Bee Stings and "Thumb Sucking"

June 17-23, 2013

Oops, I accidentally put these phone pictures in last week's blog.

Monday I was accused by a police officer of threatening someone. Something along the lines of... "Are you Nicole Adams?" Yes. "Is there someone you have a disagreement with?" No. "Why did you leave a threatening note on someone's car?" I didn't... "Can I see your ID?" "Who else lives here?"

The whole ordeal lasted about ten minutes and left me with a sick feeling in my stomach. 

Leila slept from 8:30-3:30 Sunday and then 7-4 Monday. Unfortunately she was then up for over an hour and a half, which is almost when we have to take Dad to carpool. That meant we were both up early for the day and Monday Caleb woke her up every time she fell asleep. 

Tuesday Leila got better naps, and although I would have liked a nap, having your naps not coincide with Caleb's gave me good one-on-one time with each of them. 

Caleb is fearless at the pool; he just dives in and waits to be pulled up. He loves the attention of the lifeguards and shows off for them. He fearlessly approaches all people, including huge men with mean-looking tattoos, especially if they have food, a toy or iPhone. 

He thinks he's just one of the big kids and tries to join in by going right up next to them at the pool or park. Sometimes he just stands there and other times he talks (gibberish) as though they can understand every word. 

He has figured out how to eat corn on the cob.

He loves trains. There are at least five drawn on our driveway and every time we go out there he wants me to draw another. Everything reminds him of a train... Batman's belt, corn on the cob, the cars in Go Dogs, Go! (a recent addition to his favorite book list). He also loves motorcycles (tata) and recognizes them by their sound before he can even see them. 

Train table at Wonderwild

Caleb likes to share sometimes. Shoves his binky in Leila's mouth, she spits it out and shoves her fist in instead, he pulls her hand away and forces the binky back in. She is pretty patient. He tries to feed her bread, pretend feeds her with a spoon, gives her his sippy cup. 

Caleb has learned that we smash bugs in our house and thinks it is funny  but hasn't figured out to leave bugs alone when we're outside. At the pool on Tuesday a bee was on the ground near the water and Caleb swung and hit it with his hand before I could stop him. Although he made contact, the bee flew away and he didn't get stung. 

Leila has started to really laugh this week. She is definitely ticklish, like her mommy, especially on her neck. Really strong neck to hold up her head on her belly and getting stronger when held upright. 

She's getting more content to sit and watch what's going on. At the park I just have to push the stroller close to the swing or play area so she can see us. She can finally just lay on the floor without constantly spitting up/gagging. 

Leila loves sucking on her hand/thumb but gets frustrated when she can't get it in there right to create a good suction. Is getting better with hand coordination. She already would look at her hand and bring then together. Now she will reach for things and grab them (my face, my shirt, the toy hanging on her car seat). She will even grab her binky and put in her mouth or take it out of her mouth. She also loves sucking on her bottom lip. It makes me laugh whenever she does it because I think it's so cute.

 Wednesday at the pool Caleb stepped on a bee within minutes of being there. I couldn't hold him still and pull out the stinger so I got the head lifeguard to help. As soon as the stinger was out and we walked back to the pool, he was just fine. You wouldn't know it though because he keeps bringing it up all week. It's cute to hear him talk in gibberish for ten minutes straight with the only discernible words being bee and water (pool), all done while holding his foot up so we could see the bottom. But it gets old when he fake cries in the car loudly to accompany the story to make sure we know that it hurt and was scary.

Speaking of scary... He had a nightmare this week. After a few minutes of him crying without falling back to sleep, Allen went to check on him to make sure he hadn't pooped or thrown up. Dad had the magic touch and Caleb fell back asleep quickly. 

Wednesday morning we went to Wonderwild for their free open play. It was packed and Caleb got stuck a couple of times on the play structures but apparently loved it and was very upset when I made him leave. I do think he got sick from being there though, so at least he brought something home to remember it by.

A nice girl helped Caleb get more toward the middle of the bouncy round thing. 

Thursday we had our house sprayed for bugs and Caleb followed the tech around the whole time and was excited he was getting rid of the bees (his new word for all bugs).

Friday I could tell he wasn't feeling well when he didn't want to run and jump on the tramp. Then he was done at the pool after only thirty minutes and during that time was pretty chill, meaning he didn't dive under and require saving every ten seconds. Then Saturday he woke up with a very stuffy, runny, sneezy nose.

That evening we went to the pool with Dad after work. The bee pool. So Caleb recounted the bee story for the seventh time since Wednesday, complete with fake crying and all.

"Bee!"

Happy Father's Day Allen!

June 10-16, 2013

Caleb says hi (thinks it's hilarious), high (on the swing), yo-ween (trampoline), spoon, cockroach, bacon., although I doubt anyone else would recognize those sounds as words other than me. mamanadada means mom and dad. Mine and outside are 

When we hear a siren Caleb points toward the sound and I usually ask if he hears the ambulance. twice he has corrected me that it is not an ambulance, "Nana, yayaya," which apparently means, "no, police car."

If you do "I love Caleb" or "Old MacDonald" he always chooses outside and trampoline. What does outside say? The trampoline says "jump, jump here and jump, jump there".

We go on the trampoline at least twice a day, usually twice in the morning and once in the evening. The afternoon is so hot we'd have to put sprinklers on but we usually go to the pool then unless it is raining. 

Caleb pretends to see bugs, grabs a shoe and hits the floor or wall. He laughs whenever I try to kill a bug, especially on our cockroach hunt in Leila's room on Wednesday morning. 

Leila is getting chubbier and cuter! She's also getting stronger... Holds head up really well on belly, not so well upright but she did okay when I put her in the Bumbo for a few minutes. 

She still likes to suck on her fists and doesn't love binkies, hasn't discovered her thumb or fingers yet. Doing tons better since I stopped dairy but has still had really mucousy poops lately. 

She loves attention but doesn't get as much as I'd like to give her. Caleb wants to attack her all the time. She handles it really well when he shoves her binky in her mouth or pushes her swing really high or when he grabs her arms and pulls. One day he tried pulling her out of the bouncer on his own to hold her. 

We've been working on Caleb's inside voice. 

Monday pool, Tuesday rain, Wednesday watched friends' six kids while they packed to move. He loves the pool and asks for wawa frequently.

Wednesday evening Allen was helping pack the truck for our friends (the Baldwins) and we tagged along because Caleb would have been heartbroken to see dada leave again. He had fun with the other kids there but got attacked by fire ants and got his foot stuck in the truck. Luckily it worked to pour oil on it to slide it out.

Allen's soccer team is still undefeated. I haven't exercised for almost two weeks, other than walking to the park/pool and jumping on the tramp. Tried to keep from getting sick, it didn't work. I am so out of shape! 

Thursday morning Allen and I had dentist appointments so he watched the kids while I went and I was home when he went. Then in the afternoon we went to Rob Fleming water park; it was not as great as we had expected. It looked like fun for kids 10-14 years old so maybe we'll go back in about ten years. We got home just as the missionaries drove up to our house for dinner. 

Friday Allen was back at work. The kids and I played on the trampoline, went to the park, drew with sidewalk chalk (we do this almost every day), visited a friend, took naps, went to the pool and watched some Tangled. 

After picking Allen up from the bus stop we drove directly to the Baldwins' new house for  Al to help hook up their dryer. Caleb loves playing with their kids!  I nursed Leila while I was there and got asked some pretty funny questions : " are you feeding her for real or just for pretend?" "Why do you have that blanket over her?" "I want to watch" "it looks like you're feeding her from your belly." "What does she like to eat?" 

Saturday we slept in until 6:30 am (I was up with Leila a couple times at night but to sleep til 6:30 is a huge improvement at this house)!! Played on the tramp, skyped with grandparents, went to Sam's Club, cleaned the house, barbecued, went to the pool and after the kids were in bed we watched a movie (well, two hours of Dark Knight Rises before going to bed).

I was kinda lame for Father's Day. No homemade gifts and he didn't even sleep in (he did get a two hour nap Saturday and a two and a half hour nap Sunday)so that counts. He did get some new basketball shorts and he did get to play with his kids. We went on a walk and to the park before naps. I made him cheese crisps and dinner and didn't complain about taking care of the kids by myself while he played the organ in church. I should start practicing the organ...

Allen is an amazing dad. He chases Caleb and tickles him, plays with him, gives him baths, reads him books, sacrifices his free time to jumping on the trampoline and giving underdogs at the park when he'd really like to be taking a nap. 

Allen is the reason Caleb won't sleep in until 7. He did it for a week but every day I go get him out of bed, he chants dadadada and gets upset if dad has already left for work. So he forces himself to wake up to see Dad before he leaves at 6 am. 

Caleb will carry around articles of Allen's clothes and say dada over and over again. If I ask him if he wants to do something (go to the store or park) while dad's home, he will pause until I say Dad is coming too and then he will shout "Yeah!" If he hears the door kind of creak because the wind was blowing, he gets excited that its dada coming home. If he's tired and dad isn't home from work, he tries to stay awake by yelling. 

Leila smiles and looks for Allen whenever she hears his voice, even if he's just on speakerphone. I love watching her fall asleep just laying on Allen's belly/chest. 

Allen (if you read this... Or even if you don't), you are the best father I could ever wish my children to have. Thank you for taking care of us and loving us. We love you infinity!

Playing Outside and at the Pool

June 3-9, 2013

Tuesday dad was home and Wednesday he had to work late so we had a family trip to dad's office. Caleb did really well and was pretty cute at the office saying hi to everyone. Leila was miserable, tired and her tummy hurt. Caleb had diarrhea and killer diaper rash! He squatted or stood almost all day so he cried part of the way there because it hurt to sit on his bottom but he was so excited to see Dad that it made up for it.

Thursday before 9 am we had already dropped dad off at carpool, had breakfast, drew with sidewalk chalk, splashed in the neighbors' puddles from their runoff sprinkler water, played in our sprinklers and skyped with Grammy. Caleb got three less hours of sleep last night and then only napped for an hour. Needless to say, he was in a particularly destructive mood all day. We had lots of timeouts for mean behavior, which happens a lot when he's tired. However, he was awesome at the pool!

She loves the bath and grabs washcloths with her foot. On our runs she loves kicking the toy I hang in front of her. She stares at the fan a lot, and her quilt. I may need to take it down so she goes back to sleep instead of staring at it!

Saturday Dad played basketball, we cleaned, played at the park, I mowed the lawn and while the kids napped, we set up our trampoline! After nap time we went to SAMs club and then the pool! The pool we went to has all sorts of fun things for Caleb... And he loved it! The playground, slides, water guns, fountains... Leila slept through it all. Home for dinner, baths and bedtime.

Some pictures are older ones from my old ghetto phone. Some are of later weeks too.

He wanted to hold Leila on the park bench after I finished nursing her.

Where's Leila's bellybutton?

Naptime

She wants to be a thumb sucker. (Side note from the future: had we fixed Leila's upper lip and tongue ties, she probably would have been able to suck her thumb.

We went to a bouncy house/indoor fun place for kids and Caleb got scared and wouldn't go down one of the slides and didn't really enjoy himself until we found the train table.

A train!

He love jumping on the trampoline with the sprinklers spraying him.

Caleb likes to lead me like a dog on a leash.

Caleb says woah all the time. Leila won't nap in her crib. Prefers to catnap.

Caleb loves sidewalk chalk and the sprinklers. And his dada. Sings I love Caleb, he loves me... And loves to choose out who we love, same with Old Macdonald. In both songs cars and trucks are frequently included, sometimes his binky, bellybutton and Jesus make the cut too. Popcorn: does armful and smells so sweet actions.

Leila has been known to cry to not be held. Rarely though. Doesn't fall asleep on her own well.

My first solo trip to the pool was a success! Fed Leila before we left, got her to sleep as we walked in and she slept in the stroller in the shade by the kiddy pool for an hour! Caleb ran and splashed in the pool. He would throw a ball and chase after it. And he loved the whale slide!! He went down at least 10 times. He was the littlest kid I saw do it. And Leila was the littlest kid at the pool, period. Second solo trip was also successful! I think the sound of water keeps Leila sleeping (in the stroller or in my arms), even with me dumping water on her occasionally to keep her from overheating. 

We're going to have to practice back sleeping for Leila. Every time I've come in to get her recently, she's been awake, flailing on her back.

Leila's feeding game. Suck, look up with a sheepish/are you still there look, smile and repeat without wanting to eat.