By amy on October 1, 2010
There has been a recent request for a post on Ivy – that she’s growing and changing therefore an update is needed.
Ivy is a second born in peak form: anything Lance can do Ivy can do too – or will die trying. In fact, she often one-ups him in ideas and we find her in stuff or doing things that Lance never tried.
This recent climb into the window sill from the rocking chair is one of those ideas.
She has taken on the job of setting the table (though Lance will still come along and correct her placement). And if Lance is wearing a cape and running “real fast” to mommy then she will join in on the fun – even though she’s not sure why we’re doing this.
Ivy catches on to ideas pretty quick – here she is wiping down her car because the sprinkler got it wet. Ivy is capable and fearless. She will slide down the slide and climb back up it. You have to keep on your toes with this one – she will jump off anything into our ready, or not so ready, arms. She loves to be tickled, thrown in the air, chased and have growling/roaring contests. She also has quieter moments examining a toy or reading a book – ones with animals being her favorite.
Ivy is a talker! She already puts three words together and has said a few 3 syllable words. She will tell me if she needs to go potty (something Lance has yet to do) and politely asks “mommy, ________ please” for anything she wants. The kids get m&m’s for going to the potty and Lance likes to tell me what color he got. I don’t think Ivy has the concept but she has the words and will happily chirp “blue” or “brown” or whatever comes to mind before she pops it in her mouth, saying “mmmmm!.” Once, when walking into a gas station she saw all the food and exclaimed “yum-mee, YUM-MEE!” She can also identify facial features, say “sorry” (and will often say it even when Lance was the one in the wrong) and knows where to find mommy’s baby – though I’m not sure she understands.
Ivy is a delight and her enthusiasm for anything that’s going on shows she really knows how to enjoy life. I love my little girl.
Posted in Family News
By amy on September 27, 2010
Friday I decided to trim Ivy’s bangs because they were hanging in her eyes.
She was very serious about the whole thing and didn’t move. Maybe she was afraid of getting a bad hair day or something.
Here we are after the trim. She has such cute eyes 🙂
And of course, Lance wanted his hair cut too. He kept shaking the hair off the cape and fussed when it tickled his nose but enjoyed being brushed off with a baby hair brush afterwards.
Posted in Family News
By amy on September 10, 2010
Lance is starting to talk more and more, giving us a glimpse into his mind.
Lance noticed the “winnie the pooh” characters on his potty seat and started naming them off: “pig, donkey, bear, tiger”. Guess he hasn’t ever seen the show 🙂
Today he made his stuffed frog go potty and then tried to feed it the m&m reward.
He likes his “crab shirt” and will pinch his own tummy when he wears it.
When we go to check the mail he makes sure Ivy doesn’t get lost if she starts to wander. He’ll call “Ivy, ‘mere” or tell her “dis way, Ivy”
He always reminds us to pray at meals and has started taking on that responsibility himself.
At 2:00 this afternoon he asked to “eat”. I told him no, we had just had lunch. He hopefully asked “snack”?
His chore is to set the table and he’ll tell each piece of silverware who it belongs to as he puts them in the right place (mommy ‘pork’ (fork) , daddy knife, Lance spoon)
He loves to point out colors and the color of his cup determines his drink (Lance blue milk, Ivy orange milk)
We’ve also taught him a few fun phrases.
It’s fun having a parrot in the house 🙂
Posted in Family News
By amy on August 30, 2010
What’s in a cardboard box? A lot of fun! I felt creative so I decided to do something fun with the kids.
I read an idea about making a target out of a box so I set about to construct one with the kids help. Feeling brave I decided to let them paint their new toy.
You can throw the bean bags to hit the target, they fall into a little compartment behind which has a nifty little door to open and retrieve the balls (That last part was added by me for Lance’s benefit because I knew he’d get a kick out of opening the little door).
Well, I watch the kids downstairs a few times a week and when they saw this they wanted to paint too. So next time they came over……
We transformed the box that formerly held all the packing peanuts into a Batmobile! It kept the kids occupied for a solid two hours! Of course, I was occupied as well watching that paint didn’t get on the floor. (note, there is plastic down under the car but it only reaches so far).
Lance demonstrates the hatch. If I was a guy I might know the official name for that.
Here’s a side view – this car is complete with wings on the back, designer wheels on front and fire coming out the tail pipe! Can you tell a boy helped me design the car?
When it was all over, the kids needed a bath, the living room needed a cleaning and mommy needed a rest! What a fun day!
Posted in Family News
By amy on August 27, 2010
After the museum we stayed with some friends then took our time traveling to my brother’s house in order to spend an evening with him.
Along the way we stopped at a state park to play disc golf and then lingered in the cool weather to enjoy a picnic lunch by the lake. This was so relaxing!
As part of our trip we visited Washington D.C. We drove in early Tuesday morning to secure the free parking then rushed past a memorial or two in order to get tickets for the Bureau of Engraving tour.
We paused after the tour to eat some lunch and I fed a friendly little squirrel. It was a picky squirrel – would only eat the peanut butter and not the bread. It didn’t like chips either. After eating we went up in the Washington monument to enjoy the view.
Unfortunately I felt bad so Brian and I left early to have some down time at our host’s house. We spent the next day there as well, just talking and enjoying a slower pace.
Posted in Family News
