1/31/12: L's prayer

Candy's post tonight:

Wow!! I think everyone knows the problems I have had with my "face rash" well, I was just in the bathroom putting some cream on for the itching and Elodie who is visiting said why are you doing that? I told her it hurts and itches and I wish it would just hurry and get better.........that little 4 yr old just got down on her knees and said Dear Jesus, please help Candy's face to feel better. ..........I almost started to cry......I can't imagine anything more powerful than the prayer of an innocent little 4 yr old.................

....and when dale came home she asked to say grace at dinner and she said thank you tor our food and don't forget to help candy's face amen,.......is she special or what. ..I cant believe she did that all on her own....good job mom and dad and Bible group class too I guess

I sure didn't expect the prayer request to come from a 4yr old. .....right out of nowhere...just touched my heart...now it HAS to get better. ..so much faith in her little face...if only we could all have such simple
pure faith in what we ask

1/30/12: L goodies and C stacks cups

Yesterday Elodie was in Breckenridge with Auntie Candy and Uncle Dale for the ice sculpture contest. Candy said Elodie was really good the whole day and even said, "excuse me" every time she wanted to talk when Dale and Candy were already talking.

Then today, Candy wanted to buy G*irl Sc@ut ice cream at the store and Elodie threw a huge fit and told her she couldn't buy it because it had GS cookies in them. Such a proud mommy moment. The funny thing is that I haven't specifically talked to Elodie about how horrible the GSs are. She must have just overheard me telling Dave about it.

For the past week or so, Callen's been getting into the drawer in the kitchen and taking out a stack of big plastic cups. He likes to unstack them and then stack them again. Sometimes he puts cookies in the cups and then stacks them. Tonight during his bath, I realized he can stack the cups in his bath as well, making a tall stack or stacking them inside each other. Dave said he's been doing that and then saying, "uh uh" and pointing to it proudly.

1/26/12: C signs "book"

Today, out of the blue, Callen signed "book" over and over and over throughout the day. Guess he's got that one down. The funny thing is that you give him a book and then he signs "book" again so you start to read it to him, but then he wants down. He has no patience to actually be read a book. :)

1/24/12: C ate 1/2 of a PB&J!

For lunch today, Callen ate a quarter of Elodie's PB&J and then a quarter of mine. My little boy ate half of a PB&J all by himself!

Yesterday, Elodie tried to video chat Katie but it didn't go through so she said she was going to type Katie instead. She wanted to type a sentence so she got her sight words' list and picked out three words to make a sentence all by herself. Then she typed those words and hit send. She typed, "She can jump." I was *so* proud!

We also did what we call our God book ("Leading Little Ones to God") while we were waiting at the allergist. The story was about Elijah and the woman with little bread and oil. I wasn't really sure Elodie was paying attention when I read because there are lots of distractions at a doctor's office, but at the end of the story when I asked the comprehension questions, she rattled off all the answers. I was impressed! Then the nurse said my time was up and Elodie told her, "just a little prayer first!" so we did our ending prayer before the nurse checked my arms. :) *Beaming mama!*

1/22/12: Dropped nursing, etc.

This past week, Callen started refusing to nurse (and sometimes asking for milk instead by signing "milk") or nursing very little at lunch and dinner so that by the end of the week, he'd dropped the 12pm and 4pm nursings all together. Kinda sad for me, but at the same time very freeing for me because now, if I wanted to, I could actually be gone all day. :)

Other Callenisms: He'll sign "milk" and walk over to the fridge. I'll get out the milk and try to hand it to him, but he'll refuse, so I'd put it back. But he actually wanted it so he'll whine and I'll get it out again and he'll take off down the hallway and then sit down in the family room waiting for his milk. This happened for awhile before Dave and I figured out that, yes, he wanted his milk, but only when he had sat down where ever it was that he wanted to sit. So now, he'll sign "milk," walk to the fridge to see you get it out, then high tale it somewhere to sit down and wait for you to hand it to him. So cute!

I think I've mentioned before that Callen loves the plastic castle slide we have in our basement. He can go up and down it on his own, but occasionally can't get up it if his socks or jammies are too slippery (best with bare feet). His latest thing is sliding down into this huge monkey pillow pet type thing at the bottom. He just loves it. Plus, it cushions his slide if he wasn't so eloquent about his method downward. He also just loves to walk up to the monkey and fall into it and then irrupt into giggling. It's pretty darn cute. He likes to play peek-a-boo through the slide too (when he's on the end he climbs up at).

He seems to incur more injuries, boo boos, bruises, eggs on his head, split lips, etc. that we ever remember Elodie having. Just in the past 24 hours, he split his bottom lip open, fell off the step stool onto the tile floor on his face attaining a nice goose egg on his forehead and split open his top lip, all while his parents watched while not be fast enough to prevent injuries.

Windy!

ok wind, you can go away now. seriously. i mean, you know it's windy when someone's large rug is blowing down the street (i'm assuming it blew right off someone's porch). hubby said people were driving 30mph on the highway b/c it was so windy.

1/18/12: C's new car seat arrived :)

yay. C's new car seat came tonight. maybe now I can get my car back? :) :) :) been driving D's for weeks now.

1/17/12: God provides

We've been having problems with Elodie being consumed with fear, mostly completely irrational fear. And what is this week's take home lesson from BSF? Maybe I should have looked at it sooner!!

God is so cool like that.

1/16/12: C big eater tonight

Callen ate an entire 1/4 pound hamburger tonight and some sweet potato fries. Way to go bubby!

1/16/12: L sayings and schooling

This morning L had a total meltdown and was sent into a time out. There, I could hear her crying, "I'm separated from God!!" and then, "I want God. I want God. I want God." I guess that lesson about sin last week is sinking in.

After that she kept crying and screaming "I'm scared" and she was trembling in fear. It took me a LONG time to calm her down. There was much explanation that goblins and ghosts are not real. Much explanation that we don't have wolfs down here and that coyotes are not in our house. Then a couple hours later when she was getting in her bed for her quiet time, she spontaneously said something like I'm throwing all my scaredness up to Jesus. He's taking it for me. :)

Have you wondered what a homeschooling day looks like for us? I spent a few hours yesterday putting things into our online calendar so that things that repeated week after week would just be there. Then I just have to add the things that change each week. I usually do 3 weeks of planning at a time since her units this year are in 3 week intervals. Things went much smoother being able to reference my cell phone calendar for a list of what needed to get done this morning for school.

We started at 9AM with her Bible memory verses (while I got Callen into his highchair, gave him food, poured my cereal & milk, and ate). Then we went over her ABC flashcards. She already knows all her letters so we use them to review the sounds the letters make. She pretty much knows all her sounds too, with the exception of maybe one or two (some letters have more than one sound). After that she was supposed to do two pages in her workbook. This is where the meltdown came in. She didn't want to do the pages and she didn't want to write her name in uppercase and lowercase letters (she only wanted to write her name in all capitals). Then it took an hour and ten minutes to have her tantrum and calmed back down. When she was screaming, I grabbed the laundry and stuck a load in the wash. She finally did her two pages, with minor complaints. She was doing some coloring (the number 6 and six dolls) and then tracing the number 6. The second page was on 'g' so she colored a grasshopper, added grass to the page, and traced the letter g. Then we had lunch. When I finally sat down to eat, I had her review her kindergarten and 1st grade sight words. I think she knew 19 of the 20 kindergarten words and knew maybe 7 of the 40 1st grade words. We haven't review those in months so I was impressed. Callen was still eating so I had Elodie grab a Bob book to read, while I put a load of wash in the dryer. I was so proud of her. She didn't get frustrated or mad or throw a fit, like she has in the past. She went over the three sight words in the front and then was able to read the whole book. She either knew the word by heart or was able to sound it out. Super proud mama and daddy!! After Callen finally finished lunch, we went downstairs to listen to a story on George Washington. Then we did a snowman craft. She picked out pink paper for her snowman. I traced the circles and she cut out the smallest circle and told me to cut out the others. She then pasted them to the paper. She drew buttons, eyes, sunglasses, arms, stomach (the thing in the bottom circle "so he can eat"), and a mouth on her snowman. I drew the carrot nose on and outlined a hat, which she then traced and colored in. We finished with eight minutes to spare before quiet time. Then after her quiet time, I had her watch two short videos on MLK, Jr. since it's MLK, Jr. Day today.

photography progess

woohoo! made major photography progress today...my memory cards are officially empty. at least for now.

We really enjoyed the new Sherlock on PBS tonight. We're looking forward to the rest of the series.

1/15/12: C grows

I feel like Callen's height just grew overnight this past week. On Tuesday, January 10th, Callen turned 16 months old. I put him in a 12 mos. Ch*rekee pair of jeans that I had previously been rolling and I didn't have to roll them at all and he didn't trip on them either. Then the following day, it was cold and snowing so he wore a pair of 12 mos. C@rter's fleece pants and they weren't long either. So when I did laundry, I washed a few of his new 18 mos. stuff (two outfits from Mimi & Poppi from his birthday four months ago and a shirt I had gotten him). The 18 mos. shirt from @ld N@vy fit perfectly on Friday and today I put him in one of the C!rco 18 mos. outfits, and the top fits great, but I had to roll the pant's waist and legs. Woohoo little guy!

He's also been drooling a ton for his molars. I think he's getting all four molars at the same time. Poor guy. His bottom right one has already poked through two weeks ago and then today I felt the bottom left one poking through as well. His mandibular lateral incisors (bottom next to center teeth) are also very visible now...maybe half way up. His top left molar is just about to pop through if it hasn't already. It's poky...hard to tell. He doesn't like me sticking my fingers in his mouth!

compliments

oh and I got asked this morning if I was a student. Um...I'm over a decade too old for that, but thanks for making me feel good :)

Tebow Time!

Ready for the big game!

Wow. that was tough to watch.

1/10/12: C is 16 mos. old!

While it's cute to see all of Callen's developments, it's also bittersweet because I know it's possible that he's my last baby. I'm glad he's kind of stretched out the baby phase. He is finally walking, but still very unsteady and no words (other than dada) so I feel like I'm holding onto the baby part as long as I can.

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from b@bycenter.com:

Where, oh where, has your baby gone? You have a full-fledged toddler now. Walking and running still top the agenda, but take note of how complex your child's movements have become. When she crosses a room, she'll squat to pick up an interesting toy or stop to stack some blocks. If she's particularly ambitious, she'll figure out how to push a stool or chair over to the kitchen counter so she can climb up for a better look – all the more reason to make sure your house is as childproofed.

Scary sounds
Fear of loud noises sometimes surfaces unexpectedly. Your 16-month-old may cower, cry, and act downright terrified at the sound of a vacuum cleaner, a thunderstorm, a siren, fireworks, or a popping balloon.
Offer calm reassurance. A hug and an acknowledgement of his feelings – "Wow, that was a scary surprise, wasn't it?" – may be sufficient. Show your child how he can cover his ears to give him some control. Your toddler will eventually outgrow a fear of noises as he gains an understanding of where they come from and that they're harmless.

Tuning in to temperament
You've been picking up clues to your child's temperament from the day he was born. The way your 16-month-old interacts with the world around him will tell you a lot about how he'll probably respond to different situations, people, places, and things as he gets older.

Your child might be flexible and adapt easily to change – or he may need a more predictable schedule and plenty of advance warning before transitions. Pay attention to what works best for him. You know your child better than any book does.
For example, if your child functions best on a solid afternoon nap, try to make sure he gets one. If he's reserved in new situations, give him extra time to warm up rather than insisting that he hug people he meets. He's depending on you to help him feel comfortable. By respecting his needs, you can help him learn to deal with the world.

Sometimes you can modify your child's environment in small ways to help him stay engaged and avoid meltdowns. That said, it's not your job to make life fun and free of frustration. Your child will get upset and dissolve into tears and tantrums. It's all a normal part of how kids learn and grow, so don't take it personally!
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Callen does all of these things. He walks across the room and squats down to pick something up and then keeps going. He's more likely to put something in a box/basket or take it out than stack things. He definitely likes to climb on step stools or push things to where he wants them.

He easily cries when Elodie screams loudly. He doesn't react to me yelling but does react to Elodie. It scares him.

As far as Callen's temperment, for the most part, Callen is a happy child. He's much easier to entertain when Elodie's at home and wants much more one on one attention when she's not here. He does have a little temper. When he's told "no," he'll cry, bang his head on the floor, and spit out any food that is in his mouth. It's quite funny and annoying at the same time.

Since he doesn't have any words, he says "uh uh uh" to get your attention or tell you what he wants. He loves to turn the tv or xbox on and off repeatedly. He doesn't respond to "no." He love to have either the keyboard in the basement or the little travel one on and play the demo feature. He likes to play the drums. He also likes to push any buttons that make noise.

He still has excema spots. He gets a bit on his cheeks, a spot above each knee, a little behind his knee, a spot on top of his left foot, a spot on his right big toe, spots on the underside of each wrist, and some on his fingers. He will immediately try to rip open the sores on his knees when you take his pants off to change his diaper. :(

He hates waiting at the allergist in his stroller for 20 minutes. He will cry or whine the whole time. Not fun for mama at all.

He's a fairly picky eater and wants to eat pretzel sticks, animal crackers, r!tz crackers, cat cookies, or tortilla chips all day long. He also loves vegg!e straws and raisins. He likes his coconut milk too. He'll also eat (but not always) corn, peas, carrots, chicken, chicken nuggets, mexican rice, taco meat, blueberries, peanut butter, coconut yogurt, apple chicken sausage, pasta noodles, and meat marinara sauce. He refuses to eat apples, applesauce, pears, peaches, and squash.

He seems very bright. He might only have one word, but he understands a ton of what we are saying. He'll shake his head "no" to answer a question or say "uh uh uh" and burst into giggles if he's really excited about your question, i.e. "Do you want vegg!e straws?" He'll also say "dada" and point directly to daddy in a group photo.

He likes to open and close the pages of books, but has no patience to have a book read to him.

He loves music. He likes to swing his arms, perpendicular to his body, back and forth to music or bounce up and down. It's really cute!

He loves to push his airplane all over the family room, hallway, and kitchen. He likes to do it as fast as he can, like he's running. He'll also stop along the way to put stuff in the airplane or push the buttons on the yoke to play music.

He's very smiley and loves to laugh and giggle, but never when I want a photograph.

He's still not consistently sleeping through the night. We felt like he was getting much better and then he started getting a bunch of teeth in and now it's probably less than 50% of the time that he sleeps through the night.

He's still nursing but less consistently during the day because he's either not interested or it's really short or it just doesn't happen. He's still very consistent about first thing in the morning, right before bed, and if he wakes up at night (because then he'll go right back to bed). I haven't felt the rush to stop since he still feels so baby to me. Plus, there's all sorts of health benefits, and he's getting more protection from winter illnesses by nursing through the winter.

1/7/12: C walks long time

C is walking more and more and looking mighty proud of himself. Tonight he started walking from the window the kitchen, walked around the table, through the kitchen, around the counter, down the hall, all the way to the couch in the family room. I said, "yay Callen!" and he giggled and beamed.

I could hear him "uh uh" at the pantry. Then he walked all the way down the halfway to me sitting on the couch and did the sign for cookie and then toddled back to the pantry door and signed cookie again. So cute.

So happy I've booked a photography trip for this summer! I was jumping up & down in the kitchen this morning and both the kids were just laughing at me. :) Grand Tetons, here I come!

Dave's grandfather passed away

Dave's grandfather passed away this week. So glad he'll be able to go to the funeral. Here's his obituary:

John Evans (1924 - 2012)



John F. Evans

Des Moines

John, 87, passed away January 2, 2012, on the date of John and Jeanne's 67th wedding anniversary. A Mass of Christian Burial will be 10 a.m., Friday, at St. Anthony Catholic Church with burial to follow at Sunset Memorial Gardens. John's family will greet friends from 6 to 8 p.m., Thursday, at Brooks South Town Chapel, 7601 Fleur Drive.

John F. Evans was born on May 10, 1924 in Philadelphia, PA. He was a U.S. Navy veteran. John was preceded in death by his parents; wife, Jeanne; daughter, Diana; and his brother, Harry.

John is remembered by his children: Mike (Karen), Sandy (Tom) Burgett, Terri (Kim) Gabriel, Joy (Tom) Bishop, and Mark; nine grandchildren; 19 great-grandchildren; and one great-great-grandchild.

Memorial contributions may be given to the family and designated to the Community Living Center at the Des Moines VA Medical Center.

1/4/12: Walking more

Today, Callen's been walking a ton more. It's like he's decided that he wants to walk from place to place and he looks so proud of himself.

L went to the dentist today. She was SO excited! She did great and got her photograph taken for the "no cavity" club. She has a little staining in her molars that they are going to keep an eye on for future cavities so now we instituted a no candy, no gum policy.

Killer sunset on the way home!

Callen's figured out how to walk with his toy :)

1/1/2012: C's molars

Last night, C woke up around 12:45am and also at 5:45am. Today he seemed like he was drooling more. We thought...maybe his teeth are coming in? So I felt in his mouth and sure enough, I could feel his back bottom right molar poking through.