Thursday, January 29, 2009

Drawings

Today my little artist put on some gloves (like Mommy does when she's handling raw chicken or veggies). This has nothing to do with the rest of the post, I just thought it was really cute!
See those cute jammies? I bought them a LONG time ago and she never wanted to wear them... until today. I'm glad they still fit, but she won't be wearing them long. Well, we discovered that she could use Mommy's legs as a slide when she's wearing these. Boy, am I worn out. That girl could slide till the cows come home...and then some! Now I think they're her favorite jammies. I can just see her using them to slide out of bed in the morning, and then climbing back up to do it again.
Here are some of Kaylee's drawings today. The first has something to do with rain. I'm not sure who or what is in the middle, but that would be rain all around. I particularly like the little splash of color on the bottom left. She mostly wanted to stick with blue today, but in a moment of inspiration, she had to break out with some other colors.
Next is something that was going on outside at the time. She could hear kids playing, so maybe that is what this is.
This last one she told me is a picture of her Maka doing something. She didn't actually specify which Maka (grandma) however. So I'll let them duke it out:

Likely they'll be arguing over which Maka it isn't. :)

Sunday, January 25, 2009

Cookies

Kaylee got a bake set for Christmas and I thought it was about time we tried it out. (Plus, I wanted cookies!) So one day I made up a batch of sugar cookie dough to see how it would go.
I decided to put the sprinkles into little paper cups so that Kaylee could just push the shapes into them rather than trying to get her to sprinkle them. It was definitely the way to go - a lot less messy!

Here's some left over dough - Kaylee wants to push her face into it and make an imprint. My camera was just not quick enough to capture her with her face down. She never actually did it - she was just pretending. When we were in MN for Christmas, she watched her older cousins put their faces into playdough and we had a good laugh about it.

Mmmm - the first batch is done! (overdone!) These three pictures were taken in succession. I didn't notice that Kaylee had tried this cookie...

...and then set it back down. Now I ask her which one is for Mommy.

"This one", she says!
Thanks a lot!

Kaylee-isms

Kaylee is a pretty good talker. Everyday she surprises me with a thoughtful phrase or question. But she still has a few words that aren't pronounced correctly, so it took some time to figure out what they were. I just want to record them so that someday I can look back and remember...

Maka - means "Grandma"

Bapa - "Grandpa"

Myce - (like mice except with a "my" sound at the beginning) means "me" or "mine"

Sark - (no, not the Alias character) means "look"

Fire - "pacifier"

Swing, slide, park - "playground"

and of course, pancakes is still "can-cakes" - I hope she never grows out of that one!

She is also very expressive with her hands. She uses a lot of arm and hand gestures when talking. I can't begin to describe how adorable it is when she's emphasising a point with her cute little voice, nodding of her head, and waving of her arms (usually palms up or else pointing somewhere). As one of her favorite saying goes, "isso funny!"

It won't be long and I'll be writing about Hudson's words. He seems like he just wants to talk so badly. He makes all sorts of sounds moving his lips and tongue around, and that look on his face - like he has something very important to say. It kind of makes me wonder if there's something he knows that I don't!

Friday, January 16, 2009

Knock Your Socks Off!

Hudson loves to rub his feet together. I can't get him to keep any socks or shoes on his feet for more than a minute! This day he got his sock off and decided to chomp down on it while continuing to rub his feet together. He could chew on a sock all day if I let him!

Play Dough Play Time

Kaylee is still talking about making play dough a couple days ago. It's really surprising because normally she doesn't like to get dirty in any way.

Here's her strange concoction:


Kaylee's method was to take a scoop of flour into her hands and then clap and rub them together, making a big cloud.


The secret to a really great playdough is to lean over and blow into the bowl.
Can you see all the flour in her hair?

What a wonderful, fun mess!


I love the following sequence of pictures. Kaylee is concentrating really hard on what she's doing...
I ask her to look up at me and smile and I get "that look":

Then she turns away and I spy that adorable secret smile that she just can't hold back any more...

When all was said and done, there was nothing left to do but dump her into the bath tub and scrub her from head to toe. But she was in such a great mood, she didn't mind me washing her hair! (First time that's ever happend!!)

Wednesday, January 14, 2009

What They're Into

Well, my lappy stopped working yesterday. It's on, but the screen is black. It's as if it's locked up - I can't take it off "mute". Anyone have any ideas? It's been a long two days without my lappy. :(

I have some cute pictures, but I use my lappy to download them. So I'll just have to tell you what's been going on.

The kids are into some new things now:

Kaylee was being very motherly to one of her dolls today. She would tuck her in for a nap, turn out the lights, and close the door. After a little while, she got her up and went to go feed her. The slightly disturbing thing about this was that she didn't grab one of the many toy baby bottles we have - she was imitating the way I nurse Hudson. Yeah... I know! After that, she burped her baby and when it was time for dinner, she put her up in the high chair and turned it so she could watch the "fishies" - which is something we often do with Hudson. It was so cute seeing her be all motherly, and the longest amount of time she's done any pretend play.

Hudson is totally into clothing. I don't know if he likes the patterns and textures, or what - but he's always looking at grabbing at my shirt, at my socks, whatever he sees. He also quite compusively shoves his shirt into his mouth every time I go to change his clothes. Today he managed to get a sock off and sucked on that for a long time.

The last few days he started rubbing his feet together. This makes it impossible to keep socks on him so until I can find some good crib shoes for him, he's going bare foot. He just rubs them together all the time - like he's knitting with his feet. I hope this is a normal behavior and not some early sign of autism. Sorry, I'm paranoid.

Hopefully I'll get the computer thing figured out soon so I can post some pictures. I took some great ones today of Kaylee making play dough. She really got into the flour. She'd scoop some up and clap her hands. Flour was everywhere. It was in her hair, her face was white... she needed a bath immediately afterwards. But it was fun and I got some good pictures of it.

Friday, January 9, 2009

Should I be Concerned?

I made some faces for the felt board so that Kaylee and I could use them to talk about emotions.

Today I found this:

The Sitter

He doesn't last long without a boppy (or Mommy) sitting behind him, but he's doign better every day!
The leaning tower...
TIMBER!!!!

(bump!)

How cute is this picture? Kaylee is beyond thrilled anytime she can hold Hudson:


Oh, so sweet!






Getting Crafty

Oops, I forgot that the pictures post in the opposite order that you select them. Oh well, I'm not going to go back and reload them. I'll just have to get to the crafty stuff later.

One day I didn't give Kaylee a choice. I put her hair in a ponytail and boy was it cute! This is the best picture I could get of her. I don't know why, but she doesn't like me to mess with her hair. She wants it loose and free.
Here's Hudson modeling one of the new shirts I made for him. I found these iron-ons at Joanns and thought they were very cute. This one says "Priceless":

Here are some others:


I've also gotten excited about knitting again. I always get really into knitting and then I get busy with other things. I have so many hats and scarves that are unfinished. Every time I have to relearn how to purl. Now I'm committed to knitting a pair of pants for Hudson and also a baby sweater. We'll see how that goes. I'll post some pictures along the way just so I can feel the added pressure of finishing them for my "audience". :)
Kaylee is starting to branch out into other mediums. I introduced her to glue this week. At first she didn't grasp that glue was not paint or a marker, but that it was used to get two things to stick together. Her first piece was a page of dried glue. After that she started to figure it out. She also tried scissors, but she's not quite there yet. She can cut using two hands, but then she wants to hold the paper as well (mommy can't hold it for her), so it doesn't work out too well. She really needs a third hand.


This past week we've finally gotten over our colds (they lasted three weeks!). We're finally getting into a routine again and it feels good. I get up at 5 to exercise (and make coffee), Kaylee is up at 5:45, and Hudson gets up at 7. Hudson takes a short morning and evening nap and a longer afternoon nap. I've been so fortunate this last week to get Hudson and Kaylee napping at the same time.
Hudson and Kaylee just adore each other. Kaylee comes with me to get Hudson up in the morning. He's usually laying there awake and then just lights up when he sees her. They get each other laughing and smiling all the time - it's so precious!
Hudson is working hard on learning to sit up by himself. We practice everyday. He's really close. He can sit for quite a while before tipping too far or overcorrecting. I also think he's ready to start trying solids. It's so funny the way he lunges... LUNGES! for my food when he's on my lap.
Oh... he's growing so fast. :( But he's just a joy. Sometimes Kaylee is a bit of a... a-hem... challenge? Especially after nap time. Some days it's really hard to deal with. It's nice to have Hudson's big smile and happy attitude to pick me up in the midst of one of Kaylee's "moments". Plus it seems that Hudson is the only one able to really get Kaylee out of her challenging moment. She can't help but smile and laugh when Hudson is smiling at her.
Hudson has his moments too. He has a hard time going to sleep at night. I think he just gets a little too tired or a little too stimulated. It's not a quiet house and he seems to need a quiet, calm environment. We usually need to sit with him in his room for a while and help him get to sleep. Other times of the day he is good at soothing himself to sleep and he usually goes down for naps without even a fuss. It's just the night that's difficult. Hey, if that's the only challenge, then I'd say I'm pretty lucky!!! Yes, I am very blessed. Both my kids are wonderful in their own way and I'm loving every moment with them.
Kaylee and I are starting to talk more about our day. I try to get her talking about what is on her mind. Trying to find out what she dreams about. Trying to get her to pray for things herself. It's a fun time with Kaylee. I like her age. She's ready to learn all sorts of new things - how to dress, how to brush teeth and hair, how to help mommy clean the house, how to pick up her toys. She's also coming into an age where she can do more with crafts. I look forward to that.
Well, speaking of routines. It's quarter after 7 and I'd better get Hudson up for the day!

Thursday, January 1, 2009

Confession

I want to begin this new year with a clear conscience. You might find this shocking that I would make such a confession on my blog of all places. But sometimes, you just want to tell the whole world how you feel.

The thing is... there's a new man in my life and I'm head over heels for him.

It was love at first sight.

He's younger and yet he's bald.

He's got gorgeous blue eyes, an infectious laugh and engaging smile.

I could listen to him talk for hours.

He's kind of a momma's boy (but I like that)

He's really into books, his hands, and when he can find them, his feet also. A simple man, with simple tastes, and so simple to love.

Hold onto your hearts... you're gonna love him too...







Here's my new man: