17 Months Old

Noel's vocabulary has EXPLODED this month. It's insane. I had a list going on of new words she was saying at the beginning of the month but it's just useless to try to keep track anymore. She says things like, "I hine-ing" (I'm hiding), "Ok ya mama?" (Are you ok, mama?), "Wice, pwease" (rice please), "yucky feesh" (she said this looking at fish swimming in the tanks at the grocery store), "I wanna dance," "yanes muk" (Lane's milk), and so on. It's insane. And hilarious. I love it.

Here's a bit of what else she's up to this month:

*new words: dance (dense), tiger, peek-a-book (pock-a-you), Micah, cheese, eat, lamby (ma-me), toast (toes), candy (can-ee), elephant (e-fent), Harper (happy), Matt, please, rice, phone (hone), bean, pot, hot, teeth (teef), bow, dress, nummy, apricot (cot), these (dese). And a million more I don't have time to write down...most of these were toward the beginning of the month when there weren't so many.
*will come up to me and slap my thigh and say, "seet, seet, seet" until I pull her into my lap. She'll look at me and say, "Hug, mama," and snuggle in as I get close to her.
*can climb a ladder.



*can climb up onto our couches and can get off of beds and chairs and what-not. She can also push our stepstool over to the counter in order to get to whatever's on top. Oh boy.
*loves, loves, loves animals. She goes crazy when we see a cat or a dog on the street.
*is shy of strangers. She's not an introvert at all but is very cautious with new people.
*will cry, "BOO-boo" when she gets a booboo and come running to me or Shannon, holding out the injured appendage and saying, "kiss!"



*is cutting both eye teeth. And is still in disposable diapers as a result. I miss my cloth diapers! But I don't miss cleaning nasty-teething-diapers without a diaper sprayer...
*has been having some sleep issues. She's been waking up at night, having a hard time falling asleep, waking up early, etc. She usually only sleeps about ten hours at night with a 2-hour nap during the day. I have a hard time believing it's enough sleep for a 17-month old. Maybe it's due to the teeth? Or more daylight?


Her first Subway sandwich (olives, cheese, and turkey. She shared with Lane.). I think she likes it.

*drinks like a camel. Seriously, this girl can down 4-5 ounces of water like it's nothing and then come back for more five minutes later.
*knows lots of animal sounds. "Rarr" for lion, "Tomp tomp"(chomp chomp) for alligator...I forget if there are any other new ones this month.
*definitely defends herself against Lane. Lane does not want to share most of the time, and of course always wants whatever toy Noel is playing with. Noel has no problem smacking Lane in the head or pulling her hair when Lane takes something away from her.



*loves to play hide and seek. She'll "hide" and say, "I hine-ing" when you ask her what she's doing. Then when someone finds her she'll grin and say, "Ahh, fine-ing!" Or she'll pop her head out and say, "Boo!" And, if I just start counting she'll run off to hide, whether I said we were playing hide-and-seek or not.
*likes to color, scribble, draw...do whatever Lane is doing!
*can count to three, and can count 7-10. I have no idea if she knows what she's doing, but I've heard her count 1, 2, 3, and 7, 8, 9, 10 on separate occasions.



*is good at playing by herself. I don't know what she does, but she plays alone very well! She especially loves their Minnie Mouse stuff, jewelry and shoes, and books.
*loves, loves, loves books. Still. We got a new Dora book yesterday and she has been toting it around, looking at it. When I read it to her she shrieks through most of the pages, pointing at things: "Fwah-wuh! Fwah-wuh! Doh-wa! Sun! Doh-wa! Fwah-wuh! Boots! Doh-wa!" I have got to get her on video being read to.



She's getting to such a fun age...I think I'd forgotten how much fun 18ish months was with Lane. I'm not looking forward to the eminent discipline for hitting her sister, throwing food on the floor, and so on, but still...she's a hoot. And I'm loving every minute.

Lane: 3 and 3

Dear Lane,

I'm so, so sorry that I haven't written you a real letter in nine months! Talk about a slacker mommy! I've kept thinking about how I want to write down all the cute things you're doing these days, and I just kept not doing it. So here I am, better late than never, writing it all down for you.

The past months have been rough, girlie, I won't lie to you. You are a stubborn, strong-willed little girl. You want what you want and do not want anyone to tell you what to do. You will scream and fight and pitch a huge tantrum over the smallest thing. We usually put you on your bed to calm down. In fact, a couple weeks ago I put you on your bed and after you had calmed down and I came to get you, you said, "I just got tired of skweeming." It's almost like you pitch the fit solely for the sake of pitching the fit. You know it won't gain you anything. Anyways, the past months have been full of trying to train you and discipline you and you're slowly getting it. Slowly.

You also are still not sure what you think about having a sister. I watch you have fun with her, but if I ask you if you're glad that you have a sister, you adamantly answer "no." Most of your discipline these days is related to you taking something out of Noel's hands, not sharing with her, pushing her, being too rough with her, being spiteful and mean (hiding a toy from her that you know she wants), and so on. I really, really hope that as you get older, and as Noel gets older and gets disciplined more (and you see that she really does get in trouble, too), that you start to like her more and not see her as such a nuisance.



Let me tell you about all the awesome things you're doing these days. You love to paint. LOVE it, I tell you. You want to paint every day. You want to color, paint, cut, stick stickers, and so on. You love art stuff. You also love to help me cook or bake. You get very upset if I don't let you dump something in the bowl, help stir, and so on. And you get extremely upset if I don't let you lick the beater for some reason or another. You love sugar. It's your love language.

Speaking of sugar, we've recently given you the treat of an ice cream (or something else) if you stay in your bed at bedtime and in the morning until we come to get you. You just didn't seem to care about punishment (a spanking...or ten) for getting out of bed. You needed some motivation to stay in your bed. So, ice cream it is. It's working well for us both. You think you're winning because you get something sweet. I think I'm winning because you'd probably get dessert every day anyways!



Lane, you love to "do school" with me in the afternoons while Noel is napping. We work some activity pages and you love it...tracing, coloring, practicing letters, matching numerals to groups with that many objects, and so on. You also really enjoy being read to, but usually I have to convince you that you want to be read to. You'd rather play, but if I can get you to agree to two or three books, then you'll keep asking for more.

You love for me to snuggle with you at bedtime. We sing a few songs together...these days it's "Sanctuary," "I Love You Lord," "Bless the Lord," "Zaccheus," and the "la la's" (Braham's lullaby, but with no words). You always want me to stay until you fall asleep, but if I do then you wake up all night crying, wondering where I am. It works much better for you to fall asleep on your own. But I love snuggling with you and debriefing your day, asking you what your favorite part was. Of course you always have about five favorite parts. I don't think you understand "favorite" yet.

You love fruit, olives, bread, sweets, yogurt, cheese, nuts, milk, juice, and water. The other day you told me, "Coke is yucky. I like milk, juice, and water. That's what I like." You do not like bell peppers or tomatoes, although I can get you to eat them most of the time if they're cooked. Oh, and onions. You do not like onions and will always pick them out if they're tough at all. Most of the time you're fairly compliant when it comes to food, although you clearly have foods you prefer over others (hello, strawberries!).



Lane, you can write your name without help, count to 29 correctly, are completely potty trained and never have accidents (you've had one in the last six months, and it was at nighttime the day after we moved), You can put your clothes on if we give them to you facing the right direction. You do excellent at tracing letters. You love to color (still with markers, especially), dancing, climbing and swinging and jumping. Currently you love picking dandelions, because, well, there are a gazillion of them around. We've also been having lots of tea parties and picnics, and you like to build a "gate" out of legos to keep all the "fewocious" animals in.

I've thought about it recently, and I love parenting a three-year old. You are so hilarious and sweet, and while you're still selfish and mean and disobedient a lot of the time, at your core you are fun and loving. All the things I don't like about parenting you right now are just the things I don't like about parenthood in general, and most of those are just because I myself am selfish and don't like being inconvenienced. You're a lot of work, sweetie. But I wouldn't trade it for the world. I love you and am so happy to be your mom.

Love,
Mommy

16 Months Old

My baby girl is getting so stinkin' cute! I can't even believe it. In the past month she's started:

*saying new words: ok, no way (doh way), chicken (keekin), booboo, bonk, flower (fwuh-wuh), apple (up-uh), five, amen, say, these (deeze), sit, pants (pence), shirt (sirt), Elmo (ehmo), peacock (cock), sun, bee, potty (pah-ee), pee, eyes, Mickey, Minnie, Daisy. And more that I just can't think of right now.


Easter.

*saying "cock-a-moo" when referring to farm animals. It's so, so funny.
*just being sweet. She loves to sit on your lap and let you read books to her. She loves to snuggle. She loves to sit on your lap and watch television or basketball or her sister playing.
*babbling a ton. She frequently will just look at us and babble, babble, babble, just to finish it all of with "OK!"


What? Just another day sword-figting in necklaces and shiny shoes.

*getting even when she gets picked on. Lane frequently takes things from Noel, and Noel will chase Lane down and start smacking on her or pulling her hair. She is definitely not afraid to stand up for herself!
*"singing" Jesus Loves Me with us when we sing to her at nap/bed time. She, of course, doesn't get many of the words right, but she babbles for the whole song, sounding about right at "Jesus" and ending right on cue with "so."
*running. I actually think she's been able to run for a few months now, but she's pretty quick now.



*referring to all drinks as "muk" (milk). If it's liquid, it's "muk." She doesn't seem to care which "muk" she gets (milk or water, and every now and then, juice).
*always confusing "yes" and "no." Do you want more banana? "No." So we give her some more and she's happy. Hilariously confused.


More Easter. Shortly after this she sat down in the dirt to play with rocks.

*being a picky eater. She definitely loves fruit and bread and eggs and cheese. Beyond those things, it's always a toss-up as to if she's actually going to eat. One night she'll eat a pound of carrots and then she won't touch them the next day. She is not a fan of meat, anything too cold (ice cream or smoothies), or potatoes. She'll usually eat vegetables, fruits, and carbs with no issues, and of course on the rare occasion that we give her a cookie, she gobbles it up.
*saying "baaa" (with her voice reverberating) when asked what a sheep says.



*identifying her: belly button (she bends over looking for it since her flab usually folds over and she can't see it), feet, fingers, cheeks, arms, eyes.
*wearing all 18-month clothes. I guess we still have a few pairs of 12-month pants and a few long-sleeved onesies out, but she's nearly completely into 18-month clothes.

Desperate

Yesterday I babysat three other children for four hours, along with watching my own. These kids' ages are just-turned-eight, almost-six, and three. Along with my three year old and 16-month old, it made for a fun few hours. But the beauty of it was that it gave me a glimpse out of the "little years." And it. was. glorious.


Playing with the laundry (hanging over the doorframe since it started raining today, about an hour after I decided to wash our sheets...).

Everyone says that it gets easier. That it gets better. But it's hard to imagine when you're stuck in the middle of temper tantrums, sleep strikes, the millionth diaper change, and so on. Yesterday gave us a glimpse of what life might be like just four or five years from now (although maybe not with five littles...). A few months ago I read somewhere (sorry, no idea where exactly) that being the mother of young children can feel like you're stuck in the movie Groundhog Day. Every day you wake up and life is the same. The same sleep deprivation. The same meltdowns and temper tantrums. The same battles. The same discipline. The same, the same, the same.

This is so true.



Because, well, it is. Every day is much the same. Every day I will have to tell Lane not to lay down at the table, but to sit on her bottom and eat her food. Most likely I'll have to feed her some of it, unless I want to sit at the table for an hour. I will, most likely, have to discipline her for not staying in her bed at bedtime. I will have to cook breakfast, lunch, and dinner. I will have to do a load of laundry or diapers, hang them, and fold whatever was on the rack before. I will have to vacuum, make beds, sweep floors, clean toilets, and so on. I will build block towers, wipe up spilled (or thrown) milk, do my "silly dance" for Lane, tell Noel not to pull her sister's hair, wipe bottoms and change diapers, and wipe noses and comb hair and clip fingernails and toenails and hold Noel's arms by her sides with my legs to get a ponytail holder in her hair. I could go on, but I think you get the point. At the end of the day when the girls are in bed I keep pushing on, exhausted, to wash some dishes, wipe off tables, fold laundry, write emails, study language, and maybe, if I've finished all of my other chores, I'll watch a television show with Shannon or read a chapter in a book.

My life is boring. And repetitious.

But, at least today, I'm ok with that.



I've been reading (on my Kindle, in fairly large print, with one hand while I blow-dry my hair with the other) the book Desperate, by Sarah Mae and Sally Clarkson. And I have to say, it's pretty good. I happen to be reading it in a break in my "desperateness," but just a few weeks ago it would have been SO good to read, as I did feel like I was drowning in motherhood (along with everything else that living overseas entails). If you are feeling overwhelmed in your mothering, I'd recommend it to you. 



There is one quote that I really, really appreciated and needed to read:

"My ultimate encouragement to you so that you don't feel defeated? Give in to your season of life. You will feel desperate sometimes, I know, and it's scary some days. But the more you allow yourself to be fully and completely invested in the discipling of your children, the less defeated you will feel."

So that's what I'm doing. I'm giving in. I'm a mother to young children. My house will not be spotless. (I've mopped my kitchen once [with an actual mop] in the last 5.5 months.) My children may watch television nearly every day. (A mom does need a few minutes to cook dinner or take a shower, after all.) And I will mess up, lose my temper, not know how on earth to get my child to sleep, and feed my children more crackers and bananas than is actually good for them.



But really, if my kids watch television every day and my floor isn't mopped and my kids eat too many bananas and crackers, and they don't take great naps, and they end up in time out more than any of us would like, but I can play with them and take them to the park and buy them ice cream when they do something great and we can eat breakfast for dinner a lot (since it's the only thing both of them will eat every bite of), is that so bad? 



This time is only a season, one that will pass quicker than I can imagine. So I might as well embrace the insanity: the less-frequent-than-I'd-like nights of interrupted sleep, the spills, the laundry, the gashes in my kitchen table, and the meltdowns at the completely wrong time. Because with them come kissing every boo-boo, hugs and kisses and snuggles willingly given first thing in the morning, excitement over ladybugs and big sticks at the park, milk being "so good,"and giggles and screeches over what is, to most people, absolutely nothing. All the sweetness of the "Groundhog Day years" is accompanied by all the inconveniences. And I'm going to try my darndest to embrace this season and not to wish it away. If you're a young mom struggling in motherhood, I'd encourage you to try to do the same.

Any tips out there that help you to embrace the insanity instead of want to run from it?

Easter 2013

How is it that time goes so fast? I think I read once that the older you get, the faster time goes, because days and weeks and months and years are a smaller percentage of your life than when you're little. When you're five and your birthday is a year away, it's 1/5th of your life away. When you're 30, it's 1/30th. When you're 60, it's 1/60th, and so on. It makes me wonder if the rate at which time passes is exponential...

Anyways, all that to say, WOW, how is it already April? Today is my little sister's 30th birthday. Also unbelievable.

Easter for us was, in one word, unforgettable. To start, we spent the morning dying eggs, reading telling the Easter Story over lunch to Lane and some guests of ours, and getting the girls down for naps. We finished up our cooking and after the girls woke up we headed out to "the farm" (some friends of ours live in a village where there are lots of cows, chickens, goats, horses, and sheep wandering around. Since it's the closest thing to a farm that Lane's ever seen, and she loves the farm, we call it, affectionately, "the farm."). After 60 or so expats showed up, we all stuffed ourselves silly and then headed outside for a huge Easter egg hunt. The girls had a blast. Lane was so, so excited to hunt for eggs, and Noel managed to find a couple, too (with daddy's help).


Hunting eggs. Love the boots...they remind me of hunting eggs in the snow/slush while growing up in Alaska.


Chasing bubbles with friends.

After all the eggs were found and prizes distributed (awesome idea: give a prize in exchange for real eggs, so that kids are just as excited about finding them as they are the plastic ones), we gathered outside to sing songs about the Risen King. After worship time, the girls and I headed inside, along with almost every other mother and child under the age of six (it was getting chilly and nearly bedtime for many). I helped clean a bit while the kids were entertained in "Sunday School." And we all headed home around 8:30. Seven or so minutes down the road we got a flat tire. Ten people in a van on Easter Sunday at 8:30 p.m. and we got a flat. We didn't see a spare so we called a friend. He drove over and found the spare (under the van) and helped us get the tire fixed. He left, we all piled in the van, and...the van wouldn't start.

After rolling my eyes, I called our friend back. He came and we all spent the next hour trying to a) jump start the car, b) pull start the car, and c) keep the girls from melting down. At around 10:00 I finally told our friend that I was sorry but I really needed to get the girls in bed. So he ferried us all home, leaving a couple of singles with the van. We got home and I laid Noel in bed (we had put her in jammies before we ever left and she had fallen asleep in my arms on the way [p.s. awesome that car seats are not mandatory over here in situations like this!]). I got Lane into jammies and laid in bed with her until she fell asleep. Before she fell asleep she looked at me, snuggled next to her in the bed, and said, "Mommy?" "Yes, Lane?" "Happy Easter." It was the sweetest thing ever. After she fell asleep I headed to the kitchen to start some massive clean up, and Shannon came home around 11:30 after helping our friend tow the van into town and park it.


Lane's first spin on a tire swing.

All in all, the girls did very well being up so late. I was very glad we had made Lane take a nap (since she usually doesn't), and also very grateful that it doesn't phase Noel that much to be up past her bedtime. The girls both slept in a bit yesterday, Noel took a long nap, and we had Lane in bed by 6:00.


We have a photo of Lane at about this age in nearly the same pose, in Ephesus. You can see it here.

It was a good Easter. It was so fun to celebrate Jesus and his resurrection with fellow believers in place where most people don't believe. Lane had a blast running around with all her little friends, Noel enjoyed getting a dinner of rolls and strawberries, and we enjoyed fellowshipping with expats from many different countries. Next year will look quite different, as we'll be in the States for Easter. I'm looking forward to it. And to these two yahoos maybe looking at the camera at the same time?

Random Smatterings

*When we lived in Istanbul, I could've cared less if we owned a stroller. The sidewalks there are horrible and public transportation is pretty good. I used our old Graco stroller some when we lived about a 20-minute walk away from a nice park, in a nice area of the city (and therefore decent sidewalks), and other than that, I never used it. It was just easier to wear Lane in the ERGO. When we went to the Canary Islands a year and a half ago, we bought an umbrella stroller for the airports. Then after Noel was born, if I really needed to go somewhere with both girls and without Shannon, I'd push Lane and wear Noel. We planned on making Lane walk when Noel got too big for the ERGO. We always said we'd never buy a double stroller.

Well, then we knew someone who got a Phil & Ted's and loved it. And then we moved here. Also horrible sidewalks. Parks within walking distance for Lane, but not for her to walk there, play, and also make it home. Wearing Noel in the winter (with bulky coats and boots and scarves and hats) is just no fun. Lots of potholes in the roads and sidewalks here. So we decided to bite the bullet and buy one. And I love it. I've had it less than a week and think that no one should ever bother buying any other stroller, except maybe a light umbrella stroller for traveling. And even then...I'm not sold that you'd want it after using this one!


Phil & Ted's Explorer. I'm in love. With the girls, too. =)

*I think this may be the first year in a very long time that our taxes are not done by this late in the year. I told Shannon last week that I need to finish them next week. No excuses...it has to be done. Once again, blech. I also find it highly...interesting...that while Shannon is the one who handles all of our day-to-day finances (balancing the checkbook, checking accounts online, making transfers to savings, etc.), I'm the one who does our taxes every year.


*We bought a car last week. Here, you pay in cash. Hence, Shannon paid with this:



That's our Jesus Storybook Bible on the left, just for comparison's sake.

*Last week there was a bit of outdoor construction going on in our parking lot. Some diggers and cranes and other large trucks come, and they dug up the ground and replaced the pipes. They turned our water and gas off one of the days. And then, after three days, they covered it all back up and left us with the large pile of dirt you see on the right. Yup...we still have it, sitting in the grass/parking lot. How kind of them.



*I'm in the process of "training" my hair to only need to be washed every other day. It's involved about a week of somewhat-greasiness, but it hasn't been that bad. I like having my hair short, but I really don't have time to blow-dry and straighten it every day. And I'm really dreading summer, when I'll be blow-drying and straightening it with no air conditioner. So I'm trying to train it to not be washed (and therefore styled) every day. I think it's working. If you see me and I'm slightly greasy, well, forgive it for another few weeks. After that, tell me it's not working and to wash my hair.

*Every evening (and morning, for that matter) around sunset, the buildings and trees around us are flooded with birds. I mean, thousands of birds. The sky practically gets black from all the birds. It's straight out of Alfred Hitchcock.


This photo doesn't do it justice at all, but if I waited until all the birds were there, it would be too dark to see them.

*I've been spring cleaning, when I have a few minutes. A couple weeks ago, I cleaned out the kitchen pretty well. I wiped down the insides of all the cabinets, the top of the fridge and cabinets, and organized random grains and beans and flours into better containers. I vacuumed behind the fridge and cleaned the stovetop and microwave. Last week I cleaned most of our windows, inside and out. I vacuumed off all the blinds. I washed our comforter covers. Up next: wiping down all baseboards, the tops of door frames, vacuuming cobwebs out of the corners between walls and ceilings, and cleaning Shannon's office. It's the room that gets the most neglect, since he's usually working in there when I'm cleaning, so therefore I don't clean it. Blech.


At least my helper is cute.

*We're back on the cloth-diaper wagon. It was nice having a break from washing diapers for oh, six months (three in transition and three of nasty teething diapers), but I'm glad to be using them again. If nothing else, here diapers cost around $23 for a pack of 60ish size 4's, which means that we were spending around $60 a month on diapers. I'm looking forward to getting that number back down to $15 or so (one per night and Noel wears 'sposies on Sundays, since we're gone almost all day).

*A week or so ago we went out with some friends to a place where they camp, rock-climb, hike, and so on. I played ultimate frisbee for the first time in about six years. Unfortunately we couldn't stay all day, as Shannon had a meeting that afternoon, but we had a grand time that morning, and we're looking forward to going more often this summer. I'm looking forward to rock-climbing. And Lane...she's looking forward to zip-lining again. I can't remember the last time she was that excited about anything. "Do it uh'gen, mama, do it uh'gen. I wanna fly uh'gen, mama, wanna fly uh'gen."


I mean, check out that smile. If that's not the face of someone who had a good time, I'm not sure what is.

15 Months Old

At 15 months old, Noel:

*says (new words): hello (heh-doh), kitty (key), help (hep), baby, clap (cap), hi, uh-oh, wow, banana (me-ah me-ah), cracker (kacker), poop, yuck, duck (duh), balloon (ba-oon), hat, shoe (soo), socks, Dora (do-wah), boot, yes (ses), no.
*can identify (in addition to last month's list): her hair, nose, teeth, hands, mouth.


Playing in the sink with Lane.

*loves television. I'm not sure whether I should be happy about that (hey, 22 minutes of both of my children watching TV so I can cut chicken, wash dishes, cut veggies, or whatever) or ashamed of myself. Her favorites are Dora and Minnie/Mickey.
*is weaned from her pacifier.


She's getting pretty good at using a spoon, although she still makes a huge mess most of the time.

*has learned to climb. She can pull the stool over to the kitchen counter and climb up onto the counter. Scary. She can't get onto beds or couches yet, but she can get onto chairs and our stepstool, and she can get herself down from couches or beds.
*knows animal sounds for cow, rooster, horse, chicken, elephant, cat, and dog.
*knows when she's pooping and says "poop" before she goes. She is completely opposed to going on the toilet, though.
*loves to stand on our windowsills, looking for cats outside.


This girl loves to be outside!

 *is officially down to one nap a day. She sleeps around 11 hours at night and then takes a nap for around 2 hours at noon or so.
*gives us big, long kisses, complete with the finishing, "mm-ah!"
*loves to play with Lane, although a lot of the time Lane is not so keen on how Noel is "helping." Noel likes to hand Lane blocks, play chase (where Lane teases her with her blankie), and just do anything Lane is doing. She is quite good at playing by herself a lot of the time.


Playing in our bed...one of her favorite things to do.