Stinker

One of the best parts about D's developing language skills is that we get to find out what has been going on in that crazy little mind. Here are some funny things that he's said lately that make him a stinker...


He told me I have a big butt.
In his defense, it was not meant to be mean. I was changing his diaper and said "what a cute little butt." Anna was next to us so I said that she had a cute little butt too. David responded with "Mama, big butt"

He called Dada stupid.
This one was not quite so innocent. D is the self-appointed recycling police. One morning we came downstairs and he found a Coke can in the trash. He exclaimed "Stupid Dada!"

He learned the word mine.
Not much to say about this one... Everything is "mine!" Even if it isn't.

He is the boss of everything!
He tells the dog when to eat, if I close my eyes he tells me to wake up, he tells Anna to put socks on - or take them off... The other day after finding cat puke on the floor, he made this sentence: "Nix, stop puking under bed!"

He seems to think his sister has cooties.
After Anna got hold of his puppy he very seriously said wipes and proceeded to thoroughly clean puppy. He did it again with his basketball yesterday.

He "asks Dada."
After asking me for something and getting a no, he cheerfully says "Ask Dada" and runs off to see if he can get a different response from his daddy.

Anna's New Moves

Anna has made incredible leaps in her mobility in the last few weeks.



First she invented her own little way of turning. While lying on her back, she did kind of a half-roll onto her side while kicking her legs in one direction. After repeating this several times she was able to completely turn her body like the hands on a clock. What was her motivation for this? Revenge. After months of D taking all of her toys away from her she managed to move herself into a position where she could kick down his tower of cardboard bricks.



Unfortunately this little move has rendered her bassinet unsafe and so we have had to begin the process of getting her to sleep in her crib in her own room. She is going to sleep pretty well on her own, but usually ends up in our bed sometime around 2:30a.m.



Shortly after her turning maneuver, Anna learned how to roll from her back to her tummy. She does this with ease and seems to think she's pretty hot stuff cause she does it every time I lay her down. There was a gap for about a week before she figured out how to roll back to her back and she doesn't really like being on her belly. Now she can roll to her back, but often forgets that she can and cries til someone flips her over.

And her latest development... She pulls her legs up under her and puts her butt up in the air and sort of crawls forward - inch worm style. She doesn't go very far and often doesn't move at all, but with a lot of effort she is making forward motion. Pretty unbelievable since she's not even 5 months old yet!

Oh Christmas Tree

We put up our tree the weekend after Thanksgiving. D was a great helper (for real!) He really enjoyed the process of helping to sort out the branches and putting up the ornaments. For weeks he has talked about the tall tree and how he helped "build tree." He has been much better with the ornaments this year - there are actually ornaments covering the whole tree! He has become obsessed with sorting the ornaments. There is a branch with stars, a branch with trains, a branch with animals... His favorite ornament is a moon-shaped one. I think it has actually found a permanent home in his toy box. I'm afraid he will be sad when the tree comes down within the next couple of days. I'm also afraid I have months of finding random Christmas decorations around the house in my future.

Lots of Visitors

Thanksgiving week and the time around it was a big blur of visitors for our family.

We started off the weekend before Thanksgiving with John, Melissa and Avery. David and Avery got along great this time. He played nicely with his little cousin and when she wasn't by his side he would call for her - "Eve, Eve." Anna liked her Uncle John and Aunt Melissa, giving Melissa lots of giggles and showing her approval for John by falling asleep in his arms.

Next we had friends Bryan, Ashley and Sydney here for Thanksgiving. We had lots of fun - David loves his girlfriend. She referred to him as "My David." They got into trouble together, working as a team to break into and eat a jar of chocolate Nesquick. We went to the mall to have pictures taken with Santa and had a ride on the carousel. The kids enjoyed some outside time even though it was cold. They were good little helpers with the leaf raking.

Finally we enjoyed the company of my parents and sister. I got a much needed break since Anna is as happy in my mom's arms as she is in mine. David got to show off all his toys and took his grandparents and aunt on a trip to one of his favorite places - Kids' Gym.

We thoroughly enjoyed the time with all our friends and family and found ourselves wishing for more after everyone had left.

Princess Giggles

Our little angel giggled for the first time on Thursday, November 15th. She laughed when I was bouncing her up and down on my stomach. Then she spit up all over me. The little lady is somewhat reserved with her giggles. What makes her laugh once will not often work again so we have fun trying to think of ways to get her going. At times she has enjoyed bouncing, flying, having her feet sniffed, playing peek-a-boo and being entertained by bad singing and dancing.

Signs of Good Parenting, I Think...

I guess I should take it as a good sign when my child cries to go to the library... We were driving past the library today with no plans to stop. David recognized the building and said "Book, Yes" over and over and over again until we got home. (We were just there two days ago!)

Last night I was trying to cook dinner quickly while the little angel was swinging and Mr. Sunshine was "helping." I didn't feel like rinsing out my cans and so I just tossed them in the trash. David retrieved them from the garbage can and took them to where I keep the recycling.

My Two Little Pumpkins

We had a wonderful Halloween last week. My clever idea of dressing them as a monkey and banana did not go as planned. David had been resisting wearing his costume, but I thought I could be tricky that day. He took a late nap and it was time to get dressed when he woke up. So I changed his diaper and put on the monkey costume, just like it was a regular outfit. Everything seemed to be going fine - until David noticed that he had a tail. This really upset him and he started yelling Off! Off! Off! So rather than fighting with him, I just put on his pumpkin sweatsuit. Anna wore her sparkly pumpkin princess outfit and they looked cute. We went to a Halloween party at my friend Kathy's house. David had fun playing outside with other kids and then went trick-or-treating. At first he didn't really understand what we were doing, but once he realized people were giving him candy he thought it was great. We trick-or-treated til his little legs gave out (probably only about 10 houses, but it was fun for him). Anna was along for the ride, sleeping in my arms as we walked from house to house.