Happy Birthday Maya!

So I have been slacking again. Almost every night I think that I am going to write, and then I just can't seem to summon the energy. Plus, Jake keeps telling me to sleep instead, so you can all blame him. :o) I have been trying to keep notes on the funny things that they do in my planner so that I can remember them. Hopefully the notes aren't too cryptic for me, so here is my best shot!

Isabela and Maya's Adventures:

Last week Isabela and Maya were playing in Isabela's room. Isabela said that she was going to have a picnic and she got out her plastic kitchen stuff with all of the plastic food and sat down on the floor. She somehow got Maya to sit down across from her and gave her a plate. Maya reached out for the fake orange and Isabela said, "No Maya. You can have the orange after you eat your lunch. First you need to eat your.....beans! Beans. Yummy. Mmmmmmm." I almost laughed out loud. Isabela refuses to eat anything green and certainly does not think that beans are yummy. She hears these kind of things a lot though as her poor parents are trying to convince her to eat something that is actually nutritious.

Yesterday there was another funny food incident. We had company over and were eating supper and she said that she wanted squash (!!!!). I gave her a little bit and she didn't touch it. She asked to be excused and I told her that was fine but that she wouldn't get any apple crisp if she didn't eat her supper. She changed her mind, but tried to pawn off some of her bread on one of our guests when Jake and I weren't in the room (Here. You can have some of my bread). She ate everything that was on her plate except for the squash and Jake took her plate and let her have apple crisp. When I put her to bed however, she said that she was hungry. I told her that she should have eaten more supper then and she cried out in a pitiful voice, "Daddy wouldn't let me eat my squash!" I couldn't help but laugh out loud at that one. Yeah right. She didn't get anything else to eat. She knew that she wouldn't, but she just had to be funny. Do you think that children keep you young through laughter at the same rate that they age you with all of the other things that they do, so that it just stays even? Who knows.

Maya is ONE! Her birthday was on the 6th and we had a big celebration....we went to Madison and bought skis and boots for Isabela! Poor Maya. We didn't do anything special for her birthday. We were going to take the girls to the Children's Museum, but they were crabby and tired by the time we got done at the ski swap. I did get a chance to walk around with Maya a lot while Jake and Isabela were trying on skis. And Memorial Union has a great view of Lake Mendota, so we watched the waves together for a while. I did make her some cupcakes and she was pretty delighted with those, hence the messy face.

There is no stopping Maya now. She is everywhere! She has been climbing up on chairs (I found her standing up on a rocking chair!) and on my ladder in the pantry. She was jumping up and down and squealing in her crib the other morning. It was really cute. She is walking most of the time now, and crashing a lot. It is very interesting to see this, since she is not being as cautious as she has been in the past. In fact, she is being rather reckless. I really hope that this is temporary, since I already have one reckless bugger. It is almost as if she is trying to run. She has the balance to walk for a long way if she goes slowly, but instead she goes very fast. Maybe she is trying to develop survival skills. Running could be very useful with Isabela around.

Stairs are still a huge attraction for her. I know right where she is going when she heads out with that determined step. I have the timing down now so that I can head her off before she actually starts up them, but she knows when I am coming and increases her pace accordingly. She makes me feel so bad because when I grab her just before she is about to start up she cries. I sometimes just let her climb up. Today Isabela wanted to be the one to 'spot' her going up the stairs. She followed Maya up and kept telling me not to go on the stairs. Yeah. I didn't listen. Isabela is a great big sister, but carefulness and gentleness are not her best skills.

Isabela is singing. A lot. I love it. Somehow she picked up Jingle Bells from the radio, along with a couple of other Christmas songs, and she is singing them at every opportunity. She is also very into rhyming and has mastered the Banana Fanna song. She sings it about everything, objects, people, animals. I don't want to discourage her at all, but there have been some unfortunate choices, like 'duck'. Oh well. :o)

Isabela still loves costumes. In fact, I was thinking today that she has a ton of clothes, and she hardly ever wears them. It is really too bad. Most of the costumes that she has are not very warm and although we try to get her to wear something over or under them, most of the time we are not successful. She is rather particular about how the costumes should look. She claims that she wants to be cold. She certainly didn't get that from me!

Yesterday, while I was getting ready for company, a couple of funny things happened. I don't know if any of you have noticed that I have rather willful children. Well, I was cleaning upstairs and Isabela asked me if she could have some pancakes (I had made some the day before). I told her that I would get her some as soon as I was done with the upstairs. After waiting patiently for about two minutes, Isabela went downstairs and helped herself. She got out a bowl and fork. Took the pancakes and syrup out of the fridge and dished up. By the time I got downstairs she had eaten and put everything except the dirty bowl and fork away. Amazing! She did it again today. I would have thought that she would make an almighty mess, but she didn't. She is growing up so fast! She made her bed yesterday without me even asking or expecting her too. She is really a good girl.

The other funny thing that happened was with Isabela's piggy bank and our change bowl. I saw her take the change bowl and head upstairs with it, so I told her to put it back. She interpreted that as: since I can't take the money to the piggy bank, I will take the piggy bank to the money. The next time I saw her she was sitting at the table, happily filling her piggy bank with our change. I told her that it was Mommy and Daddy's money and she couldn't have it. She said, "Well, you can pretend that it is your money." I said, "No. You can pretend that it is your money." To which she promptly replied, "No Mommy. You can pretend that it is your money!" She did however empty her bank back out into the change bowl without being asked later in the evening. Very funny girl.

Well, I think that I have rambled on long enough. I had better get some sleep too before Maya wakes up, or Isabela decides that it is time for the full contact sport of snuggling with Mommy and Daddy (also known as crushing, bruising and squirming).

Good Night All! I will do my best to write again soon!

Laura and the Fussy Foodie and the Wonderous Walker (and Climber!)

The Amazing Walking Maya Bear and Four Year Old!

Too bad I don't have any pictures of here walking yet, but I will. I know that I have been slacking lately and I am sorry. I have had all sorts of Adventures bouncing around in my head, but I was always too tired at the end of the day to write them down. There is so much that has been happening around here. I hope that I can remember even some of it. All of us girls are currently sub-par with sniffles and sore throats. Big bummer. As a consequence my brain is not working very well (at all). But, the Adventures have been neglected for too long, so I shall do my sub-par best. :o)

Isabela and Maya's Adventures.

Well, almost three weeks ago (11/17) Maya took her first steps. She of course chose to do this when I wasn't there. Isabela did the same thing to me. You take care of them pretty much 24/7 and who do they walk first for? Daddy. Figures. Oh well. She has been taking steps ever since. She can do about seven now before she loses her balance, but we think that she is capable of a lot more. She is very proud of herself, and her sister is proud of her too. Isabela chimes in with loud comments: "Look at Maya! Look at her stand! She is getting really good at standing! Look at her walk! Look at Maya, Mommy! Look at her! What a big girl! Isn't she getting good at walking?" Etc. It is pretty entertaining for all involved.

Isabela has been crabby. Really crabby. Or at least she was all through Thanksgiving. Everything was a tragedy and she was sassy too. I was about too pull my hair out. Then, miraculously, she was her happy self again. I don't know if she was going though a growth spurt, identity crisis or what, but I am SO glad that it seems to be over. She was having total meltdowns over nothing. Not my sunshine girl at all. The moon? The changing of the seasons? Who knows, but she has regained balance again, thankfully right after we got home. I was about to give her away (not really), but she was testing my patience to the limit.

Isabela is FOUR! I can hardly believe it, and yet, she acts so grown up at times and has such a good vocabulary that I forget how little she is sometimes. After her Terrible Transistion to four she has been helping me around the house a lot. She helped me make cookies yesterday and today and has been so good! She has been picking up her toys without any complaint and playing well with both Maya and Oberon (for the most part). Some of this may have to do with Santa Claus. She has been listening to a lot of Christmas music and whenever she hears a song about Santa coming down the chimmney she goes over to the fireplace in the dining room and peers over the screen. Then she asks when he is coming or if he is watching her. She has gotten a little paranoid about that. She is excited about leaving him out some cookies and wanted to know where he lives "on the Earth". I balled up a washcloth and showed her in relation to where we live (we were having a snack). She wanted to know if it snowed there.

She is pretty excited about the snow that we are getting. She went outside for an hour this week and just played by herself. We have been reading about otters so she wanted to make otter slides. She made all kinds of tracks out there. It was really cute. She is also excited about Christmas and decorated almost the whole tree by herself. I think that Jake and I hung up about 10 ornaments between the two of us. She has also added a bunch of rather unconventional ornaments like string from old sweatshirts and twist-tie rings, but the whole effect is very festive and makes me smile.

Maya finds the tree fascinating too. She would like to examine all of the ornaments from very close up. Thank goodness we spend most of our time in the kitchen and family room; if we were in the living room with the tree, she would have gotten her wish by pulling it down on top of herself. She is a big fan of the Christmas cookies too. She is a good eater anyway and willing to try anything. But the bits of cookie I have given her have provoked loud noises of enjoyment.

Maya is "talking" a lot. She examines things so seriously and then tells me all about it. Yesterday I was putting some things away in the pantry and she started pointing to all of the cannned and dried goods in turn and jabbering away. I don't know if she was expressing disapproval or what, but she was certainly serious about it.

Well all. If I am going to beat this sore throat/sniffles thing I had better get some rest. Good night!

Laura and the Fabulous Four Year Old and Wonderful Walker

Beautiful Weather and Drawer Fishing

The Adventures are coming soon. I finished the other post, but I need to go to bed now. Good night!

OK. So soon is a relative term. I meant in relation to say... glaciation or maybe soil formation. Anyway. I don't know what I was going to write about. We had some beautiful 70 degree days that were amazing. The girls loved being outside and Mom and Dad and I took them to the Horicon Marsh and went for a walk. Isabela brought along Oberon's portable dog dish and work it on her head and then tried to pick up one of the many snakes that were out basking. Not a great idea, which I think that we finally got across to her. She was still excited to see all of the snakes. Mom, not so much.

Maya keeps going in my drawers. At least she has also finally figured out how not to pinch her fingers in them. No drawer is safe since she has a big sister to help her break into them. They make quite a pair. It makes me worried about what the future has in store for me and Jake.

Anyway, that is the short and dirty version of the Adventures for these pictures. Sorry I am not more detailed this evening. Have a marvelous night!

Monkey Jungles and Tents

Busy, busy around here, but not much of interest to anyone but me. So on to the main event....

Isabela and Maya's Adventures

Isabela worked for a week on a huge yarn tangle that she calls her "Monkey Jungle". When it started she was just using yarn that she had tangled when she was really little and I had never gotten around to untangling (go figure). That wasn't so bad, but then she started to incorporate untangled balls of yarn. It was one of those things that I probably should have stopped right away, but she was working so hard on it and it was keeping her busy and quiet for long periods of time. She said that she was building it for Andrew and Kristin. A lot of her projects revolve around them for some reason. The picture doesn't do it justice. It was a huge mess, but she was so proud of it. She looped it around furniture and toys. Wow! It took me a while to undo and there I finally gave up on some of it and used a scissors, but I still think that overall it was worth it, both for the pleasure it gave her and for the quiet time it gave me! She has tried to build several other "Monkey Jungles" since her cruel mother destroyed the big one, but so far they have not been as successful, mainly due to lack of proper material (I hid the yarn).

She has also been very into tents. She tipped her "house" on its side and had me put a blanket over it for one tent. That has been a mouse cage, a frog house and a puppy bed. She becomes very distressed when the blanket comes loose.

Oh dear....Maya started crying, and while I was putting her back to bed I realized I had forgotten to do a couple of other things, then she started crying again. Very restless night for her I guess. Anyway, it is now too late to continue. I try not to stay up too much after midnight. So good night to all and I will finish this post tomorrow. Sorry! Enjoy the pics for now.


OK. Back again. Maya is restless again tonight. I don't know what is going on with that, but hopefully she is good now for the night, or at least until early tomorrow morning. So, I was writing about Isabela and the tents. She had Maya in one of them and wanted to keep her there. Maya was happy for a little while and then wanted out (wise girl). Isabela put up a few more tents too. There was one in the living room for a day that kept falling down and one over Maya's crib that I made her take down so I could put Maya down for her nap. That was not a popular decision.

Cinnamon, my parent's dog, was staying with us last week too. I walked into my bedroom at one point and she was curled up on my bed. Isabela was thrilled. I was not. As you can see from the picture, Isabela decided the best approach was to join her. After taking a couple of pictures, I decided the best approach was to shoo her off.

Well, that is all I am going to write for tonight. It is still fairly early and I am going to bed. The girls let me have a two hour nap today (Yipee!) and I am not going to waste it. I am going to post some more pictures from last week when it was beautiful out, and I will write Adventures to go along with them soon. Good night all!

Laura and Busy Bela Boo and Missing Maya (Man, I hardly wrote anything about her, I will have to remedy that!)

Noise wars and Dead pigs

G'day!

I hope everyone had a marvelous, fantastic weekend! I am loving the nice weather, especially since it is supposed to continue for at least the beginning of this week. Mom, Dad and Andrew are visiting us this week, so I will have to be sure to get some pics of them together up on this site. Other than getting ready for their visit, we didn't do too much this weekend. But we did enjoy the wonderful weather! And now for the main event...

Isabela and Maya's Adventures

On Friday we went to pick up a half hog. Isabela loves going to farms and she had a lot of fun seeing all of the animals there. When she exited the car she immediately ran after some cats and picked them up. The farmer's dry remark was, "She isn't afraid of anything is she?" Nope. She saw turkeys and baby pigs, mommy and daddy pigs (she was still telling us today how HUGE those were), calves and kittens. Heaven. On the way home she kept asking us where our "dead pig" was. We told her that it was in the back of the car. I think that she expected it to look a little more pig-like. :o)

Saturday, Isabela and Maya were pushing each other's buttons during naptime. Isabela was much more upset by it than Maya. Maya was playing in her crib and making "AHHH!" sounds and Isabela was telling her to be quiet to which Maya would respond with louder "AHH!" sounds. Isabela had numerous things to say, such as that she was trying to go to sleep (yeah right) or that she really meant it. It made for highly humorous listening on the monitor end. Mom called and I had a hard time paying attention to what she was saying since I was so enthralled by the theater upstairs.

Isabela has a lot of lines. One of my favorite that she uses quite often is: "few couple minutes". This line is always trotted out when she really wants to do something for longer. It really makes me laugh. Another line that she brought out the other day is copied from what Jake and I say to her. Jake had taken her downstairs for breakfast and Oberon was scratching at the door. Jake sighed, but didn't say anything. Isabela asked if that was Oberon scratching at the door and when Jake said yes she put on an attitude and said, "That has to stop." Funny girl. Some of the other lines she likes to use are brought out at supper time. She always has reasons why she can't eat right then (when the vegetables are on the table) and she uses them all most nights:

I'm tired.

My belly is cold.

My mouth is tired.

This is too hot. I'm going to wait for it to cool.

I'm really not hungry anymore.

I'm cold.

None of these work anymore due to overuse. I guess that she will have to become more creative in the future, and I sure that she will.

Well, that is all for tonight. I am tired and my belly is cold, so I think that I shall go to bed.

Goodnight all!

Laura and Maya the Motormouth and Isabela the Adventurous

Water Baby and Murphy's Law

Greetings! I hope everyone has had a wonderful couple of days! I have been trying to wash windows while the sun shines. I am almost done. Hooray! I think that it is still supposed to be fairly nice this weekend too and I am really looking forward to being outside some more before the cold weather really settles in. Today Isabela and Maya had a play date with some friends and we spent the whole time outside. But, I am getting ahead of myself, so without any more hoopla...

Isabela and Maya's Adventures!

Maya is such a sweetheart. She is now sleeping better at night again (happy days are here again) and she is very affectionate. She melts my heart so much it is a wonder I am not just a puddle on the floor. She loves water too. I used to take the girls swimming a couple of times a week, and I probably will again now that it is getting colder, and she loves splashing around in the pool. But, failing that, she will settle for a nice warm shower with Daddy in the morning. She gives him big hugs and comments a lot: Hmmmmmm. Hmmmmmmmmm. Very cute. There is another story that happened a couple of mornings ago that makes me laugh every time I think of it. Isabela usually falls asleep in our bed and then we move her when we come to bed. She always wants water and is now capable of going into the bathroom and getting it herself. She had a cup of water on the headboard of our bed that we didn't really notice. Well, in the morning Maya comes in our bed at around 6 and walks along the headboard pulling on the shades and stepping on our heads. She discovered the water and poured it right into Jake's ear. This was NOT warm water. I heard it hit and thought that one of the girls had thrown up on him. He yelled and jumped out of bed, heading for the shower. Not the most pleasant way to wake up. I tried really hard not to laugh, especially since I probably wouldn't think that it was funny if it happened to me, but I was unsuccessful (very). Isabela thought it was pretty funny too. Maya didn't really know what was going on, but she joined in the spirit of things and laughed too. Little cutie pie. Poor Jake.

Isabela is still a mouse. Jake made her a house out of a cardboard box, so now the mouse has its own house. He cut windows in the doors and she and Maya love to peek at each other through them. It makes both of them giggle and giggle. She has a wonderful imagination and is always telling stories about animals and other things. She sometimes uses props, but more often, just tells us fantastic stories about horses flying in the sky and jumping all around or giant grasshoppers. I love hearing them. She called Poppa a couple of days ago and told him a really long story about a giant bird that ate our house and the truck and all of the animals. Then a giant sheep came and ate the giant bird. "CHOMP! CHOMP!" We were in the car and Maya miraculously slept through all of the very LOUD storytelling. She is used to her sister.

Maya has reached the stage where she wants to share her food with me. Specifically, she wants to share food that has already been in her mouth, and she wants to put it into my mouth with exceedingly gooey fingers. Of course you must be enthusiastic about these gifts. She is so proud of herself. I do think that it is very cute, but I am not really a fan of soggy Cheerios believe it or not.

Murphy's Law. I constantly avoid washing our sheets, because as soon as I do, they get peed, etc on. So, since I hadn't washed them in almost a week and a half, I decided that it was more than time yesterday. Today of course, Maya peed on them. Sigh. Then Isabela spilled milk all over the drawers that I had just cleaned all of the little fingerprints off the day before. Double sigh. I know that as soon as I get the windows done they are going to eat something sticky and touch as many windows as possible. I am used to it.

Yikes! I am running on reserve battery power. You would think that I would learn to bring up the charger. Alas. Such is not the case. Gotta go! Enjoy the pics of Maya playing peekaboo too!

Laura and the Mess Makers

There's a Mouse in the House

I am not sure what is going on with Jake and I that is very exciting. I canned some roasted tomato sauce and green tomato ketchup that was very yummy this weekend and Jake worked on a ramp for Andrew. Still, nothing too exciting, so on to...

Isabela and Maya's Adventures!!!!!!!

Isabela has not been a dog lately (thunderous applause), instead she has been a mouse (the crowd mutters and shifts in their seats). She wore her mouse costume for four days straight. It is currently our biggest behaviour lever. "If you aren't good we are going to take your mouse costume off." So when Trick or Treating caught us by surprise yesterday (Beaver Dam always has a weird Halloween schedule) she was ready. We did make he put on extra clothes underneath, but she was so excited to go she agreed immediately. We only went around our block and the one next to us, but she still was commenting on how heavy her bag was. It was primarily people that we knew and they all gave her handfuls of candy. Unfortunately, she is old enough now that she knows what candy is and we were forbidden from giving her candy away like we usually do after we got home. I had to go to the grocery store to get candy for giving away. By the time I got back, Trick of Treating was almost over, but Isabela still had fun answering the door. She was disconcerted though as she thought that the other kids should share with her. For some reason she was sure that they were going to stop and share whatever candy she gave them with her. Her idea of sharing is: you take a bite, and then I will take a bite. That is how she sometimes shares with us. She did offer to give us some candy from her bag,which was very sweet. She told Nanna today that she would only share with Mommy and Daddy. Maya, as she often informs us, is too little.

Maya is finally happier after being sick. I took her into the doctor on Thursday, just to be sure, but she is finally fully recovered. She hasn't been sleeping well, but I am not sure if that is because she is cold, or because her teeth are bothering her. She still doesn't have any teeth (or much hair), but I am convinced that both are coming along. Tonight we bought a heater for her room as well as a cellular shade. Her window is on the north side of the house, so I think that she will be more comfortable tonight. I really hope so, since she is wearing me down. You wouldn't think that it would be that bad, after all, Isabela didn't even sleep through the night until about a year ago. However, I have gotten used to getting three or four hours in a row, and I rather like it. Maya normally sleeps from 7:30 at night until 3:30 or so in the morning and then sleeps until 6 or 6:30. I like that schedule. Since I go to bed at about 11 or 12, that works for me. The last several nights she has been waking up every couple of hours, and that does not work for me. I need more continuous sleep. If the heater doesn't help, I am at a loss. I have karate tomorrow after a two week hiatus since everyone was sick. If I don't get at least five hours of sleep I am sunk. I have too much sleep debt to live with less than that. So what I am I doing writing Adventures instead of sleeping while I can? Good question! I think that I am going to go to bed right now! Hopefully I can find time to write again in the next couple of days. I am writing early tonight since I am ignoring the pile of dirty dishes in my kitchen. :o) I hope everyone (including me) has a wonderful night!

Good night all! Only 10:30 and I am off to bed! Hooray!

Laura and Isabela the Mouse and Maya the Frog (Oh! If only I had a bear costume!)

Sick. Sicker. Sickest.

What a weekend! Everyone except me was sick. Jake had a timberframing class that started on Wednesday and went through the weekend, but on Sunday he couldn't even drag himself out of bed to go to that until around one. He was back home again a few hours later, and back in bed. Yuck. I hate being sick, but it wasn't exactly all sunshine and light taking care of three sick buggers either. Oh well. I still managed to get quite a bit done. I might even be done with canning for now. We will see. If they don't have any more tomatoes at the Farmer's Market on Wednesday, then I am done. Otherwise I would really like to make some more pizza sauce. That is pretty tasty. Isabela and Maya have been helping me in the kitchen, and so begins...


Isabela and Maya's Adventures

As you can see from the pictures I have a very cute little helper. Jake was at his class and Isabela was sleeping, so Maya and I were just hanging out, peeling carrots. She was being such a little cutie. She thought it was really fun to thunk her heels on the side of the sink. I wish the pictures would have turned out better. The lighting wasn't very good, but I really wanted to get a picture. She had fun gumming the carrots too(still no teeth). She tries everything, and is not a picky eater at all. So refreshing since Isabela is the pickiest eater on Earth:

Her: Ummmm. I don't think I like it.

Me: It is a banana. You like bananas.

Her: Ummm. I don't think so. I really don't think that I like it.

Me: You liked it yesterday. Eat it.

Her: I definitely don't like it. I'm not hungry anymore.


Five minutes later she is starving. Too bad I am super mean and still won't give her something else to eat.

Maya loves tomatoes too. During the Preserve Fest weekend she was taking them out of the box and munching on them, much like the Tomato Murderer picture series that I have of Isabela except Maya LIKES tomatoes. I will try and remember to post some of those pictures too.

Even though Isabela was sick, it didn't slow her down too much. She was definitely more tired than usual, but still had spurts of energy when she wanted to. You might think that Isabela being a little less active sounds like a good thing, however, whatever energy gain I recieved through this was instantly sapped by extra whining. Too bad. She is a very good kid though and was a prety good sport. On Saturday morning I thought I would be nice to Jake and get up with Isabela to feed her breakfast even though that is usually his job. I ended up regretting it though because two bites into her cereal she threw up. Vomit is not my favorite thing to deal with in the morning (or anytime). She threw up a few more times, but then I think that she felt a lot better. I stripped her down and snuggled her up in a warm blanket to watch a movie while I cleaned up. She looked pretty miserable, but she didn't do any whining and just asked to be snuggled. Poor baby. Today she was finally starting to feel better. She still looked pretty tired, but was definitely more cheery. We are not going to karate tomorrow morning since I don't think the other parents would thank me for contaminating the school. I assume this is fairly contagious since it ran through our whole family and that really never happens to us. Now as long as it hasn't mutated as it has gone along. I would hate to get sick again. Blech. Jake is the one who has been sick the longest. He started with just a cold. He seemed much better today though.

Sorry everyone. I know that there is more to write, and these probably weren't exceedingly entertaining this time, but I have to go to bed. I have been getting very little sleep lately with everyone sick, and I hope to get in a couple of hours before having to get up again. Although since it is already 11:30 (!) I suppose that probably won't happen. What doesn't kill you makes you stronger (although I can think of several exceptions to that off the top of my head).

Goodnight all!

Laura and the Puking Princess and Munching Maya

Everything under the Sun

Hello to One and All!

I know that I have been negligent in my duties. I blinded myself again. :o) I was sick and now have a houseful of sickies. Still, no excuses! I almost gave up tonight too. I finally climbed into bed and opened my computer only to find that I was out of battery again! Aargh! I powered through though and I am at long last writing another episode of...

Isabela and Maya's Adventures (fanfare of trumpets)

Isabela has a touch of a stomach bug. She threw up at two in the morning on Thursday. I didn't even hear her do it and usually I am a very light sleeper. Since I had the same thing I was sleeping pretty hard at night. Anyway. I woke up to her calling me and telling me that she needed a new shirt. Now, you have to understand that she likes to change her clothes several times a day, so you can understand that I didn't hop right to it. Instead I told her to go back to sleep. She kept insisting, "Mommy. I REALLY need a new shirt." I finally went to investigate. It was pitch black in her room and all I could see was her silhouette sitting up in bed. I reached out to touch her and she wasn't wearing a shirt and had goosebumps all over. I went and got her a new shirt and then got her to lay down again. Then she told me that she still had a "wet spot over here". I reached out to feel and was immediately sorry. Yuck. So, she got to snuggle with Daddy while I changed her sheets. I should have known something was going to happen to those sheets since I had just changed them the day before. That always happens to me. Today I washed our sheets and had the bed made again before naptime. Mistake. Isabela of course had an accident and I had to wash them again. Ho hum. Life is never boring around here.

Maya just has some boogies. Other than that she has been fairly healthy. She is a curious mixture of exuberance, independence, and neediness. She had a well child visit last week and she actually weighs less than she did at six months. She used to be about 84% for both height and weight, but now she is 94th percentile for height and 40th for weight. Maybe she will be built more like Isabela after all.

She is figuring out everything too quickly for me. She has gotten great at opening cupboard doors, especially the one under the kitchen sink where we keep the garbage (and boy has that been fun). She also learned how to climb up the stairs and makes a beeline for them whenever I set her down in the living room. And most fun of all she figured out how to move the gate aside so that she can get into the shower. She LOVES the shower. She often takes a shower with Jake in the morning. She lays her head on his chest and holds her hand out to feel the spray. She enjoys it so much and it is such fun to watch. I wish Isabela loved the shower. The only time I can get her to take one is after we have gone swimming at the YMCA.

Maya's personality is emerging more all of the time. Especially since she is able to communicate more. She recently learned "So Big!" and loves to make us do it. (Silly people, look what I can make them do.) She loves to play peek-a-boo with her big sister and generally follow her around. She especially wants to go visit Isabela whenever she is in a time out. Isabela's time-outs generally have to do with somehow abusing her sister, but that doesn't stop Maya from adoring her and wanting to spend as much time as possible with her. I don't get that. The same thing goes for Oberon. Isabela is not at all nice to Oberon. She constantly follows him around and bugs him. Yet he loves her. When she takes a nap he wants to be in the same room. Why is that, when so much of his time is spent trying to get away from her? Go figure.

Cripes. I can't even remeber all of the great stuff that we have been up to. We went up to Rice Lake and the girls had fun at the Fall Market. We walked on our land. We canned, and dried and froze produce. All kinds of things. Well. As I think of stories and such from the last month I will try and write them down. Oh! One I just thought of. Last night Isabela voluntarily laid down for a rest downstairs. Maya was already in bed and I certainly wasn't going to object! So Jake and I are cleaning up the kitchen and Isabela suddenly says, "John McCain has a silly butt like you Daddy." Our mouths dropped open and we looked at her. Then she repeats it a couple of times, because she knows that she is funny and then says, "Obama has a silly butt like you Daddy." I know that Jake and I talk politics a lot, but it is usually after the kids have gone to bed since you can hardly get a word in edgewise with those two around. Of course we laughed at her and told her that she was clever. So many times we think that she isn't listening, but guess we are wrong!

Since it just turned into Saturday, I am going to go to sleep. I don't want Isabela passing that stomach bug back to me again. Once is enough! Hope everyone has a great weekend!

Good night all!

Laura and the Clever Children (OK. Not my best. It is late, give me a break!)

PS- For some reason it isn't working to upload pictures right now. I will try again tomorrow!

Balance and Helpfulness

OK. I am back, and better than ever. :o) My patience has returned, and with it my sense of humor. Today I was canning again, and Jake was working on the beams for the cabin. I have some Adventures from today, but first I had better finish yesterday's...

Isabela and Maya's Adventures!!!!

So, back to yesterday. I will try and remember. Hmmmmm. I am always telling Isabela that patience is a virtue. Yesterday it was certainly not one of mine. Maya Bear was cranky and wanted to be held. Isabela wanted to be a mouse, and mice must not have to listen to their mothers. And I wanted to get a bunch of stuff done in the kitchen. None of our wants were compatible, which led to inevitable conflict. Yes, I could, and should have shifted my paradigm. I am after all the adult. There are many times that I wish that I wasn't. Sigh. Too bad we are all stubborn. I think what irritated me the most though was Isabela's eating habits. Normally, it bugs me but I can handle it when she takes a tiny bite of her lunch or supper and then announces that she doesn't like it. Or when she eats just a few bites and then says that she is full and wants to be excused. But yesterday, she did that twice(!) in a row and then got up to bed and said that she was hungry! Aargh! It is making me lose my patience again just writing about it. I thought that if I left her alone for a while about eating certain things (vegetables) that she would come to them of her own accord eventually. I didn't want to set her against vegetables for life by forcing her. However, she has become Carbohydrate Girl. Since she is growing, and developing this is very worrisome. I am afraid that her tastebuds are becoming too accustomed to refined carbs and she will never develop healthy eating habits. So, no more! This is one area in which I don't intend to regain my patience. I don't know if she could sense that or not, but today she voluntarity ate a bunch of vegetables without any prompting. I don't know where that came from, but I like it!

Kling-on Maya was not clingy today. Jake said that he could feel bumps under her gums. She won't let me stick my fingers into her mouth anymore. Ususally I am tying to get out something that she tried really hard to get in. I spoil everyone's fun! She napped very well, and was cheery the rest of the time. I am so glad to have my happy girl back again, teeth or no teeth. She is so much fun. She absolutely loves her sister and crawls after her as fast as she can, making delighted little noises. She is saying, "Mama" and "Mum" pretty regularly now. When I tell her to say "Daddy" she blows a raspberry. Maybe that is because he gives her zerbits all of the time. Anyway. She is getting so good at balancing. When she is concentrating on something else she will let go of whatever she is hanging onto and stand for a few seconds before grabbing back on or falling back onto her butt. She has no difficulty at all eating her vegetables. In fact, there is very little food that she doesn't like. Hooray! I just hope that she keeps it up.

Isabela spent today making up for yesterday. I took her dress up clothes away yesterday after she wasn't listening and head-butted me when I was putting her into time-out. This made a big impression since one of her favorte things to do is play dress-up. She still managed to change her clothes several times today. She wore a jumper without a shirt underneath, a spring dress with big red flowers, a striped pink shirt with pink pants and (aaargh!) her mouse costume. She found it in the launry when she was supposed to be napping. I came upstairs and she was on the counter in the bathroom digging in her fish tank and wearing her mouse costume. She knew that she was in trouble and didn't even object when I stripped it off and put on more normal clothing. So far it doesn't sound like it was a particularly good day, but actually it was. We told her right away that she couldn't be any animals today since she had been so naughty as a mouse yesterday, and she was really good about it. She also helped Jake in the shop and me in the kitchen. She sat on beams and supervised Jake, and kept her ear protection on. She also played in the sawdust and made a house for her "snake" (actually a coiled air hose). In the kitchen she used the apple peeler/corer/slicer for a long time. She prepared a lot of apples while I put them on drying trays. She kept at it even when it got hard. She also has been using the bathroom all by herself. Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! I don't even have to remind her to wash her hands most of the time. She played nicely (for the most part) with Maya Bear and even left Oberon alone.

I know that there are more funny stories, but if I want to have patience tomorrow (today, I guess), I have to get some sleep. Good night all!

Laura and the Helpful Human and the Balancing Bear

Patience, patience.

I believe that I am normally a fairly patient person. Today I somehow lost my patience vibe and couldn't seem to get it back again. Yesterday, a friend came over and we got a whole bunch of canning done in the morning. The kids played and everything was hunky-dory. Perhaps that is why today was so frustrating. It was a difficult day for all, and therefore it is time for...

Isabela and Maya's Adventures!

Isabela has very strong opinions on what she should wear most days. Yesterday it was a cute yellow spring dress that was way to big for her, complete with thick tights with hearts on them and a pink fleece sweatshirt. She kept taking off her shoes and running around in the yard. By the end of the day her tights and feet were encrusted with dirt. Today she immediately decided she was going to be a mouse, dressed up in her mouse costume and wore it ALL DAY. How bad could it be, you wonder? Well, many of you know that she likes to pretend to be a dog. Apparently, being a mouse is even more fun and she can keep it up. We were corrected whenever we tried to refer to her as Isabela (It's The Mouse, Mom). She also spent a great deal of time in the lilac bush that grows along our driveway. She believes that mice live in trees, you see.

EEK! I have to go. My computer is about to run out of juice and I didn't bring the charger up. (Mental forehead slap)

I will complete this tomorrow night if I don't get a chance any earlier. Sorry! Good night all!

Laura and the Patience Testers

Squirrel Feet, Windowsills and New Teeth

WOW! It has been a crazy couple of weeks. We went up to Rice Lake. I had my Preserve Fest. I am now almost recovered from Preserve Fest. We got a lot of things done, but it was a lot of work too. Anyway. The girls have been having a lot of fun, which brings us to...

Isabela and Maya's Adventures.

I am going to have to make this post short, since I can hardly keep my eyes open. I will also be adding pictures when I can. I left my camera cable up in Rice Lake, so the pictures are currently trapped on the camera. There are a lot of cute ones, when I finally get to it. Isabela loves having her picture taken. She is a little Diva. Yesterday she put some of the blue latex gloves we had been using for dicing hot peppers and put them on her feet. "Look Mom! Squirrel feet!" She wore them everywhere, and insisted that she was a squirrel. And since squirrels are such good climbers, logically she should be able to climb any tree she wants as high as she wants. Right? Unfortunately her very mean mother didn't agree. But she did want pictures taken of her silly squirrel feet. After putting one glove on each foot, there was only one glove remaining, so her hands had to share. Apparently squirrels have two arms, but only one hand. She found it rather difficult to do things that she felt squirrels should be doing with two hands in one glove, so eventually that idea was discarded. Instead, after being told that she couldn't bring sand in the house in a bucket (she had acquired a pet ant, which soon afterward experienced death by too much affection) she decided to use the glove to transport her sand. She managed to penetrate the Mom defenses farther than with the bucket, but still wa caught by the time she reached the kitchen. I am afraid that it is still sitting on the kitchen counter waiting either to be rescued by Isabela, or for some sort of disaster in which it spreads sand all over my floors. Although with the first option that is likely to happen as well.

Windowsills is a game that Jake and Isabela frequently play. She named it of course. Why is anyone's guess. She said that it is because they make windowsills, whatever that means. It consists of Isabela standing on our bed near the headboard and Jake standing on the floor by the side of our bed both with their arms raised above their heads. One of them falls facedown first and the other one falls on top. For some reason this is hilarious and she wants to do it "One last time" again and again ("I do not think that means what you think it means"). It is very funny to play with her because she laughs so freely that it makes you laugh too. They play right before bed, which settles her down (not).

Maya had a great weekend last weekend and wasn't needy at all. She must have been storing up for this week because, holy smokes, has she wanted to be close to me. I know that I have thought this often in the past, but she really must be getting teeth. She was running a small fever last night. That really worried me at first. I am just not used to either of them being sick at all. She also must be working on some kind of Grand Champion Slobberer award. She completely soaked a couple of onesies and dripped on anyone or anything that was close. I suppose that it is about time she got some teeth, but I love her toothless grin, and I really miss my happy girl. She has been awake much more too. We have already put her back to bed twice tonight, and she hardly slept at all today. I am quite sure that I will get little sleep tonight, but what else is new? There is no doubt that she is worth it though, and goodness knows I wouldn't be comfortable either if I had new teeth coming in. Oh no! I hear her waking up again. Gotta go!

Good night all!

Laura and The Squirrel and The Sleepless Slobberer

Happy Valentine's Day!

I know. That is a weird title, but all will be revealed! Wednesday's are our errand day, so we were all over the place today. Not much happened to me today, so I guess that I will turn it right over to...

Isabela and Maya's Adventures!

Isabela has some sock monkey pajamas that her Aunt Kerri gave her and she just loves. They have buttons up the front and she has been insisting on buttoning them up herself. In fact, she insists on buttoning and zipping everything up herself lately, even other people's clothes. Yesterday Maya had a jacket on that I had left open and Isabela couldn't stand it. I left the room for a minute and when I came back Isabela had buttoned up Maya most of the way. So much for the side story, back to the sock monkey pajamas. The buttonholes are a little too big so the buttons don't stay buttoned. This is quite frustrating for her since she has to have everything just so (Today she lined up all of her shoes in the closet in a perfect crescent shape). But she keeps plugging away and buttoning it up again. This morning all of the buttons had come undone and she finally voiced a complaint, "Mommy. My buttons keep trembling open!" Oh dear. What a way to start your day. It is no wonder that I am able to keep an optimistic viewpoint! I have humor around me all of the time.

Maya is an amazing sweetheart. She puts up with her busy sister like I cannot believe. Isabela was trying to pick her up and carry her yesterday and Maya hardly protested. I have to keep a close eye on them, because Maya just puts up with whatever Isabela dishes out. She has the best smiles too. Her whole face lights up. And the best part is, right now her whole face lights up when she sees ME. :o) She will be playing very contentedly by herself and then I will say hi to her and she will absolutely grin and start crawling toward me as fast as possible, giggling the whole way. How can you not pick her up and give her a bug hug and kiss after that? She also loves to grab my pant leg and use it to stand. Then she grins up at me and makes all kinds of baby noises. Darling.

On Wednesdays we go to an on-farm store where we buy many of our groceries and our milk. They have horses there and today we brought them a carrot. Boy did that bring all of the horses to the fence in a hurry. Isabela and Maya loved it. They both giggled a bunch. After feeding the horses the carrot (we had to break it into several pieces to be fair) Isabela requested that I pull a bunch of grass so she could keep feeding them. I finally had to call a halt to that since she could have fed them all day. She is not at all afraid of them. Surprise, surprise. And Maya didn't seem to be either. I do hope that she doesn't have her sister's fearlessness since I am not sure that I could keep up with two fearless buggers. Maya does seem to be a bit more contemplative though, so I do hold out hope for a relatively peaceful childhood.

The Bethesda Country Fair is this week and started today. That is like a giant garage sale around here. I told Isabela that we were going to the toy store and that she had one dollar to spend and could pick out one toy. She kept very busy picking out a toy while I bought shoes and clothes. She would bring a couple over to show me and I would ask her which she wanted more. She was pretty good at prioritizing and sorted through a lot of toys. When I was finally done she had one toy that she liked the best. I looked at the price and laughed. They were three for 25 cents. So, she got to bring home three more toys after all of that sorting and she didn't even spend her whole dollar. :o) While I was looking at the clothes she found a shirt that she couldn't live without. It was way too big for her, but it was pink and had a sun and ducks on it, so it had to be good. She offered to take her shirt off and try it on, but I nixed that idea, so she decided that she would put it on over her other clothes. It covered the whole outfit that she was wearing, but I bought it for her anyway because it says, "We can't all be morning people" on it. Now, that certainly doesn't apply to Maya and Isabela, but there are definitely times when it applies to Jake and me.

Maya was a good sport through the whole ordeal and only started to get crabby toward the end. When we got into the car she immediately fell asleep. Poor little pumpkin. She woke up when we got home though (10 minutes) and was immediately cheery again. She doesn't really take long naps like Isabela does, but I don't think that she expends quite as much energy either. She thinks before she moves, but Isabela just moves.

Now for the mystery of Valentine's Day. Isabela loves this holiday. Jake and I get Valentine's Day wishes almost everyday. Tonight I was even wished: "Happy Valentine's Night Mom". She usually follows it up with a heartfelt, "I LOVE you". Funny girl. We have tried explaining that it isn't Valentine's Day everyday, but so far with little effect. Oh well, it is nice to be loved.

Well, that is it for tonight. I am writing a little earlier because looking at some of my past posts, my writing leaves a lot to be desired when it gets to be that late. Hopefully this post is slightly better. I am still too tired to proofread though, so this may be just as bad. Oh well, no one is perfect.

I hope that everyone has an excellent night and a wonderful day tomorrow!

Laura and the Bubbling Buttoner and Marvelous Maya

PS - I will try and get some more pics up tomorrow.

Karate and Sleep (or lack thereof)

Today is my karate day. I take the girls with me to my morning class and then I have black belt class at night. Tonight I even had some knife fighting afterwards which was fun. I think that we are going to do that from now on. Isabela has been coming with me to my morning class since she was three months old, and that is when I started bringing Maya too...

Isabela and Maya's Adventures

Isabela loves it. She runs around like crazy and tumbles all over the mats. One of the instructors brings her daughter with her in the summer, which means even more fun. Today Isabela was rather subdued though. We were working on some tonfa and sai forms and she just sat and watched us most of the time.

I started bringing a playpen for Maya since she can now quickly crawl anywhere she wants to go. She is not a fan. I always bring lots of toys, but still receive only frowns from my youngest. Isabela was the same when she was confined to a play pen, but she got over it eventually. Maybe Maya will bear a grudge for life, but somehow I don't think that either of my good natured girls is a grudge bearer (knock on wood).

Usually on karate days both of them are pretty tired and nap time goes well. Today started out beautifully. Isabela announced that she was tired and she wanted to sleep in the guest bedroom. I said fine and next thing I know she is tucked up in bed reading herself some books. Score! Well, my elation didn't last. She went on to request lots of food (she had already eaten lunch) and received a granola bar:

Me: How can you still be hungry? What happened to the granola bar I just gave you?

Isabela: I fed it to Puggy.

Me: Isabela! That was for you. Don't feed Oberon. How much did you give him?

Isabela: Um. (Endearing grin) Lots.

It was enough to drive a person crazy. I usually let her get up if she hasn't fallen asleep by 4. At about 4 she said that she was thirsty and I brought her some water. I was going to tell her that she could get up, but then she snuggled herself in and said that she was going to rest. I kissed her and told her that she could get up in a few minutes. When I came back ten minutes later to get her she was asleep. Figures. When she does take a nap she usually sleeps for three hours. Maya, on the other hand, takes pretty short naps, and you can't occupy her with a Baby Einstein DVD either. She has zero interest in anything on the TV. She would much rather move or eat. I put a Baby Einstein in today so that I could get some dishes washed. No go. Isabela used to love them, but Maya could care less. Jake came home while it was going. I was holding her and Jake was standing in front of the TV eating some chips and talking to me. Suddenly her attention sharpened. I was surprised and I told Jake that she was interested after all. He moved out of the way so that Maya could see the TV, and that is when I realized that she was looking at the chips, not at the TV. I am fine with her not wanting to watch, it would just be nice occasionally when I want to get something done.

Karate night is Jake's night to put the girls to bed. Maya is very easy. You put her in her crib, make her giggle a little bit with a toy, say goodnight and leave. Isabela has a whole routine: brush teeth, go potty, read three books. This routine, unfortunately, does not result in instant sleep. In fact when I came home she was still up. I went upstairs to say good night and she had dressed herself up in her rabbit fur vest. She thought that this meant that she had to be a bunny so she begged me to find her rabbit ear headband, and was hopping all over the place. Silly, goofy girl. So cute though.

I am falling asleep, so I have to go before I fall asleep and drop my computer. That would be very bad. Good night everyone.

Laura and the Karate Kids :o)

PS - I don't have any pictures from today. Tomorrow I will try to get some more. Good night!

Noise and Joys

Hello, hello! I hope that everyone had a good weekend. We definitely did around here. We got the jungle gym to a point where we can pause for a little while. We don't have a slide up yet. Those buggers are expensive and we are hoping that they go one sale soon. I was hoping that we could find a used one, but so far no luck. Jake is thinking that he might build a suspension bridge from the deck to the platform on the jungle gym this winter. Isabela would love that. I guess that brings me to...

Isabela and Maya's Adventures

I was telling Jake today about some of the funny things that Isabela says. He had never heard this one although she has said it for a long time: "Mommy! Don't talk to the radio!" Whenever I am listening to public radio I tend to argue or agree out loud. Isabela even objects when I nod or shake my head now. She knows that I am paying attention to the radio and not to her. Heaven forbid.

Maya was lonely today. She hardly took a nap and wanted to be held a lot. I was trying to make grape jam and wash a mountain of dishes, so this was a little difficult. In fact I only finished the jam and dishes about a half hour ago. Everything was just slower today with a baby on my hip. I love to snuggle with her and I love it that she wants to be with me, but I do like to get things done too. She is starting to say Mum-mum-mum-mum-mum though so I can hardly resist that! She is also putting everything in her mouth that will possibly fit. Isabela today sounded just like me when she was trying to get a piece of grass from Maya: "Oh! Tch! Tch! Tch! Maya!"

Isabela had a pretty good day. She got to brush Oberon (he hated it). She chased her Dad up and down the jungle gym and fell and got hurt (scratch on her wrist, bump on her head) a couple of times which was a wonderful excuse for hysterics. And she also got to get naked in the yard. I filled up her kiddy pool on request and she stripped. I managed to get her into a bathing suit fairly soon after, but I am sure glad that we have a fence. :0)

I can't think of anything else right now. It is too late. Morning comes early around here.

Good night!

Laura and Irrepressible Isabela and Mouthy Maya

PS - This is actually being published in the morning because I fell asleep while choosing the pictures. I woke up around three with the computer still on my lap (Thank goodness!) and my light on. I think I might need to be more careful.

Maya Bear Experiments

I didn't think that I would post tonight, but I have a cute story to tell about Maya that I don't want to forget. So...

Isabela and Maya's Adventures:

The girls and I went to Madison this morning to meet up with an awesome friend of mine (Morgan) from high school that I hadn't seen in way too long. Both the girls loved her right away. No surprise and Isabela was soon cuddling with her and stealing her scone. We had a breakfast snack on the Capitol lawn and Isabela soon found friends and was playing tag and sliding down stair railings until her mean mommy took her away. I was explaining to Morgan how Isabela is very good at introducing herself (HI! My name is Isabela), but not so great at asking the kids their names. So this is the conversation according to Morgan: "HI! My name is Isabela. Your name is immaterial. Want to play? Want to run?" I laughed so hard. That is perfect. Exactly how she acts.

I brought the camera with me, but the battery ran out after only a couple of pictures of Maya and Morgan. After breakfast and a gabfest we went book shopping. Of course I am barely able to fit all of the books that I bought for Isabela onto her already overflowing shelves. I have an addiction. We read many of them tonight. She is so quick! She remembers everything and makes great connections. I think that she needs new books all the time just to keep her mind busy. That is my excuse anyway.

I forgot both a sling and Maya's pacifier. Way to go. She wanted to put grass, sticks, leaves, etc into her mouth when we were on the lawn, and carrying around a (huge) 9 month old and a stack a books wasn't something I would want to do everyday, but it was fun. She took a nap on the way home which meant that she wasn't tired at all when we got home. I kept her up for a couple of hours, and then tried putting her in her crib. She didn't protest at all, and we didn't hear anything on the monitor for a long time, so I thought that she had gone to sleep for sure. Then I came up to check on Isabela and found out that Maya was still awake. She was standing up in her crib facing away from me so I watched her for a while. She had taken one of the toys off her shelf (she can reach it from her crib) and was holding it over the side of the crib and shaking it. As I watched she took it, held it at arm's length and deliberately dropped it and then peered over the edge of the crib to examine what had happened to it. Then she turned around, sat down in her crib, took another toy and began pounding it against the mattress. Bam. Bam. Bam. Stop. Examine toy. Repeat. We might have a scientist on our hands. Either that or she has some repressed rage.

So, that is all I have for tonight. I still have a few hours before the circus begins again.

Big smiles to all!

Laura and Isabela the Intrepid and Maya the Mad Scientist

Time

Hey. You guys must think that I am a real wimp. I just realized after posting that it was early on Saturday morning that it says on my post that it is around 9 pm Friday night. I looked at all my posts and they say the same. I don't know what time zone they think that I am in, but I assure you that it has been close to midnight almost every time I have posted. 9 pm! I wish! What I would do to have all my stuff done and be in bed by then. Ha! Anyway. Good night all! Wishing you sweet dreams and an outstanding day tomorrow. Oops. I mean today. Night!

Laura

Short Post

Just a short post tonight. Or early Saturday morning I guess. Busy times around here. We worked on the Jungle Gym again. Still some to do, but Jake got another climbing thingy built. It was too dark to take pictures when he got done, but I have some from earlier today that I will put on yesterday's post. Now for a short version of...

Isabela and Maya's Adventures

Isabela learned how to answer the phone today. Jake called right when she was waking up from her nap and she answered about the same time I did. Jake and I didn't even realize that she was listening right away. Then she giggled. She was pretty pleased with herself. She asked where we were and thought that it was hilarious that I was right downstairs. She normally doesn't like to talk on the phone, but tonight when one of my friends called she wanted to talk right away. I am not sure that I like the direction that is taking. :o)

Maya is enjoying using her lungs. She makes tons of funny noises and her sister is often telling her to be quiet. Since Isabela has given Maya "time-outs" in the past, I am surprised that she hasn't tried that recently since she is quite upset when Maya doesn't listen to her instructions. Maya is a Mommy's girl these days. I know that it will switch again, but I am enjoying it at the moment. When she cuddles and lays her head on my shoulder it is the cutest thing in the world. She mostly wants to move around though. She tries to stand and climb on everything. She moves with much more deliberation than Isabela did, so I don't have quite the worries that I had with Isabela (yet).

Man, I would say more, but I really have to go to bed. We are meeting a friend in Madison in the morning, so I have to get everybody ready to go and out the door by 8. Not an easy task let me assure you. Isabela needs to eat at least twice in the morning or she will perish of hunger. Gotta go.

Laura and the Clambering Children