Silly stuff

In case you didn't know, blogging is about my only "real" hobby right now.  Everything else is pretty much stalled.  Even my compulsion to read has disappeared. I haven't read a book in at least a month and I only made it to page 12 of my June Better Homes and Garden's Magazine.  I didn't even know we had a copy of the June Ensign.  My conversations with Brandon at the dinner table usually include a description of the day's Sesame Street episode.  I frequently have the theme songs to Elmo's World, Abby's Flying Fairy School, and Super Why stuck in my head. If it wasn't for Chunga and Tysen in the morning and Anderson Cooper in the afternoon I'd feel like I was completely trapped in a toddler's brain.

That being said, I'm actually having a lot of fun with the kids each day.  There are some really fun and silly things going on around here.  Mostly I just enjoy the ride knowing that one day this will all be a distant memory.

The big news lately is that the girls are starting to talk.  It's a little tricky to understand them because so many toddler-important words start with the letter B.  Baby, block, bottle, binkie, ball, bubble, banana, blanket, etc but with the help of pointing I usually know what they want.  The girls have started noticing Brandon in pictures so they often point to them and say "Dah-dee."  They also shout "Dah-dee" when he comes home. They say "Dah-gee" for Doggy which sounds really similar so sometimes I'm not sure what they are referring too.  Other favorite words are, "tohs" for toes, "beeeee" for binkie, "bah-oh" for bottle, "show" for shoe, and "baby" for Derrick.  Lydia says something resembling "Sharet" for Charlotte, and Charlotte says some garbled sound that I can't even begin to sound out for Lydia.  Neither one of them has ever said Mommy or Mama and meant me.  Usually they point to themselves if I ask them where Mommy is.  That because I always point to myself.  They do know who I am though.  The other day Brandon asked them where Valerie was and they pointed to me.

The highlight of dinner last night was when Lydia learned how to say feet.  She says "fee"  here is a video of that along with some other pretty standard things.  (The cushion on the floor, Lydia dancing in shoes, Charlotte trying to grab the camera, Derrick being ignored, and so on)

Speaking of Derrick here is a little game that usually happens during nap time.  It's called "Find the Baby".  Derrick and I have fallen into the habit of letting him sleep where ever he happens to fall asleep.  If the girls are awake he usually goes down for a nap in his crib.  If the girls are asleep its where ever.  At night he sleeps on the couch.  Hopefully he learns how to sleep though the night before he learns how to roll.

The other day I locked up the emotional part of my brain and sorted through all of the clothes the girls have out-grown.  One stack of boxes I'm giving away now (they are waiting for you Kadee) the other one I'm saving for any future nieces.  The only things I kept were a few gender neutral things for Derrick, and the girls' blessing outfits.  It was hard, but I kept thinking about how cute other girls will look in them.  Plus I need the space to store the hand-me-downs I'm getting for when the girls are older (donations are always accepted). 

 The girls love to help me empty the dish drain.  The other day they kidnapped all the pots and pans and played with them for at least an hour.   

Both girls are sort of picking out their clothes right now - with a lot of help from me.  Lydia has let me know that she does not like jeans right now so she is always in stretchy pants.  She also loves shoes and always wants my help putting them on.

 Charlotte loves bows and always wants to wear one (though she isn't wearing one in this pic)  She's such a good helper.  I think her love language is acts of service because she always wants to help me.  She likes to throw away her diaper after getting it changed, she will wipe up spills, she puts trash in the sink, she brings Brandon's dirty socks to me so I can wear them (which I do because it makes her happy), and she likes to pat Derrick and Lydia on the back when they are crying.  She also likes to throw away trash when we are at the park.

 Here is Lydia with more of her shoes.  Her love language is physical touch.  This is one of the reasons I don't have hobbies anymore.  She wants me to hold her A LOT.  But for the most part that is okay.

Outside she is pretty adventurous as long as I am near by.  This picture was taken right before she fell down about 5 of these stairs.  

 Charlotte is very content to hang out by herself or with her Daddy.

 Derrick also likes hanging out with his Daddy.

 The girls also play together a lot.  They like to copy each other so I usually have to make sure I have two of everything.

 They love Derrick, but they also leave him alone.  They haven't tried to lift or hold him yet.  I think they know he weighs more than half of their weight.  He usually hangs out in his swing when he is awake.  The girls like to push him in it. If the swing is empty the girls will climb into it.

 On Father's Dad we had a rare treat.  Two out of three of the kids conked out on the couch after church. (Charlotte is actually trying to give Lydia a binkie - not stealing it like usual)

 I thought it was so funny how both Lydia and Derrick had their hands above their heads.  Both of them woke up as soon as dinner was ready.  My kids always wake up when I'm about to eat.

 But with a meal like this wouldn't you have woken up too?

One final story before I go get my kids out of their cribs (they are playing and laughing so I don't feel too bad ignoring them for a minute longer).

A few days ago I was trying to figure out what I could do to kill the last hour before Anderson came on at 4:00.  I decided to clean up the kitchen for the millionth time.  The girls helped me load the dishwasher, but then I discovered we were out of dish washer soap.  So I decided to wash dishes by hand with the girls helping.  This is what we ended up with.  It was fun, but not something I want to repeat anytime soon.

So that's us right now.  Life is crazy but fun.