raising a mommy

raising a mommy

Monday, July 6, 2015

an update on the kiddos {july edition}

So...it's been awhile. We've been pretty busy in the last two months, but more about that later. How about a quick update on the kids!

Baby M is ten months old now. Wow. Here is an update on his continually growing level of awesomeness:

Mastered Skills (most babies can do)
Waves goodbye: Usually. Sometimes it takes a little prompting. Can you imagine how much the little old church ladies love it when he raises his chubby little arm in the air and gives them a lopsided toothy grin? Suffice it to say that he is quickly becoming the most popular little man at our new church!
Picks things up with pincer grasp: Sometimes, but it depends on the object. Those over-priced puffs that you can buy are easier than peas or carrot chunks.
Crawls well: Like a pro. Try to stop him, I dare you.
Cruises: Sometimes he even thinks about going one handed. He'll take a few, tentative one handed steps before he decides it's not a great idea!

Emerging Skills (half of babies can do)
Says "dada" and "mam" to the right parent: Not without prompting, but he has said both!
Responds to name and understands "no": He usually turns when you say his name, but if he understands "no" he chooses not to show it!
Indicates wants with gestures: We've been working on some signing with him, "more" and "all done", mostly, but he doesn't usually get them. He bangs his hand on his tray when he's ready for more!

Advanced Skills (a few babies can do)
Drinks from a cup: I got him a few new sippy cups, but they're the kind you have to bite on to get the water out, and I don't want to encourage that, so I'll be going back to the store for a different set!
Stands alone for a couple of seconds: He's not quite this adventurous, but it won't be long, I'm sure!
Puts objects into a container: If by "container" you mean "his mouth" then yes, he does. Otherwise, not yet.

M loves trying new foods, especially if he can feed them to himself. I think we may be getting out of the puree stage and into the independent eater stage! Good thing I have a washing machine readily available now!

Our little chunker is working on his fifth tooth. This is crazy to me, since Big Sister P hit her first birthday with only the bottom two!

He also continues to work on his vocalization. He loves to talk (sound like Daddy, or what?). His newest thing: He puckers his lips and sucks in his cheeks, like a fish, then pops them out. It's about the cutest thing ever to see his little cheeks jiggle when he does that!

Big Sister P is ridiculously cool. Her biggest accomplishment recently: She can recognize letters, tell us what sound they make, and name a number of words that start with that sound. And the "reading." She loves to "read" books to you. She has a frighteningly good memory, so she can recite a fair amount of a number of her books, but what she doesn't remember, she's pretty good at improvising.

She also loves to draw. She reminds me a little bit of her Big Uncle E, because she gets frustrated with me when I can't draw things the way she wants. Daddy is much better than I am. (Note: Big Uncle E actually means "Older Uncle E," not to be confused with "Younger Uncle E" who is actually taller than his older brother. We're all vowel names in my family.)

We were house sitting for a week few months ago, and P had access to a piano. Sitting on the piano was the old green Lutheran Book of Worship. One day P opened it up and declared "This is the musical of God. It's about the light of God." I'm not making this up. Coolest kid ever? Possibly.

Sometimes I just have to stop and take a step back so reflect on how amazing our little girl is. The things she comes up with, the things she remembers, the things she can do...it's just incredible. We talked one day about people who don't have houses to live in, and she asked if she could get her tools to build them a house. She's starting to do chores to earn money, and she has three banks: save, spend, and share. I have been prompting her and telling her how much to put in each (about 10% in each the save and share), but last night Daddy let her decide, as long as she put some in each bank. I think she ended up splitting her earnings pretty evenly between her "New Anna doll jar," her "Augsburg jar," and her "money for church jar," What a cool and humbling kid!

There are just too many pictures to share, that I cannot choose a few highlights. I'll come up with a post later in the week to share the cuteness in pictures.

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