Michael's favorite Toys

My Michael BOY! And he is ALL boy. It's crazy to me to see the gender differences showing themselves so distinctly so early. I love it. 

Michael loves the Leap Frog Barn we have for the fridge - the pieces don't stay on the refrigerator for long because he takes them all off and and after looking at each one, most of them end up down the step on the carpet. :) 

 The barn also sings some songs - which Michael LOVES, he often dances and "Sings" along (His singing is just grunts - but is still cute!)

 Michael absolute favorite toy is this green ball - we have a few (thankfully) because he has bit holes through them and crushed a few already! He will throw it and crawl after it. The balls are really light and easily "jump" if your hand skids over it - Michael thinks this is super funny and will often giggle as he's playing with his green ball. :) 

This guy doesn't stay still anymore! He's up the stair, down the stair, around the corner, in the bathroom, in his room, in the cat food, in Lucy's room, playing really hard everywhere and anywhere!

He's all boy! 

Coloring with Ellie

My little girl has come a long way since last December! (How fitting - I'm writing his post on December 4th and this post was written on December 2nd, 2011) It makes me smile - with both happiness and a bit of sadness - that my first born is getting bigger. She is such a joy and a constant reminder that I need to live intentionally. 

The other day, Lucy was bringing her Ellie and Precious Bunny into watch a movie with her Daddy. She said, "Bunny is Ellie's best friend!" Brad asked her, "Well will you be my best friend then?" "No." Lucy replied, "Mommy is your best friend." (Imagine my heart melting in the other room as I overheard the conversation)

Ellie's best friend changes, sometimes on an hourly basis. Lucy told me today that Ellie was HER best friend - this was after Ellie had a "bath" and Lu had been separated from her buddy for 2 (whole) hours. "Horray! Ellie's all clean! Oh Ellie! Ellie's my BEST FRIEND!" She exclaimed after I brought her clean and dry used-to-be-pink elephant to her. 

Lu and Ellie did some coloring the other day - together!

 Helping Ellie hold the crayon - apparently Ellie is left handed? Lu's hair was CRAZY this day, she insisted on a "Messy bun" - a hair style that keeps her hair up for about an hour but then looses it's grip. 

 "Like this Ellie!"

 We had been working on coloring inside the lines - Lucy stayed in the general vicinity of each of the balloons... we'll keep practicing. :) 

 This was the face she gave me when I asked her to smile.... haha

 A little better!

 Well, that's my girl. :) Haha - I'm pretty sure she had a tickle in her nose or something but I have had to tell her a few times lately to not make mean faces but be kind and have a nice face. 

This little girl... seriously - I think she's the best (I'm aware I'm biased).

At 1.5 weeks from 2.5 years old, Lu is 90% potty trained. She still sleeps with a pull up on for both nap and night-time and has accidents occasionally - but she is much more independent and can "take a potty break" on her own with minimal assistance ("I need help turning on the light!").

She still takes a good afternoon nap, laying down around 2 and sleeping for at least 2 hours - although she has taken to fighting her need to sleep 2 or 3 times a week. Ellie is a constant companion but has started waiting for Lucy at home when we go to friend's houses or run errands or taking a nap on mommy's bed when friends visit.

We try to go the library for story time once a week - Lucy loves it! And will sit and listen quietly - the reason we go is to help her learn self control in sitting and listening and she does great! Michael even enjoys the books and sits in the stroller listening and looking around for 3 out of the 4 books that are read. :)

Lucy LOVES spending time with her friends and often asks me when I'm putting her down for her nap, "When I wake up we can go to ____'s house?" or "_____ is coming over for dinner!" :) Sometimes I can say yes, other times I have to answer - "Lets see if we can set that up with her mommy for next week. " :)

Lu loves to sing, her favorites are Jesus Loves Me, Twinkle Twinkle, Itsy Bitsy Spider, Call Me Maybe, This Little Light of Mine and the "Princess Song" (The lyrics of that one change every time she sings it, here's the one she sang me yesterday morning "Once upon a time, there was a beeeaauutiful princess named Lucy! She put on her make up and got her swimsuit and went to the beach!"). She heard The Muffin Man song somewhere and put on her Chef hat and apron and said, "I'm the Muffin Man!" last weekend - she cracks me up. :)

Although Lucy gets dressed in her clothes every day (She can do it herself too! SO helpful!) she is mostly seen with her tutu, ballerina slippers, crown on and wand in hand. She MUST have all 4 items in order to be a "princess in a tall tall tower" and gets very concerned if she can't find one of her princess accessories. Lucy has a few things she is particular about, 1) Her princess costume, 2) Her breakfast routine, 3) Her blanket arrangement at nap time and night time. Here is an example of our daily conversation that happens before breakfast:

S: Lucy do you want Cheerios, Granola or Chex for Breakfast?
L: I want Chex with milk and a spoon and milk in a big girl cup. I need a place mat so I don't scratch the table and a napkin and a bib!

No joke, the child lists everything she needs every. day. Phew! Most days I can keep up because I've had my coffee but there are days that her "reminding" grates on my nerves (just trying to be honest here). But it is still true that my attitude is reflected like a mirror in my daughter and so we try to be patient and kind with each other. We pray for Lucy's obedience and mommy's patience every day. :)

Lucy is also particular about her blankets - Brad found this one out as he was putting Lu to bed one night, to be silly, he put her quilt on her upside down. Lucy would NOT have it! And insisted on having it the "right" way. :)

Lucy is pretty good about playing by herself - when we have library books in the house she can often be found sitting in the front room on the couch leafing through a book. The girl's got an amazing memory and has the titles if not the main story-line memorized after we've read each book only once. I've been thinking lately how to use her sponge-like mind and give it GOOD things to absorb. Lu has been listening to Steve Green's "Hide 'Em in your Heart" for the past week (along with Christmas music of course!) and I'm hoping the truths of scripture will seep into her little mind. Lucy loves playing with her babies and making beds for all of them - each of them HAVE to have a pillow AND a blanket (My couch pillows get commandeered for this purpose) and most of them have a bottle tucked into the blanket next to them. Duplos have also been a favorite lately - of BOTH Michael and Lu. Lucy likes to make "gas stations" and "gardens" out of the blocks and also builds a very nice tower every once in awhile.

Well, that's more than I thought I remembered about Lucy's current life-stage. She's a little girl with a lot of spunk. She keeps us on our knees (we need a lot of prayer) with sore stomach muscles (she has her daddy's ability to make people laugh)! We love her bunches!

A Nursery Rhyme Halloween

Ever since I saw this on Pinterest, I knew Lucy and Michael were going to be Little Bo Peep and a Sheep for Halloween.

Source

Lucy's costume got done early, because she attended a Toy Story Costume Party but I didn't get Michael's done until his afternoon nap on October 31st! (Cutting it close? I know.....)

(I LOVE Instagram!) Her dress was a hand-me-down from a friend at church and I made her little mop cap to match. :)

 Lucy was really excited about getting dressed up and "practiced" saying trick or treat many times leading up to the "Big day."

 I realized after her nap on the 31st that Lucy didn't have a bag or bucket to collect her candy in - so we worked with what we had and covered an old ice-cream bucket in orange paper and "decorated" it with stickers. 

 She did great! Stickers have been a favorite lately. :)

Presenting! Little Bo Peep and her little Sheep! :) 

 Aren't they adorable? 

 I made Michael's hat out of an old t-shirt of Brad's and some felt (for the ears). The body is just an old stained onesie of Lucy's with cotton balls glued on - I knew it didn't need to last more than a few hours, so I didn't sew the cotton balls on. It was a FREE costume! Acctually, both of the kids costumes were free, I made Lu's hat with stuff I had on hand. Love it when that happens!

 This is what we do a lot lately.... we are working on saying words and not spitting - slowly and surely. I think we are getting better. 

Lucy did really well knocking on doors and saying "Trick or Treat!" She then told people to put the candy "In my bucket" and, after I reminded her, said "Thank you!" :) 

  We had our Community Group over for Hamburgers and then a bunch of us went trick or treating on our street. We had extra food for any adults who wanted a burger and of course lots of candy for the kiddos. :) 

 My little sheep

80% of the time, when we get in the car and drive down the street, Lucy says - "I knock on doors and say trick or treat! And get candy on Halloween. I was little Bo Peep and Michael was a Sheep!" She is determined that next year she is going to be a flower (one of her friends was a pretty pink flower) but we will see. :) 

What is your favorite costume from when you were a kid? I was a smore one year! No joke - fluffy white vest and graham cracker hat..... haha! Can you beat that?

Photo Journal: Michael's First Spaghetti

Kidder Kid Conversations

This is the first in a new series that we will be doing here on the blog, featuring funny* things our kids say. I got this idea from my cousin Kim and her family and thought it was a great idea to keep track of what the kids say and record them for others to enjoy.

*Funny, defined by what makes us laugh. We hope it does the same for you. :) 

So without further ado, here are some funny Kidder Kid Conversations: 

Sarah: "Lu, how many ears does Grandpa have? Can you count them?"
Lucy: "One... Other one!"

Lucy: "I need help putting on my shoe"
Sarah: "Do you want to be Cindarella and see if your shoe fits?" (We tried her shoe on and it fit perfectly, I told her she could be a princess and marry the prince!)
Lucy: "I need a dress!" (Said in a very matter-of-fact way)

Grandpa: "Michael you're a genius!" 
Lucy: "I want to be a genie!"

(Getting out of the car at a hotel on one of our road-trips)
Lucy: "Yeah! Hey it's my birthday!"
Brad: "No it isn't your birthday."
Lucy:  "It sure is my birthday."

Aunt Amy: "Lucy please apologize to Michael for kicking him."
Lucy: "Michael I'm sorry you were in my way."

I had told Lucy that she was a distraction to Michael while I was nursing him and she needed to go into the living room to play. A few minutes later she peaks her head around the corner and says "I am a distraction!"

Lucy, looking at the moon: "The moon is full of candy! Silly moon."

Sarah: "Well aren't you little miss picky!"
Lucy: "I'm not miss Piggy, I'm Lucy and I'm 2 years old."

Brad: (responding to Lucy's sassy attitude) "I was correcting your grammar Lu"
Lucy: "I want a graham cracker right now."

Lucy: "Oranges are tasty and orangey and juicy!"

Brad: "Sar, where did you get that a.p.p.l.e j.u.i.c.e?"
Lucy: "Pee pee? Ellie? She sits on her toilet."

Lucy: "Amy texted me"
Brad: "Oh really?"
Lucy:"Ya, and I text her to bring me some kiss-pex" (crispex) 

(Lucy came over to the sewing machine while I was working on a project)
Sarah: "Lucy, please do not touch the buttons on Mommy's sewing machine - this is not a toy for you and you are not to touch it okay?"
Lucy: "Yeah, and I'll get one when I get married?"

Our 4th 2012 Trip Up North

All of our friends decided to get married in 2012, this has lead to many many road trips up north - this trip was our 4th and last scheduled trip for Andrew and Kaleigh's wedding.  

 Lucy, looking at a picture of her daddy "When he was a little boy!"

 We were able to watch a few of the Tiger's Games while in Michigan - Dad Kidder shared a few of his hats so we could all show some team spirit! :) 

Lucy had her nails painted by Aunt Amy, a very special first. (The most difficult part was getting Lucy to sit still while her nails dried!)

 We've loaded up one of our old phones with games and videos for Lucy - she calls it "my Phone" - it was SO helpful while we drove up to Michigan and back home. 

 Lucy also got her hair curled for the first time while we were visiting! Aunt Amy has the coolest hot-rollers!

 Waiting for them to cool off. 

 Taking them out!

 She had such volume!!!

 The curl stayed for maybe 30 minutes, the girl has her mom's hair! But it was really special while it lasted. 

We stopped in Cleveland Ohio on the way home to see our friends Miriam and Bogdan. Miriam asked me if I would speak to the ladies at their church so we left Michigan bright and early on Sunday morning, arrived at their church in time for service and spent the afternoon and evening with them. It was wonderful to see their ministry, their home and have a glimpse of their life. :) Even though our visit was quick, it was wonderful to catch up! 

Ten Months

10 Month Accomplishments

• Sitting up from "army crawl" position, this has been such a fun transition! It still catches me off guard to walk into a room and see him sitting in a different location than when I left!
• Pulling himself up - Michael has begun pulling himself up onto his knees using baskets of toys, Lucy's play kitchen and the toy bike to help. 
• Brushing his teeth, we have begun a dental care routine with Michael - he has 6 teeth! He is a bit cautious about the tooth brush but lets me brush his little teeth.
• No more thumb sucking, I don't remember when this happened - but Michael stopped sucking his thumb! He still loves his "lovie" and sleeps on his tummy, covered by his quilt. He has been sleeping SO much better and I feel that he finally has a predictable routine! Phew! It took a long time to get to this point with our boy. He has phased out of his third late afternoon nap, but is taking two good naps a day.
• Eating more table food, Michael has gotten to the point that he can eat pretty much anything that Lucy does - so helpful! The only thing we are staying away from is peanuts, but he loves ground beef, deli meat, cheese, bread, apples, green beans, carrots, mac and cheese and chicken. 
• Taking a Bottle again! Horray! Mom and dad can go on dates and not worry about Michael eating well.  
• Nursing 5-6 times a day, even through he is eating breakfast, lunch and dinner at the table - Michael is still nursing a ton. At this stage with Lucy, she was down to 2 or 3 times a day. I don't know if it's because Michael is a boy or what, but he's a hungry little human! 
• Copying his sister - This can be adorable or annoying. If Lucy squeals, Michael does the same. If Lucy blows strawberries (aka spits), Michael does the same. If Lucy claps, Michael claps. If Lucy laughs, Michael laughs. (Do you get the picture?) There have been a few times that it has seemed like they were ganging up on me... oh boy. :) 
• Dancing, Michael loves music and often dances when he hears it. His dancing is a whole body wobble and is just about the cutest thing. 

To see Lucy at 10 Months, click here.