Monday, August 31, 2009
First Day of School!
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Monday, August 24, 2009
A doctor's visit
We went to the doctor's this morning for Frankie's 2 1/2 year old check up, and Dexter's 15 month check up. We went in ready for shots! I told Frankie this morning about the shots, and that Dr. Mitchell would not be giving them to her (she loves Dr. Mitchell, and I think it's good to keep Dr. Mitchell the one to never have to give her treatments that hurt her, like shots). She understood that "Dr. Mitchell not hurt me. I get a shot. It hurt just a little bit. I'm going to be a brave girl and not cry." (holding up her hand and scrunching her fingers together for emphasis the way she does when she's really adamant about something, like the motions to "He's got the whole world in his hands"). We realized together that Dex would probably cry, because he's a baby.
Dexter currently weighs 22 1/2 lbs, and Frankie is a little over 29 lbs! Dex is 31 inches, and Frankie is 36. They're both about 50th percentile for both, except that Dex is a little lightweight - he's in the 10-25% for weight.
Frankie had developed a puffy, red eye over the weekend that we were mildly concerned about, although not enough to take her to the ER over the weekend - her eyeball was fine, there was no discharge, and the swelling wasn't that bad (i.e., her eye was not swollen shut). She also told me many times that it didn't hurt. Dr. Mitchell thought it was just a scratch, but might be infected, and since it was so close to her eye, gave her some antibiotics for it. Frankie is thrilled about this, because it means she gets to drink bubble-gum flavored medicine twice a day for 10 days.
Dex got a steroid cream for his patch of excema on his chest, and 2 vaccines. It was like Christmas - a little something for everyone. As Frankie and I suspected, Dex cried like the baby he is when he got his shots. Bless those nurses for being like Ninjas though. She snuck up on him and got him with the first one when he wasn't looking. By the time he realized what was going on and started to cry, she was almost done with the second. The crying lasted about 20 seconds; much less time than the crying that resulted from Dr. Mitchell opening the door and startling him (because he was standing behind it) about 5 minutes before.
Then we had to wait another 15 minutes at the lab to get their blood drawn to test for lead. We live in a house with known lead paint (save the lectures on how terrible it is for my children, we have researched the issue thoroughly and don't think it's that big a deal, and that de-leading and stirring up the lead paint dust would be way worse for the children and ourselves). Because of that, Dr. Mitchell is required by the State of Massachusetts to lead-test my kids via blood draw (not just finger prick) every 6 months.
Frankie actually did not cry at all when she got her blood drawn; she acted like she did it every day. It was impressive and a little bizarre. I asked her afterward (covered in Dora stickers, on the way to McDonald's for some ice cream) if it hurt. No.
Dex on the other hand, fought me like a moose and screamed the entire time. He was sweating and red in the face from the effort by the time we were done. Poor kid.
I feel like that sums them up in so many ways, at least right now.
Thursday, August 20, 2009
Funnies
Dex's new thing is that he likes to tell you what's on a page of a book (he does this very emphatically in a language only he can understand) and points intentionally and rapidly at an object on the page. The pointing motion is most like the stabbing of a sword. It's quick: in and out, so as not to cause too much pain to the recipient.
He and Frankie love jumping in their cribs. It's usually the noise I hear first thing in the morning, followed by peals of laughter. Not a bad way to wake up.
Frankie has developed this quirky way of saying Mhm and nodding her head when she agrees to something, or you figure out what she's talking about. I wish I could describe it to y'all, but maybe I'll just have to try and catch it on video.
I've asked Rachel to speak only Portuguese to the kids during the day. I think this will be the best way for them to actually learn and speak the language, not just some vocabulary. She'd been doing vocab with them, and speaking some, but she started this morning just speaking to Frankie and Dex in Portuguese as we were getting ready to leave the house. Frankie looked at her and just "made up" some words to speak back to her. It was quite funny!
We've agreed that while Rachel will try and speak mainly Portuguese with them, she will switch to English at times that Frankie seems to be getting really frustrated, or she needs to discipline her. I'm so grateful that they get to have this opportunity!
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
Monday, August 17, 2009
King Jesus is Lord
I love when I catch Frankie singing, and then am able to figure out what she's singing. In the last 2 days the song of choice has been the King Jesus is Lord song they learned at VBS two weeks ago. It's funny to me that this song has just now surfaced from the depths of her memory, and quite well!
King Jesus is Lord, King Jesus is Lord,
My All in All, My All in All,
Walking by my side, Walking by my side,
He satisfies, he satisfies.
At least, I think those are the words.
She has also loved singing the He's got the whole world in his hands song, and is extremely bossy about the motions. "No, Mommy! Hands like dis." She holds her hands up in a "stop" motion with her little fingers pressed firmly together when I get the motions wrong. She is so earnest in her desire for me to get the motions right.
King Jesus is working in her heart, and it's been amazing to me to watch her start to process and learn about her savior. This past Saturday we talked about getting to go to Jesus's house the next day, and that we needed to get extra clean so we're ready to go in the morning. She wondered if Jesus would be there, and I said yes, but that we wouldn't actually see him. She remembered that "Jesus died, Mommy" (said in the same tone of voice in which she reminds me that Manny, the fish died). You can see the confusion in her mind as she tries to understand how we can go to Jesus's house and that he would be there (albeit invisible) if he is dead.
Suddenly she got very concerned - "Jesus died, Mommy. Jesus not alive. Mommy dies? Mommy leave me?" This broke me heart, and came out of nowhere. I rushed to tell her that I would not die, and that I will not leave her. So this is not entirely the truth, but I'm not about the pull the complete truth wand out on my 2-year-old who is worried her mom will die and abandon her.
So back to the issue that yes, Jesus died, but the good news is that Jesus rose again, that he's alive, and that he can live in our hearts (insert really confused look from toddler here). "No, Mommy. Jesus died. Jesus not alive." This conversation repeated itself about 4 more times until I gave up, and said something non-commital like "Oh, okay, well, we'll see" (this is usually how I back gracefully out of these heated arguements with her).
Well, we're half-way there. Arguably the less important half, but still.
Saturday, August 15, 2009
Oh no!
Friday, August 14, 2009
Thursday, August 13, 2009
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
Saturday, August 8, 2009
Facepainting!
To learn how you can snap pictures and capture videos with your wireless phone visit www.verizonwireless.com/picture.
Note: To play video messages sent to email, Quicktime@ 6.5 or higher is required.
Malibu Beach Festival Ii
Frankie loves festival food.
This message has been sent using the picture and Video service from Verizon Wireless!
To learn how you can snap pictures and capture videos with your wireless phone visit www.verizonwireless.com/picture.
Note: To play video messages sent to email, Quicktime@ 6.5 or higher is required.
Friday, August 7, 2009
Thursday, August 6, 2009
Potty Training update
Thanks for all your encouragement, and I thought I'd offer an update: we've had 2 days of no accidents! She has been much more agreeable about actually going, and even told Rachel several times yesterday that she needed to go (without being prompted or having a small accident first) so that power struggle has disappeared, for now. I'm guessing she was exhausted from all the excitement of VBS and having Howie and my sisters here, and that is how it was manifesting itself. I'm sure this issue will resurface again, but for now I am grateful for the break from the potty power struggle.
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
Updates
I have mainly been posting pictures without much text, so I thought I'd fill in some of the details of our life:
Potty Training:
It's been 2 months, and we're still woefully not there yet. I'd like to blame it on the exhaustion and excitement of VBS last week, but I don't think that's entirely it. Last week was bad - 1-2 big accidents each day (read the note about the exhaustion - it definitely got worse as the week wore on).
We're starting to get back on track again, but it's tiring. She still doesn't ask to go to the bathroom, so we have to prompt and cajole/discipline her into going every time. When we don't, she has an accident (sometimes just a little, sometime a lot); she'll either look up suddenly and yell out "I have to go to the bathroom!" (which means she already did a little ), or will have an accident (usually poop), and not tell anyone. This is particularly concerning to me - she doesn't seem bothered about having wet pants.
When she's tired, convincing her to go to the bathroom is a huge power struggle. If she were good about 1. caring that she had an accident and I saw some progress or repentance or concern when the accident happend or 2. Anticipating when she needs to go and telling us, then I would just let her tell me when she's ready to go (or ask, but not "force" her to go).
Becky suggested that maybe she wasn't ready, and that made me wonder if she is, but then again I think that this is just Frankie, and that we'll have this struggle whenever she potty trains.
Walking:
Dex is taking more and more steps these days to get places. He's Mr. Cruise, and wants you to help him walk everywhere. I see this as major progress - up until about 10 days ago, he wasn't interested in "walking" with someone's help - now he's all about it! He's also figured out how to go down the steps backwards, which has been a huge help. He can safely navigate getting down off the couch or bed, or 1-2 stairs by himself.
Talking:
still no consistent words from Dexter. He seems to say Da-da or Ma-ma in Chris and my's general direction, but it's not consistent. He's communicating more with us though - he puts his hand out and will "say" something when he wants something. He likes to hand us things, and shakes his head "no" enthusiastically when he doesn't want something. He'll repeat sounds. Like with the walking, I think he's close!
Frankie talks up a storm. I will not be surprised if she soon becomes his "translator". I wish I could remember more of what she says, because it's quite humorous, but often the funny part is the inflection and slightly garbled sounds, which Kristen is really good at writing out, but I don't have this knack.
Mint.com:
In an un-kid related note, I have set up an account with Mint.com. I love it! It's really easy home budgeting software. It's online and it's *free*. And waaaay easier than Quicken. I hate Quicken. Chris, who did our budgeting/bill paying for years before I took it over last summer hated Quicken. I can finally see quickly and easily how we're doing on a given day with our budgeted items - from any computer! They also send email reminders at the end of a week with status updates on how you're doing with your budgeted items (so I can see before I go to the grocery store over the weekend, how much I have left in my grocery budget). I love efficiency. Let's see if it actually helps us stick to our budget.... :)
Sunday, August 2, 2009
Aunt Sarah helps Dex walk
To learn how you can snap pictures and capture videos with your wireless phone visit www.verizonwireless.com/picture.
Note: To play video messages sent to email, Quicktime@ 6.5 or higher is required.
Saturday, August 1, 2009
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
