Epilogue: Mum-Mums come in packs of two. Guess what happened to the second one in this pack...
Friday, April 26, 2013
Sophia vs. the Mum-Mum
I started writing out silly captions, in the vein of Joshua's first encounter with cake, but really, I think the photos are funny and cute enough as a series on their own. :) So without further ado, I present: Sophia's first attempt to feed herself a Mum-Mum!
Epilogue: Mum-Mums come in packs of two. Guess what happened to the second one in this pack...
Epilogue: Mum-Mums come in packs of two. Guess what happened to the second one in this pack...
Monday, April 15, 2013
The English language is super confusing
Just wanted to chronicle a few of the unintentionally hilarious moments of language acquisition happening around here of late. :) And because a post is always more interesting with photos, I'm also including a selection of my favorite recent Instagram pics of the wee boy!
We were reading through one of Joshua's illustrated Bibles, and we got to the story of Noah and the ark. Joshua has been on an identification kick lately, asking me all the time "who is that?" (Even when we're out at a store -- it's sweet how much faith he has in my omniscience!) There's a picture of Noah working on the ark with another younger man, so Joshua asked me to identify the characters:
J: "Mama, who is that?"
Me: "That's Noah."
J: "And who is that?"
Me: "I think that's Noah's son."
J, nodding sagely: "Yes, no sun. The sun is hiding. I think it's behind the clouds. But Mama," pointing again, more insistently, "who is that??"
I like blowing raspberries on Sophia's belly during playtime, because it always brings forth these cute little startled giggles. She was lying down on a blanket one morning while Joshua was playing nearby, and he looked up when I blew my first raspberry.
J: "Oh! Sophia laughs!"
Me: "Yes, I think she likes it when I give her raspberries!"
J: "Raspberry for Joshua? Joshua eat raspberries??"
Me: "Oh, I'm sorry, honey, not that kind of raspberry..."
Anticipating a toddler meltdown (Joshua loves raspberries, and we didn't have any berries of any kind in the house), I was about to explain the difference when Joshua surprised me by reaching over to Sophia's belly, plucking an imaginary berry, and pretending to eat it with great glee. So now, the word "raspberries" means it's time to harvest the imaginary crop growing out of Sophia's belly!
Joshua has a small soft fabric ball that he's allowed to throw around indoors. Usually, he plays nicely with it in the living room, but the other day, he followed me into the dining room area and threw the ball with great force at the table. I immediately took the ball away and tried to capitalize on a teaching moment.
Me: "Joshua, we do not throw balls at the table. See all the stuff on it that you could break? You could hit the computer, you could hit the glass..."
J, formulating the new rules in his head: "We don't hit the table."
Me, excited: "That's right!"
J, who still confuses you and I: "You don't hit the table. You can hit the computer, you can hit the glass, but not the table!!"
(This one I've shared on FB already, but it's too cute not to memorialize here!)
David and I were having a grown-up conversation in the living room, and Joshua desperately wanted to run fast with his papa.
J: "Papa, Papa, Papa -- no talking! No talking!"
Me: "Joshua, don't shout 'no talking.' What do you say when you want to get someone's attention?
J: "May I have no talking, please?"
The correct answer was "excuse me," but it's good to know our other lessons on basic manners are sinking in!
We were reading through one of Joshua's illustrated Bibles, and we got to the story of Noah and the ark. Joshua has been on an identification kick lately, asking me all the time "who is that?" (Even when we're out at a store -- it's sweet how much faith he has in my omniscience!) There's a picture of Noah working on the ark with another younger man, so Joshua asked me to identify the characters:
J: "Mama, who is that?"
Me: "That's Noah."
J: "And who is that?"
Me: "I think that's Noah's son."
J, nodding sagely: "Yes, no sun. The sun is hiding. I think it's behind the clouds. But Mama," pointing again, more insistently, "who is that??"
I like blowing raspberries on Sophia's belly during playtime, because it always brings forth these cute little startled giggles. She was lying down on a blanket one morning while Joshua was playing nearby, and he looked up when I blew my first raspberry.
J: "Oh! Sophia laughs!"
Me: "Yes, I think she likes it when I give her raspberries!"
J: "Raspberry for Joshua? Joshua eat raspberries??"
Me: "Oh, I'm sorry, honey, not that kind of raspberry..."
Anticipating a toddler meltdown (Joshua loves raspberries, and we didn't have any berries of any kind in the house), I was about to explain the difference when Joshua surprised me by reaching over to Sophia's belly, plucking an imaginary berry, and pretending to eat it with great glee. So now, the word "raspberries" means it's time to harvest the imaginary crop growing out of Sophia's belly!
Joshua has a small soft fabric ball that he's allowed to throw around indoors. Usually, he plays nicely with it in the living room, but the other day, he followed me into the dining room area and threw the ball with great force at the table. I immediately took the ball away and tried to capitalize on a teaching moment.
Me: "Joshua, we do not throw balls at the table. See all the stuff on it that you could break? You could hit the computer, you could hit the glass..."
J, formulating the new rules in his head: "We don't hit the table."
Me, excited: "That's right!"
J, who still confuses you and I: "You don't hit the table. You can hit the computer, you can hit the glass, but not the table!!"
(This one I've shared on FB already, but it's too cute not to memorialize here!)
David and I were having a grown-up conversation in the living room, and Joshua desperately wanted to run fast with his papa.
J: "Papa, Papa, Papa -- no talking! No talking!"
Me: "Joshua, don't shout 'no talking.' What do you say when you want to get someone's attention?
J: "May I have no talking, please?"
The correct answer was "excuse me," but it's good to know our other lessons on basic manners are sinking in!
Friday, April 12, 2013
Sophia Watch: Eight Months
It's the end of an era, y'all -- Sophia's hair is (mostly) lying flat these days! I'm going to miss that absurd shock of hair on the top of her head... :)
Another first for the Sophia Watch photos -- a ridiculously cute little baby skirt! It's finally starting to get a little bit spring-like here in Princeton, so we celebrated with a spring green blanket and little skirt!
Our sweet girl had another month of slow and steady growth, with one particularly big milestone: her first tooth! Teething appears to be a slower and more irritating process for poor Fifi than it was for her big brother -- she had several days of unusual crying jags, which cleared up as soon as that evil tooth of doom broke through the surface. But even so, she only had crying fits about once a day, and she was her typically placid self otherwise. We'll see how she handles the appearance of other teeth... They appear to be coming in just one at a time (another contrast with Joshua), so hopefully this won't be a long, drawn-out, painful process for her!
With the appearance of a (very sharp) tooth came some painful bites during nursing sessions. Back when Joshua got his first teeth, he started biting really hard, too, and nothing I tried was successful at getting him to stop, so we ended up weaning him at 7 months and switching to formula. I was worried that the same would happen with Sophia, but either I've gotten better at this parenting thing or she's more compliant than her brother was -- because after a couple weeks of painful bites and shortened nursing sessions, she's learned to stop! So I'm hopeful that we'll be able to hit my goal of a full year of breastfeeding!
The other noticeable change in Sophia this month was her increased babbling and giggling. She now fairly regularly says/shouts "dadadada," with great vigor and glee -- David claims that she's calling for him. :) It's really cute watching her try out her vocal cords and let loose these pterodactyl shrieks, and it's particularly sweet watching her laugh at Joshua's antics. We can't wait until she takes part more fully in playtime with her brother!
And some more sweet photos of our little Sophia at eight months!
Another first for the Sophia Watch photos -- a ridiculously cute little baby skirt! It's finally starting to get a little bit spring-like here in Princeton, so we celebrated with a spring green blanket and little skirt!
Our sweet girl had another month of slow and steady growth, with one particularly big milestone: her first tooth! Teething appears to be a slower and more irritating process for poor Fifi than it was for her big brother -- she had several days of unusual crying jags, which cleared up as soon as that evil tooth of doom broke through the surface. But even so, she only had crying fits about once a day, and she was her typically placid self otherwise. We'll see how she handles the appearance of other teeth... They appear to be coming in just one at a time (another contrast with Joshua), so hopefully this won't be a long, drawn-out, painful process for her!
With the appearance of a (very sharp) tooth came some painful bites during nursing sessions. Back when Joshua got his first teeth, he started biting really hard, too, and nothing I tried was successful at getting him to stop, so we ended up weaning him at 7 months and switching to formula. I was worried that the same would happen with Sophia, but either I've gotten better at this parenting thing or she's more compliant than her brother was -- because after a couple weeks of painful bites and shortened nursing sessions, she's learned to stop! So I'm hopeful that we'll be able to hit my goal of a full year of breastfeeding!
The other noticeable change in Sophia this month was her increased babbling and giggling. She now fairly regularly says/shouts "dadadada," with great vigor and glee -- David claims that she's calling for him. :) It's really cute watching her try out her vocal cords and let loose these pterodactyl shrieks, and it's particularly sweet watching her laugh at Joshua's antics. We can't wait until she takes part more fully in playtime with her brother!
And some more sweet photos of our little Sophia at eight months!
Saturday, April 6, 2013
Easter 2013
We celebrated Easter this year with a variety of kid-friendly traditions and fun events -- it's so sweet to watch Joshua grow in understanding of some of these traditions and take part with such enthusiasm!
Just to start things off on a cute note: here's my favorite of the "official" Easter photos I took of Joshua and Sophia. :)
The kids and I have been part of a wonderful playgroup of Christian families with kids all around the same age for the last several months -- Joshua looks forward to going to Elliot's house every Thursday now! So the Thursday before Easter, we spent time decorating eggs with the kids and talking about ways we can teach our children about the resurrection. I always come away from these playdates with much food for thoughts -- which is seriously impressive, given the amount of crowd control and distraction that comes with wrangling all these small children! :)
It was Joshua's first time decorating eggs, and he was fascinated by the process. The moms did the dying part in the middle of the dining table (out of reach of curious little hands!), and then the kids used markers, stickers, and stamps to decorate the eggs. Of course, Joshua kept turning to me every few minutes to ask me to wipe his hands... I have no idea where he gets this fastidious bent. ;)
Then on Easter Sunday, after a lovely morning service at Westerly, we had a potluck dinner with our Sunday small group. And we had a little Easter egg hunt for the toddler boys. :)
The baby girls were a little less enthusiastic about the egg hunt...
...but still incredibly cute. :)
We had a really lovely dinner together -- it's funny how we all collectively pull out all the stops whenever there's a food event!
And we managed to get one decent group shot of all of us! (Including special guests Tae and Jeff, in town for a visit!)
We're so thankful for the wonderful community we have here in Princeton, and all the beautiful ways we were able to celebrate the resurrection with our family and friends. He is risen indeed!
Just to start things off on a cute note: here's my favorite of the "official" Easter photos I took of Joshua and Sophia. :)
The kids and I have been part of a wonderful playgroup of Christian families with kids all around the same age for the last several months -- Joshua looks forward to going to Elliot's house every Thursday now! So the Thursday before Easter, we spent time decorating eggs with the kids and talking about ways we can teach our children about the resurrection. I always come away from these playdates with much food for thoughts -- which is seriously impressive, given the amount of crowd control and distraction that comes with wrangling all these small children! :)
It was Joshua's first time decorating eggs, and he was fascinated by the process. The moms did the dying part in the middle of the dining table (out of reach of curious little hands!), and then the kids used markers, stickers, and stamps to decorate the eggs. Of course, Joshua kept turning to me every few minutes to ask me to wipe his hands... I have no idea where he gets this fastidious bent. ;)
Then on Easter Sunday, after a lovely morning service at Westerly, we had a potluck dinner with our Sunday small group. And we had a little Easter egg hunt for the toddler boys. :)
The baby girls were a little less enthusiastic about the egg hunt...
...but still incredibly cute. :)
We had a really lovely dinner together -- it's funny how we all collectively pull out all the stops whenever there's a food event!
And we managed to get one decent group shot of all of us! (Including special guests Tae and Jeff, in town for a visit!)
We're so thankful for the wonderful community we have here in Princeton, and all the beautiful ways we were able to celebrate the resurrection with our family and friends. He is risen indeed!
