Quick update on the kids

Hi!  We're MOVING on Saturday (hopefully more about that later), so I'm super-swamped, but I couldn't resist taking a quick break from packing in order to fill you in on the kids.

JOSHUA

Joshua's vocabulary has doubled in the last few weeks.  Up till now, he would say Dada (a lot), Mama (only when he wanted something, and usually in a frustrated tone), and NaNa (for "no no" when he was getting into something he knew he wasn't supposed to).

Recently he started saying "CaCa" for "cracker," and he uses this term for any snack he wants.  He will hunt me down carrying whatever he finds in the pantry -- from boxes of cookies or crackers to individual Peppermint Patties, and repeat "CaCa!  CaCa!" in the hopes that I'll open it for him.

He has always loved bananas; they're often what he eats for breakfast.  Recently he has alternated saying "Bana" and "Nana."

His "NaNa" (no no) has become a decisive "no," which is actually a word I'm so glad he knows.  Now if he wants something at mealtime, I can hold up different objects until I find something that he does say "No" and shake his head at.  We've also heard "yeah" on occasion though it's not consistent yet.

He comes very close to saying Grandma and Daniel, two of his favorite family members.  His tone saying "Mama" has softened too, as he's learned how to communicate in other ways.

I'm really enjoying him so much more now than I did just a few months ago.  As he learns to communicate, our times together are much more enjoyable and fruitful, instead of me trying to figure out why he is angry.

I finally weaned him last week (Aug 14) (hooray!  Do you know that I've been either pregnant or nursing since Fall 2006??!!!)  and though he was a bit needy at first, he and I have found other ways to bond.  He is much more snuggly now, and he will snuggle into my shoulder and allow me to rock him, sing to him, and pray over him.  He never sat quietly in my lap before now.  He also sits in my lap and we'll watch TV together -- at least until Katie asserts her right to my lap as well or he eventually gets restless and wants to run.

And run he does!  He went from crawling to running very quickly, and it's so funny to see him go.  I'm so thankful that we'll have a bigger home now because he'll have plenty of space to stretch his legs.  He also is constantly trying to get to the highest point in the house.   If I accidentally leave a chair next to the kitchen counter (which I've done a fair amount recently while packing dishes), he will get up and try to pull everything off the counter.  Once I found him on the floor with my coffeepot, with coffee all over himself.  I can't figure out how he pulled it down to the floor without breaking it, but thankfully he was ok!  And I've learned my lesson about leaving chairs near counters!

I tried hard-soled shoes on Joshua for the first time last Thursday (8/19) before my parents took my kids to the County Fair, and it was fun to watch him navigate with the new sensation on his feet.  (Please excuse the pre-move mess!)



Within the last week Joshua has learned to "blow" kisses -- which consists of simply going "mmm" in my direction, or accompanying that sound with a hand from his mouth into the air.  Simply charming.

Ah yes, and one final new "first" to tell you about with Joshua.  I returned from Home Depot the other day to John and the kids, and John greeted me with a laugh and a "Look what he's doing!!"  I was honestly afraid to look.  Here's what I found.  Apparently he stole the controller out of his daddy's hands.



KATIE


Katie is as delightful as ever.  Though she's had spells of being rude or too rough, she takes quickly (so far) to correction, and a timeout or even threatened timeout is usually enough to change her behavior.

After trying various bribery techniques (lollypops, Disney movies), Katie has started using the potty almost exclusively.  In fact, though she's been wearing diapers all week, her diapers have been staying clean and dry; she always tells me when she needs to go!  Hopefully she'll keep this up!

Initially she was registered this fall in a preschool that required her to be potty-trained, and the nearing deadline was stressing me out.  Then we learned we were moving, and I couldn't imagine trying to enforce potty-training during the already stressful (for all of us) transition of packing and moving.  So I'm so thankful that she's doing this herself.  Plus we transferred her to a new preschool that will be minutes from our new home, and that does not require 3-year-olds to be potty-trained.  So I thank God for relieving that stress from me for now!

Well, I have much more to say but it will have to wait till post-move.  Thanks for caring about us!

He's Crawling!

After 10 1/2 months I had finally decided that Joshua was going to skip crawling altogether and go straight to walking. He could sit up by himself and even pull himself to a kneeling position by holding onto ledges. He had learned to get around by rolling and lunging, and anytime he tried to crawl he'd still end up either bellyflopping on the floor or backing himself underneath a bed or table. So today I spent awhile with him teaching him to keep his balance while standing and holding onto something. And he's doing it! See below.

A few hours and a nap later, I was playing with Joshua on the floor and I started to see him move his knees underneath himself in a way he never had before. Tonight John saw him do the same thing. So while Joshua is still very tentative about it, we are happy to announce that YES, he is crawling!

By the way, as excited as we are about these new developmental milestones, I must tell you my FAVORITE thing Joshua does. He headbangs! Katie did the Baby Dance, and Joshua headbangs. I don't know where he learned it, but it happens a lot when he hears music. He typically does it when he doesn't think I'm looking (I glance over to find him rocking out!), but today he was nice enough to headbang for the camera. See below.

She's Walking!!

On Sunday, June 8, just a few hours after learning that her best friend Daniel (7 weeks older) was walking, Katie decided she couldn't let Daniel outpace her and walked for the first time! She took three steps to get to a toy. So exciting! While I couldn't get a video of the first few steps (we were watching National Treasure 2 at the time -- how dare she not give us warning beforehand?), here's a video taken shortly afterwards which shows a step or two.

And while I'm sharing the good news, let me share a few more highlights from this past week:

While we were dodging tornadoes, my friend Amy and her daughters took advantage of the regional blackout to come over for a fun sleepover! The next day, after our power finally came on, I babysat the girls and Katie fell asleep on 10-year-old Caitlin's lap as they watched "Hairspray."

Friday night our family took advantage of the 3-day weekends that John now gets every other week (what a blessed life we have with his new job!) and headed to the beach to visit with John's parents. It was way too hot to actually lie on the beach this weekend, but John's parents watched Katie several times so we could sleep in, go to the movies twice, and go out to dinner. What a wonderful, relaxing weekend -- especially when John's parents were supposed to be celebrating their own 36-year anniversary. (Speaking of which, HAPPY ANNIVERSARY, GRAMMY and JAY-PA!) Highlights from the weekend were Katie walking for the first time, trying chocolate ice cream for the first time, and enjoying her new doggie raft in the pool. She also now moo's spontaneously when I point to a picture of a cow.