Fast Forward

There are days that I feel like all we do is go, go, go. When I get a chance to stop and really "be" with the girls, it amazes me how quickly they grow and change. Lauren will be 8 months old the end of next week and she's now quite the mover and in to everything; I find myself calling her "trouble maker" a lot. And Alyssa has become a kid (she'll tell you "me not baby, me big girl") who makes me laugh with the things she says and does. I feel like they're moving so fast, and I just want them to slow down a little. I'm so thankful for the cameras that we have so we can capture their looks in still images and their actions and laughter with the video.


Lauren is busy and curious these days. She's on the move and wants to get into everything. Some of the things that most intrigue her are the remote control and all the "boxes" that sit under the TV (the DVD player, cable box, etc.). She's always over there trying to check them out. And if she spies the remote control, she's a girl on a mission, crawling over whatever might be in her way. She's not only crawling everywhere, but she's also pulling herself to standing every chance she gets. She loves to pull herself up using us, boxes, Alyssa's stools, door frames, laundry baskets, just about anything. She got in trouble the other night in the bath tub because she was trying to use the edge to pull herself to standing. I'm including a videos here; I like the it shows her trying to figure out how to get down but also thinking about trying to get somewhere else while standing, and also it shows off a little bit of her crawling (it cuts off because of size restrictions here on the website).



Lauren has been eating better over the past few weeks. She's getting two meals now regularly a day, one in the middle of the day and one at dinner. Her favorites by far are the orange veggies - sweet potatoes, carrots, and squash. She'll tolerate a little bit of peas and green beans, but the others she gobbles up. She does like applesauce and peaches, but she doesn't get them too often. She tends to make a mess when she eats because she'll get a little on her lips/chin or hand then smear it all over herself as she rubs her eyes, forehead, and top of her head. She had green beans all over her last night, had to get a special shower this morning to get the green beans out of her hair.

Lauren has also discovered the joys of the bath tub. She and Alyssa were having a splash fest the other night in the bath tub; it was so awesome. Aaron and I were both wet from their splashing. One would splash, then the other would splash, they were laughing and just having a good old time. I think the best was when Alyssa said to Lauren "No (sp)la(sh) me LoLo" in her most serious of voices. I caught it on video but didn't want to include bath time video on the web.

And Alyssa, as I said, is always good for a laugh. She continues to assert her independence every chance she gets, which is what usually gets her in to trouble, but you just have to laugh at her. Some of my favorite Alyssa stories as of late are:

I came home from school one day, and when I came in the house, Aaron told Alyssa to tell me why she got a time out at day care. She came over and said "me take poop diaper off". Aaron filled me in that while napping she must have pooped, and she took her own poopy diaper off. So she got in trouble (rightly so) for that. We had a talk about how there are certain things that adults still have to help her with (changing poopy diapers, wiping when she goes potty, etc.) and that she wasn't to take anymore poopy diapers off. Later that night while reading, she looked at me and said "Mommy, me no take poopy diaper off." She learned that lesson well.

Alyssa continues to potty train. She was doing so well for about a week or two at home, having very few accidents, to the point that we let her wear undies a few times, and then she's kind of lost interest as of late. She'll still go now and again, but she's going in her diaper more than in the potty. She makes me laugh though. Tonight she went pee and poop in the big potty before bed, and she said she wanted M&Ms (that's her reward), so I went and got her two (two for poop, one for pee). She looked at me and said "for Mommy" and gave me one. I said thank you for sharing and she said "Mommy go potty too." For a while she would even cheer for me when I "went potty", I'm glad that someone is proud of me that after 30+ years, I'm able to "go potty."

Just the other morning, she and I were coming downstairs and I had wet diapers, a dirty bottle, and a container of formula all balanced on one side of me so I could hold her hand. She looked and said "Me up Mommy". I told her I couldn't carry her because I hold all this other stuff and she looked at me and pointed to me free hip and said "Me right there mommy". Needless to say the little stinker got carried down the stairs for being so observant.

For a while now, Alyssa has been making the sign of the cross with us as we say grace before meals, but about a month ago, she started saying "Father, Son, Holy Spirit, Amen". And then just about a week or so ago, we got "Je, Mommy, Daddy, Lolo" with the eyes close and the head going back and forth. We love it and have to share the video. She gives credit to Miss Gwen, our day care provider, in the video for teaching it to her. I love how she is so fervent in her prayer request.



I know I'm probably forgetting some great stories and details, but I wanted to give you a little update. I'll have to try to post later some photos from our blizzard this week and from the Super Bowl tomorrow! Go Steelers!