We had some friends over last weekend for a meal, and their nearly two-year-old boy is named Mateo. Elliot calls him "Matatoe".
I also had a good friend over this week, and she has three boys, one of whom is named Gabriel. After they left, Elliot asked "Where'd Ginger Ale go?".
Ha, Ha. I love hearing the funny words that come out of his mouth and how his mind works.
Friday, July 31, 2009
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Happy
One of Vincent's favorite pastimes...
Do we look anything alike?
Ahhhhh...I love me boys, I do!
Do we look anything alike?
Ahhhhh...I love me boys, I do!
Saturday, July 18, 2009
Things I've Learned Since Becoming A Mom II
More things I've learned since becoming a mom:
1. Few things bring me more joy than hearing Elliot spontaneously sing a song or hearing the boys laugh together.
2. Being a mom is a sanctifying process; my negative/unhealthy habits and tendencies are much more easily exposed, and I want to deal with them now so they aren't passed on to my boys.
3. Discipline is very difficult and not clear-cut.
4. What my catch phrases are because I hear them parroted back to me about 20 times a day: "you like that?", "ummm, okay", "mmmm, nope", "uh, sure", "dude", "you're crazy".
6. I'm not very patient, too quickly become angry, and far too often use a tone of voice that I immediately regret.
7. Being a mom of a 2 year old and a 1 year old can be lonely at times.
8. I need time away from my boys in order to be a good mom.
9. I notice little things like caterpillars, ants, spider webs, butterflies, airplanes, tractors, motorcycles, etc. much much more than I did before, and I love to point out these things to hear and see their reactions.
10. Time alone and peace and quiet are LUXURIOUS.
11. Laundry, dirty dishes, dirty floors, and toys strewn over the floor are commonplace and unending. Someone once told me that a house needs to be clean enough to be healthy and dirty enough to be happy - I need to remind myself of that more often.
12. Riding the bicycle is much more fun with a little blonde haired boy riding in the back who points out cows, ducks, tractors, and says "wheeee" while going downhill.
13. Things in life have much more meaning; I care more about issues because the kind of world my boys live in and the beliefs and values they'll have matter immensely to me.
14. Uninterrupted adult conversations with friends are highly valued and necessary to stimulate my brain and keep me from feeling like my identity is only that of a mom.
15. Not to be so judgmental toward other parents and children because I know very well that you don't always have control over how your child behaves.
16. I like to do activities that my boys enjoy because I like to see their joy and learn how their mind works and how their brains process things.
1. Few things bring me more joy than hearing Elliot spontaneously sing a song or hearing the boys laugh together.
2. Being a mom is a sanctifying process; my negative/unhealthy habits and tendencies are much more easily exposed, and I want to deal with them now so they aren't passed on to my boys.
3. Discipline is very difficult and not clear-cut.
4. What my catch phrases are because I hear them parroted back to me about 20 times a day: "you like that?", "ummm, okay", "mmmm, nope", "uh, sure", "dude", "you're crazy".
6. I'm not very patient, too quickly become angry, and far too often use a tone of voice that I immediately regret.
7. Being a mom of a 2 year old and a 1 year old can be lonely at times.
8. I need time away from my boys in order to be a good mom.
9. I notice little things like caterpillars, ants, spider webs, butterflies, airplanes, tractors, motorcycles, etc. much much more than I did before, and I love to point out these things to hear and see their reactions.
10. Time alone and peace and quiet are LUXURIOUS.
11. Laundry, dirty dishes, dirty floors, and toys strewn over the floor are commonplace and unending. Someone once told me that a house needs to be clean enough to be healthy and dirty enough to be happy - I need to remind myself of that more often.
12. Riding the bicycle is much more fun with a little blonde haired boy riding in the back who points out cows, ducks, tractors, and says "wheeee" while going downhill.
13. Things in life have much more meaning; I care more about issues because the kind of world my boys live in and the beliefs and values they'll have matter immensely to me.
14. Uninterrupted adult conversations with friends are highly valued and necessary to stimulate my brain and keep me from feeling like my identity is only that of a mom.
15. Not to be so judgmental toward other parents and children because I know very well that you don't always have control over how your child behaves.
16. I like to do activities that my boys enjoy because I like to see their joy and learn how their mind works and how their brains process things.
Thursday, July 16, 2009
Bedtime
We put the boys to bed and after about 15 minutes of screaming, we decided to at least get Vincent up (who's teething) and soon Elliot came to join us. This was the scene...
(I wanted to take a picture of Elliot, and so he decided to pose like this!)
...and about45 minutes later, they were tucked into bed again with no protests.
(I wanted to take a picture of Elliot, and so he decided to pose like this!)
...and about45 minutes later, they were tucked into bed again with no protests.
Saturday, July 11, 2009
Boys
Here's what Elliot and Vincent are up to these days:
Elliot:
Talking in nearly complete sentences. Yesterday morning when Martin went in to get him up in the morning I heard him say "Ready to get up and go downstairs?".
He is also doing this humorous little thing when answering a question...For example, I'll ask him if he wants a glass of milk to drink, and he'll answer "Uhhhhhhhh, nope", or "Ahhhhhhhhhh, OK." Too cute!
He also loves to hear a lion story before bed each night, and he'll help with the story by telling us where the lion went each day, which usually involves what he did during the day, but nearly every time the lion goes to Aunt Rachel's, or the OCP, or Grandma and Grandpa's, or Grandmom and Granddaddy's.
He pushes his tricycle all over the yard and goes on pretend trips - to Los Angeles, OCP, Ohio, or PA.
He loves to help in the garden and currently helps us pick green beans.
We go swimming every week with Rachel and her children at a pool near her house, and Elliot loves to jump off the side of the pool into the water as I catch him.
He also likes to sing, and yesterday I heard him sing "Holy God" as part of the Trisagion song that we often sing during devotions. He also sang the ABC song from start to finish on his own - that's a first.
Is describing his emotions more - he'll say "Elliot happy" about a zillion times each day, and also makes comments about Vincent or me or Martin being happy. He also verbalizes what he likes and doesn't like more, by saying "Don't like that", or "I like that".
Vincent:
Is using more words. Some of his current words are: up, alk (walk), ut (shut), nn (moon), nn (fan), nn (on), uck (truck), uck (stuck) ock (rock) ing (swing). He seems to leave the first consonant or so off all of his words.
He also does this cute little thing where he raises his hands in a question-like pose and does a voice inflection like "Where is it?", and then when he spots what he's looking for he says with great gusto "eeeee is!", as in "There it is!".
He's still not walking!!! Little stubborn boy - he can, he's just not confident in his ability yet. So I try to give him a little pep talk every day where I tell him "You don't have to be perfect, just confident." Hopefully he'll soon catch on. He walks while holding on to one of our fingers.
He likes to play in the water, especially under a stream of water running out of a faucet.
He rides his tractor everywhere - he went around the house all by himself the first time this past week.
Loves bicycle rides.
Is opinionated and shakes his head no whenever he doesn't like something or doesn't want to do something. So cute - especially with his blond hair shaking all over the place!
Loves to swing.
Laughs a lot and has a great sense of humor.
Sucks his thumb whenever he happens upon something remotely soft and fuzzy.
Loves music and "sings" spontaneously throughout the day. His favorite devotion song is "You shall go out with joy and be led forth in peace", and he claps his hands along with us.
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