Saturday Roundup! (Vol 1. Issue 8)

(I am going to redeem the weekly updates.  It's a good way to track the kid's developmental milestones. Fingers crossed that I will stick to it.)

Not too much happening in our household right now.  

• Emily likes to wear her brother's clothes.  She also likes to call me, "Amber," rather than mom.  It was funny for the first few weeks, but after 2 months I kinda want to feel like I am/be called "mommy" again.  
• We've resumed potty training again.  It's going well.  At night, when she gets her diaper, we can expect to change her at least twice because she refuses to go number 2 on the toilet.  All in good time, I say.
• Emily speaks in complete sentences.  We have extended conversations about everything. She tells us stories--the 3 pigs and the wolf, her favorite books, and what she's done that day.
• This girl can dance! She will be starting dance classes in a little more than a month; hence why she asks daily if she can go do "dance school."  
• Some of our favorite pronunciations/sentences of hers include, smarshmellows (marshmallows), lellow (yellow), sandtizer (sanitizer), cookie crackers (vanilla wafers), "State your problem!" (from Super Why); "Open the door!" (pointing at the cupboard so she tell me exactly what she wants to eat), "I wan[t] something," "it's NOT dangrus (dangerous)," (referring to driving the car/crossing the street/or any other activity I want her to avoid), "I drive when I 16, mommy" (she is obviously interested in driving), she knows her bedtime routine, "I take a baf, and get diaper, and go bed at 6," and tells us exactly what she and her brother will wear during the day.
• She is quite the big sister.  She hugs, kisses, and wishes Andrew "good morning," when they wake up. If Andrew falls or in any other way hurts himself, she says, "Oh Andrew! You need a hug? Okay."  Andrew is kept in line by her, he is told to stop making messes, climbing on the table, and turning off the TV.  He is also pulled, literally, in the direction Emily wants him to go. When we are crossing the street, she holds Andrew's hand to keep him "safe." She likes to spoon-feed Andrew foods like yogurt while repeating "here you go, Andrew" and "you done? okay."  
• She sings songs all day long, like her own made up up songs.  One of these days I'll get that on camera.
• Emily is very imaginative.  She is constantly frightened by a giant that lives upstairs in her room.  But when we talk about him, the giant generally becomes more friendly. 
• She loves to look at bugs.  She'll pick them up and bring them to me, or kill them--when I ask. : )

• Andrew is extremely hilarious. He laughs and jokes quite a bit.  I didn't expect we'd have a kid with an exceptional sense of humor--given his crazy/nerdy/dorky parents; alas, we've been pleasantly surprised by our goof ball boy!  Some of his antics include running with his head in front and his hands behind him (video coming soon) laughing; twirling around in circles until he falls "dahn!"; climbing and/or jumping on top of the table, couches, beds, and coffee table; and he dances by stomping his feet as fast as he can.
• His smile is contagious.  Everywhere he goes he yells "hi" to people and gives the his winning smile.  They can't help but smile and comment back.
• Andrew is also a fabulous sibling.  When Emily goes potty, he rips off the toilet paper for his sister saying, "hery go" (here you go).  Today, when Emily was very upset, he went upstairs, grabbed his sisters blanket, brought it down, and said, "y'kay?" (you okay).
• Obviously, his sister has heavily influenced him.  That is where he's picked up lots of phrases and why he speaks sentences so clearly.  For instance, whenever he sees the sink he asks to "eieio," signalling that he wants to wash his hands.  (After going potty, Emily sings the ABC's while washing her hands, but Andrew's favorite song is Old McDonald. Smart kid.)  He also says words/phrases like, "tuck (for all varieties of trucks), "Memy" (Emmy), "joos" (juice), ahdog (hot dog), "I wan dat" (I want that), "ming" (mine), "bue" (blue), and "ganky" (his blanky--his favorite comfort object).  
• Almost all his teeth are in, except the canines which are currently growing in.  (Painful, poor guy.)
• His hair is so curly.  We haven't cut it recently because the curls are darling.
• He likes to go "ahside" (outside) and play with the toys.  He also likes to pick up bugs; unfortunately, not all the bugs are friendly--a very painful lesson he learned a couple days ago.  At least he doesn't eat bugs any---uh, just kidding.

Ben & Amber

Ben is thrilled for school to start!  He has his backpack full of the essentials: crayons, elmer's glue, a Sponge Bob notebook, and an Iron Man lunch pail.  His language skills are improving by the day.  He is learning "Dem Bones" and "Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes," in preparation for gross anatomy. Additionally, he is collecting amoebas in an old dirty dog bowl out back to take to his teacher, as a gift, on the first day of pathology. 

Amber is nervously anticipating school to start.  She is still having a hard time adjusting, but has stopped throwing tantrums.  After last weeks hair cutting incident, Ben took her to the barber to fix up her bangs.  He likes the way it turned out.  She must be going through a growth spurt, because her clothes are no longer fitting on the waist line like they used to.  She is busy making friends with other people in the neighborhood.  Luckily, there are a few women with kids her age within a short distance (i.e. next door).

Stuff We Do

We do have fun in smalltown Missouri.  I have heard people complain about our city, and its lack of entertainments, but we have found plenty of recreational activities to do that are free.  The city has some  awesome parks that include wading pools--for free!  Mon-Sat, there is at least one pool open, out of 5, from 2-6.  We really love it!  Andrew is a water baby.  Seriously.

Emily likes to swim by walking on her hands but does not like to put her head under the water.

On a random note, I found this picture on the camera.  Proof that our house stayed empty--except for toys and beds--for 5 days.

All in all, we are happy.