ten years

Ten years ago today I was doing this....

And ten years later, I'd do it all over again.

I love you, Brian!  The last decade has been my favorite adventure ever! Happy Anniversary!

13 months

Rebecca's learning so much these days.... 

*Her favorite word is, "HI!" (though it sounds more like "eye" when she says it.) 

*She now signs "more" whenever she wants something, and points to the thing she wants.  It doesn't exactly mean "more," it means, "I want that!"

*She's completely given up the bottle and is down to three sippy cups of milk a day.  No more rocking her before bed with a bottle, which I'll miss...though it hasn't exactly been relaxing for many months, since she'd always sit up every 10 seconds anyway to see what was going on around her.  Now bedtime consists of reading a book, but she sits still for a few pages to listen and then starts trying to turn the pages by herself so I can't read the rest. 

*She climbs on EVERYTHING.  Her favorite is the rocking chair.  The other day she climbed up on Rachel's stool, which was right next to the coffee table, and then climbed up onto the coffee table, the little stinker.

*She's FINALLY taking real naps!  For the last week or two she's been taking two naps a day of about 1 1/2 hours each.  The queen of the catnap finally knows how to nap!  YAY!

*Her favorite thing (besides her cups of milk) is food.  She's happiest when there's food in front of her.  I don't know where all the food goes.  I swear her legs must be hollow.

*Another favorite thing of hers is riding in the Kelty backpack on Daddy's back and going outside.  Daddy said yesterday, "I know Rebecca loves this thing, but it's killing my back!"  We've been using it a lot lately for going on walks/hikes.

*And yet another favorite is going outside.  I don't know how many times a day she signs "more" and then points to the back door, wanting to go outside.  She likes to swing, eat sand, leaves, or anything else she can get her hands on, and play with her outside toys (a slide, water table, and little tikes garden). 

new bike

Rachel's princess bike was way too small for her, so we've been looking at new ones for her.  Today we walked into a big bike sale without even planning on it, and walked out with a new Barbie bike for Rachel!

Daddy was teaching her to brake--he's been trying all spring/summer to teach her, and she finally got it today.

We went for a short family bike ride, including Rebecca in the bike trailer--her first ride in it. 

Next step....getting rid of the training wheels.  We're thinking it's going to be quite awhile before she learns that, seeing that it took her forever to learn just to use the brakes! 

long lost friends

Yesterday morning we met our dear, dear friends (who moved away three years ago....one of the saddest days of my life) at a park in between our two houses.  Even though the weather didn't cooperate for an outdoor playdate (it was cold and drizzling much of the morning), we still had a great time being together.  We haven't seen them since last summer, so the kids had all changed a lot, but most of all Rebecca, who was still a newborn when they last saw her!  Here are some pictures from our fun morning.

Rachel talking Miss Allecia's ear off....as usual

Rebecca enjoying the attention from Kaden and Marin

Kaden and Rachel used to be the best of friends...so glad they still enjoy

each other, but sad they can't be as close as they once were

Rachel and Marin found a cozy spot to look at books (the back of our van!)

"back to normal"

With the start of summer vacation a few weeks ago we ushered in a new season in our house--the season of chores.  Rachel got her first assigned chores.  Rather than paying her an allowance, we decided to pay her in tokens (they're actually poker chips, so we call them "chips"), which are redeemable for TV/video/computer game time.  Each chip is worth 15 minutes.  She receives 4 chips each morning, just because (so one hour of screen time), and for each of her four chores she completes in the morning (it has to be done in the morning or it doesn't count), she earns another chip, for a possible total of eight chips per day, or two hours of screen time).  I decided that this method would kill several birds with one stone.  It would give her some responsibilities, it would limit her screen time, which was getting a little out of hand (ever since I was pregnant with Rebecca, and completely exhausted, I became more lenient with how much I allowed, and I needed to rein her back in, now that I'm actually getting some sleep and life has settled down a bit), and it would teach her a little bit about spending and saving, even if there wasn't real money involved.

The first couple of days, she loved it.  She whizzed through her chores, earned her chips, and used them at various times through the day.  She had to make choices like, "Do I want to play a few computer games now or should I save my chips so I can watch a movie later?"  Then the chores started losing their excitement, and she made some choices not to do a couple of them (she puts the silverware away every morning without fail--she loves that one--it's the making her bed and brushing her teeth which aren't quite so popular).  Then she watched a movie in the morning, and since she hadn't done her chores, she hadn't earned any extra chips, and therefore didn't get anymore screen time for the day, which she didn't like one bit.  Since then, she's been better about doing her chores, though she needs some friendly reminders almost every morning.  I struggle with whether or not I should make her do them or let her choose.  There's a part of me that says she just needs to do it because it needs to get done and she needs to get in the habit.  There's another part of me that says that she needs to learn the consequences of not doing it.  That's the part I've stuck with, for the most part, so far.

So after a few weeks of this system, it's going pretty well.  (At least, I thought so.)  She's learning to save her chips so she can watch a movie in the early afternoon or evening, which she likes to do.  She doesn't always use them all every day, so she has more the next day, and she likes that.  And I don't have to always be the bad guy, telling her no, she can't watch something, because it's the chips that dictate whether or not she can watch. 

But evidently, she doesn't think it's going as well as I do, because the other night as I was putting her to bed, out of the blue, she told me, "Mom, I just want things to get back to normal around here." 

"What do you mean?" I asked.  This was completely out of the blue, so I had no idea to what she was referring.

"Like the chips...and the chores...and everything."

I stifled a laugh, because the way she said it was just so funny.  But I said, "Rachel, this is just the beginning of chores!  You're going to have to do chores your whole life!"  And we had a discussion about being a family and helping each other to get done the things that need to be done, and so forth. 

But I guess "back to normal" for Rachel means getting to watch lots more TV, playing lots of computer games, and not doing any chores.  Too bad for her, that this is just the beginning of the "new normal."

our father's day of fun

Happy Father's Day to the wonderful fathers in my life....my grandpa, my dad, and the father of my sweet girls.

(To celebrate we went to the science museum, where Rachel operated a back hoe and got fed to the dinosaurs....and Rebecca walked back and forth and back and forth pushing things and played peekaboo with balls.)

even more tricks

Rebecca's got some more new skills.  She's now shaking her head "no" when you tell her no....the thing is, even though she knows it's a no, she still goes right for it and touches whatever it is she's not supposed to touch.  Today she knocked over the floor lamp, I set it back up, scolded her repeatedly, and she went right back over to try and grab it again.  Stinker....

She's also pointing all over the place.  She can point when she wants something, which is helpful at times.  (She also just points just to point, so sometimes it's hard to know which it is.)

She's also saying "Mama" with more regularity.  Yay!

Rachel has some new tricks of her own.  She's all excited because she can do a somersault by herself.  She also has learned to pump her legs on the swing.  She's not perfected this talent yet, but she's getting better, and I'm loving that soon maybe I won't have to push her so much! 

the reader and the comedienne

It's officially summer now, since Rachel's done with school.  The days seem much longer without her in school in the mornings three times a week, but I've been working on coming up with things for us to do.  I've also been able to play with her a little more, though, which she loves, and we've been reading more books.  We signed her up for the summer reading program at the library and in addition to my reading books to her, she's now reading to me (mostly Bob books, which are very simple), which is both exciting and frustrating.  She can sound words out when she takes the time to do it, but she's very easily distracted and loses focus really quickly.  But it's a start.  She's slowly becoming a reader.

Rebecca has some new skills of her own.  She loves playing peekaboo, this time with her hands.  When you say, "Where's Rebecca?" she covers her eyes with her hands, takes them away quickly, and says her own version of, "BOO!" (which sounds more like a squealy, "DA!")  It's so cute and I ask her all the time, "Where's Rebecca," just because I want to see her do it!   The funniest is when she's in the van and I come around to her side to get her out.  As soon as I appear in the doorway she covers her eyes, uncovers them and shouts, "DA!"  She's got a sense of humor, this one.... 

She's also pretty obsessed with Patty Cake, Itsy Bitsy Spider, and If You're Happy and You Know It, and asks (in her own way--with the various motions) for them all the time.  In fact, if she's fussy, all I've got to do is start singing to her, and she's all smiles again.  (I think that has lots more to do with her happy disposition than with my marvelous vocal ability!)

last day

Today was Rachel's last day of preschool.  It was sad driving out of the parking lot today, knowing we won't be back, except maybe when Rebecca's three and it's time for her to go to preschool, but we'll have to wait and see.  I've enjoyed getting to see the people I used to teach with from time to time while I'm there, and will miss that part of it, too.

So here she was on her first day of preschool (last year, age 3),

here she is on her first day this year (age 4),

and here she is on her last day (age 5).  She looks like such a baby her first year!  And so grown up now!

On Friday her kindergarten teacher is coming to the house for a visit--I can't believe they actually do home visits in this day and age, but it will be nice to meet her and have Rachel know who she is.  I can't believe it's really going to be time for kindergarten.

our little ballerina

Rachel's ballet class had a little "recital" of sorts the other night to mark the end of the class.  They were all flowers.  So here's our little flower....

a note from Rachel

"i WT U PET CAT"

Need a translation?

"I want a pet cat."

We've planned since we were dating that we would be a pet free household....but Daddy might give in and let her have a fish.  Time will tell.  We'll see how persuasive she is!