Happy Birthday to Daddy

Yes. There is a father in the picture even though Jim rarely makes an appearance on this blog! Lydia was super excited that today is Jim's birthday when she woke up. Too bad he had already left for work. Some of her excitement is probably a little selfishly motivated. Here is what she told me.

"Next it is my birthday then Claire's birthday then Disney World then we celebrate the Christmas tree then we go to Spain!!!!"

The first 4 items in the sequence are true although a little theologically unsound. Spain however is a left over from my parents' trip in the Spring. I showed Lydia satellite pictures of Barcelona while they were in Spain. We saw swimming pools and the beach. Since then she's been obsessed with going to Spain. It's one of her great life goals!

First Week of School

Lydia's a big girl and has joined the world of the educated. I really have no idea how school went for her since it takes about 10 minutes for her to tell a convoluted story that I could express in three words. However, this is what I know.

*"That boy tried to take my toy, and I screamed, and he pinched me."

*"We went in the gym, and I cried. Mrs. Michelle said, That's okay Lydia. We're all gonna have fun."

*"Snack was yellow and white and black and white. It's not cheese balls."

*"We don't play with our food. We eat it."

*"Somebody painted my hands, and I washed them."

*"Yellow makes orange."

A Matter of Opinion

"This is NOT a mess! This is a very clean room."

Lydia

Pool Days

Lydia has made big progress in the water this summer. Her latest accomplishments include being willing to go under water when she jumps to me and being able to swim independently using her inflatable swim suit. It works a lot like a life jacket so her arms are free unlike when she uses her swim ring that you see in the picture. Claire enjoys kicking her legs and sticking her face in the water to try and inspect what this big bathtub.

Growing Slowly

I took Claire to the doctor yesterday for a cold. She's gained 12 oz in the last 6 weeks and grown 1.25 inches. She's not blowing anyone away with her huge weight gain, but she is establishing her own growth curve. So, we're satisfied. She now weighs 13lb. 12 oz and is 25.25 inches.

Definition of a Woman

As overheard by a 2 year old:

"When I become a woman I will...

1. Wear really big shoes and watch the news.
2. Stand up and take a shower.
3. Go on a date with Mommy and Daddy, and Claire can stay home."

7 Month Update

Our sweet Claire is 7 months old! The month of June was a big turning point for her, and I am thankful.

*I don't have a current weight, but she now eats like a horse. We like knowing that she's getting enough to grow, but it sure has made the grocery bill skyrocket.

*She rolls all over our house. Multiple rolls one right after the other are her preferred means of transportation.

*Claire is not afraid to express an opinion. She screams when everyone else leaves the room. Squeals when her sister takes a toy from her, and fusses when she rolls up against a piece of furniture and gets stuck.

*She is a social butterfly and LOVES for anyone to talk to her. She cackles when I sing to her or kiss her on her cheeks. She's a lot of fun!

396 Months

Today Claire is 7 months old! (That's another post I'll try to do later.)

Yesterday, I turned 396 months. You can do the math if you really want to know! It was a nice day. I got to eat cake with Lydia, and Jim took me on a great date. We ate at a restaurant that used breakable plates and didn't seem to have any toy prizes to encourage or distract us with our meal. I also had a chance to eat lunch with my mother. So, all in all, it wasn't a great day for the diet, but it was a fabulous break from the routine!

I tried to reflect on what if anything I have learned over the last year.
* A baby eating pureed blueberries and blowing raspberries is a bad combination.
* High pitched TV characters like Elmo and Curious George seem to have a magical effect on children.
*No matter how long you give it, your crock pot meal will only be yummy if you plug in the crock pot.
*Each time you reproduce yourself, you lose a little bit more of your original self!

My life may not be super glamorous and graceful, but it's pretty blessed and I'm glad to live it!

Paci Report

It's been 11 days since Lydia willingly placed her pacifier into her new pink bear. We've had our ups and downs, but I think we're over the hump. She hasn't had a nap since saying goodbye to the binky, but she is agreeable to sitting on her bed for room time during her regular nap period. Bedtime has returned to an unremarkable routine....whew!!!! Lydia hasn't shown any great attachment to her bear since the first few days, but it was a nice gimmick to add some finality to stopping her pacifier use. My prayer at this point is that she doesn't have any sickness until she forgets why she wanted her pacifier in the first place!

Lydia waiting to stuff her bear.

Placing the pacifier inside.

What a beautiful bear for a beautiful (and pink loving) girl!

Passage of Time

When Lydia decided to try out Claire's car seat this week, I couldn't help but go back and look at photos of Lydia in the same seat as an infant. It doesn't take long to see big changes!


First day home from the hospital. 10/27/05

March 2006

This week!

Mommy Go Fetch

Claire mastered the ever so fun game of Mommy Fetch today while we were eating lunch. At first she was dropping her toy accidentally, but she definitely knew what she was doing and what she was anticipating by the end of the meal. She would let go of her toy and wave her hands or kick...whatever it took to make the toy hit the floor. Then, she'd look at me and begin to cackle as soon as I bent down to get it. Pure laughter when I returned the toy to her. Too cute...for now!!!

Lots of Changes

We've had a lot of change in our family in the past weeks. Jim started a new job. We're excited about the company and the opportunity but change brings stress and a sense of the unknown. Both of us are really looking forward to establishing a new sense of normal. Lydia decided to turn in her pacifier for a Build a Bear teddy bear. It's been a wild transition. It's been a super smooth adjustment during her waking hours. She doesn't seem to mind being without it in the van nor does she seem to miss it as a mid-morning comfort! Bedtime and naptime have not been as easy. Some nights have verged on torture. Others have been unremarkable. To add to the fun, Claire has turned into a rolling fool! She quickly twists and rolls across the room to grab the newest and most exciting toy. The crazy thing is that she seems to make most of her progress when I step into another room or turn my back. Hmm...maybe Lydia's sliding her across the floor when I'm not looking!!! Me? Let's think...I got a haircut. That's pretty exciting in my world!!!

I have some really precious pictures from the pool and Build-A-Bear that I'll post as soon as I can find my camera.....

Big Girl

Claire has been released from her frequent weight checks! She gained 13 oz in 2 weeks and is now up to 13lb!!! Feeding her is still quite a challenge, but I'm glad we've finally worked out the right combination for success.

Be Back Soon

Everything is breaking at our house. The television. The cell phone. Now the computer. We knew it was about time, but it's still a big inconvenience. So, for the moment, my posts will be few and far between!

Recent highlights of life include BIG success with Lydia's potty training and BIG failure with Claire's weight gain. I still stress the word "training" in potty training, but it looks like diapers and accidents are becoming fewer and fewer with each passing day! As for Claire, she only gained 2 ounces in 3 weeks, so we're due for another weight check next Friday. The child simply will not eat. We're still nursing but are now supplementing with formula and beginning solid foods as well. It's a lot of effort at this point, and I'm really praying we'll see some more poundage at our next appointment. (Most recent weight was 12 lb 3 oz).

Hopefully our computer situation will be resolved soon, and I'll post again!

Tax Party

Tax season is finally over and Jennifer and Jason decided to celebrate! We had a great time. Lydia was really overwhelmed but enjoyed herself more and more as the evening went on. It was really sweet to watch her playing with Betsie again.

Lydia getting a pretty pink flower painted onto her face.

Aunt Mary and Betsie.

Uncle John, Betsie, and Jennifer enjoying the cookout.

Rachel, Uncle John, and Betsie.

Claire enjoying her own special cookout.

Lydia was a bigger fan of the Big Wheel than the bounce house.

Jason and some of his buddies.

Mary Evelyn coming down strong.

Lydia LOVED sitting and bouncing on the slide and watching everyone else come down.

I know it's a fuzzy picture, but I have proof that both Jennifer and I did the big slide. (Much to Lydia's delight!)

Here I come! Graceful as ever!!!

Claire thought we were super crazy for being out after 6:30. Insanity!!!

The Grand Finale! Lydia finally decided it would be fun to slide down with her daddy!!!!

Fun With Cousins

Two of the girl's cousins came over to play for a few hours yesterday. I love that Lydia is finally enjoying other children. She actually wants to play with them instead of treating them as competition for toys.

Lydia and Betsie dancing to the wonderful tunes of Barney.

Claire was forced to sit back and watch the action as always.

We Passed!

Claire returned to the doctor for her weight check, and she gained 1lb 9oz for a grand total of 12lb 1oz! Woohoo! We will reweigh her in 3 weeks to make sure that she's continuing to progress on her growth curve.

Outsmarted

Hmm. I believe that Lydia is winning the potty training game. She receives a piece of "potty candy" (sounds yummy, right?) if she has success in the bathroom. Unfortunately, she really doesn't care to move out of diapers, so even candy is not very rewarding for her. However, she has figured out a way to get her candy without having to put forth the effort of potty training. She lets her animals go to the potty for her. This morning she told me that Elmo had done his business and needed a piece of candy. I thought this was a cute way to encourage interest in the bathroom, so I agreed that Elmo deserved candy. When Elmo told Lydia he was too full to eat his candy, she decided she should help him get rid of it. Cute huh? Now all of her animals are using the potty for candy. Smart girl. Smart girl still in diapers! Gullible mother running out of candy.

4 months, 10 pounds

Recently Claire had her 4 month well check with our pediatrician. We knew she was a little thing but had no idea that she was losing weight instead of gaining. She's only 10 lb, 8 oz at 4 months. That's 12 oz lighter than she was at 11 weeks. So, obviously, fattening up Claire has dominated our household. We're supplementing her feedings and eliminating her exposure to dairy products as there's also a concern she may be slow to gain weight due to allergic reactions affecting her absorption of nutrients.

On a brighter note, the pediatrician was very impressed with her strength and alertness. She may be small, but she's spunky!

Easter

Happy Easter from Jim, Laura, Lydia, and Claire.

Look what the Easter Bunny brought us! Lydia loved both her beautiful pink shoes and her real baby bottle.

Claire sure did love putting on all of her frilly fixings. Too bad the hairbow, socks, and shoes all fell off before we even got into the van to go to church.

What a pretty girl!

Even Elmo loves hunting for Easter eggs.

Praise God for the gift of Jesus Christ and his resurrection. Pretty baskets and dresses are fun, but I'm so grateful the significance of Easter is far greater than pastels and baby animals.

The 11th Hour

Finished!

Good Friday at the Park

Punk Rocker

We're concerned that Claire's new friends are a bad influence.

18 Pounds

I lost 18 pounds overnight. Yahoo! That's right. This morning I stood on the scales and my weight was 18 pounds lighter than yesterday's weight! Lydia really enjoys stepping on the scales, marching, and watching herself "make numbers". That may have had some influence on my rapid weight loss, but I'm choosing to believe I found the secret to shedding baby weight. (I'll sell it to you for a small charge.)

Love Jesus Now!

I had great intentions of making this Passion Week meaningful for Lydia by reading a little piece of the Easter story every day out of her storybook Bible. (Which I highly recommend. It knits together how all of the Old Testament points to God's ultimate loving gift of Jesus. It's illustrated and written to be appealing to preschoolers and early elementary age children.) I also thought I'd incorporate a highly creative craft. Today, I read about 2 sentences of the chapter on Jesus' last Passover meal before Lydia decided she wanted to read the book herself. That would've been fine if she either knew the story or could read. Since she can do neither I found myself getting irritated and thinking, "No! You're ruining our beautiful religious education experience! Now be quiet and learn about God's love for you!" Sigh. Maybe tomorrow's time will be a little more productive. I'm trusting God to honor my efforts!

Most Distinguished Alumni

Last night I read the alumni newsletter from my graduate program. It's a wonderful school, and I am extremely grateful for the time that I spent there...even if it wasn't my best financial decision. One of the posts in the newsletter was a call for nominations for the annual distinguished alumni award. A brief moment of disappointment came over me as I realized that I'll never be nominated, and I will certainly never be given this honor. You see, I really love my profession, and when I graduated I had decent potential for establishing a very meaningful career. Now I only work about one to two afternoons a month; work being defined as getting paid for a service rendered.

So I'm left to wonder if I am using my degree in a distinguished fashion. Daily I conduct a pragmatics group (pragmatics being the use of language, better known as social skills), and I'm seeing great gains for both of my clients. Lydia is now able to enter a social situation such as story time at the library with confidence, and she even initiated a conversation about ice cream with the dining room attendant at Chick-fil-A. Claire is mastering eye contact and turn taking with vocalizations. Goals are also being achieved in both receptive and expressive language. I'm a little suspicious that Claire may be beginning to recognize and understand her name as well as Mommy, and Lydia is speaking in little adult sentences. I am also seeing progress in pre-literacy skills as Lydia "reads" restaurant and store signs on billboards and "reads" her favorite books like Brown Bear, Brown Bear word for word.

My university may not recognize my accomplishments, and my children will not acknowledge them for many years yet, but I hope that my family is reaping many blessings from the education I received.

The Problem With Having an Older Sister....

Sesame Street Mafia

Elmo got a little roughed-up today and required some bandages.

Fun Days

Here are some recent photos of the girls.




We went to the zoo and ran into our friends from small group. Today was our first chance to see the new giraffe exhibit. Pretty fun!!!



Claire says hi. Nice quilt, Aunt Chris!

Lydia's been learning how to play Candy Land. She enjoys the rule play/turn taking for about 3 turns, and then she wants to play make believe with the game pieces and the pictures on the board! (Needless to say, I win every time!)