18 months

Yeah, this picture's a little old. Go with it. Since Alice is nearing 19 months this week, I thought I ought to tell about what 18 months has been for all of us.

She has a new favorite word: No. Everything is no. Her other favorite word is: Mom. Surprise! She'll also say a few others, occasionally: Dad, yeah, hi, eye. Mostly she does a lot of really expressive grunts and gestures. She will nod her head yes or no, which is helpful, and she's really learned that the sign for please opens a lot of doors. We're still working on the sign for all done, hopefully to replace all the screaming and throwing of food that currently happens when she's done eating. She knows it, she just is too much of a stink to do it usually.

The last few weeks we've been leaving her in nursery. Levi took her in there for a few weeks to help her get used to it, so now she's doing really well. Toys and snacks? What isn't there to love? We sat in front of her nursery teachers last week in sacrament and she kept looking and smiling at them. And Alice going has helped Clara to feel better about going. Clara's not been loving nursery lately, I think because she's so much older than the other kids.

She loves sunglasses. She will bring you some, grunting appealingly, until you put them on her face. Then she'll smile and walk away, coming back a maximum of two minutes later to repeat the process.

She loves dolls and pushing dolls around in strollers. Big brother and sister mostly ignore the Little People toys under their bunk beds, but Alice will crawl all the way under there to get them out. And, she knows about guns. Nathan builds guns out of trio blocks, and Alice shoots them at us. She even makes shooting noises.

She's learning that hitting, pushing, and kicking are hilarious, and doesn't understand why there would possibly be negative consequences for said hilarity.

The other night at bedtime she wanted to get into Nathan's bed. She climbed up towards the pillow, pushed him out of the way, lay down with her head on the pillow, and pulled the covers over here. Clara was very disturbed we'd leave her there all night. So I got out a pillow and put it in Alice's bed. She was very happy. As soon as we laid her down she waved to us to get us out of there already so she could enjoy this pillowy luxury.

She loves strollers. Anytime we're playing outside she'll climb in and try to grunt her way into a stroller ride. Once as we got home from school she climbed out of the double stroller, walked into the garage, and climbed into the single stroller. She was pretty upset I wouldn't take her for a ride.

A couple of weeks ago I took the older kids to the dentist. When they got their new toothbrushes from the hygienist she walked up to her, expecting her due. She was pretty upset she didn't get one.

Oh, and we finally transitioned her out of the infant seat and turned her forward facing. Happy day! She feels so big, which, of course, she's been trying to tell us for oh so long.

Happy Fall

We made it--October! It's here! and glorious. October, weather-wise, is my favorite month. The air is so crisp. Such a great time for doing and being.

I've got several projects I've been saving up for the coolness of September: the garage, fixing and staining the fence, and a little masonry work, anyone? But the doing of them just doesn't seem to be happening. It's hard to gird up the will for even these exciting (!) projects when I can't even keep to my regular housework schedule.

Here's to hoping my energy comes back soon. I'm out of the first trimester this week, so that's encouraging news. I'm sure everyone will appreciate a little more normalcy around here.

Also, would someone please tell Nathan to pick a costume and stick with it? I'm not doing anything about his costume until he stops vascillating.

Stories about a bed

So, what's a month and a half between friends? Or a blog? Here I am, I'm back...briefly. Two short stories about what's been going on here.

A couple weeks ago at bedtime, Nathan asked, "Can Alice get in my bed for just a minute?" I said no, dad said no, but Alice heard. She toddled over to the ladder and started trying to climb it. She was pretty unhappy when we didn't let her finish before taking her to her own bed.

Last night (again at bedtime) Nathan was sitting with us on the couch in the family room. He could see into the bedroom and said, "Something crazy is happening to Clara!" The crazy thing? She had climbed up to his bed to throw all his stuffed animals to the floor. She thought she was pretty funny stuff.

Tonight the kids rigged "curtains" by hanging blankets from the upper bunk so they could put on a "show." I love how much fun my kids can get out of boring furniture.

A family anniversary sort of day

 For our anniversary we decided to go for a hike. With our kids. And my sister's family. Super romantic, right?

 We started on the trail to Adam's Canyon, but there's a turnoff after about 20 minutes to this waterfall. It's a perfect kids' hike. Clara didn't even ask to be carried once. And Alice complained about having to be in the backpack.

 After a few minutes, Clara was brave enough to cross the water by herself.

 And Alice protested dad's efforts to help her climb down the rocks and the cold rushing water. She was so proud of herself and I was pretty impressed.

 Nathan found a water bottle (what's not to love about garbage?) which he used to trap a silver spider (see below).

Look closely, on the bottom corner of the rock. It really was silver. A few minutes after he released it on this rock in the middle of the stream, I convinced him he should maybe let it go on some dry land.

After we finished the hike, our companions took us to a really cool playground in Fruit Heights. It's a castle. It was awesome. After we'd played for close to an hour, and it was hot and we were beyond ready for lunch, Nathan tried to negotiate for more time: "Can I just play for six more hours?"  No. "How about three?" But after the bee stung him on the ankle he consented that it was time to go. On the way home he lamented: "Why did Jesus make bees and hornets? I hate them!" I've often wondered that about mosquitoes.

Then home, lunch, and naps! for me and then Levi. It was possibly my favorite part of the day. After we put the kids to bed we got some chinese takeout and watched a movie. It was a low key sort of anniversary but it was good. We've made it to eight years--so I guess our marriage has reached the age of accountability. How would one go about baptizing a relationship?

Hey, August

So, do you like how i posted a billion times during June, and then... kaput. I'm not dead. Alice has taken up playing peekaboo. And saying please! in sign language. Today at lunch she pointed at the drink she'd thrown on the floor. I told her to say please, then she clapped, folded her arms, and then remembered the sign for please. Success! We've been working on this one for a while.  Nathan and Clara have taken to playing Scouts. Which means they assemble a lot of toys in the living room and pretend they're camping. I love my kids, and their creativity, but everything involves a lot of mess.

I got to go to education week at BYU-Idaho last week, which was wonderful. I went with my mom, sister, aunt, two cousins, grandma, and great aunt. I was exhausted when I left, and more exhausted when I came back. We stayed up late to play games, and then not even on purpose waking up early, which meant I went to 7 am Zumba. I'm really bad at Zumba (no coordination and/or rhythm) but it's fun and a great workout and it was free. Also there was an awesome trip to the Rexburg DI, wherein I realized I have an addiction this summer to buying green shirts from thrift stores  (I'm up to 4 since June). When I came home (after only three days) it was really hard to adjust to cooking again. Cooking is the worst. I really like cooking, but lately it's too hard to think of things to make. I've even started making a monthly menu which hangs on my fridge. Then I look at the menu and think, "I don't want to eat that today," or "that sounds good, but I don't have the things for it." So I'll make something else on the menu or just come up with a new idea (thanks to Pinterest for last night's cornbread waffles and chili).

Also, August, what's the point? Why are you so hot? I'm kind of ready for fall. Fall should be six months long.

One day more

Levi's been at scout camp this week. It's been a pretty good week. A barbecue and playing at the river on Wednesday, swimming with my sister's family at the aquatic center on Thursday. We haven't even eaten out. I even took dinner to a family in the ward yesterday. I was rocking this week.

To celebrate a successful week of daddy-less-ness, I planned to take the kids to a Cinderella play tonight in Clearfield. I thought they'd love it. I even made some brownies, some to take to a neighbor and the rest to eat once we'd gotten home. A blissful family outing completed.

"All right, kids. Let's eat dinner and then we'll go to the play."

Clara: "This is not my favorite dinner."

Nathan: "I hate this! I want a brownie!"

Alice: contentedly ate her dinner and then asked for more

Clara: ate a quarter of her dinner and then wandered downstairs to fall asleep in her bed (at five o'clock)

Nathan: "I won't eat this! I hate this! You feed me! I want some ranch on it!"

Things hit a low when I "fed" Nathan by bringing the entire plate of food up to his mouth. Rice spilled over the kitchen. Mother of the year, right here. I went upstairs to put laundry away.

Forty minutes later, Nathan: "I want to go to the play!" Repeated wailings, etc. before falling asleep on the living room floor.

I think Alice and I will enjoy some brownies together, in the quiet.

Alice, nearly sixteen months

Funny girl, Alice, has discovered her baby's binky is quite wonderful. It's got only the tiniest of nubs, that you can wedge inside the plastic doll's mouth. But she latches on to that and howls if you take it away.

She has learned to use a spoon pretty well, thanks to her daily bowl of yogurt. She doesn't often let me feed her any more. And, her breakfast has to be just the same as brother's and sister's. One morning I gave her a bowl of cheerios and she wouldn't touch it until I poured some milk on it.

Her vocabulary, slowly expanding, now is "mom!" and the occasional "da." She's got all sorts of nonverbal communication, nods and head shakes and pointing and waving and grunting and, the newest, giving high fives. Oh, and don't forget the shrieking. That's always fun. We're working on the signs for "please" and "more" but she'll only do them if they're first modeled by Nathan and/or Clara. The other day at breakfast we had nearly the whole family doing the sign for please, but with cantankerous Nathan shaking his head no, it was nothing doing. And if you ask any question, she'll raise her hand. "Who's hungry? Who's in favor of nuclear war?" She's up for almost anything.

We went swimming the other day at the Clearfield aquatic center, which has an outdoor kiddie pool that's 18 to 24 inches deep. She was quite in her element, which seems to be a sort of drunken sailor motif. She wouldn't let me hold her hands, so with the slightest off-kilter step she'd keel over in the water, not at all phased with water in her eyes, or up her nose, or anything. I'm thinking the reason she didn't want much dinner is all the water she swallowed.

She's very invested in keeping up with those older siblings, be it drawing with sidewalk chalk or getting a sucker from the bishop's office after church. What a determined, very grown up girl. She's so fun. And when she stopped pinching and scratching me all the time, I'll like her even more.