Okay, I've been really horrible recently about this blog. In July, we don't watch TV, and what I should have done was get my blogging caught up, but instead, I got hooked on reading. We've all been hooked on the Chronicles of Narnia. Even Caleb has fallen in love with the Focus on the Family dramatized version of "The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe".
But truly, my apologies to my dear friends who occasionally take the time to wander over to my blog and have found it utterly empty and barren of news. I will try not to let 3 months expire again! Yikes! I think it will take me 3 nights of posting to catch up!
Every so often, I try to give a verbal "snapshot" of my kids so I can have some memory latter of what they were doing when.
So here it goes.
Caleb:
If anything can summarize this phase in his life, it is "Dark Green". It is his favorite color, and everything, when given an option, should be dark green, be it straws, clothes, gum, toys, etc. He was bummed that the Gweduck was painted Cougar colors, not green. He was excited that his Dad let him play Kung Fu Panda on the XBox, not because of the video game, but because he got to press the green button. He complains that blueberries aren't the right color to eat, but then again, his love for green has not transferred into a love for veggies. This compliments his current obsession with the number "4" (his age), and when he discovered that green is the fourth color in the rainbow today, I felt in his soul, that he found inner peace like the planets were all aligned.
He is still very shy, but loved going to VBS last week, and I was told he really enjoyed the songs. That makes sense since he loves showing off his groovy moves to anyone who will watch him dance to his Dad's iPhone's tunes.
He loves to pick on his brother, and they nit pick each other sometimes so much I feel I'm going to go crazy with all the whining. But he is very affectionate and adoring of his siblings. He is very concerned if his brother wanders too far off, and will shout "Matthew Dang!!!" before I even get a chance to say a word. He loves the fact that his brother's favorite color is "light green". Certainly he admires his brother's good taste, but is glad Matthew does not posses the same sophistication as himself.
In July, he was our "no-tv" policeman. By 1:41 pm on July 1, he asked me, "Mom, is July over?" By July 31, he had wondered why God had made all the months so short, but made July so long! However, the exercise was good for him, and he really had a chance to stretch his play imagination. He is a very creative/storytelling kinda kid. I really hope I can do a good job letting him grow in this area, esp. since I'm so not that way.
He adores his little Kristina. He hardly walks past her without giving her a kiss. He loves to make her laugh. And now that we've had to begin disciplining her, he is very protective of her, and gets upset when we have to correct his sister.
Matthew:
Oh my. Matthew is just growing by leaps and bounds. Not only is he very close to his brother's size (they wear all the same clothes), but he is really developing in all other areas. He is so incredibly helpful around the house.
The other day, I was training Caleb to pick up laundry, and I had to get Matthew out of the way, or Matthew would be eager to help me out and Caleb would be very content to let his brother do the work. So I said "Matthew, clean your room" since I could shut the door, and there were many toys all over the place, certain to keep him occupied. One minute later, he exits his room. "Done mommy!" Shock! He actually cleaned the room up all by himself after me asking only once! I grabbed him and hugged him and shouted "You are one in a million!"
He now can buckle and unbuckle his carseat. In fact, when we get home, he gets out of his carseat, and then unbuckles his big brother. Caleb, my non-competitive kid, could care less that his little brother is helping him out. He is able to do so much with his hands. Like put on a button. Or cut his nails when he finds the nail clipper when mom isn't around.
And his speech has also been significantly improving. He's in speech therapy, but I think the greatest gain has just been his general maturity. His sentences consist of so many more words than they ever did before. I'm so happy to hear him communicating so much, and so well. His enuciation still needs lots of work, but he is definitely getting so much better.
However, he still is a whiny stubborn kid at times. From the beginning, he hated the word "no", and he has no more affection for it now than he did in the past. But I think he is learning that Mom means business, and I'm having to be careful to really hold him to task when I tell him to do something he doesn't want to do. And he loves to overdramatize his brother's injuries to him, either physical or verbal. I find it so funny when he comes weeping and screaming into the kitchen, "Cajub called me cry-baby!" Well, if the shoe fits?
He absolutely adores his big brother, and is so happy to play along with any pretend game Caleb has going on. He also adores "Cheena", but has a habit of just poking, tickling, stealing her toys for the fun of it, or generally getting into her space.
Kristina:
What happened? I thought I had a baby girl! She is no more baby girl, she is a full-fledged toddler, mixed with a bit of teenage attitude! Yikes!
First off, she is talking. In the last month, she has gone from maybe 10 words, to 3-4 word sentences and new words every day! Today she said "vitamin" to my shock. (It helps when you dispense the sugary gummy kind.) She finally has a word for Caleb "Bee-Bah" (same as Colton). Matthew is "Nu-nu"..not to be confused with "nu-nu" for noodles.
She is very independent minded, and is pretty determined that Mom and Dad have no need to correct her about anything. I fear she is my most stubborn yet. On Sunday, we took her to church and she screamed (for the first time ever) for more than a few minutes. I took her out, let her go to the worship part with us, then tried to take her back. On the way there, she pointed to her classroom, looked at me and said "Go!". So when I dropped her off, she ran in, and never looked back. I guess it is good that she knows what she wants, but this really may be bad when she's a teen. I have Dobson's "Strong Willed Child" on reserve at the library.
But despite her independence, she is still extremely attached to both her Daddy and Mommy. She adores spending time with us. When we went to Camano Island for a few days, I think she had the most fun. She just adored having all her favorite people around. And the opportunity to get filthy dirty.
She still takes a 2 hr morning nap, a 2 hour afternoon nap, and sleeps over 12 hours at night. This is truly a blessing, and I hope she still does this when she's four.
I still look at her and can't believe I'm lucky enough to have my own little girl. I love her femininity shining through...how she loves to have her hair done, how she loves to have me squirt lotion on her hands, how she is careful not to get her toys too dirty and braces her fall to protect them, and mostly, how she squeals when I come into her room every morning. Ahhh....
This has been the easiest summer so far in being a mom. We've been able to get around a lot of places, and without having to incubate or nurse or move across country, we've been really good! Thank God for his faithfulness in giving us this time that we will certainly treasure for the rest of our lives!
