Family update - April 2012

When I said quarterly I wasn't kidding.  The kids are constantly growing and changing, here are a few things they've been up to and into of late:

GEMMA (4yrs 3months)

• She has quite the imagination.  She'll spend hours with her pretend friends (Hen, Duck, Owl, Cat, Schroeder, Hoots and Bee) and a pile of random household items.  She'll play on the deck with a bucket and a tape measure and a bunch of leaves.  Or in the living room with pillows and plastic eggs and buttons.  If I'm lucky and he's acquiescent, Kolbe will often join in and they really have lots of fun together.  As badly as they can fight (and oooohhhhh sometimes it's bad), they can be very good friends as well.  I am so glad they have each other.
• She makes up songs (and dances all over the house to them) about anything and everything. 
• She has recently given up her nap.  For several months she had been "napping" but not sleeping, and one day she was just playing so nicely on her own (while Kolbe napped) that I just didn't bother to put her down for her nap.  And she kind of liked that.  A lot.  So much that she is pretty adamant about not taking a nap now.  Occasionally I'll make her lie down for a bit, but for the most part she just plays on her own, or we work together on workbooks (we like these as well) or other learning activities that require some one-on-one time.  It's been a nice change.
• She likes making picnics with her toy food in the basement, and is quite elaborate with her table setting.
• She's getting pretty good with scissors (we're currently going through this book), and her drawings are growing more and more intricate all the time.  Kid art is so great.  The front of our fridge is never dull.
• Ohhhh the drama.  Every little cut, scrape, hangnail, etc. has become a big deal recently.  A verrrry biiiiig deeeaaallllll.  Her tantrums can be pretty dramatic as well.  Whew!  Heaven help this mama.
• Gemma is in the 99th %ile for her height at 44.5 inches.  She weighs 36.5 lbs.

KOLBE (2yrs 3months)

• His speech has been improving by leaps and bounds.  Still nowhere close to where Gemma was at this age (or probably where most kids are at 2 1/4 yrs) but he's progressing.  He's using more new words every day and starting to form small sentences when communicating.  Some of his "catch phrases"... He is very polite, "peas" is added to almost every request, quickly followed by a "shoont-yoo mammy" (or daddy or whomever) when said request is fulfilled.  It's so cute.  When he wants something it's "ahhshumpeas" (I want some please), which he will repeat over and over very quickly, getting more demanding the more times he says it.  Aaron and I are so amused by this we've started saying it as well.  "Ball hiiiiiiiigh", when he wants to go out on the driveway and play ball with daddy.  He likes it when daddy throws the ball up high in the air.  And when making the Sign of the Cross or blessing himself he says, "Fah-ver, Ahmen."  He pronounces his name "Babby" (short a, as in apple), and will often emphatically state "Babby do, Babby DO," when he wants to do something on his own.  Which is pretty often.
• He seems to be a natural athlete.  He throws and catches well (for a two-year-old), loves to shoot baskets and is trying his darndest to learn how to dribble.
• He has really started to enjoy being read to, and will absolutely pitch a fit if he doesn't get the three stories of his choosing before bed.  Dah-er Seuss and Hand, Hand, Fingers, Thumb are all-time faves, and he likes to pick a few of his own books out at the library now each week.
• Strong will.  This kid has grown a strong will since turning two.  And mind of his own.  Wow.  I was hoping maybe it would just be Gemma.  Oh well, I'm sure it will serve him well some day, if it doesn't drive me to insanity first.
• He loves doing whatever big sis is doing. 
• He has actually slept through the night, in his own bed, several times in the past month.  Not too regularly, but he's done it nonetheless!  And his nights have really gotten so much better, he often doesn't crawl in bed with us until 5:30 or 6:00 AM.  It works.  We'll see how things go once he starts sharing a room with Gemma (on the "to do"  list here in the near future) and even more so once baby arrives... 
• He recently cut his first 2yr molar.  I'm hoping the others are not too far behind and we can get this teething thing out of the way with him.  Before it's time to do it again with the baby.  Oh teething. 
• Kolbe weighs 29 lbs.

Aaron is doing well.  The nice, early spring has given him a chance to (for the most part) revive the yard after last summer's horribleness, and he has plans to refinish the deck in the coming months.  Next time I do an update there will probably be a third child (outside utero) on whom to update!!  For now, baby is doing well as is mama, although it is beginning to be more and more obvious that I've hit the third trimester.  Time really is flying!!  We are set with cloth diapers and other baby supplies, and I feel like I have enough boy or girl clothes (even though this baby is "off-season") to get us started, so we really are ready.  Just trying to mentally prepare myself for labor and delivery now.  I know it's still several months off, but those thoughts are definitely beginning to creep into my mind.  Like I said, time flies.  I recently did my first sewing project for the baby -- a light-weight receiving blanket -- so I'll end with a picture of that.

How does she do it?

Seriously, he won't do this for me at real bedtime, yet he will lay on the floor without moving a muscle for really quite amazing amounts of time under Gemma's command when they "play bedtime".  I wish she'd let me in on her secret!!  Maybe I should just have her start putting him to bed at night...

Kolbe - 12 months

My little guy is a year old now. It's weird, Gemma seemed like such a big girl at a year, yet Kolbe still seems like a baby to me. Maybe it's just my perspective. But anyways, he is growing up for sure. Kolbe has learned how to clap and can (sort of) hold a sippy cup. He points at things and gets very excited when he sees something he wants or likes. He loves baths and as soon as we get him out of his highchair after dinner he crawls right to the bathroom. He waves goodbye (to people, and to his food when he throws it on the floor from his highchair tray. yeah.) and is starting to pull up onto his feet (infrequently). He is learning how to really play with toys more (instead of just trying to chew on them) and loves to throw a ball. He's starting to interact more with big sis which is exciting and fun for both of them.Sleep has been rather rough lately (a cold? teething?). He seems to be ready to drop the morning nap, but his afternoon naps haven't been so hot (unless he's snuggled up in the mei tai) and we've had some rough nights. He's tried most every food and is still a fairly good eater. He typically nurses at least 3-4 times during the day (seems to be more-so now with the teething) and on and off overnight. He likes to sleep with us most of the night. He is a very happy little guy and is definitely all boy. God has sure blessed us over this past year. Happy first birthday, Kolbe boy. We love you!!!

And now for some pics from the past month:
Being a "helper" Standing up...typical Kolbe face YAY Kolbe (clapping) He loves carrying toys (or socks) around in his mouth. He looks like a little puppy-dog (which is what Gemma often calls him. She is "cat" and he is "puppy-dog". But that's a whole other post). Throwing his ball
Standing up
Obligatory couch pic
With mommy and daddy with his first birthday cake

Snow day

This past Monday we had our first snow day of the season. Gemma was very excited to see the snow, and Kolbe even joined in on the excitement. I'm not sure he knew what he was excited about though!! I was finally able to pull our "snow" books off the shelf to read. And even though I had a list of errands I would have loved to get done, it ended up being a nice day to just stay indoors. It's days like this when I'm really grateful for our basement. We had a lot of fun playing...Kolbe seems to discover and enjoy new (to him) toys each day. This day it was the shape sorter. Of course Gemma had to "help". And some pictures of Gemma-goo, on her LAST day as a two-year-old!! Trampoline fun! Dancing! (She got a new haircut, I LOVE it!!) Playing in her box house And then came the crowning moment of the day...getting to play in the snow with daddy while he shoveled the driveway. She talked about it all. day. And despite being freezing (temps in the 20's or teens) and windy, she was out there for every bit of an hour. She had a blast, I was really happy for her.

So proud of her snow gear! (I was rather amazed we got her to dress in all this in the first place, this is the same girl who rarely will wear a coat.) She loved it (much more than her first time to play in the snow last year)!
The perfect (night before her) birthday snow! She ran all over the yard. Look at those cold, rosy cheeks. With daddy, wiping off doggy kisses.

And to top it all off, there was a new "snow" episode of Little Bear on our OnDemand at the end of the day. Gemma was thrilled.

HAPPY SNOW-DAY, EVERYONE!!!!

Shapes and beads and cats, OH MY!

A very random post, but that's how my brain is feeling right now, so you get what you get folks!!

We talked about shapes last week. Seems Gemma is becoming more capable of understanding and comprehending as each week goes by. It's fun to see her learn.

Here she is sorting her shapes with one of the books we got from the library.
And here with her shape pancakes she had for lunch! "Circles and squares" was her request.
I think some dress-up items are in our future! I got these beads out after she kept trying to put the shoe-strings from her lacing cards around her neck. She thinks they're pretty cool.
The cat ears were from my MIL for Halloween. So cute.
And there goes Kolbe!!! Typical sight anymore. ;-D
Crawling anywhere and everywhere is definitely his favorite pass-time of late. Why do cords and night lights and door stops have to be so stinkin' interesting?! GAH!!! It's fun seeing him discover the world around him though...he just keeps me on my toes for sure!

Happy Monday, everyone!

Gemma around the house

I decided I needed to do a Gemma post, just to update on some of the things she's been up to. I will number them, because it helps my brain feel more organized that way. And heaven knows it's all about me. (haha, joking, for anyone who may be new around here and not used to me ;-D)

1. Playtime. She is getting really into independent play, and can keep herself entertained with minimal help from me all morning sometimes. Sometimes not (and that's fine too, we enjoy playing and reading together). But some days she just does great and that makes for good productive mornings for both of us. Her favorite thing is playing with her brown bear, bunny and baby. They do three things: eat, take naps and take baths. Time and time again. She uses a mixture of her things and my/Kolbe's things and it is just so cute to watch her little imagination at work. "Baby" seems to be at about the same developmental level as Kolbe currently. Funny. Here are some pictures of what she does. I just think it's so cute.
2. Drawing. She doesn't draw much, but once in awhile with either her magnadoodle or markers... or my pen. (which is apparently a super-cool thing to do. Now you know.) But she always draws the same thing. A bunch of circles with little dots in them. Every time. I am sure there is some deep psychological reason for why she does this, but I just think it's cute.
3. Eating. So she's never been terribly good at this, but that's nothing new. Some days are better than others. We roll with it. She seems to be maintaining/gaining weight and following a growth curve, and what she does eat is reasonably healthy so it works. Now that Koble is using the highchair she has decided that she likes to use it again sometimes too. As long as he doesn't need it at the time that's fine with me. I think she looks like a giant in it. And yes, for the record, she is dipping her quesadilla in ketchup. And the bib? All her request. Silly girl!
4. Beads. She built a "cage" for her fish. She loves these beads (they were mine as a child) and always uses them to build cages for things. Besides baby, et al, they are the other toy that typically comes out every day. I have taken a pretty minimalistic approach when it comes to toys, and I really like it that way (and the kids don't seem to mind either). It works.
5. Prayer time. She is very diligent about this and will even remind me when it's time for prayers, or just announce that it's prayer time and start getting our things out. I like that it is becoming habit. We finally got Kolbe his own Rosary (um, chew-toy) so he would quit trying to grab ours. She's done pretty well at letting him have it too, which kind of surprised me.
6. Helper. She continues to be a great help to me. I asked her to get diapers out of the dryer the other day and then kind of forgot about it. I stumbled over the laundry basket a few hours later to find that she had stacked them up in a neat little pile, all even and tidy. No idea where she gets it.
7. Singing/Music. No pics. Sorry! And no video either. I know, I know... Still in love with her Nursery Rhymes, but she has started doing this funny thing where instead of the regular words she will randomly substitute Kolbe's name. It is odd. But cute. We have split her music CD's into playtime and sleepytime music. "This Old Man" or "Mulberry Bush" screeching over and over on loop all night was just getting to be too much (for me, and I'm guessing for her too although she'd never admit it). She's doing fine with it though. Our favorite nighttime CD's are Sleep Sound in Jesus and Twila Paris' Lullabies. If you're looking for more good sleepy-time music, A Child's Gift of Lullabies and Jim Brickman's Hope have been other favorites at our house.

8. Little Bear. We have several of these books from when I was a child, and have checked out several more from the library. She really likes these books and stories a lot. The other night DH and I were searching for something on the DVR and saw "Little Bear" so we curiously checked it out (it was part of the free OnDemand that we apparently get) and it was indeed little bear. THE Little Bear. There were a handful of 25 minute episodes of Little Bear, each containing four short stories (just as the books do). We really don't do any regular TV with Gemma (besides her and her daddy watching random clips of "funnies" (America's Funniest Home Videos) together for 5-10 minutes some evenings). We've showed her a few of the Little Bear episodes though, and she definitely thought they were pretty neat (as in, they held her attention and she talked about them later). They are well done in my opinion, and I don't mind letting her watch them occasionally. It's nice to know that they are available on the DVR.

9. Library. We have been making weekly trips to the library for awhile now. The girl loves her some books and we have found the library to just be such a treasure. I love being able to search their catalog online and request specific books (for instance, we have lots of Autumn/pumpkin/apple themed books coming up soon). And she enjoys the diversity. Currently in our baskets/on our end-tables are anything Seuss, various Nursery Rhyme books and this sweet legend by Tomie dePaola. I recently requested a new book from Sophia entitled The Temperament God Gave You and I am really looking forward to it. It discusses the four personality types from a Catholic standpoint. My husband and I talk often about personalities. I think that if more people had a better understanding of their own and others' personalities, we'd all get along better. But I digress. And this is getting super long.

Thanks for hanging with us! Now you are current on all things GEMMA!

Gemma's house

Because every child needs a house built from a cardboard box at some point in their lives. A rainy Monday seemed as good a time as any for the activity.