Unringing the Bell

Notes

1. Every single thing that I have been worried Georgia might not do, eventually, she has done. I am just going to assume the trend will keep up. Last night she ate pea soup on her own with a spoon. This morning she ate more yogurt with a spoon and scrambled eggs with a fork. It's not always neat, and I can't say she didn't throw the fork out of frustration when she would put it in her mouth just after the eggs fell off the utensil, but I gave the fork back to her and she went at it again.

2. Georgia has this one sound she makes that when she is both incredibly excited, and ticked. I really don't like that noise because I always have to seek her out and look at her face to know which mood she is in. What a relief when there is a smile!

3. saa vcv <--- message from Rainer.

4. I get very frustrated with Georgia when she gets implausibly mad and impatient quickly. She will often yell or throw things suddenly when something makes her mad. She doesn't take a moment to breathe or try again or settle herself. As she grows up I think we need to work on counting to ten (which she can already do) when she is mad. This morning I realized that she got it from me. I mean, I guess I knew this already, but this morning something silly happened and I had the realization as I was throwing my fists in the air and saying something akin to "argggggggh!" just who she gets it from. I suppose I need to work on counting to ten as well!

5. The school year is about to get off to full swing. My inbox is full of emails about back-to-school nights, special ed meetings, choir practice, etc etc etc....

6. I bought G's birthday present last night. Her b-day is in December. I am NEVER that organized!

7. We bought a new-to-us minivan this month. I am in love with it. So all you minivan haters can keep hating, but know this...automatic doors, baby! I am happy to report we sold my old car. PHEW!

8. I am bound and determined to get some year+-long half-finished projects done in the next couple months.

9. MY SIL is pregnant. That is exciting.

10. Rainer is a naughty little guy sometimes, but he cracks me right up.

11. I always feel the possibilities in the fall.

12. We got a potty dvd from the library. We are not having a ton of success with pt-ing, but it's because we have been inconsistent. Travel does not help those sorts of things even though we DID bring our potty on the road with us! I don't like this dvd because it really emphasizes that "only babies go in their diapers" and there is a whole section that asks "Who uses a spoon? A baby or a big kid?" and then the kids yell "Big kid!" and then "Who eats with their fingers? A baby or a big kid?" and the kids all scream "A baby!" and there are other things, too, that...well...SOME big kids do, too. So there. However, G and R both like the video and they really pay attention to these sorts of things so I am hoping they will learn the routine even when I am not trying to teach it explicitly.

13. Speaking of pottying, I am thinking of resorting to mini marshmallow bribes. Don't judge me.

14. BTW, it's HARD to potty-train two kids with one potty that is on the second floor of your house.

15. I think Rainer should be a farmer.

16. Rainer really loves typical boy things: trucks, balls, dinosaurs. It is going to make gift-giving easy.

17. At what age did your kids start to get into movies?

I am a descendant of Civil War soldiers!

While my family was still in PA, we decided to brave the weather and take a jaunt up north again today. It was much less hot, but we did get somewhatfoiled by the rain! No matter, we had a fun time having lunch and seeing family and discovering that not only am I ridiculously afraid of heights (couldn't climb a rather innocent looking tower), but it gets windy and cold when you climb up a tower and then a summer storm hits while you are up there!

This isn't a great picture, but since we have...hmmm...let's see...three??? Pictures of all four of us together, I figured I'd share it. I suppose we need to hire someone to take some.

Other fun stuff from the weekend. Georgia now mimics entire "passages" from her dvds, including counting in Hebrew, French, and Spanish, and saying complete sentences. It is music to my ears and catches me by surprise every time.

Rainer absolutely LOVES sports apparently and sits in the back of the car saying "Footbah, footbah, footbah!" like he is a little Phi Beta Kappa (whose child IS he??) in a chant fit for beer-chugging. He also has figured out how to appropriately use the word "funny." For instance, today after we all ran down the stairs in the storm and got settled in the car laughing and squealing all the while he said "Funny!"He says his name now, too. He pronounces it "Nerner."

Last Minute Trip

My sister and her kids were heading to PA for the weekend so we decided to meet up with them since it is a LOT closer to our house and easier for our kids to manage. We met up in Amish Country and had a nice afternoon. It was a bummer it was so hot (110 with the heat index!!) or else we could have done MUCH more, but it was nice to meet up, have lunch and walk around for a (short) time.

The kids love getting out and about and so do I. Sometimes I think Alex (and Georgia) can take it or leave it, but thankfully they indulge us! I REALLY liked it up there and I am sure we will go back when the weather cools off some to explore more. It's only about a 90 minute drive. We were going to attempt a night over and then go to Dutch Wonderland tomorrow, but that seemed ludicrous with the heat and we want to actually enjoy ourselves, so we'll do that in the fall, too, I guess.

Georgia had a great time hanging with her cousin, Julia, though. I don't know what it is, but Julia and Georgia have a real bond. No matter how shy Georgia is, Julia can get her to warm up. Georgia was sneaking handfuls of mac & cheese from Julia's plate (sorry about that, Jules!!) and demanding that she play pat-a-cake with her over and over. I got a little video of it, but not the best parts. This was when Alex was reminding Julia (she's a big girl now and doesn't quite remember Pat-a-Cake anymore) how the song goes. I love the girls' shy smiles though. (And holy smokes, my tiny little point and shoot seems to take better footage than my camcorder!)

I think the highlight for Rainer was drinking creamsicle milk, but I think he and my nephew would have a blast if they had more time to just hang out. Hopefully we can do that soon!

And in general we need to get out and about more! There is so much for us to see and do around here. So much for YOU to see and do, too! Don't you want to come visit? It's not ALWAYS 110 degrees!!!

 

I love their silly grins in this picture.

 

She is having a BLAST!

 

 

Julia looks SO much like my mom as a young girl and my mom's mom (Mama, as we called her). It's really quite shocking to me!

  

Heading home with his Tubby Ba.

 

Rainer takes a turn with Georgia's monster, too.

We got pretty sweaty. (And the fast food parking lot diaper explosion was a lot of fun to take care of on the way home, too. Let me tell ya!) But honestly, being a parent is the best! Despite the truck stop diaper debacle, I have to say, now that the kids are starting to be able to DO stuff, it's a so fun! I love seeing how they react to things, how they look at the world around them.

I went to Disney World last week and boy would it be fun to show that to my kids. But honestly, even the little stuff, the world's most giant squash and the orange milk. It's all pretty cool when you're so fresh on this planet. I love how they give me new eyes.

Here's all of us, minus my sis. (You'd think I could learn to look up!)

Little Prince(s)

This little guy calls me Mommy now. Swooooooon! When he comes down the stairs from nap or if I come home after being away for a little while he says "Mommy!" and points only he says it "Mah-ME!" and the "Mah" part is quick, both syllables accented.

This morning I had to run downstairs to switch the laundry over and I heard it when he realized I wasn't around. He shouted "Mommy?"

He is started to sneak in little phrases now, too. A recent was "Help, please." He's not a real TALKER...or...actually, he IS a talker, it's just a lot of his words are hard to understand. For instance, he says football, but pronounces it "fut-bee", but he's talking all the time, whole conversations that I take part in as if I know what he's saying. Sometimes I can even figure it out. If we're in context. :)

 

I am leaving the little guy and his sis (who is also talking a ton lately) in the employ of this fine chap as I had off to the National DS Conference this weekend. I am SO excited. Going to see so many friends and stay in a resort with a girlfriend of mine, plus the whole convention! :)

I am no real artist, but I can draw a dead-on portrait of my husband. He's a good man letting me take off to the tropics for a few days, in'nit he?