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Working on uploading some pictures so I can show you what we have been up to.
But for now just a story, or 2, then off to bed for a good night sleep before work. After a few healthy weeks, there are some snot & coughs showing their ugly faces around here again. So I think I better get my sleep while I can!
We have been working with the kids on saying their prayers before bed. Dancing to a CD with little kids Church songs. Talking on a toddler level about loving God & Jesus. Especially since we have been very absent at our Church lately. Its just hard with 3 2 year olds. They do not staff a nursery well. We have tried taking the kids there with no success. We end up staffing it ourselves. It was a huge nightmare with 3 tots, so we just took a "leave of absence" until we were brave enough to try to sit through a service with the 3 of them. But Saturday Livi told us she wanted to go to Church & sing Baby Jesus songs. So..... we went. Took all 3 tots into the service with us. Sat way in the back. Hayden got taken out 3 times for a time out of sorts. He was naughty! Had it just been Liv & Log, it would have been easy. They all got a few dirty looks from their mama though, because Hayden's ornery-ness rubs off. We left some Cheerios behind. I probably sprouted a few grey hairs, BUT... we survived. Can I get an "AMEN!"
I have mentioned the kiddos discovering the art of procrastination, especially before bed. Well tonight I just couldn't get mad at Hayden for procrastinating. Why? We had just gotten done saying their prayers. Their little hands folded. Repeating things like "Thank you for za-za" {pizza} "Love you God." "Love you baby Jesus." "Amen." And there Hayden sits on the side of his bed. Hands folded. Saying "More pray!" "No night-night." "More pray peas!" {please}
Little minds are just beautiful.
Again we turn two??
January 18, 2012..... was our 2 year Due Date Birthday!
Their birthday party seems like it was SOOO long ago. While due dates are really nothing more than a date, and mean very little to most people after a baby is born. To me, its a reminder of how premature they really were. How far they have really come. And how truely blessed we really are.
Having preemies is interesting. I think about development, milestones, "catching up" almost daily. While I do not have any current concerns about my tots being behind & I think they are as caught up as anyone could ask of them, the thought still lingers. I think lots of parents obsess over their toddlers speech development as they interpret their child's "version" of various words. And as my kids have an "excuse" or 2 to have speech delays or problems {and as I've been told that by various experts a time or 2} I can't help but analize it. But the past few months have been fantastic for speech at our house, here is where we are:
Logan has finally fallen into the stage where he repeats everything out of our mouths. Half of the time he doesn't have a clue what exactly he is saying. I often hear him behind me "scolding" Hayden or Livi if they did something wrong. "Ya-ya. No hit. Nice." {He forgets the "be" that comes before the nice, but he is always telling them to be "nice!"} But the sounds just come spewing back out & I love to hear it! We were at a play date this week with 7 other little kids & I got him to say each of their names. I was impressed. {PS. there were 4 of us nursing school classmates at this playdate. The 4 of us have had 10 kids, 9 boys, 1 girl in just 4 years!} Plus when he repeats sentences or phrases, its great practice in stringing a variety sounds together even if he doesn't grasp the full concept! He is still definately the quietest. But don't let that fool you. Its not that he knows less, or even that his vocabulary is smaller, its just his personality. He is just a man of few words. He doesn't say anything unless something really needs to be said.
Hayden is a horse of a different color. VERY different man than Logan. He talks a whole lot.... but doesn't really say anything! I think him & Logan are on a pretty equal page in terms of vocabulary, spoken & understood, but if you only spent a short time with them, you wouldn't think that. Hayden thinks he knows it all. Talks, talks, talks. But about half of what he says is just "filler." Nonsense sounds. And he likes to "show off" answering a question that I ask them, but I don't think he realizes that I know all he did was just repeat exactly what just came out of Olivia's mouth. He is starting to use his words to try to declare his independence, which is a bit trying because he doesn't always know exactly what he is asking for. Like crying & saying he wants the "yellow ball!!" Only to find out the ball he wants & has been throwing a tantrum over for 20 mins... is really blue. He knows his color words quite well... just not necessarily which word goes with which color? We're working on that!
Miss Livi, she is in a WHOLE other ballpark. She talks more or less in full sentences. She knows a lot of shapes. A ton of colors. And hardly says something without using an adjective to describe it. Two months has made a huge difference in their vocabs & I think if you were considering her 24 months now rather than 26, she'd be right up there with the front of the pack. Her pronunciation is often off. Some "words" are still less true words & more sounds that represent an object. But she puts them together to make a complete thought. Like the other morning when Jeff left for work she said: "ITS A MOMMY DAY! Daddy drive a car, go a-workin'" And she even tells stories of past events. Like: "Eat a-supper Mama GG's house. LeeLee eat a-supper too. Sessents {Presents.} Sassa. {Santa.}" <--She likes to recount Christmas. Still talks about baking a cake for Baby Jesus. This week was telling me the story of their birthday party when they, "Eat a Melmo cake. Mama singing. Alex singing too." She throws in an extra "a" a lot of places & subs it in for words she is missing. But she has the hang of it! And her memory is outstanding!! She loves to sing the ABC's {though she only gets as far as A.B.C!} And claps & says "YAY!!" when she is done.
Our house is loud, loud, loud. And while that may equate to a few extra Ibuprofen for this mama's headaches... its perfect.
Their birthday party seems like it was SOOO long ago. While due dates are really nothing more than a date, and mean very little to most people after a baby is born. To me, its a reminder of how premature they really were. How far they have really come. And how truely blessed we really are.
Having preemies is interesting. I think about development, milestones, "catching up" almost daily. While I do not have any current concerns about my tots being behind & I think they are as caught up as anyone could ask of them, the thought still lingers. I think lots of parents obsess over their toddlers speech development as they interpret their child's "version" of various words. And as my kids have an "excuse" or 2 to have speech delays or problems {and as I've been told that by various experts a time or 2} I can't help but analize it. But the past few months have been fantastic for speech at our house, here is where we are:
Logan has finally fallen into the stage where he repeats everything out of our mouths. Half of the time he doesn't have a clue what exactly he is saying. I often hear him behind me "scolding" Hayden or Livi if they did something wrong. "Ya-ya. No hit. Nice." {He forgets the "be" that comes before the nice, but he is always telling them to be "nice!"} But the sounds just come spewing back out & I love to hear it! We were at a play date this week with 7 other little kids & I got him to say each of their names. I was impressed. {PS. there were 4 of us nursing school classmates at this playdate. The 4 of us have had 10 kids, 9 boys, 1 girl in just 4 years!} Plus when he repeats sentences or phrases, its great practice in stringing a variety sounds together even if he doesn't grasp the full concept! He is still definately the quietest. But don't let that fool you. Its not that he knows less, or even that his vocabulary is smaller, its just his personality. He is just a man of few words. He doesn't say anything unless something really needs to be said.
Hayden is a horse of a different color. VERY different man than Logan. He talks a whole lot.... but doesn't really say anything! I think him & Logan are on a pretty equal page in terms of vocabulary, spoken & understood, but if you only spent a short time with them, you wouldn't think that. Hayden thinks he knows it all. Talks, talks, talks. But about half of what he says is just "filler." Nonsense sounds. And he likes to "show off" answering a question that I ask them, but I don't think he realizes that I know all he did was just repeat exactly what just came out of Olivia's mouth. He is starting to use his words to try to declare his independence, which is a bit trying because he doesn't always know exactly what he is asking for. Like crying & saying he wants the "yellow ball!!" Only to find out the ball he wants & has been throwing a tantrum over for 20 mins... is really blue. He knows his color words quite well... just not necessarily which word goes with which color? We're working on that!
Miss Livi, she is in a WHOLE other ballpark. She talks more or less in full sentences. She knows a lot of shapes. A ton of colors. And hardly says something without using an adjective to describe it. Two months has made a huge difference in their vocabs & I think if you were considering her 24 months now rather than 26, she'd be right up there with the front of the pack. Her pronunciation is often off. Some "words" are still less true words & more sounds that represent an object. But she puts them together to make a complete thought. Like the other morning when Jeff left for work she said: "ITS A MOMMY DAY! Daddy drive a car, go a-workin'" And she even tells stories of past events. Like: "Eat a-supper Mama GG's house. LeeLee eat a-supper too. Sessents {Presents.} Sassa. {Santa.}" <--She likes to recount Christmas. Still talks about baking a cake for Baby Jesus. This week was telling me the story of their birthday party when they, "Eat a Melmo cake. Mama singing. Alex singing too." She throws in an extra "a" a lot of places & subs it in for words she is missing. But she has the hang of it! And her memory is outstanding!! She loves to sing the ABC's {though she only gets as far as A.B.C!} And claps & says "YAY!!" when she is done.
Our house is loud, loud, loud. And while that may equate to a few extra Ibuprofen for this mama's headaches... its perfect.
"Breathing medicine doctor"
Livi saw the respiratory doctor this week. Follow-up from, well, from everything.
I took all 3 kids & went, & it actually went off without a hitch. Snack cups full of fruit loops can buy me just the right amount of time of silence usually! They were actually excited to see the "breathing medicine doctor." They quite like the inhaler, we have to pretend to give the boys puffs too everytime Livi gets hers. Not to mention, her name is Dr. Thomas! {We LOVE Thomas the train!} So they talked about her all morning, the whole way there & all the way home ;) {And my friend & past co-worker Anne now works there so it was great to see her briefly too!}
Livi is a rock star at this doctor thing. Sits quietly while they listen to her. Steps up nice on the scale. Stands against the wall to see how tall she is. She was awesome! {By the way, in clothes, no shoes, she was 27.5 pounds & I think 34.25 inches.} The boys sat nicely in the stroller, no screaming!! And Hayden actually wanted to jump out of the stroller to stand on the scale & see how big he was too! {Maybe we'll grow out of this stranger anxiety yet??}
Basically, she sounds good. We'll keep on keepin' on with the steroids through the winter months. Revisit the issue in spring & talk about weaning down her 'roid dose for the summer.
I took all 3 kids & went, & it actually went off without a hitch. Snack cups full of fruit loops can buy me just the right amount of time of silence usually! They were actually excited to see the "breathing medicine doctor." They quite like the inhaler, we have to pretend to give the boys puffs too everytime Livi gets hers. Not to mention, her name is Dr. Thomas! {We LOVE Thomas the train!} So they talked about her all morning, the whole way there & all the way home ;) {And my friend & past co-worker Anne now works there so it was great to see her briefly too!}
Livi is a rock star at this doctor thing. Sits quietly while they listen to her. Steps up nice on the scale. Stands against the wall to see how tall she is. She was awesome! {By the way, in clothes, no shoes, she was 27.5 pounds & I think 34.25 inches.} The boys sat nicely in the stroller, no screaming!! And Hayden actually wanted to jump out of the stroller to stand on the scale & see how big he was too! {Maybe we'll grow out of this stranger anxiety yet??}
Basically, she sounds good. We'll keep on keepin' on with the steroids through the winter months. Revisit the issue in spring & talk about weaning down her 'roid dose for the summer.
Cricut
So I got a Cricut for Christmas. I've played around with it a little. And I'm searching through their website & online tutorials for various things.
Any Cricut users out there have any words of wisdom? Great online resources? How tos?
Any Cricut users out there have any words of wisdom? Great online resources? How tos?
A new art...
The kids are working on mastering a new art. The art of manipulation/procrastination.
Since 2 year molars starting, Hayden has been a bedtime/naptime struggle to get down. Whether or not its caused by the molars, or sleeping habbits related to molars, or just a coincidence in timing, we've had a rough go of it getting him to conceide & crawl into bed. We try to make sure he has everything he, um, "needs" before going to bed. Blanket. Lovie. Pillow. Car. Mommy kiss. Daddy kiss. Daddy tuck in. But then it turns into "baby night night." So we grab a baby doll, get it tucked in with him. Then its "more tractor night night"... off to grab a tractor. "Elmo night-night"....off to... you get the picture. And lately a lot, we end up with a tantrum & occasionally a boy falling asleep on the floor by their bedroom door. But we're sticking to our guns & things are starting to get a little bit better. Still some "too early for this mama" mornings though.
And Livi at bedtime & at daycare drop off: "More kiss." "Mommy more kiss." "More kiss" "More kiss."
Ok so it's SOOO incredibly sweet. How can you not give in? But Liv, thats 8 kisses now, I love you too but mommy has to go to work at some point today. {This however will be different with Jeff's new schedule this semseter. He will be the drop off AND the pick up parent!}
Speaking of daycare. The kids had not been there in 2 weeks with Jeff being off over the holidays. So before heading back, we were talking with the kids about going back to school. And after all this time, Livi still continues to talk about Jack. His name is mentioned the minute we say school! However it sounds like this little diva of ours is already getting herself into some boy drama. When I drop the kids off in the morning, there is always just one other little boy in the toddler room. His name is Mason. As Logan & Hayden came around the corner he asked "Where's Olivia?" Apparently Mr. Mason has been asking the teachers every day if Olivia is coming today. So... Mason likes Livi. Livi likes Jack. Isn't this stuff supposed to not happen for another 10 years at least??!!
After the holidays I discovered the kids' baskets {cubbies}at daycare had been moved. But I guess that means they got bumped up an "age bracket" within the toddler room. They are no longer the youngest toddler group! How the littlest things seem like these big ole' milestones is shocking isn't it? They have been bringing home more artwork since the transition!
Since 2 year molars starting, Hayden has been a bedtime/naptime struggle to get down. Whether or not its caused by the molars, or sleeping habbits related to molars, or just a coincidence in timing, we've had a rough go of it getting him to conceide & crawl into bed. We try to make sure he has everything he, um, "needs" before going to bed. Blanket. Lovie. Pillow. Car. Mommy kiss. Daddy kiss. Daddy tuck in. But then it turns into "baby night night." So we grab a baby doll, get it tucked in with him. Then its "more tractor night night"... off to grab a tractor. "Elmo night-night"....off to... you get the picture. And lately a lot, we end up with a tantrum & occasionally a boy falling asleep on the floor by their bedroom door. But we're sticking to our guns & things are starting to get a little bit better. Still some "too early for this mama" mornings though.
And Livi at bedtime & at daycare drop off: "More kiss." "Mommy more kiss." "More kiss" "More kiss."
Ok so it's SOOO incredibly sweet. How can you not give in? But Liv, thats 8 kisses now, I love you too but mommy has to go to work at some point today. {This however will be different with Jeff's new schedule this semseter. He will be the drop off AND the pick up parent!}
Speaking of daycare. The kids had not been there in 2 weeks with Jeff being off over the holidays. So before heading back, we were talking with the kids about going back to school. And after all this time, Livi still continues to talk about Jack. His name is mentioned the minute we say school! However it sounds like this little diva of ours is already getting herself into some boy drama. When I drop the kids off in the morning, there is always just one other little boy in the toddler room. His name is Mason. As Logan & Hayden came around the corner he asked "Where's Olivia?" Apparently Mr. Mason has been asking the teachers every day if Olivia is coming today. So... Mason likes Livi. Livi likes Jack. Isn't this stuff supposed to not happen for another 10 years at least??!!
After the holidays I discovered the kids' baskets {cubbies}at daycare had been moved. But I guess that means they got bumped up an "age bracket" within the toddler room. They are no longer the youngest toddler group! How the littlest things seem like these big ole' milestones is shocking isn't it? They have been bringing home more artwork since the transition!
Just keep swimming...
Spent some time at the Y this weekend.... swimming!!
Took them a little while to get in & they weren't so fond of the deep end. But they played really well for about an hour & had a blast.
Hayden was the bravest fish. He is Mr. Go Getter lately. Here he is splashing his daddy using a shovel.
I had gotten them some water shoes at the end of the summer clearance prices. Which I think helped a lot at the Y. The zero entry, smooth, painted concrete is kind of slick there. Shoes were very helpful.
We had to coax him out when Logan & Livi were ready to go.
Tired girl ready to go....
....so tired she fell asleep waiting for lunch to cook! That swimming stuff is hard work!
On a side note... the boys' buzzes are growing on me. Might look better if anyone would cooperate for a picture!
This boy has eaten & eaten & eaten this week. I swear he'll weigh 35lbs by Friday at this rate!!
Molar #3
Well Hayden is drooling like a 12 month old. And his poor butt is sore, sore, sore. All to be explained by 2 year molar #3 popping through his bottom right gums. I can't believe he has popped 3 of them through so quick. Only that top left one yet to go!
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