Addendum

I don't know how I forgot about these things Jack has said when I was writing last night....

I might have written about this in a previous post, but around Jack's 2nd birthday he started saying, "I CAN'T SEE!" whenever he was frustrated about something (trying to climb on playground equipment or something like that). I was puzzled about this until I realized that that is what he always hears from Cat when she is frustrated at him for standing right in front of the television.

He started a few weeks ago saying, "I hurt my body!" in an adorable, pathetic voice when ever he fell or got hurt. But soon he changed it and began filling in the thing he last touched when he was injured. We started hearing these things instead: "I hurt my twain twack!" or "I hurt my kitchen!" This morning he said "I hurt my cowboy bankee!" when he bumped himself on our footboard, which had his cowboy blankie draped over it.

Jackisms

(photo courtesy of Lindsey Lou Photography)

Jack has been talking so much more! He began putting sentences together shortly before he turned 2, and since then he hasn't slowed down a bit. It's really cool to hear what he has to say and get more of a feel for his thoughts and personality. There are still times when I look at him trying to tell me something and I can tell that he is really working at trying to figure out what to say and formulate his words. But I've collected a few funny things now that I think I have enough to be worthy of a post. A sidebar won't be too far behind, I'm sure.

I sowee, Mommy. I jus' bwoke twain twack.
I sorry, Mommy. I just broke train track.

Funny, Mommy. Wiza make joke.
Funny, Mommy. Liza make joke.

Sing "Thomas is his friend," Mommy.
(Referring to Thomas theme song, "Thomas and His Friends.")

No eating Poocy. How bow' Thomas. (When Eliza was grabbing his Percy train.)
No eating Percy. How about Thomas.

I suck!
I stuck!

I jus' burp. I jus' burp again.
I just burp. I just burp again.

This has happened a few times during bedtime prayers over the last week. Apparently, Jack is very grateful for his trains:
Me: I thank thee
J: I sake ee
Me: for my family
J: Fo' my Poocy (Percy)
Me: for my family
J: Fo' my Thomas (the train)
Me: for my family
J: Fo' my Pesser (Spencer)

Yesterday I was singing some songs to Jack while I unloaded the dishwasher. Each time I finished a new song he would say, "I wove that song!" What a great audience!

Guess who got a bike!

Did you guess Ben?

Yep. He's been looking for a good deal for forever and finally found what he wanted at the right price several weeks ago. Ironically enough, he got the trailer several months ago. (It works as a double jogging stroller as well, so we've still been using it, though.)

Once he got it from the nice folks who were selling it on Craigslist, he couldn't wait to go for a ride. Even though it was close to bedtime on a school night (but not as dark as it looks in the picture.)

The next time he took the kids they both rode in the trailer, with pillows and a blankie.
I love that they fell asleep holding hands.

7 months old!

Yes, Eliza is 7 months old now. We are more than half-way through the 1st year! (And, incidentally, well over halfway to 8 months, but that's neither here nor there...)

During her 7th month, Eliza had solid food for the first time.
Photo credit: Cat

"Hmm... what to make of this...."

"I think I like it!"

A few days later, she had peas for the first time.
Not her favorite.

This month I let her swing in the backyard baby swing for the first time, too.
Yep, she loved it!

She still loved it when Jack took a turn pushing.

So we've had several afternoons of this...

I decided to press my luck and see how she did in the wagon, too.
This is only scary if Cat is the one doing the driving.
(For clarification, see the video from this post. Cat goes even faster now.)

But we managed to move at less than warp speed, and all survived to tell the tale.

Other developments this month:

• Given the choice between her toys and anything else, she'll choose anything else. This includes but is not limited to shoes, wires, big kid toys, pieces of trash, etc.
• Crawling to wherever she wants to go, or away from wherever she doesn't want to be.
• Sitting up unassisted for more than a few seconds. Bath time is so much easier now!
  

another conference post

We've been having fun conference-prep FHEs recently and I wanted to share what we've done. I printed up these Apostle Cards from Sugardoodle and we've talked about a few apostles at a time to try to get to know them and remember their names before General Conference this weekend. We also showed the kids this video, which they LOVED.

Then, tonight I put together a little matching game I made using this image from the May 2010 Ensign:


I just edited out the names, then printed out this page and used the pictures to make two sets of cards.
When we play tomorrow, the person who finds a match will get a point, and get an opportunity to earn an extra point if they know the name of the person they matched. We'll see how it goes! We had a trial run tonight and Cat did pretty well, until Jack started pulling the pictures off of the card stock, then Eliza found one of the pictures on the floor and had her way with it until you couldn't even see the photo on it anymore. I guess I'll have to laminate them before FHE tomorrow! (And print out a replacement of the one Eliza found.)

All of this prep probably sounds nuts to some folks, but I don't regret it at all. Today Cat actually said, "I LOVE General Conference!" which totally made my day. She could very well change her mind after the first 3 minutes of the Saturday morning session, but at least we'll go into it with a good attitude.

Survivor Skills: Foraging

It's funny how when baby #3 arrived, I think I understood that I would be in survival mode much more frequently. But I have been surprised at how often Cat and Jack have had to be in survival mode too.


Case in point: a few weeks ago I was occupied feeding a certain adorable 6-month old some very delicious peas for breakfast. (Yes, breakfast. I know.) Jack was hungry too, but I knew it would be better for me to get the baby taken care of and then focus on Jack, so I continued feeding Eliza. Next thing I knew, Jack was eating breakfast: a chocolate chip cookie he grabbed off of the counter. And a minute later, he had a cucumber in one hand (also off of the counter) and another cookie in the other. A pretty well-balanced meal, if you ask me!

Last year, I decided Cat needed to learn how to make her own lunch. I knew it would be a learning process for both of us, but I started off with this checklist, which has been on our refrigerator door ever since:
It's worked pretty well. Last year, I frequently helped Cat put her lunch together in the mornings, hurriedly. This year she's done pretty well with making her lunches after school for the following day. Sometimes I help her, sometimes I don't. And on the days when I don't help her, sometimes I check what she packed, and sometimes I don't. The other day I looked in her lunch box and noticed that she didn't exactly follow the checklist. Her lunch consisted of a peanut butter sandwich, a pack of crackers & cheese, 6 Ritz crackers, 2 pieces of sliced cheese, and juice box. Hmm. It might be time for another discussion about what it means to eat balanced meals. And maybe I need to re-stock our supply of ready-to-go fruits & veggies...

Good Siblings Are: Affectionate

They just love to hold, kiss, and squeeze her.
(Sometimes the squeezing gets to be a bit much. Lotsa love!)

Jack frequently says, "hol-joo, Liza," and Eliza and I oblige when we can. But I have to be careful, because sometimes all the notice I get is a quiet "all done" before he starts to take her off of his lap.

Cat enjoys holding Eliza on her lap as well, but it's a little sad now that E's out of the lay-quietly-and-contentedly phase, and in the squirm-like-a-worm phase. Makes it harder for C & J.