Sadie's Walkin'

Finally, we can say it! The girl is starting to walk- up to 4 or 5 steps at a time and gaining confidence to try more all the time. Although, she still sometimes likes to take couple of steps and then just dive face-forward to me or Andy so you really have to be careful with this one. Sadie's walking has developed very differently from Caleb. He seemed to just decide one day that he was ready to try it and from within the next couple of days he was walking all over (still wobbly and falling down but walking more than crawling). That day happened to be when he turned 11 mos. Now Sadie on the other hand has been standing up and cruising since about 8 or nine mos. We thought for sure that she would be walking by Caleb's birthday but that day came and went and she was not interested in even trying. At the beginning of Oct. she could very easily stand up on her own with out holding onto anything but she would not take a step, no matter how small and how much we tried to urge her on. So now that she's walking, I can't exactly pinpoint the day that she took her first steps. A couple weeks ago, she started doing little half step to get places that she couldn't reach but again, she would not try it if were pushing her to. As she's started taking more steps, we've been really cheering her on so that she wants to do it more and that does seem to be working.

It's hard to imagine that very soon, I will have 2 toddlers running around.

I have to admit, Caleb has been very tolerable of Sadie as she has become more and more of a presence in his space. He's gotten very good and saying "mine" and "no, no, Sadie" and surprisingly that words frequently come out before any kind of pushing or shoving action. He's been so good at sharing his toys. We started out trying to keep his puzzles and his cars just for him but Sadie is just too quick and determined to get into things. And when I discovered that Caleb didn't really have any objections, it didn't really seem worth the energy. It's much more challenging trying to keep her from eating the crayons (and we're not talking just chewing on the crayons- we're talking biting decent sized chunks off).

Caleb is becoming our little mimic but is also very good at saying full sentences. Lately, when he doesn't see something (a toy or person or thing) he says that it's missing. This started a while ago with his books (of course). We would read to him and if pages got stuck together he would say "oh no. Missin' a page." Then we started missing puzzle pieces so he would walk around singing "missin' a piece." Today, we're out at my G'ma and Papa's house (the Bushes) and when I told him that the backhoe was working he said "oh no, missin' backhoe."

One final note- Andy wins the Great Daddy Award. He put Caleb to bed last night and it was a little more challenging then usual. Caleb sat for his stories, brushed his teeth, and happily said goodnight to me but when Andy put him in bed, he started sobbing. He wanted Toot and Puddle (another story). So Andy read him this final story and again, the boy started crying when he went to turn off the light. Caleb wanted Mike Mulligan (another story). Well, it seemed like he was using a stall tactic so Andy said no more stories and it was time for bed. Caleb went to sleep with a little protest but not much and we blamed it on the cold he's still fighting. We went to sleep only to wake up at about 12:45 this morning to Caleb crying again. Andy went to get him and couldn't understand what he was saying or why he was upset. He eventually understood mommy and brought him into me and I tried to figure out what he wanted. We got him a drink and calmed him down a bit but still weren't quite sure what was going on (it's been a while since he's gotten up like this in the night). We went to put him back in bed and he started crying again but this time Andy could make out "Mike Mulligan." So Andy put him in bed and at about 1:30 am and then read Mike Mulligan and his Steam Shovel. Caleb happily went to sleep after the story without any more fussing.

And I got to stay cozy warm in bed :-)

More Pumpkins

A busy weekend with a visit from CJ. CJ is Caleb's alter ego. CJ throws tantrums, misbehaves and generally spends his time in time out. CJ seems to be around most mornings until after he has an afternoon nap and then Caleb wakes up and plays with us happily until bedtime. CJ definitely tries our patience but our sweet Caleb was around for a good bit of the weekend.

Saturday we decided to try to find Trax Farm. We had no idea how big it was and spent a good 2 hours there. Caleb loved the petting zoo. His favorites were the horses and he almost went on a pony ride. We were going over to get in line for the pony rides when a little kids train came by and that was it for Caleb. He forgot about the ponies and only wanted to ride the train. He waited nicely in line with daddy and really enjoyed his ride.

Sadie liked the petting zoo too. She was not afraid at all of touching the different animals. The only problem we had was that she wanted to crawl and that was not a good idea.

After the train ride we got to climb on pumpkins. I think this was Sadie's favorite part. She seemed to really enjoy watching the kids and trying to climb on the big pile of pumpkins. Caleb was content to stay on the ground and just try to move the pumpkins. It was fun watching as he figured out that the could roll and he would push really hard until it moved. Caleb also liked the large wooded jack-o-lantern. He stood for the longest time just looking at it and saying "oh, beeg, pumpkin." The whole day was a lot of fun and I highly recommend going there for a visit.

Sunday was a day spent with CJ. It was amazing that we actually made it to church. The boy was being put in time out left and right for pushing Sadie or throwing toys or just needing some time to settle down. Apparently at church he was an angel (of course). We hoped Caleb would come home with us but even as we pulled in the driveway, we knew CJ had come home instead. For some reason, he didn't want to go home but we couldn't figure out where he wanted to go. After trying to talk to him and reason with him for a little while, I had to just drag him into the house. Then just about everything made him unhappy. We finally decided to just read him stories and put him to bed and after a long nap, Caleb woke up and was quite pleasant the rest of the day.

Sadie's still refusing to walk but she's starting to say something that resembles all gone or all done. She still loves dancing and playing music and tries to get the toys to make music for her like Caleb did.

Saturday evening, I caught them playing peek-a-boo over the coffee table. It was so adorable to see them popping up and down and giggling at each other. Caleb also sat with me for about a half hour looking through the National Geographic magazine. He liked looking at the pictures but there weren't too many animals in this issue. His favorite picture was of the chimpanzee who went into space. We explained the picture to him a little and he proceeded to sing "spaceship panzee, spaceship panzee." Very cute.

Caleb's Pumpkin

Okay, it's late but I'm so excited I just had to post my picture. This was taken over the weekend in Philly and through the magic of photo editing, I made a really neat, bright orange pumpkin. Okay, so maybe it isn't that neat but I think it's a pretty cool picture and I'm happy because I'm new to this whole photo-editing wackiness.

It does help to be married to a computer genius- I can just say "I want to do this" and he shows me how.

Alright- good night everyone

Back home and the big boy bed

Well, we survived our trip out to Philly but it was a challenge, beginning Thursday night. Sadie's getting about 3 teeth right now and has been very uncomfortable. After going to be quite nicely at 8, Sadie woke up at 10:30 crying. We gave her some tylenol and tried to put her down again but it wasn't working. She would be quiet for a few minutes and then would start crying. Andy and I took turns holding her and she would fall asleep in our arms but once we tried to put her down, she would wake up again. This went on until we got the hint and realized that we were going to have to sit up with her all night. I lasted until 2:30 but I just can't sleep sitting up on the couch, so Andy took over for the rest of the night. And we still had packing to do before heading out.

We managed to get packed and actually got on the road by 11 which wasn't too bad considering how tired we were. Traffic wasn't bad so we managed to get to Breezewood and had a late lunch. The rest of the trip went really well. Caleb and Sadie napped on and off and when they weren't napping, they were content to look at books- and we had plenty. We were making really good time until we got just outside of Philly. We had timed it perfectly to arrive in the middle of rush hour traffic so the last 15-20 min took way too long. By this point, Caleb was tired of being in the car and began fussing. I tried my best to point out police cars and tower cranes just to distract him.

By the end of the trip, I had started to develop a bad headache.

We got to Betsy's and unpacked and had dinner. Caleb loved seeing Betsy and she quickly became his favorite. The grandparent's showed up a little after 8. The kids visited a little and then we started getting them into bed. Once again, Sadie was up most of the night crying. Thankfully, Andy and his parents took turns with her because I was so out of it with my headache.

Saturday morning, we got up and had breakfast then set out for Franklin Square park. It's this really cute little park that is right before you get to the Ben Franklin Bridge. We took the subway and passed some of the historical sites before getting to the park. At the park, Caleb and Sadie rode the carousel, picked pumpkins and painted them (Caleb painted), listened to stories, played at the playground and rode a train. We also had a picnic lunch and couldn't have asked for more beautiful weather. After lunch, the kids were tired and the grownups were tired so we headed back for naps and dinner.

Dinner was from a pizza place where you actually have to reserve your dough- they apparently only make so much fresh dough every day and when it's gone, it's gone. Betsy was nice enough to get some GF pizza shells for me so I had that but I couldn't resist the talk about this pizza. I tried a small bite and I'm very thankful that I didn't get sick from it. I didn't think that it was that great- definitely not Jioio's so I didn't feel too bad missing it. Betsy also found these wonderful GF gobs that I got to enjoy while they all had cupcakes and cookies.

Sadie slept Saturday night and we were all happy for that. We all woke up the next morning to hear Caleb talking about waking up Betsy and that's what he did. After lunch we packed up and headed back on the road but not without Caleb getting very upset at having to leave Betsy and G'ma. But we did make it home- this time with no traffic and everyone slept really well last night.

Today was exciting because Andy changed Caleb's bed from a crib to a toddler bed. Last night, Caleb insisted on going to sleep on the futon and he did. So tonight Andy read him stories and he happily laid down with puppy, sneeze bear and lion (who is actually a dinosaur) and the boy went to bed. No trips downstairs, no bouncing and thumping. The little boy is growing up.

For Sadie, the big change was that she got to sit at the dinner table with us instead of in her high chair. She's been so hard to keep strapped in, I got tired of fighting her and set up the other booster seat on the empty chair. It was so nice. She sat happily through dinner with out really trying at all to get out of her seat.

Naptime update

Well, it looks like the weather finally caught up to the season. I'm definitely ready to put away shorts and sandals and get out the sweaters. But it has been nice to have the kids play outside so much. The sidewalks are, once again, covered in chalk drawings. We're ready for a nice rain to wash it away and start fresh. We haven't been able to get outside too much though. I found a broken bottle in our driveway that left little shards of glass all over. I tried my best to sweep it up but with Sadie crawling and Caleb is almost impossible to keep in shoes, I figured it would be easier to keep them inside.

This weekend we're off to Philadelphia to visit Aunt Betsy and the New Jersey G'ma and G'pa. Caleb is very excited to see Aunt Betsy. Sadie is getting more teeth so this could be an interesting trip. We'll be sure to pack the tylenol.

Andy and I are convinced that Sadie knows how to walk but doesn't like that she can't go very fast so she continues to crawl. She certainly can balance- we've been catching her standing at the fridge, playing music and bouncing up and down without holding onto anything. She's also started just grabbing fingers and taking people for walks. But if you try to let go of her, she either carefully squats down or dives down on the floor and crawls. And she is so quick with her crawling. She's hurt her lip a couple of times because she crawls so fast that she can't keep her arms going fast enough.

Caleb has become our little mimic- repeating everything. He seems to be having fun trying out new words and combinations of words. He's also continuing to try singing. It's hard for him though because he can't remember all the words. Right now, his favorite songs are Ants go Marching, ABCs, Alice the Camel, and Are you Sleeping.

He's also been having fun doing nosey nosey. It's a little game where we touch noses like giving Eskimo kisses. He's given g'mas and g'pas nosey nosey, Sadie, and even gr-g'ma Rogers.

He's also been sitting on the potty a little but we're still no where near potty training.

October Update

Wow, October already. I swear, I blinked and September was gone. It didn't seem super busy but I guess things move fast as you plow through the days.

Caleb is full on into the two's. Tantrums and shrieking are becoming regular parts of our day. Balanced out only by the incredible cuteness of the things he's beginning to say. Andy and I have practically given up on keeping track of what all he says. He repeats everything and with pretty good pronunciation. I've tried testing him just to see if he can say things, not expecting him to and being surprised when he does. My example... chimpanzee, a difficult word for any 2 yr old and not one used very often. Well, we were checking out Nation Geographic's website (awesome website, thanks Shayna for mentioning it in your blog) and I thought I would print off a coloring page for Caleb. He chose the monkeys (one of the first words he figured out how to say). As we waited for it to print out, he kept saying "montees" and so I said, "well, actually they're not monkeys, they're chimpanzees." Caleb says "montees" again and then "no no, timpan-zees." He later shortened it to just "panzees."

Tonight he surprised me by saying "touchdown" after throwing the football. Very funny.

He continues to amaze us with his memory. Andy informed me tonight the he thinks Caleb has memorized Curious George goes to the Parade. You can not miss any words in that book or he gets mad. He's also started singing more and more. Tonight it was Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star but he's also been working on ABC's for a while now and almost has it. He's made up a song he sings while working on puzzles- puzzle piece, puzzle piece, puzzle piece... you get the idea.

The other big change this month has been starting Sunday school. He's moved up into the 2 yr old room at church and they actually have a little Bible lesson and activity during the service. This week he learned about Noah and the "big boat." However, when I asked about what went on the boat, he said "vrooom, vroom."

Now for the Sadie girl. We're still waiting and waiting for her to walk but she is getting closer. She loves pushing the Winnie the Pooh train up and down the front sidewalk and is very steady when she's doing it. When I try to get her to take a step on her own though, she seems to have more fun just letting herself fall into my arms. She's such a daredevil.

We cannot let her alone for even a minute in the highchair, stroller, grocery cart. Even strapped in, she's able to wriggle around and either get out or get stuck. This makes even small shopping trips quite challenging. Last week, I went to try to get some clothes for myself and resorted to leaving her in the carrier in the stroller- she can't get out of a 5-point harness but that also makes her really mad.

Sadie's favorite thing to do is dance. She loves dancing and will dance even without music, sitting on the floor. And she's so cute to watch, I can't describe it well enough so I'm hoping to catch her on video soon. Between Caleb's singing and her dancing, the house has been very musical.

She also loves talking on the phone. She's been playing with one of the toy cell phones, picking it up and saying "hi" or "hello." Then she puts it down and this toy phone we have rings on it's own so it becomes a bit of a cycle for her. Every time she tries to get away, the cell phone rings and she just has to answer it :-)

Sadie has also started trying to wash her feet in the bathtub. She watched me use the sponge to get her feet and then started picking it up to do it herself.

Well, this month should be busy. We have a wedding and a trip out to Phillie and getting ready for Sadie's big birthday. Not to mention, Halloween with two little ones.