Catching Up...

Hello! I know it's been a long time since the last post... And people in our house are growing up so fast!!

Rowan is now pulling himself up on things and walking while holding onto something. He can sign "more" when he wants more to eat and we're working on "so big" and what a fishie says... :) He's so cute. I can sense that separation anxiety may be around the corner, as he hates it when I put him down and walk out of sight. He's pretty vocal about that... :) He's so cuddly. When you pick him back up, he gives you a big hug! He's such a sweet boy. He's starting to get a little loud...he's finding his voice. And when he wants something, watch out! He's slick, and he'll get it if it's within his reach--no matter how fast your reflexes are. If you put him down, he crawls wherever he wants, so we've been keeping him in a toddler play yard, which he's caught onto...He gets that he's confined. But I keep telling him that it's for his own good... :)

His crawling is so funny. He doesn't get up onto his knees to crawl, he just creeps along the floor like an army crawl, dragging his feet behind him. Here's a video of him playing the little piano we have. He's just recently finding out that he makes things happen. Watch when he crawls...It's really funny!

Ingrid is growing up too! She's pretty much going to the potty by herself now. She still has trouble right after she wakes up, but for the most part, she does really well. We're still putting her in training pants when we're out and about or when she goes to preschool, but when we're around the house or the farm, she wears underpants.

We recently got rid of cable TV...the company our development has as a provider has a monopoly and is charging WAY too much for what we're getting, so we got rid of it and got Netflix. We LOVE netflix. Ingrid so far has gotten an Elmo's Potty Time video--that we had for a couple of weeks. She LOVED it. It reinforced the potty thing very well. And she now wants to make sure everyone washes their hands after they go to the potty and talks all about how big she's getting because she's going to the potty all by herself.

It's been great, however, she's had a few "accidents" since the video... You see, there's a song called "It's OK to have an Accident" that Grover and Elmo sing. She has peed a couple of times in her pants and then proceeds to sing that song... It's a little bewildering. We don't want her to be afraid to make a mistake, but how do you really tell when it's an accident? I don't know. We just keep telling her that it's OK if you don't make it to the potty, but it's not OK to just not go... I'm sure it's a phase that will pass, but it's sure a frustrating one. :?

She's so full of you-know-what and vinegar these days. On one hand, she's got some great conversations in her. This past weekend, Andrew's friends John and Nat came in from MN. She was smitten with both of them. She was so cute asking them how they were and whether they liked popsicles and how they were doing that day. One day, she sat on the couch and had an entire conversation with John while she ate her peanut butter sandwich. She's getting so grown up!

And though I didn't think she could get more rambunctious, she has. Our living room has become a jungle-gym--she climbs over the back and sides of the sofa, she swings on the handles of the treadmill, she jumps over, around, and on top of anything that is in front of her. She's doing somersaults in the halls. She takes all the cushions off the couches and chairs and bounces on them. And watch out if you sit on the floor beside of her! Then YOU become the jungle-gym! Here's a video of a little of what she does...only it's controlled. :)

On the other hand, the growing up is bringing with it different frustrations for her. She wants to be independent so badly! I am having a hard time letting her be independent... Mostly because when she's independent, it makes TWICE the work for me...cleaning up after her and having to save her from herself so she doesn't get hurt. Sometimes, I let her do the things she wants to do. Other times, I just can't do it all because I've got Rowan to take care of too. This sends her into some outright tantrums! Sometimes, I could be sending her to time-out every 15 minutes, but I have to pick my battles and sometimes I feel like I'm losing the war...

And oh, the whining! I'm soooooo tired of being whined at! I know this is a stage, but geez... and it brings out the worst in me! I wish I was more patient, but sometimes I have to have a time-out and turn a video on for her to watch. I knew this about myself...I'm a great Mom to an infant, but when a child turns 3-4 years old, I have a hard time with them! They get whiny and insistent and selfish and stubborn... All things that I know are in me... :) I'm sure that's why it annoys me so much. Having children is like putting yourself in a crucible. And I just pray that I will come out the other side having burned off the impurities in myself and be a better person for it. I also pray that I don't mess up Ingrid in the process... Of course, every parent is going to affect his/her child negatively somehow, I suppose. We're only human.

Anyway, Andrew got me a piano for Mother's Day... One of Rebecca's friends is a musician, and he recently bought a keyboard for his house and was running out of room, so he sold his piano to us for a very nice price. We've had fun playing and singing together. Ingrid can find middle C pretty well now...and knows that her thumbs go on that key. We're working on D and B using our pointer fingers, but she's not inclined to sit still that long... Anyway, we've been singing through some books of children's songs and I found "I've Got the Joy, Joy, Joy, Joy" in one and she LOVED it! Here's a little video of her singing her own rendition (forgive my messy house...):

I will leave you with a few pictures of the kids that were taken yesterday and today. Enjoy!

Ingrid loves to play "tea party." I try to use it as a time to teach manners... :) Here, I'm teaching her to sip quietly. We have fun lifting our pinkies up and talking in a British accent when we converse about the weather. :)

Things aren't always dainty and lady-like. Sometimes it's fun to add an "aaaahhhh" after you take a drink. :)

Rowan can climb up onto things now. He's so much taller than Ingrid was at his age! Here, he's found Ingrid's pretend kitchen. He can turn the faucet knobs on the back of the sink there! (He can pretty much do anything he puts his mind to-- and anything Mom will let him do...) :)

It's a pretend one, really! I promise! ...