Busy little beavers!

Walter has made some exciting accomplishments this weekend. First of all, he is now cutting on lines (before he would make small little cuts). Anyway, I drew out some roads for him to cut out and boy did it ever make his wheels turn (in more than one way)! It started out as a couple of black pieces of paper and turned into this big village. He insisted on taping it onto the floor and then added the yard stick, some foam bath tub road pieces and a ribbon that has marking on it like a road. Then he drew lines on a piece of paper for his parking lot. Of course he had to make buildings too. So he got out his blocks and built "a mining building and a train station." Each building had a set of feet according to him. He worked on this little layout for hours and even said "I can't wait for Daddy to come home and see my car road and buildings." Oh and then he drove trains by the train station and drug out another train building.

Then today he was drawing and on his own for the first time wrote some letters to label what he was drawing! He made the letters O, i, t, x, l, p, and a. I don't know who was more excited me or him!
Rose E is now officially stacking blocks. Before she would go to stack a block onto another and then psyche us out and take it back. Anyway, it was cute because she would set her block on top of the other and say "block, block" then clap. She is turning into quite the little character. When I say should we change your diaper, right away she shakes her head no and says "no, no, no!" Earlier today we where in her bedroom and she said "coo coo" I said are you thinking about clocks? Then she pointed to the clock in her room and said "see." "See" was her most used word of the day. Every time I (or she- I have been letting her flip the switch) would turn on the light she would say "see." She also pulled herself up to a standing while holding onto chair pointed to it and said "sit down." Oh speaking of chairs, she was sitting in her high chair this evening and would purposely drop a toy and say "oopsie" (you really learn what you say when you have a couple of little parrots repeating your every word). Her other new words where "hey sweetie", "plane" (for airplane), and "wa" for waffles.

Word, words, words!

This afternoon Walter looked at the dog and said "the dog is sitting down." Look Mama I wrote "sit down" as he arranged his letters and spaced them into his own words on the refrigerator. Then he went on to make other words such as "big," "blocks,"trains," "sheep," "cows" etc. That imagination never stops and he can get creative with just about anything! Today we where in Rose E's room and I had a small pile of folded blankets on her bed, so he grabbed a stuffed cat and stuffed it in between the blankets and said "look Mama the kitty is sleeping in the back room of the castle." Then when the kitty woke-up he was ready to play, so Walter played trains with it (speaking of trains, today we took out his Geo trax trains and it now takes over our whole living room, but the kids had fun with it). Oh, Walter also made me smile today after he finished drawing "a train driving on the track" on his magna doodle he erased it and said "the train drove onto other track."
Little Miss Rose E kept me on my toes in Shopko today! She has learned how to stand-up in the seat of the cart (while buckled)! Anyway, she would stand-up and then say "sit down," little stinker! I had to laugh then as I loaded her back into the van she said "the end." Her new words that she just picked-up are "sorry" and "please." She also said to Jeff as he left to go back to work "see ya!"

Little Drummer Boy (and Girl)!

Today I brought out this drum full of instruments and did these kids ever fill my ears with the sound of music! It was cute because after I took this picture Walter got out his "building" he had made with blocks and said he was playing the music for the building. Then he told me I had to move the scarves to his music.
Rose E (which reminds me she said "Rose E" today) is copying everything now! Especially what her big bro does! Yesterday she not only pointed to pictures in a book and asked what they where but also to letters! Then she repeated the letters back to me!!! She also has been pointing at the letters on a sign in our kitchen and saying numbers as she points to each one.
We had another house tour meeting tonight. We got a babysitter and Rose E was a completely different baby(as compared to when we left last time), not minding at all that we where gone (Walter loved it too). It was nice because I snuck in a date with my hubby beforehand (we went out to eat) we both ordered things that our kids wouldn't have eaten much of, of course! It was a strange feeling though not to have them with. My steak sandwich came out steaming and I almost signed hot to Jeff, things like that just become habit! We left our meeting again talking about going antiquing and about all the things to get done this summer. I am sure it will be here before we know it!

Happy Memorial Day

Summer is in the air, well sorta (it doesn't feel like it today)! This weekend we planted a little vegetable garden with tomatoes, broccoli, cauliflower, and carrots. Walter has been very into a book of his lately called How Groundhog Garden Grew, it's about a Groundhog planting a garden and it shows what different plants look like underground as well as the different stages they go through as they grow. Walter has been studying it. I have even noticed him drawing pictures with potatoes growing in the ground. So anyway, it will be a fun learning experience for us all. Hopefully we have some luck and will get some tasty vegetables out of the deal! He is also very excited that we have ordered our caterpillars from a company called insect lore. Pretty soon they should be arriving. It will be neat for him to watch. We have been talking a lot about them too.
He said a few things this weekend that made me chuckle a little. Oh the innocence of young children! First of all, I took him to a rummage sale (to scope out some antiques but didn't find any) and parked on a hill. He looked up the hill and said "mama is that hill a mountain?" He has noticed too that some of the dandelions are starting to turn into their seed mode. He looked at them today and said "mama did spiders make those dandelions?" This evening he wanted help with his puzzle, there was a missing piece that he couldn't find and he turned to me and said "Mama, you a genius?" "I can't find my piece." He also gave us a little scare today. We think that he had a reaction to strawberries and broke out in hives. When I first gave him strawberries as a baby he broke out from them. I just thought I gave them to him to young and that he outgrew it. Anyway, the other day I bought some for the first time in a long time. Afterwards he broke out with two hives on his face and I thought may bee he had mosquito bites but a few hours later is was gone. Then today about a half an hour after he ate them his face was completely covered with hives. It eventually went away and that is all we can figure it was from. Strange! Never a dull moment!

Rose E has been keeping us hopping this weekend too of course! As we picked out our vegetables at the green house I held her and she would point to every plant and and say "plant?" She also was signing "flower." I had to laugh this evening on our walk Jeff pointed the nose of the stroller into the air while they where in it, goofing around, and Rose E said "whee flying!" How in the world did she know that! She is amazing me! Oh and on Saturday I said 1,2,3 and she then said "4,5,6,7,8,9." It was clear as day and I was floored.

We have been cutting foods up now that we have at our meals for her into tiny portions and she just loves it. She is definitely a meat eater! She loves beef, chicken, fish and tuna. Speaking of tuna, that was one of her new words the other day along with "cup."

Celebration!

Sending Birthday wishes your way Dan on your day! Hope it's full of fun adventures!

P.s The photo is courtesy of Jeff's parents camera.

Little slugger!

As you can see Chevy now has a new love. Yesterday while we where shopping I let Walter pick out a new toy for him, he found a hedgehog and that hedgehog has gone every where with him(except for outside-I had to make him drop it at the door). He certainly treasures his toys just like the kids do, I think it is so cute how he sleeps with them too.
This morning Walter woke-up and needed his nose blown and said "mama my nose is broken." It made me chuckle a little.
This afternoon I dressed up the kids and took them outside for some photo shoots. It was such a beautiful day so we spent a good amount of the rest of the day outside playing. As you can see Walter took out his baseball tee. He had a good time with it, batting at the ball and retrieving it when it was my turn to bat. He made some masterpieces with chalk too. Nana received a new job according to his drawing- holding the flags at his race track made of chalk and he drew Papa watching the race with his "baseball cap" on too.

Rose E was a little character today too! This morning when I went into her bedroom she had taken her sock off. Then when she saw me she placed it on top of her foot and said "see ya" to the sock! She has started with the questions too!!!! Gee I wonder who she is taking after? After breakfast I brought her into the living room and she said "play?" She also handed me a book and said "read?" Then later on when I was petting the cat she looked at me and said "pet?" As she bent down to pet her. She is starting to follow my directions too. Tonight when we where about to read stories in Walter's bedroom (inside his tent) I said "Rose E come here" and she crawled right to me. For her birthday we gave her her first Barbie, a barbie called princess Rose Ella it sings when you touch the necklace so I showed it to her and told her to press the necklace without showing her where the necklace was and she put her finger right on it! Then it started to sing and she turned to me with excitement and said "sing!" Another new word of hers today was "Jay, Jay" who is an airplane in one of Walter's books.

Mama's smarty pants!

Walter is finally on the home stretch of feeling better, I hope that is it for sickness now! We had a puzzle kind of day. Rose E has been playing a lot with her new puzzles and carrying the pieces around and Walter has been into really into puzzles too. He had fun with a couple of big train puzzles and then today we went shopping and came home with a John Deere 6o piecer which Jeff helped him put together this evening and a 35 piecer cars one. As we where shopping for them I had a flashback of buying his first puzzles for him when he was a baby, doesn't seem like that long ago! He had a couple of cute questions too today. First, he said "Mama why Chevy not have any shoes?" Then on our way to the store he said "Mama why does the van move?" My little curious George!
Rose E is now sometimes calling me "mommy" instead of Mama, where she got it I don't know since Walter calls me Mama but hey I'll take it. She also made me laugh because she was holding two books in her hand earlier today and Walter said he would like to look at them and she responded back to him "no, no, no!" One of the books that she was holding had Elmo on it and she looked at and then looked at me and signed is that a dog? Speaking of dogs and books we also set-up a little tent in Walter's room and read books by flash light tonight anyway one of the books that we read was Clifford and she said "Clifford" she also said the words "jean" for jeans, "truck" and "that hiccup" as she had the hiccups today.

Today's news

It's been a couple of rough days here for my little man, for his tummy hasn't been feeling very well but I think today he is on the road to recovery. I just feel so helpless and bad for them when they are sick. Rose E on the other hand has done her share of entertaining while her brother has been taking it easy. She has been singing her own made-up song that goes "daddy, daddy, laddy, addy (I think she has caught on to all the rhyming Walter and I have been doing lately)." She is also having a ball with all of her Birthday gifts. I had to laugh because she has been playing a lot with her helium balloon and I told her that Papa and Nana gave it to her, then after that she would go-up to it and say "hey Papa, Nana." She's just like her brother doesn't miss a beat! She has also been playing a lot with her two new cars, stuffing toys inside of them and then taking them for a cruise. Yesterday I was driving her car and saying "beep, beep" so then she started to crash it into her leg and repeated "beep, beep."

I think that I may have found a cheaper solution to her sock problem too :) This weekend my Grandma and I where talking about it and she thought that she was breaking out from the polyester stitching where the elastic band is on the sock, so I bought a package without polyester and lone behold it has worked so far, yeah! I can now buy ten pair for the price of two organic cotton ones online! I also read an interesting tidbit in one of my books yesterday about allergies. It said that eating a lot of live cultures from yogurt and omega 3 while pregnant and nursing can increase the babies likelihood of getting over allergies, asthma and eczema. I have been some whataware of my intake of omega 3 this whole time but not really yogurt. So I will have to stock up on those things the next couple of months. It's worth a try I guess.

You've come a long way baby!

My baby is one now! I can't believe it! Here are a few pictures of her last year at this time. The second one is of her coming home from the hospital with the rose blanket that I have taken her month to month pictures with. I also included her last month to month picture at the end of all the pictures with the same blanket. Walter and I have been recalling her birth lately. He remembers staying at Papa and Grandma's house and coming to see us in the hospital (he was so cute when came that day with a bouquet of lily of the valley flowers.) As we where reminiscing he said "mama why did Rose E pop out of your belly?" He is also a little confused about her "number"(age). He can't understand, if she is just turning one, how old was she before(zero!)? Also he keeps thinking that now it is time for her to turn two since that is what comes after one. Does this boy ever have a sense of humor too, today I took her to her one year doctor appointment, which I'll mention more about later and he said "mama are you bringing (returning) Rose E back?" Rose E had a lovely weekend! She got lots of nice gifts (I posted a picture of her with them) and loved her Birthday cupcake (made out of rice flower)that Grandma made for her. She was a little ham as she said many new words. One that I have been getting a kick out of lately is when I ask her something she's bee responding "yeah(yes)." She has also been saying "this?" and "that" constantly. I had to laugh because the night of her party I took her upstairs to get her ready for a nap and she saw her cousin Ariel looking for her other cousin Kirsten upstairs and she said "kid?" On Sunday in church too we where walking around in the building and she turned to me and said "church" she also said "sing" during a hymn. She is understanding so much now and not just repeating words but actually applying them,which is just amazing to me.

Now back to her doctor's appointment, she was funny as the doctor tried to examine her she kept saying "no, no, no!" The poor girl had some shots and her blood taken (it is so heart breaking to watch). I am anxious about it though because they did a food allergy test and we should hear about the results in 2 to 3 weeks. I was surprised because I told the doctor I was going to start weaning her from nursing and she suggested nursing for three more months due to her allergy situation. I remember reading somewhere that nursing can increase their likelihood of getting over an allergy. Her weight and height and everything are good (as they have always been, she had a good head start at 9lbs 6 oz when she was born) and now weighs 23 pounds putting both her height and weight at the 75 Th percentile. I had to chuckle to myself though because Walter is over 2 years older and is only 7 pounds heavier!

Let the Festivities begin!

Well, it will be a busy but fun weekend coming-up for us! I can't believe our little pumpkin will be one!!!! This morning Walter said "Mama how many numbers will Rose E be?" He has the cutest way of wording things sometimes. Today my parents along with my Grandmother and Aunt will be coming into town and tomorrow Jeff's brother, his wife and son Ariel will be arriving. Then the festivities will begin! Tomorrow we will celebrate Rose E's day and Sunday we will celebrate Ariel's adoption.

Our little girl has been carrying a doll around all morning and saying "baby." Yesterday I had to laugh because our little genius baby tried to say "genius."

Yesterday we also went to playgroup and when it was time for singing I told Rose E that we would be singing music and she signed hear it( I don't hear it)! It was also funny because we have a snack there and I told Walter to throw his in the garbage can when he was finished, so he emptied the food off the plate into the trash can, then I said the paper plate can go in there too and he gave me this look like are you sure? You've never told me to throw my plate out before! Then on the way home we went for an extra walk and Walter had to give me the continual update on how many lawns have dandelions (I never really paid that much attention before)! These kids sure do open my eyes to a lot! When we got home we where eating lunch and he was in deep thought. Then he made an A shape with his hands and said "mama why is our roof shaped this way?" Those wheels are always a turning!

Little Engineers!

Walter's friend Cyrus and his baby brother Augie came over this morning. Walter sure was excited! Before they came he kept saying "I can't wait, I can't wait!" They had fun building a floor puzzle of a fire truck and then when it was all done Walter covered it up with the scarves and said he painted it. Of course a play date with these two wouldn't have been complete either if it didn't involve trains! The rest of the time they laid out track and drove trains around. Walter just loves it when someone else shares a passion for trains too! Then when Cyrus left, Walter kept saying "we had fun playing, lets have Cyrus over again (it doesn't seem like that long ago when he was coming to our house every day when I babysat him)."

This afternoon we went grocery shopping. I went to the co-op and scouted out a few crackers to try with Rose E with no wheat and no dairy. I hope they work. I also saw that they had baby organic socks there but to my disappointment they cost $7.00 a pair and all of them where tye died. She got a kick out of our visit to Walmart too. We had to visit the fish three times, she kept saying "fish" and then signing it. Then Walter kept her entertained through out the rest of the store as he made music with a rattle. It was cute because when he would stop she would say clearly "music?" I also let him pick out a Birthday present for her, he opted for a book. It was a hard decision for him as he kept debating between several books but I was proud of him because the last two came down to a little people animal book or a little people transportation book and even though I could tell he liked the transportation one more he thought she would like the animals more so that is what he picked. What a little sweet heart!

My little lady!

Today the kids where bopping around to some children's music and I remembered that I had this box of scarves in the basement from when I used to teach Head Start so I brought them out and did they ever have a blast with them. They twirled them, threw them up into the air and played peek a boo. In the picture Rose E is sitting with her legs crossed, I have just been getting a kick lately at that, my little lady! The past couple of days I have noticed that her legs and arms have grown and her face has thinned out too. All of her 12 month clothes are too small now and she is wearing 18-24 month outfits. Her new words today where "get" and "fox." Lately when I change her diaper I have been giving her either books to hold or pictures of things. When Walter was a baby I gathered a collection of pictures that I cut out from magazines, postcards and discovery cards that I put contact paper on and both kids sure have learned a lot of words from them during that time. When Rose E was a little baby I had made all kinds of black and white designs and pictures and she would just be mesmerized by staring at them but now it isn't good enough just to look, it definitely has to be hands on!
I got a little chuckle out of Walter's expression today after I got done vacuuming he pointed at the hose and said "why the dirtiness go down these pipes Mama?" Today after story hour too as soon as we got home I took him to the downstairs bathroom and as we where walking through the second living room (when this house was built they made two small parlors) he said "why we have two living rooms Mama?" He just thought it was the silliest thing. Everyday his thoughts are just blowing me away!

Mama's little characters!

Today was all about the blocks and building for these kiddos. Rose E started out the morning by banging a few of Walter's wooden blocks around. Then Walter and I built towers trying to get Rose E to stack but she would go to set her block down onto another and then change her mind and take the block back. Then Walter said "can we please bring my logs upstairs?" He has been building a lot of train stations, bridges and track lately with his wooden and duplo blocks so I wasn't too surprised when this one became a train station too. He even made sidewalks and platforms for the people that where waiting for the train along with train track. I had to laugh though because he was protective of his creations and blocks (even though we had some lessons in sharing) and at one point Rose E snuck over to the box grabbed two Lincoln logs and crawled away as fast as she possibly could still holding them in her hands feeling like she got away with something. She was a little character today! Walter made-up a few songs this morning and when I said to him "you don't have anymore" Rose E replied "no, no, no!" This afternoon too she was supposed to be going down for a nap but she was crying, so I went into her room to see what was wrong and her pacifier was on the floor and when I said "where did your pacifier go?" She looked down towards the floor and said "whee." She also learned how to sign bell and her other new words of the day where "sss" for the sound a snake makes, "please" and "eat." Speaking of eating, today when I cooked up a batch of broccoli, for the first time I didn't put hers in the blender to puree but cut it up into tiny pieces and she loved it! A whole lot easier for me and a whole lot more fun for her! Oh and that reminds me Walter has been saying lately when there is something good to eat "not eat it all" even if there is lots left. So not too long ago I had another one of those proud food moments when Jeff took seconds of broccoli and Walter said "not eat it all daddy." I also got a kick out of one of Walter's observations today. He said Chevy and we have teeth but not cars, trucks, motorcycles, trees, grass, the house (and his list went on and on). Sometimes his thoughts just take me by complete surprise, it is fun to see those wheels a turning! He also asked me why Chevy doesn't go everywhere with us in the van (to places such as the library, the grocery store and to church) and why he doesn't have a dog house like Clifford's in his books.

Happy Mother's day to all!

Hope all you Mommy's had a great day. It was cute because this morning when Walter woke-up I said let's get dressed for Sunday school, he perked-up and went running to Jeff and said "is this the day that I give Mama my card?" He remembered he had to wait until Sunday. It was a darling card, it said "Mama you are a nice Mama and a nice cook" then he drew a picture of a pumpkin (not sure where that ingredient came from) chocolate chip cookie I made, a coupled up train (a card from Walter wouldn't be the same without one) and a tracing of his hand. We had a nice buffet lunch at the Loading Zone restaurant with Jeff's family and then we picked up the dog and took a ride out to the camp (cabin). Walter got to investigate some bird and bunny foot prints in that wonderful lake superior sand. As we walked up to the water he said "not go in the ocean Daddy, we don't have a boat!" His expressions are so cute sometimes. He also couldn't fathom why the deer had eaten some of the apple tree branches. Then he said "and where did all the deer go?" He cried when it was time to leave. We promised him that we would come back and enjoy it some more when the weather is warmer. Then Jeff and Walter worked and played outside while I took a much needed nap (for some reason Rose E didn't sleep well last night and I was operating on about 5 hours of sleep so it was very much appreciated). Some of Rose E's new words of the day where "spider" and "lay down."

Sweet!!!

This morning Walter drug this toy out of the basement. Rose E and he had a good time moving the beads around the mazes and then Walter drove his trains underneath them and called them bridges, the creativity is always working full gear! Speaking of gears, Walter was pumped to get to ride in Daddy and Papa's 67 Camaro today! Last year the guys rebuilt the engine and had it repainted and as Walter has been saying it looks sweet(I think he picked that expression up from Sunday school because I have heard one of the kids there say that)! It was funny because after Jeff took it out of the garage he revved it up and Rose E signed that she heard it. Then she imitated the noise of the engine. While the boys where cruising and doing some visiting I made a scrumptious pot of homemade Chicken noodle soup. I figured it was something that Rose E could eat too and boy did she ever love it!
It was also cute because she napped while I made it and when she woke-up and we went into the kitchen she signed it's hot in here! She is getting sick of her rice cereal and I can't say I blame her. I am anxious for her next doctor's appointment on the 19th to determine if she is indeed allergic to all of these foods. Being on the topic of the kitchen reminds me of something cute Walter said to me not too long ago. Just out of the blue he said "mama the kitchen is my favorite room." Then I asked him why, expecting him to say because of the trains and he said "because that's where Mama cooks!" Then I said what is your favorite thing to eat, expecting again something sweet and he said "chicken, carrots, apples and milk." That a boy! It was a proud moment for me. Although, then I thought give him a few years and I'm sure that answer will change.
Yesterday he brought a smile to my face too as I was helping him get dressed. He is moving-up a size to 4t and so I brought out a new pair of pants and he said "what kind of pants are these" I said "wind pants" he said "because it's windy outside?" It is funny how they take EVERYTHING so literal!

Tonight on our walk Walter directed me to walk past a house with a rabbit outside in a cage and when he asked what the rabbit was doing in the cage I said "just sitting there" then Rose E repeated to him "sitting there!" She also said "juice" this morning too. She's our little chatter box already!

Mama's little stinkers!

These kids have sure been having a ball with balls lately! Walter requested that I bring another ball toy out today and they had a good time with it. I just love it when there are toys that keep them both entertained. This evening we had a nice outing as we walked to a restaurant and then continued our walk thereafter. Walter directed traffic again (our route). He notices so much on those walks and talks about everything! Today he noticed a pile of logs on the side of a building. This was really upsetting to him, he said "mama I just want those logs standing back up into trees, not used for camping (we read a book today where the Bernstein Bears camped). I have also noticed him using bigger words lately too. His newest one is "fascinated" according to him Rose E is "fascinated" with just about everything. He also heard me say the word "commotion" so then on our walk when dogs where barking he said "we caused a doggy commotion." He has started to notice ant hills too, I was surprised at how many we spotted. Sometimes he, well I should say they because Rose E signs and talks about things I wouldn't have noticed too is more observant than me. I also had to chuckle to myself because earlier today I got kicked out of the house for awhile as he and Jeff worked on something for Mother's day, anyway when I returned Jeff said "now remember it's a secret don't tell Mama where it is" then he said back to Jeff "it's in lightning (his car)" Jeff said "uh oh I think you have to find a new hiding spot." I said "don't worry I won't peak." So precious!
I think we finally have a sock solution for Rose E. Jeff's mom found some 100% organic cotton ones from the Internet and so far so good. We weren't' sure because the elastic is wrapped in cotton but so far no break outs. The only downfall is that they are a bit on the pricey side but hey at this point I don't care I just need something to cover up those little toesies! Now that we have carpeting on our steps she is a little speedy Gonzalos! Twice today we turned around for 2 seconds and wham there she was halfway up the steps! Anyway, the second time she did it I ran up there and said "you stinker" and she repeated "you stinker!" She also said "street" and learned how to sign horse and boat.

Toys, trucks and trains who could ask for anything more?

Well, my little man had one heck of an awesome day! This morning we went to playgroup, then Papa and Grandma where having their renter house torn down (they are building a garage in place of it) and he got to watch all of the action with his cousin Kirsten. Then as icing on the cake Daddy got his new steam locomotive back with a new sound system put in it (realistic sounds such as bells and whistles-I included a picture of our train layout that it is going on in our kitchen on the right hand side of my blog). Whew it was like Christmas all over again for him one exciting thing after another! At first he was a little upset about the house being torn down but then kept saying Mama are they going to build a new one? When I told him about the plans for a new garage he was then happy. This excavator was fascinating to him. When we got home we looked one up in one of his books and read-up on it. Then when it was time for bed I brought out his good night journal (we try to jot down what his favorite thing of the day was) and he came running over and excitedly said "my favorite thing was watching that one truck get down the house." I bet the space sure does look different now!

Rose E was entertaining today too! At playgroup she was showing me toys and she would say "see" or "this?" Lately, I have been thinking about the days when Walter used to do that but instead he would say "da?" for "that"? It doesn't seem like that long ago but boy he sure has changed since then! Rose E also kept us chuckling on our walk tonight. She figured out how to get her hat off so I said "Rose E did you take off your hat" and then Walter started to giggle and then she tried to tug his off too! Then he would giggle more and she would try it again, what a little goof!

I also had to smile because Walter decided to navigate the route of the walk. He told me exactly what roads to go on and where to turn and surprise surprise led me right-up to the water tower. Then he said "mama why the trains not running to the water tower anymore?" Talk about some observant little kids!

Why Chevy lots of hungry?

Tonight Rose E and I went to an United Methodist Women's meeting. We had a surprise adoption shower for the guest speaker, she is a church member whom has done missionary work in Haiti and has just recently adopted a little girl from there (they also have another baby girl who is 17 days older than Rose E). She shared lots of photos and experiences, it was very interesting to listen too. The little girl that they have adopted was given up by her 18 year old mother when she was ten months old because she could not afford to feed her. As I thought about that, I felt a whole array of feelings. First thing, how very sad for that mother (I guess she was coming around the orphanage to see her little girl from time to time too) and how awesome it is that that little girl has such a nice home now. Sometimes we just seem to lose sight in how lucky we are to have what we have!

On a another note, little Miss Rose E found great pleasure today in making this chair spin in circles as she walked around with it and said "whee." Oh how many times in the past year I have sat in this chair in her bedroom feeding her and rocking her and just couldn't have imagined the day when she would be moving it herself!
I also took this picture of her in her highchair at breakfast. This morning when I was feeding her, Walter was working on the activities in his newest animal magazine, when she spotted a pen on the counter. She just had to have that pen in the worst way, so I gave it to her along with some paper and showed her how to hold it and lone behold she produced her very first drawing!

I also had to laugh because her brother has been playing with her ball toy that I took out yesterday, so when she has been going down for naps she has been carrying them with her! She even insisted on taking one of them with her to the meeting tonight! Speaking of the meeting, it was also cute because on the way home from the meeting she looked out the window and said "see?" I said "do you see trees?" Her other new words have been "belt" (from Walter's new car seat) and "teeth" (as she pointed to a little girl"s teeth in a book).

Walter played a lot with his airplanes today. He also has been very interested in Chevy's every move. Anyway, this afternoon he was eating a snack and as Chevy watched him eat he said "why Chevy lots of hungry Mama?" Man do these kids ever bring lots of smiles to my face!

Moving up in the world!

It was a good day indeed for us all! Jeff was voted in for the school board and their proposals for lots of school improvements passed. Also, Walter and Rose E are now pleased to be cruising in style! Little Miss Rose E outgrew her baby car seat, so we upgraded Walter's into a booster and gave Rose E the old one. Walter got a kick out of helping Daddy put his together. He got out his plastic tools and worked right at his side. He was pumped to have reading lights attached to it (what they don't come up with) and a cup holder too. Rose E on the other hand was awe stricken by her new views on the way to the grocery store and story hour today!
The box that his car seat came in also provided great entertainment as Walter pretended to be a Jack in the box or a Walter in the box yesterday. I had to laugh though, because it got left in the kitchen and this morning Walter said real seriously "mama we have a problem, there's danger on the train track ( our kitchen floor has been deemed the train track)! I said what do you mean, he said there's a box in the way. Whose gonna put it in the basement?"

Yesterday the kids where in giggles as Walter shone a flash light around the room and would tell Rose E what he was pointing at. What is it with kids and light? It seems to be a pure fascination. Light was both Rose E and Walter's first sign and Rose E is constantly talking or signing about the lights. Lately I have been letting her flip the light switches and she just gets the biggest kick out of it.
Yesterday it was also cute because Walter and Jeff where goofing around with a balloon. They where hiding it from each other and bouncing it around. Anyway, Jeff rubbed it on his head and the static electricity allowed it to stick to the ceiling. Walter was then looking for it and said "where's mine balloon" and Rose E pointed to the ceiling! What a smarty. So today we where looking at a puzzle that Walter built (a 35 piecer that he proudly did on his own) and I said Rose E where is the train and she pointed right to it! She seems to be understanding everything! She also was mimicking Walter counting yesterday (most of the time he can count to 9 and sometimes 13) anyway her voice was going up and down and I could clearly make out 3 and 4. Yesterday too Jeff kissed her cheek and said "kiss you" and she repeated "kiss you!" Boy does she ever love that Daddy of hers! Today she crawled to the door when he was at work and said "Daddy, daddy?"
Lastly, I added this picture of this beehive ball toy that we played with today. Rose E was standing-up on her own and dancing to the music it made. She was also stooping down to put the ball into it. As you can see there is also an eagle sitting there. That is Walter's new eagle and he has named it Byrannas. Anyway, the balls that came with the toy have bees on them and Walter said that Byrannas was eating the bees. He also told me that Byrannas favorite thing to do is play with trains and cars. Who would have guessed!

In need of some coo tips!

My parents paid us a visit this weekend and boy did these kids ever keep them hopping! Papa A.J made some paper airplanes for Walter, and Walter is still talking about it. Airplanes just seem to fascinate him. I smiled as I listened tonight as he made-up a song that all of his airplanes where singing to each other. Speaking of singing, Rose E showed off that she can now sing "ring around the Rosie!" As clear as day she sings it and then says "ashes ashes they all fall down."
Papa A.J and Grandma also read about enough books to fill up a library! These kids are really starting to love books. Walter can sit for literally hours and read books and Rose E is starting to show some interest too. This morning she read one to me it went "e i h i e kitty" (it had a kitty on that page too)!
Walter produced some giggles with a situation with his toy vacuum too! He was trying to vacuum and it kept getting stuck so he called Bob the Builder on his toy phone and said "Hi Bob the Builder, I need some directions on my vacuum, okay, bye bye." So then he hung it up and announced "He said to pound it." So he got out his hammer and pounded it but it still didn't work so Jeff said you better call for some more tips and he said "Hello Bob, I need some coo tips (q-tips)!
I also included this picture at church. Rose E was hamming it up. She was dancing to the beat of the songs and then when they where done she would say "all done." She also looked at Papa in the pew and said "hi Papa A.J."
Another new word of hers today was "kids." Speaking of new words, after church we ate out at a restaurant and lately Walter has been asking what everything says. It is cute because I will often say what it says and he repeats it like he is trying to sound out the letters. Anyway, he saw the sign that said Restroom. So asked what it said , I told him that it said restroom, then I said what do you do in there, he said "sleep?" Talk about a couple of cuties!

P.s the pictures are all courtesy of my moms camera.

Rain, rain go away!

Ahh the mystery of the bubble. For the first time today I blew bubbles for Rose E, at first she had this confused look on her face but then she got into it and helped Walter pop them. She watched them float down and said "whee." She also figured out how to open that entertainment center door behind her too (last week she learned how to turn the t.v on). I had to laugh because she touched it said "no, no, no" then opened it and Walter said "Mama get Rose E away from the d.v.d's." Then she said "d.v.d" and I said "did you find the d.v.d's" and she said "yeah(yes)!" Then Walter tried to convince me that Rose E wanted to watch one of the d.v.d's.

Oh and was it ever an exciting day for Miss Rose E, she has learned how to stand-up on her own! She practiced over and over with lots of giggles and speaking of feet, "feet" was also a new word of the day for her.

Walter on the other hand, cracked me up today! First of all, he played a lot with his silly putty again. He made it into a "soo line train" and drove it around the island counter saying "my train running in circles". then he would stop it and say "my train dizzy." He also played with his matchbox cars and said "mama the wheel was wobbly so I went to the hospital to get it a band-aid." It was a very rainy day today and Walter longed to go outside in the worst way. Anyway, I was in the bathroom cleaning his little potty and all of the sudden I heard a big THUMP. So I ran to see what happened and Walter said he was standing on the arm of the couch looking out the window at the trees and fell while saying " trees stop getting water!"

He was thrilled that Grandma came over tonight. He got to enjoy some fine dinning at Burger King with a visit to the grocery store afterwards too.

He is also excited that his other Grandparents are coming to see him this weekend.

Yeah, it's finally May!

Yeah it's May! Tonight on our walk I saw my first Daffodil, it must mean spring (weather) is just about here! I thought I would add this picture of the bird at our window feeder too. The past couple of weeks we have seen a lot more different kinds of birds coming to it. The kids just love it (in fact yesterday Rose E looked at it and saw a bird and said excitedly "birdie"). Walter has been into it too. Whenever we see a different kind he will say "mama what kind of bird is that?" If I say I don't know, he will say "we must look it up in Mama's bird book." It has been a fun learning experience for us all. Speaking of spring things, Rose E learned a new sign today too, butterfly. When I used to teach Head Start every year we would raise caterpillars into butterflies, I have been thinking about doing that with Walter too, so it has been a topic of conversation lately.





Walter was also really into his silly putty and play doh today. He made all kinds of creations from tight ropes (he saw one in a Curious George book) to roads to bats. Rose E on the other hand was all into a box. I showed her how to put a toy inside of it and she spent a long time opening it, putting toys into it and then taking them out. Walter also played a lot with his toy airplanes. I had to laugh because he was flying them in his hands and saying "shooooo shooooo" then he gave one to Rose E and she did the same thing with the sounds and everything! Rose E also gave a toy to Jeff this evening and said "here take it"! Earlier too before her nap she said "read, read, read!" She just blows me away sometimes!





I also posted a few pictures of these sleepy heads. Rose E thought she would try to take a nap on Walter's Chevy and Chevy tried to take a nap of his own!






















Last but not least, as you can see the in the picture this meeting has officially been declared over by the little Miss Rose E herself!