3/29/10 - Family and Fun

Grandma and Grandpa Stone came up to visit for a few days during spring break last week.  They brought Easter baskets full of goodies for the girls. 

 

With us living 5 hours away and the possibility of Uncle Tim moving to the area, they’re starting to wonder if moving up closer to the grandkids might be a good idea in the next few years.  

 

They wanted to check out the surrounding country, so I took them to spend the day in Sandy.  It’s a small country town with a lot of personality, which is exactly the atmosphere they love.  Dad says if he could find a newer house with 3 acres, he might consider it.

 

We stopped by the Rainbow Trout Farm to do a little fishing.  They provide everything: tackle, bait, bucket and net.  All you pay for is the fish that you catch, and the ponds are so well stocked you’re guaranteed to catch something!  I tried to help Eva fish, but the catch was so big and heavy that I had to reel it in myself.

 

Later at dinner, Grandma asked Eva, “don’t you want to eat the fish you caught?”  Eva responded, “I didn’t catch the fish, Mommy did!”  Then she went into great detail about the last time when SHE had caught the fish: “Remember, Mommy, when we went fishing with Daddy?  And I held the pole, and the fish bite and I pulled it in?  Yeah, I caught that fish, and then mommy cooked it, and then I ate it!”  That was over a year ago.  It’s amazing how much she can remember!

Wearing O' The Green

For St. Patrick’s Day I dressed the girls in green and took them to the party store to get supplies for an upcoming birthday party.  They had the St. Patrick’s Day stuff already marked 50% off, so I got them hats, fun straws and party plates to celebrate the day.  At lunch they had green milk and white chocolate pudding dyed with green food coloring.  Eva was fascinated by all novelty and kept coming back to ask me, “What day is it? Oh yeah, St. Paddy’s Day!” 

 

When I was in YWAM, my friends and I were in love with all things Scottish, Irish and Celtic, and would go all-out on the “Wearin’ of the Green”.   Eva, Kate and I were still too young for green Guinness, but we’d dye all our food green, dance to celtic music, and otherwise have a blast making fools of ourselves.  One year I gave Kate a giant hat that looked like a St. Patrick’s Day version of “The Cat in the Hat”, and she’s made a tradition of wearing it every year for 15 years now (except this year, when it was temporarily lost in the move).   Though we’ve all gone our separate ways, I still send them cards every March 17^th. 

Friday School

First Class Ministries has a local home school co-op with about 70 families called “Friday School”.  Several families that we know participate and really enjoy it, so I decided it was time to try it.  The girls love it!  The morning begins with a half-hour kids’ chapel service, and then three class periods.  Since Eva and Amanda are so young, they spend all three periods in the same classes: Toddler and Pre-K.  When they get older, they can choose a different class or subject for each period.  

 

All the parents are required to participate, so I spend the first period volunteering in an art class for 6 to 8-year-olds.  They’re so articulate and creative!  It’s a fun preview of what we have to look forward to when our girls get to be that age.  For second period I head to the nursery to nurse Bethany and hang out and snack with some of the other moms.  Third period I help out in Amanda’s Toddler class.  It works out perfectly, because that’s just before lunch, about the time when she’s starting to get tired and cranky. 

Talking Hands

Eva has a great imagination and a lightening quick memory.  Sometimes I’ll hear her quoting and acting out entire scenes from “Charlotte’s Web” or another kids movie.  When I’m telling Dave stories about what the kids or said during the day, she’ll sometimes correct me on the details.  It’s amazing how observant she can be, even when you think she’s not paying attention! 

 

The other day I overheard her talking to someone named “Jeff” and asked her, “who’s Jeff?”   She looked at me with both feet in the air and her hands pointed towards one another like puppets, and said, “this hand is Jeff, and this hand is Jimmy, and my feet are Mommy and Daddy.”  An imaginary four-way conversation – quite a talent for a 4-year-old! 

Animal House

Amanda is fascinated by animals right now, especially the circus animals she sees on “Dumbo”.   She takes her little plastic toy animals and pairs them up to play with them in turn: mommy and baby zebra, mommy and baby giraffe, and her favorites, mommy and baby elephant.  She gets really upset if she accidentally loses one of them, and we’ll have to turn the house upside down while she cries, “where’s baby Dumbo?” 

 

Every elephant is “Dumbo”, and every pig is “Wilbur”, and every horse is “Spirit”, whether she sees them in a book, a nature documentary, or whatever.   Once she collected every elephant-themed toy she could find (baby rattle, stuffed animal, plastic figurines, even preschool scissors) and gathered them together in a “pen” she made.  It’s amazing to see how that little toddler mind works!

Baby Smiles

At 6 months old, Bethany has gotten too big for her infant carrier, so we’ve upgraded her to a larger car seat.  She recognizes her name and will turn and smile at you even if you call her name from across the room.  I’ve never known such a content baby!  She has such an easy-going temperament and hardly ever cries.  Even when we spent the whole day walking around Sandy, carrying her in the car seat and constantly moving her from car to stroller, she’d sit there contentedly sucking her thumb, looking around in wonder or dozing off. 

 

We gave Bethany her first taste of solid food this week: rice cereal mixed with mommy’s milk.  She had a quizzical expression while smacking her lips, as if she were testing the strange new texture, but pretty soon she was more interested in grabbing the bowl and spoon.   She’s gotten quite adept at reaching for and grasping objects that she wants to teeth on and explore.   She recently discovered her feet, and grabs hold of them whenever we change her diaper.  It never ceases to amaze me how quickly they discover and absorb new things, at a stage when EVERYTHING is brand new! 

3/4/10 - California Trip

Last week we made an emergency trip to Southern California because we heard Dave’s mom wasn’t doing well.  She had just gotten back to her skilled nursing home after a bout of pneumonia in the hospital, and didn’t want to go back to the hospital.  Over a week of inactivity had made her arthritic joints especially sensitive, and any attempt to change, clean or move her was extremely painful. 

Thankfully, Uncle Larry works for United Airlines and was able to offer us discounted family passes.  We arrived safely on Monday night in LAX and rented a van to drive the rest of the way.  We settled into a hotel in San Marcos so we could be as close to Grandma Geri as possible without having to fight the freeways. 

 

On Tuesday we spent most of the day visiting her.  She's was thrilled to meet Bethany for the first time and see how much her granddaughters have grown.  She had to remain propped up in bed because it was difficult for her to breathe, and the pneumonia made her ribs hurt.   She was a bit drowsy from the medication, and in a lot of pain whenever it wore off.

 

Aunt Nanci took the girls to visit the Wild Animal Park to see the new baby elephant.  They’re fascinated with animals right now, and Dumbo is one of their favorite movies.  They were excited to see the animals up close, especially the lion that roared at them.  Nanci said they were less enthusiastic about the birds in the sanctuary that would land on your arm and eat out of your hand.  She had two perched on her hand and tried to show them to the girls, but Amanda kept her distance while Eva stared with her fingers safely tucked under her chin. 

 

Later we had dinner with Chappy and Misty, who treated us to Rubio’s Fish Tacos.  Their little Carnell III is getting so big!

Visiting Family

By Wednesday she was doing considerably better, able to sit up in her wheelchair and visit in the dining room.   The staff were cooing over the girls, especially baby Bethany, and Grandma Geri was proud to show them off. 

 

We spent the evening with Uncle Gary and Aunt Nanci and cousins Haden and Allen, and Xavier and Amber and Michayla dropped by to visit.  Eva and Amanda were enamored with Bandit and Cleo as always, chasing them around the house and trying to hug and pet them. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On Thursday we packed up, checked out of our hotel and took the girls to see the beach.  After one last visit with Grandma, we started back to LA.  We stopped in Orange County to visit my Aunt Gayle, Uncle Mark and cousin Paige, who treated us to dinner.   The girls enjoyed playing with their dogs and they enjoyed meeting Bethany for the first time. 

 

All too soon we had to get back on the road to LAX.  Our flight left at 9:30pm and poor exhausted Amanda had a meltdown during take-off that turned us into the dreaded family that nobody wants to fly with.  Thankfully she fell asleep soon afterward, and the rest of the flight home was peaceful. 

Contentment

Bethany is such a content little person.  She’ll sit in her little bouncy seat watching me cook or fold clothes, flashing me a big smile whenever I look her way.   She rolls over pretty easily these days, and I’ve had to lay a sheet on the floor so she has more room to roll without ending up inhaling carpet fuzz.    She’s found her tongue and likes to playfully stick it out at all observers.   She’s also begun reaching for toys.  If her hand happens to brush against it, she’ll grab on for dear life, but she hasn’t quite yet mastered the skill of deliberately grasping something and bringing it to her mouth to teeth on.  She’s an avid thumb-sucker, and sometimes even prefers her thumb to nursing.

Mommy's Helper

Amanda loves to help me with whatever activity I’m doing, whether it’s changing the baby or making dinner.  Her  favorite activity lately has been making instant pudding (which happens to be gluten-free, yay!).   She loves to help pour the milk and stir the mix in the bowl.  When she’s done, she’ll push her chair back up to the table and proudly say, “I did it!  I made pudding!  Can we eat it now?” 

Little Artist

Eva is so creative.  She loves to draw and paint on her easel, and write her letters and numbers.   She pretends to write letters and puts them in envelopes with a sticker for a stamp.  Then she’ll deposit them in the mailbox to send to grandma. 

 

She’s really enjoyed the “Stepping Stones to Literacy” program at the library.  Every week it’s a different theme, such as colors, sizes, or shapes.   Though she’s already familiar with these things, she has a lot of fun doing the group activities. 

Coughs and Sniffles

Just before we left, the family was trying to recover from a bad cold.  Now that we’re back, Bethany has come down with another one.   It’s challenging with a 5-month old who’s having trouble breathing through her nose while trying to nurse or suck her thumb.   Thankfully it’s not as bad as it was last time, when she gagged until she spit up while trying to cough (which is pretty scary to watch).  At this age, there’s nothing I can do except aspirate her nose and administer saline drops and vapor rub. 

San Diego Trip, Feb 2010