Two Little Monkeys Screaming on the Bed

Proof that our girls do make noise...

Making a Bad Choice

Running with the whole choices parenting strategy, I sometimes tell Magnolia that she isn't making a good choice. It's language she understands and so far it has been pretty effective. She stops in her tracks, cogs in her brain turning almost audibly, and then chooses to obey. It's really nice.

The other day I was at Firwood getting some fresh air with the girls and letting the dogs burn some energy. Lunch time--ie. not play time--came a little earlier than everyone would have liked, especially the dogs. Here's a conversation from that episode:

Shannon: Otis! Come!

Otis: ...

Magnolia: What Otis doing?

S: He's not coming.

M: Otis making bad choice.

If only that strategy worked on dogs too.

Teacher's Equivalent of "Dog Ate My Homework" or true story?

Email to my substitute teacher:

Logan,

Thank you for putting those together. I was planning to come in tonight but my toddler put a piece of paper up her nose and it took us a long time to get it out. Now I need to go to bed...

Happy 11 Month Birthiversary!

This month's theme is Babies. No, it is not a secret message to let you know we are having another one. Rather it is symbolic of the end of our baby stage, this being our last birthiversary post--maybe ever... at least for awhile. While we will all benefit from having fewer cupcakes around each month, I will miss my monthly creativity challenge.

Kaleia is less and less like a baby everyday. And this month she discovered caring for babies herself. While her technique still needs improvement, her passion for the small stuffed look-a-like makes up for it.

Baby sightings bring out the biggest squeals, but overall little miss Leia makes a lot of noise anyways. Her goos and gaas, babababs, and other fun noises are all still pretty random but we think in addition to her "Ssss" for kiss, she is using "Mama" appropriately, often in a demanding tone upon waking in the morning. Being the oldest, Magnolia may teach Kaleia a thing or two as they grow up, but Kaleia is the one who has taught Magnolia how to yell. They often get into vocal exchanges for fun, ratcheting their voices higher and higher, copying each other's nonsensical sounds.

Besides her vocal expression, she is also very expressive with her face. The picture at the bottom was a classic face this month.

She also has started expressing herself through signs. Just the basics: milk, eat, more, and all done. Eat is the most used, with Kaleia often enthusiastically repeating the motion of hand to mouth as she is eating.

Her eating has improved, which in turn has meant that our string bean has started to gain some weight again. As an added benefit she has also started sleeping through the night.

As Kaleia sheds her babyness and her personality emerges, we see that Gremlin (or Gremmi-bear) was a fitting nickname for more than just the noises she makes. Kaleia is a cute little mischief maker. Happily, she looks at you, giggles, and drops food over the side of the high chair. After being told no touch to the dog water, she smiles and instead of touching the water, she overturns the dish. While we still have a pretty sweet girl on our hands, we think she is going to be a bit more of a parenting challenge than our compliant Magnolia.

Happy 11 Month Birthiversary Gremmi-Bear!

{this moment}

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. If you are inspired to do the same, leave a link to your moment in the comments for all to find and see.

Ssss Sssss!

“Ssss Sssss”
That’s the new noise Kaleia added to her already expansive repertoire of sounds, when I woke her up the other day. At least I thought it was just a noise.

I pick up our little hisser and she plants a wet one right on my kisser. Kaleia-initiated kisses are getting a little more common but they are still a pretty rare gift.

“Thank you for the kiss, Kaleia!”

“Ssss!” She says it again and then, immediately after, very purposefully leans in for another slack-mouthed slobber deposit. “Ssss, ssss!”

I think Kaleia’s first official word is “(ki)ss”!

{this moment}

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. I moment I want to pause, savor and remember. If you are inspired to do the same, leave a link to your moment in the comments for all to find and see.