually shed tears at the realization that we left her behind, and Leah has yet to ask for Ophie (but I am also 7 months pregnant...), and I continue to mourn. Ikea unfortunately no longer sells the Klappar stuffed animal series, and the only one on ebay is somewhat overpriced...should that matter? We are prepared to present a stuffed Nemo to Leah on her birthday...but can that really take the place? Here is our family picture from our vacation, the last picture of our whole family, before Ophie was lost. May she rest in peace. *sniffle*

Zoo Talk...Still

2007-11-15T13:47:00.002-07:00

It's been a month since our trip to the Zoo, but Leah still remembers what we saw and still talks about the animals all the time. We're looking forward to taking her to the circus next week and seeing more elephants!

Singing, Singing

2007-11-15T13:17:00.001-07:00

Here's Leah singing at the dinner table. Can you decipher what the words are? Because we sure can't...

All about imitating

2007-11-01T10:35:00.001-06:00

Leah is quite good at imitating. She is very perceptive. Things that we say and that she hears, although she may not indicate that she's learned it, sometimes re-surface in her memory much later.

For example, she really likes Finding Nemo. She knows the chanting from the fish-tank initiation scene. Little did we know that she has the entire scene committed to memory. One day I did the chant and she responded with "Sharkbate, Ha Ha!" which is the next line! We never taught her that! She also likes to speak "whale" and gets a good laugh when we speak whale back. It took us a few times to figure out what she was saying, but then it was like a light-bulb turning on, and she was thrilled! She is always anxious to watch her favorite movies and excitedly waits to sing and dance along.

She can count to 10 but usually skips 5 and can do the alphabet in pieces with 9 coming after H. She's learning the song and I think that has helped. Somehow she picked up "No Way!" and says it all the time. She also "prays" while we are blessing the food, and we hear her saying all sorts of words that are just identifying the things around us, "Mommy, Daddy, water, Ophie, Dinosaur" etc. She encourages herself while she works a wooden puzzle by saying "turn it, turn it, good girl" and says "careful" as she goes down the stairs by herself.

Yesterday, Leah was "coloring" while I was reading and after a while I looked up to see what she was doing. She had torn a page out of her coloring book and was ripping it to shreds while saying "Sing songs, ...treats". After a puzzled moment, we realized she was recreating a scene from Mary Poppins where Mr. Banks tears up a peice of paper in the fireplace while grumbling about what the children wanted in their nanny. See for yourself:

What a copycat! (We may need to get some more coloring books)

Fairy again

2007-10-31T22:28:00.002-06:00

Mommy is proud of her work and of Leah for not destroying her costume today. Leah even liked to wear the headband, which was a surprise!

Interestingly enough, we got more compliments on last year's monkey costume that a neighbor kid was wearing than on the delicate and frilly costume Leah was wearing. I personally think Leah had the best costume and was the cutest two year old and should have won the costume contest--for what it's worth.

Consequences

2007-10-29T13:18:00.001-06:00

Leah doesn't really understand the concept of consequences. In the two hotels we stayed in last week, her favorite amenity in each was the closet door, which she could close on herself and which provided a terrific bite-sized place to hide. However, just every about closet door provides a method for pinching fingers somehow. We experienced pinched fingers over and over and over again. You'd think that sliding the door on fingers or getting them pinched in the hinges would compel her to no longer play with the closet door, but in reality this consequence did not in the least deter our little one from continuing said activity. It is obviously an immediate and guaranteed consequence for a specific activity, and she continually brings it upon herself. Aren't kids supposed to learn that if they touch the hot stove and get burned they never try it again? I really do believe that if my little Leah were to ever touch the hot stove, she would probably still do it again! (I hope never to find out.)

Here's another example. The time out. When I ask her to do something and she simply ignores me, I warn her of a coming time out. I count (very slowly, too) one, two, three. On occasion, she jumps into action at two and does what I've asked her to do or cease doing (stop throwing things in the toilet, come here, don't hit, etc). But more often than not, she earns herself a timeout, which right now consists of being strong-armed on my lap for about a minute and a half. She thinks this activity is miserable, but continues to earn herself time-outs on a regular basis.

Other behaviors such as touching the computer or stereo or putting things in a socket earn her a slap on the hand, which makes her cry. So why does she continue to do it again and again and again? Didn't she learn?

When the misbehavior is a dangerous one, such as running out into the street, there is no grace period and I run after her and give her an on-the-spot spanking. Yes, I spank my child. (She wears a diaper, okay!) Sometimes she cries, but sometimes she laughs! Then I put her back down and she pulls free of my tight hand-hold and runs straight back into the street. I don't understand.

Lately she's been really clumsy, standing on things and falling off of them and biting her lip on the way down. This has happened twice in two days. Once she gets over the trauma aspect of an actual blood injury, she is usually really cuddly and pouty, which is really sweet. But it still doesn't explain why she continues to do the very same activities that get her hurt or in trouble!

Cuddly, pouty Leah after she bit her lip:

So this makes me wonder: If she doesn't understand the consequences of misbehaving or getting hurt, does she understand the consequences of positive behavior? She gets candy when she tells me she went poopy and when she sits on the potty. Does she get it? She gets cheering and a round of applause and attention when she succeeds at an activity or does something cute. Does she get it? Am I to conclude that since she does cute things more often than mischeivous things she already recognizes the value of positive attention and prefers it to the negative consequences of bad behavior?

Fairy Leah

2007-10-28T22:01:00.001-06:00

Fairy Leah all decked out:

Attacking the Frankenstein pinata:

Mother and Daughter together:

The Latest Adventures

2007-10-23T13:12:00.002-06:00

While we've been on vacation in the exotic and far-away land of northern Utah, we had the opportunity to go on several exciting adventures. (Click on any picture to see it enlarged)

She liked the huge pillowy beds in our hotel room. That's the right way to watch Nemo.

Thursday, we visited the Dinosaur Park in Ogden. It was very cold. Once we went inside, Leah was frightened by the realistic mechanical dinosaurs that kept growling at her. I just told her to growl back.

On Friday, we visited the Aerospace Museum at Hill Air Force Base. It was free! Leah occasionally noticed the airplanes and was temporarily amazed, then continued to play with the exhibit ropes and look at her reflection in the floor.

On Saturday, we visited the Treehouse Museum in Ogden with the Lewises and the Rowberrys. There, kids can dress up like knights and put on a show, make noise on drums and marimbas, play with trains, dive into all of the greatest story-book scenes, and much more. Of course, we forgot the camera, but it was a blast for young and old!

Leah got to experience what it's like to be a guitar hero!

Gramma sent a new dress which Leah wore to church on Sunday. She likes that her new Mary Janes are so tappy on hard floors, so she doesn't want to take them off!

Monday we took Leah to the Hogle Zoo for the first time. She especially liked the monkeys, the elephants, the "teddy" bears, the penguins, chasing turkeys, growling at the growling tiger, the drinking fountains that look like lions, the slide that's shaped like a snake, the stray sparrows that aren't really part of the zoo, the train, and the waterfall inside the aligator house. It was really funny to hear her try to repeat "Rhinocerous" and "Alligator." Here are some highlights:

Chasing a turkey.

She was so awestruck at the sight of a real elephant that she wouldn't look at the camera. I guess that's the whole point.

Climbing on the Tiger statue. We couldn't exactly let her cuddle with a real tiger, could we?

Riding the Zoofari Express.

Sitting on the statue elephant's trunk.

At the wrong end of a gorilla.

All tuckered out at the end of the day. Whew! Mission: Accomplished.

Fun times with Lola

2007-10-14T20:12:00.002-06:00

Lola and Russ came through this past week for a few days, and I've since sorted through over 300 pictures to bring you a select few. Enjoy!

Playtime!

Showing off tricks for Lola and Russ

At Thanksgiving Point's Scarecrow Festival. She had to hug each and every pumpkin.

Yes, there was a certain amount of climbing before she could come down! She was fearless even though the other kids could have easily trampled her.

Playing in the water and sand at the Dinosaur Museum. I think she looks like Mommy when she was a little girl.

Check out my giant dinosaur that Lola got me!

Story time with Lola

Favorite activities

2007-10-14T20:00:00.000-06:00

Leah's favorite activity is jumping. Here she is playing in a pool full of balls at the Scarecrow festival (we mostly stayed in the toddler tent). We were so inspired that we came home and recreated the ball pit in our very own basement. She loves it!

Why kids are so stinkin' expensive

2007-10-12T08:50:00.000-06:00

First of all, they cost a lot to get here. From the initial pregnancy test (I get mine from the dollar store) to months of maternity clothes and outrageous pregnancy cravings, it is an expensive process, not to mention the hospital and doctor's bills. Then there's the nursery to outfit and stock, including a crib, a rocking chair, other furniture for baby's room, clothes and diapers for a newborn, all the accessories needed for nursing and travelling with convenience and safety-the carseat, stroller, diaper bag, etc.

Once the baby is born, you have to constantly supply diapers for a minimum of 2-3 years. Right now, Leah wears 5 or 6 diapers a day, and at approximately $.25 each, that's over a dollar a day! You have to provide food and clothing for the child, who is constantly growing and therefore requiring a progressively increasing amount of food and continually needing new clothes and shoes each season.

Then of course are the developmental expenses that creep in along the way: she's crawling, so you need to buy a gate to keep her from tumbling down the stairs. She's teething, so you need to buy teething gel, tylenol, and cough syrup. She's imitating everything you do, so you buy her a play camera, a play phone, a play set of keys, and of course you have to document it with a real camera for the grandparents to see. She's graduated from a bottle and you need to outfit the cupboards with sippy cups, but it takes 10 tries to find the right kind. She needs age-appropriate toys to help her development, so you buy new toys every six months, and all manner of devices to provide entertainment for the child so you can do something else. She wants to feed herself, so you need to buy kid forks and spoons and bibs. She's old enough to start sitting on the potty, so you buy a training potty and start buying more expensive, less effective diapers (we haven't gotten here yet). Then there's the painful expense of replacing things that your dear little one has broken, something we have yet to experience the joy of, but that I know is coming.

We haven't even gotten to the school-age stage of music lessons and sports teams, school fees, field trips, 11pm sugar-cube igloos. I don't even know what I'm missing!

Granted, it is not as expensive to have a second kid as it is to have the first, since you can use the same nursery furniture, clothes, carseat, toys, teething gel, etc. But it's dang expensive! First of all, why would anyone have children at all, and secondly, why wouldn't you have a second based on the decreasing relative price!?!?

But, oh the joy!

On Numbers and Tumbling

2007-09-30T22:41:00.001-06:00

Leah has perfected her somersault. Plus, she also surprised us today by counting to ten all by herself! She only does either when she's in the mood to perform. Here's what we could catch on video.

Why Mom is so tired

2007-09-28T12:41:00.001-06:00

Here's my rising star modeling in some new duds (her first pair of Levi's--and they are too big). I think the hearts are a little reminiscent of the 80's, don't you? (Click the picture to see it bigger)

Now, don't let the adorableness of this little one fool you. Not long after these photos were taken and the said child was freshly bathed and dressed in the new fall apparel pictured, we sat down for lunch. Here are a few things you may not know about Leah:

1. She has recently begun announcing on an hourly basis that she is hungry and/or wants a snack. This may be due to the near expulsion of milk from her diet, or perhaps she's just growing.
2. She likes to feed herself. Let me rephrase that, she won't let anyone else feed her but herself.
3. She ~~prefers~~ insists on using a spoon and a fork, but owing to her lack of coordination, food ends up in her lap rather than her mouth most of the time.

For lunch today I served PB&J, a mozarella cheese stick, carrot sticks, water, and after all these items were served and disposed of she was still hungry and requested a slice of buttered toast. This is what Leah did with her food: spit out tiny bits of masticated carrot and refused to actually swallow any of it; made her cheese stick dance, pulled it into tiny shreds and threw it on the floor (she was mad that I peeled it into smaller peices and would have rather I served it as a single stick--who knows if she would have actually eaten it that way or not); dissected her sandwich so that she could lick out only the jelly, then ate the peanut buttered bread separately; licked the butter off the toast smearing it all over her face and by the time the butter was completley melted (and therefore no longer visible), she just threw it on the floor.

Meanwhile, since she wouldn't let me take part in the feeding process, I took advantage of her (contained) high chair time to do things like sweep up the past week's worth of discarded food and frantically scrub the grime off the floor, having surpassed my tolerance level for kitchen floor filth. I was planning to put her down for a nap after lunch and wanted to fully exploit naptime with my own overambitious plans such as putting away all our clothing that now rests in the clean laundry pile (at least its not a dirty laundry pile, right?) But of course, here I am ranting instead of folding and sorting.

But I was particularly flustered this lunch: she wouldn't let me help her be clean while eating and I knew she was wearing brand new clothes I didn't want her to ruin (enter salivated, orange carrot pieces and red, sticky jelly); I was sweeping the floor while she was throwing food back on the floor (enter cheese and toast); I was up and down from sink to floor with a rag scrubbing (with only one gloved hand so I could ration food to the child with the other) and getting lightheaded every time. For some reason, a certain song came to mind:

There is no end to filth,
There is no end to diapers,
There is no end to toddlers,
There is no end to this floor,
There is no end to [input task or state of being]...

Here is an isolated incident of Leah feeding herself with a spoon. She is actually fairly good at it. Only occasionally does she get it in her hair. Fortunately, she's gotten the message that if she takes off the bib, I take away the food and feed her myself.

A little something

2007-09-27T13:29:00.000-06:00

Leah sitting in a doll stroller completely fixated by Nemo.

Hugs for everyone

2007-09-24T15:42:00.000-06:00

We have recently begun the era of 2-minute Family Home Evening lessons geared toward toddlers. I realized as I organized my selected Gospel Art pictures that this was only the first of many. MANY. (I also realized that all those times we tried to have FHE as a childless couple were merely in order to produce the habit of Monday Family night so that once we did have children, we could teach them the gospel).

Our lesson was on being grateful for our blessings. I had selected a picture of the prophet, a picture of the scriptures, a picture of the earth, and nature, and animals, etc. I had excercised my crayon and paper skills to draw a picture of our house and a picture of a table plentifully spread with food. We went to the temple grounds to sit in the grass and play with the fountain as part of FHE.

The lesson went great. She paid attention for about 30 seconds, then I quickly summed it up out of necessesity and we were done. As we walked back to the car, I tried to incorportate how we can show that we are greatful for what we have. I said we can show we are grateful by eating the healthy food we are provided, giving our family members hugs, and by being nice to our toys, etc.

I don't know if it was related to our FHE lesson or not, but a few days later, Leah picked up a carrot during dinner and said "Hug! Hug!" and gave her carrot a hug. What a great way to be grateful!

Death of a Sippy Cup

2007-09-11T13:39:00.000-06:00

This is what a sippy cup looks like after its been run over by a car:

As a follow-up to the on-going sippy cup war, Leah still refuses to drink milk from a sippy cup, but has been drinking chocolate milk in small amounts. What do we conclude from this considering this happened yesterday? Irony? Poetic justice? Casualty of war?

Peanut Butter, Please!

2007-09-11T13:15:00.000-06:00

We recently purchased a package of generic cracker sandwiches. They were pretty gross to us, but our kid seems to like them! Yesterday I gave her some cheesy crackers with peanut butter filling. She dutifully set to work licking the peanut butter out of each and every single one, then looked up and proudly announced, "All done!"

Chocolate Juice

2007-09-08T10:14:00.000-06:00

Leah wants to be a baby a little bit longer: sucking a pacifier at night and drinking from a bottle. That is until Thursday. For some reason, Thursday I decided to box up all the bottles and put them away for good. Since then Leah has refused to drink milk from a sippy cup, so of course she's not had hardly any milk at all; up until this point she was drinking 15-20 ounces a day, a significant part of her diet. I still want her to drink milk, of course, so I keep offering it to her in a variety of forms hoping she'll give in to the hunger. We've tried at least 4 different kinds of sippy cups, I've tried giving her a regular cup, trying it with a straw, offering milk cold and warmed, etc. So far the only thing that has remotely worked has been chocolate "juice" which she has taken a few tentative sips of from a regular cup.

It's now been two nights that she's gone to sleep on an empty stomach, and she's actually slept just fine. But I feel extremely guilty and cruel. I also need to be sure to give her plenty of other fluids so she doesn't get dehydrated. Perhaps my concern for Leah sleeping hungry was what initiated my dream about hytugit, for fear that she'd reach that level.

Any advice on growing up cold turkey?

All smiles

2007-09-03T21:07:00.001-06:00

Airplane!

Yum! Watermelon!

Labor day. With new friend Max in the (wet) sandbox.

This week in pictures

2007-08-20T08:55:00.000-06:00

Why doesn't anyone make comments about Leah's pictures and videos? Once there are several comments, thats how I know its time to post again! And now that I have a stat counter, I know who is lurking around and not commenting...I know who you are! I also added a guestbook.

Asleep on the couch:

Practicing sitting on the potty:

Like mother, like daughter

2007-08-04T12:53:00.000-06:00

I realized one day when Leah put deoderant in her armpits that she is very observant! I did this little test with her to see how much she knows just by having watched us do these simple tasks!

Although Leah did the entire alphabet on the first try, we ran out of memory space on the camera, which is why "Y, Z" are done with a Leah in different clothes! We still had to finish!

Pictures

2007-07-11T14:12:00.000-06:00

I've uploaded a new album of Leah's pictures to DotPhoto. Click on the "DotPhoto Albums" link on the left panel of this page to view some pictures from the last six months.