I made the girls a calendar. They want to know when things are happening, so I drew a calendar with little pictures on it and we cross of a day every night. I'm hoping this will help with Gretchen's confusion about when her birthday is -- she knew at Kaitlyn's birthday that her own birthday would be in a month, so now she's just patiently waiting: "Is it month yet?"
Olivia had her school readiness screenings this week. I was given very little information, but I know that she got to use scissors once. They're sending results ...sometime. The two big disappointments about the screenings (from her point of view) were that Gretchen didn't get to come and that the school that had cookies for the open house did not also have some at the screening. :) In the car on the way to the first screening, I had to combat a litany of "I am only happy if I am with Gretchen. I love Gretchen. I will be sad if Gretchen is not there." At least she loves her sister.
Gretchen has been taking control of her play a little more, creating her own dialogue rather than following Olivia's lead. She got an hour of being the oldest while Olivia was at school and didn't quite know what to do with herself. She did help me decide what to make for dinner, so I guess that's something. :)
Kaitlyn is walking about half the time now. She tends to speak in tongues, but has the occasional "uh-oh" and is beginning to say "no." Her favorite word is still "dadadadadada." She loves being outside and will stand at the window staring outside for long periods of time, waiting for some unwary visitor to open the door and let her out. I'm trying to give her more time outside now that it's warm again.
Bryan built a rockbox for the girls. It's an in ground sandbox, but with pea gravel instead of sand because we didn't want to deal with the mess. Olivia and Gretchen have some buckets and a couple of large plastic trucks and are quite happy to dig in the rocks.
On the garden front, our fruit trees are getting leaves, which is very exciting. My raspberry patch has 13 plants with leaves, which might be more exciting. I have three rhubarb plants growing and the peas and broccoli are in the ground. :)
Pictures:
17 April 2016
13 April 2016
Bonus Post: Flashback -- May 2010
Just some pictures from May 2010 because I love this album every time Jacque reminds me that it exists. Back row: Justine, Jacob, Jacque, Josef. Front row: Jillian, James, Johannah.
10 April 2016
April 3-10
Kaitlyn's one-year check up was Tuesday. She's 21 pounds, 10 ounces, and 29.75 inches tall. The doctor speculated that perhaps Kaitlyn had been wiggling during the length measurement since her weight has been holding steady at 75% but her height has been swinging from 60%-80%. Otherwise all is normal. :) Kaitlyn is the exact same size as Olivia at the same age (if we give her a quarter inch of wiggle room). Gretchen was a tad thinner.
Olivia and Gretchen both walked late (14 months), but once they started taking steps they were walking and didn't really go back to crawling. Kaitlyn takes a few steps here and there every day, but has decided that crawling is faster and safer most of the time.
Kaitlyn has a fake "everyone else is laughing so I should, too" laugh. I believe the video was in last week's post.
For everyone hoping for the baby news they know is coming at any moment... there isn't any. :-D
When Kaitlyn gives hugs, she pats the huggee's back (or, more accurately, shoulder). It's pretty cute, and when she started doing it I remembered that Gretchen used to do the same thing. It was cute then, too.
All three girls lean in for forehead kisses. If I say, "give me a kiss," they'll run their foreheads into my mouth. Olivia still does that even now. Gretchen is the least likely to do it, opting instead for a real kiss, but I know she used to do it. Kaitlyn will sometimes lean in so forcefully that she's in danger of chipping teeth (mine, not hers).
Kaitlyn is ... wait for it ... sleeping in her crib! In her room! With her sisters! This development comes after three months of sleeping in a pack and play in the oratory that is connected to our room. She also spent about a week sleeping in the pack and play in the old workroom, during which time she also finally conquered sleeping all the way through the night! There's a very happy mama over here. No regressing now, Kaitlyn.
Gretchen "reads" several books. We have 24 books that come with an electronic reader that reads them aloud. It's pretty much the 2016 equivalent of books on tape. Olivia and Gretchen love all the books and read them to themselves before bed almost every night. Both of them quote large portions of the books throughout the day, but Gretchen took it a step further by "reading" the Cinderella book that she got from the library. Note that the book from the library is about 50 times longer than the one with the reader.
Most people needing to go to the bathroom will simply excuse themselves, walk to the bathroom, and take care of their business. Not Gretchen. When Gretchen needs to go to the bathroom, she immediately runs to tell me (despite the fact that she was playing less than five feet from her bathroom, the one with a step and potty seat already set up). Then she runs in increasingly frantic circles around the house -- to the bathroom, to me, to the living room for no apparent reason, to me, to the bathroom, through the playroom, back to the living room, to me, to the bathroom, into the playroom again -- until I either physically put her on the potty or she pees on the floor. "Well Johannah," I hear you saying, "just take her to the bathroom when she first tells you and the problem would be solved." That would be a fantastic idea, except that she tells me when I'm nursing Kaitlyn, or trying not to burn dinner, or changing a diaper. This in addition to the fact that she doesn't actually NEED my help. Most of the time she doesn't even want me to help her, she just wants someone to watch while she does it herself. Also, I'm trying to encourage her to take care of things herself. Because she CAN. She's doing better lately, for which I am grateful.
The end of last week was spent at a homeschooling conference. We haven't decided one way or the other about homeschooling vs regular schooling, so Bryan and I are both trying to be open minded. I'm heavily in favor of homeschooling, he's more interested in a traditional school experience. Regardless, this conference has many different kinds of talks and we went with friends (and without children), so it was fun. We learned a lot about various things and Bryan said he'd even go back again, especially if I let him walk across the street to get a beer when he needs a break to think about things. :)
Pictures:
Olivia and Gretchen both walked late (14 months), but once they started taking steps they were walking and didn't really go back to crawling. Kaitlyn takes a few steps here and there every day, but has decided that crawling is faster and safer most of the time.
Kaitlyn has a fake "everyone else is laughing so I should, too" laugh. I believe the video was in last week's post.
For everyone hoping for the baby news they know is coming at any moment... there isn't any. :-D
When Kaitlyn gives hugs, she pats the huggee's back (or, more accurately, shoulder). It's pretty cute, and when she started doing it I remembered that Gretchen used to do the same thing. It was cute then, too.
All three girls lean in for forehead kisses. If I say, "give me a kiss," they'll run their foreheads into my mouth. Olivia still does that even now. Gretchen is the least likely to do it, opting instead for a real kiss, but I know she used to do it. Kaitlyn will sometimes lean in so forcefully that she's in danger of chipping teeth (mine, not hers).
Kaitlyn is ... wait for it ... sleeping in her crib! In her room! With her sisters! This development comes after three months of sleeping in a pack and play in the oratory that is connected to our room. She also spent about a week sleeping in the pack and play in the old workroom, during which time she also finally conquered sleeping all the way through the night! There's a very happy mama over here. No regressing now, Kaitlyn.
Gretchen "reads" several books. We have 24 books that come with an electronic reader that reads them aloud. It's pretty much the 2016 equivalent of books on tape. Olivia and Gretchen love all the books and read them to themselves before bed almost every night. Both of them quote large portions of the books throughout the day, but Gretchen took it a step further by "reading" the Cinderella book that she got from the library. Note that the book from the library is about 50 times longer than the one with the reader.
Most people needing to go to the bathroom will simply excuse themselves, walk to the bathroom, and take care of their business. Not Gretchen. When Gretchen needs to go to the bathroom, she immediately runs to tell me (despite the fact that she was playing less than five feet from her bathroom, the one with a step and potty seat already set up). Then she runs in increasingly frantic circles around the house -- to the bathroom, to me, to the living room for no apparent reason, to me, to the bathroom, through the playroom, back to the living room, to me, to the bathroom, into the playroom again -- until I either physically put her on the potty or she pees on the floor. "Well Johannah," I hear you saying, "just take her to the bathroom when she first tells you and the problem would be solved." That would be a fantastic idea, except that she tells me when I'm nursing Kaitlyn, or trying not to burn dinner, or changing a diaper. This in addition to the fact that she doesn't actually NEED my help. Most of the time she doesn't even want me to help her, she just wants someone to watch while she does it herself. Also, I'm trying to encourage her to take care of things herself. Because she CAN. She's doing better lately, for which I am grateful.
The end of last week was spent at a homeschooling conference. We haven't decided one way or the other about homeschooling vs regular schooling, so Bryan and I are both trying to be open minded. I'm heavily in favor of homeschooling, he's more interested in a traditional school experience. Regardless, this conference has many different kinds of talks and we went with friends (and without children), so it was fun. We learned a lot about various things and Bryan said he'd even go back again, especially if I let him walk across the street to get a beer when he needs a break to think about things. :)
Pictures:
03 April 2016
March 27-April 3
I have found recently that I have little time for blog updates. Sorry about the lateness of, well, ALL of them.
This week's quick synopsis:
Kaitlyn turned one! Sunday's weather was beautiful and warm, so we took the cake outside and shesmashed daintily picked at it while a crowd of admirers looked on. Bryan says the cake destroying is getting better with each subsequent child, but he thinks there is still plenty of room for improvement. Kaitlyn did not have to worry about being able to blow out her own candle (she can't) because several of the gathered children blew it out before her cake got to her tray.
Kaitlyn's cake was entirely fast friendly. I have a good vegan chocolate cake recipe if anyone wants or needs it. WE need it, because I've just discovered that we only have one birthday that is not during a fasting period, and that one (Gretchen's) still falls during Lent about half the time.
Jillian, Jacque, and I went to a 2Cellos concert on Monday night. It was a lot of fun, although noisier than I thought necessary. I might be turning into an old fuddy duddy.
On Tuesday the girls and I took Jillian back to Michigan. We ate lunch on Oma and Opa's old porch while Jillian sorted stuffed animals for the trip back to my house. Then we dropped Jillian off at her current residence, visited the guys at Lube Cube (because the van needed an oil change), and were back on our way home.
On Wednesday we all traveled to Grandma and Grandpa's house. Bryan and I were attending the homeschooling conference in Cincinnati over the weekend. Kaitlyn got Grandma all to herself for a few days and Olivia and Gretchen had a two day sleepover with the Kleins.
Pictures and Videos:
This week's quick synopsis:
Kaitlyn turned one! Sunday's weather was beautiful and warm, so we took the cake outside and she
Kaitlyn's cake was entirely fast friendly. I have a good vegan chocolate cake recipe if anyone wants or needs it. WE need it, because I've just discovered that we only have one birthday that is not during a fasting period, and that one (Gretchen's) still falls during Lent about half the time.
Jillian, Jacque, and I went to a 2Cellos concert on Monday night. It was a lot of fun, although noisier than I thought necessary. I might be turning into an old fuddy duddy.
On Tuesday the girls and I took Jillian back to Michigan. We ate lunch on Oma and Opa's old porch while Jillian sorted stuffed animals for the trip back to my house. Then we dropped Jillian off at her current residence, visited the guys at Lube Cube (because the van needed an oil change), and were back on our way home.
On Wednesday we all traveled to Grandma and Grandpa's house. Bryan and I were attending the homeschooling conference in Cincinnati over the weekend. Kaitlyn got Grandma all to herself for a few days and Olivia and Gretchen had a two day sleepover with the Kleins.
Pictures and Videos:
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)