Joy

I am sooo excited! In a previous post, I mention my nervousness about flying alone with the kids to Portland this Christmas. Going through security, two flights, and one layover, and then doing it over again to come home is a tough challenge with two toddlers. Not to mention to pain of cramming two toddlers and an adult into two little airplane seats. Enough of my complaining and on to my joy: we get to fly back with Jeffrey! We were shocked to find tickets cheaper than we've ever found to Portland that actually fit Jeffrey's five day window of Christmas vacation. The kids and I are flying out a couple of weeks early and then we all fly back on the Sunday after Christmas. Yes, it was the bizarre occurrence of cheap tickets the Sunday after Christmas that is making this possible. Some may call this simply lucky, but I know that I am blessed. God once again had mercy on this poor mommy and sent a gift just for me.

Frozen

Elise quote of the day:



Me, fixing Elise's lunch: "Elise, what's your favorite kind of yogurt?"

Elise: "Frozen?"



Frozen yogurt, that's my girl =)

Elise fixing me a snack.

Jeffrey and Elise camping in the backyard.

A Serious Conversation

Tonight I was busily preparing supper when Elise marched into the kitchen carrying her little chair. She plunked in down in front of the sink began the following conversation with a serious face and a serious tone:

Elise: "Mommy want to talk about something?"

Me, crouching down at her level: "I'd love to talk about something. What do you want to talk about?"

Elise: "Playing."

Me, role-playing the Psychologist: "And how do you feel about playing?"

Elise: "Better, better than Mommy cooking."

Me: "Let's go play Elise."

Now, I've put some thought into how to react to this conversation. One possible reaction is sorrow and guilt because my poor little baby is having to seek out my attention through such a serious little conversation. But I really think my gut reaction at the time is the most appropriate.

I smiled. I postponed pealing peaches in order to play trucks with Zion and Elise. I laughed with my son as he discovered how to load and dump his dump truck. I looked with pride at my daughter who is growing up so fast. And I thought to myself how grateful I am that I do not have any guilt to feel. Sure, Elise is not going to like that I have to cut short our playtime for a half an hour of dinner prep each day. But if you could look around my house right now you would see a tent in the living room where I've read dozens of books to Elise today and played hilarious games of peek-a-boo with Zion. The scads of toys on the ground are not just clutter, but evidence of hours of exploration. The unfolded laundry on our bed can attest to our trip out of the house and away from the chores to visit Daddy for lunch today. I am grateful for the creative fun, and for the common chores that compose the days that make up the life that I share with my kids. And I'm glad I have the opportunity to smile instead of regret.

Zion's quote of the day:

I was putting Zion down for a nap. He was not pleased at all to stop his play and exploration. He looked up at me with desperate eyes and ran through every sign he knows, "help, all-done, milk, eat, airplane!" Poor boy, no sign could rescue from the impending sleep =)

Camping and Corn on the Cob

We've had several firsts occur this weekend. Last night, Jeffrey took Elise out for her first camping trip. They didn't travel far - only to the back yard. But the newness of a tent, sleeping bag, and mat were quite exciting to Elise. Things got even more exciting about an hour after they went to bed when it started to rain. It had been too hot for a rain-fly, so the drops fell on through the mesh to the brave campers. Luckily Daddy quickly rescued Elise and all of their gear before the big downpour began. Jeffrey says even though they had gone to bed an hour earlier, Elise had still been too excited to sleep. So the night was about to be called short on account of sleepless daughter before in got cancelled by the rain.

In other firsts, Zion ate his first corn off of the cob tonight. We all had a great evening at a cookout - pool party. Both of the kids had a great time in the pool. We may not have had as much time to chat with the adults as we did pre-kids, but I think we have lots more fun splashing with our babies now.

Well, they aren't really babies anymore. I held a sweet little 10 week old baby boy tonight. He fussed, then whimpered, then fell asleep in my arms. I'm starting to agree with Elise, "We need to buy another baby". Now we just need to get Daddy to agree.

Elise quote of the day:
While climbing on a raft in the pool,
"I'm riding on a motor boat. It's kind of like a goat in the water."
I think she meant that boat and goat rhyme, but you can never quite know what is going on in that sweet little head.

Dear Zion - 1 year

Age: 1 year

Weight: 24.5 lbs (68th %tile)

Height: 30.5 in (72th %tile)


Dear Zion,

I can hardly believe that you are been in our lives for a whole year. So, let's start at the beginning. You were such a smiley, easy baby. You slept often, ate well, and smiled early and lots. You rolled over while you were still in the hospital, and you never stopped. You started crawling right at 9 months, and walking right at a year.

Don't tell Elise, but I think you've got the best spot being the second child. Your Aunt Summer is my big sister, so I know all about being the second born. Your life has been full of fun and adventure from day one thanks to the antics of your big sis. When you were a baby I would try to have some quiet time to calm you down before you went to sleep. I'd turn the lights down low, turn on the sound-maker, rock you in the glider, and sing you lullabies. But instead of falling asleep, you'd be giggling at Elise spinning in circles around the room, shouting out lullaby song requests. You have handled this crazy bedtime routine and countless other disruptions to your life with grace.

You are an adventurer. You love to climb in my cupboards and pull out all of the contents. You try to climb any obstacle in your path including climbing on top of the blue play table, climbing up the steps to reach the bathroom sink, standing on top of the tricycle seat, and standing on top of all of the chairs. You also love the water. In the bathtub, you practically swim around the tub, barely pausing when you stumble and dunk your face under.

You are learning to let me know what you want. Right now you can say plane, bear, mama, daddy, baa-baa, and moo. You can sign all-done, milk, help, eat, more, air-plane, and up. You have always love to touch and point at things with your little pointer finger. So now you have changed signs to use your pointy fingers instead of you whole hand. You touch your pointer fingers together to sign more, you touch just one finger to your mouth to sign eat, and you sign help by tapping your pointer finger against the opposite palm. We think this, like so many other things about you is precious.

You are a joy to your daddy and me. We are so excited to see you grow and discover the world.

Lots of love,

Mommy

Drinking the Rain

Elise quote of the day:
While looking out of her window at the rain falling:
"Mommy, is the grass drinking the rain?"

First Spoon, Blowing, No Zions and an Extra Person

Zion used a spoon by himself for the first time today. Some of the yogurt actually did end up in his mouth.

Elise quotes of the day:

Zion dared to crawl on Elise's side of Mommy's lap during story time. Elise shouted, "Zion no! This is Elise's place for no Zions!"

I told Elise that it was too hot for us to play outside. She replied, "We need to go outside and blow it off. We need to blow on the swing and the slide and the castle to cool it off." I wonder what would happen if, in the midst of the 100 degree heat, all of the mommies and kids went outside and just started blowing this heat away.

While I was snapping Elise into her car seat she pointed to the space between her seat and Zion's and said, "This is the place for the extra person to sit and chat with Elise and Zion." So if any of you feel like you are an extra person today, we have a spot reserved just for you between two kids who would love to chat.

Sweet Communication

Me: "Zion, are you all done or do you want more?"
Zion: signs either "all done" or "more"

Our first conversation composed of words. My little baby is becoming a walking, talking toddler. Okay, so he has only taken a few steps and said one word, but I know this is the beginning of a new era for him. On Monday he said his first word and added three new signs to his collection. I haven't been sure when to call his first word. He has been saying Mama and Daddy for some time now. And he says several animal sounds such as 'woof', 'moo', and 'baa'. And he will occasionally repeat words that we are saying. But on Monday he repeatedly signed airplane while grinning and saying 'play' and 'aah-play'. Way to go Zion!

Portland Vacation

I'm back from our trip to visit Jeffrey's family in Oregon. We had a fantastic trip which included Jeffrey's sister Lori's wedding, Zion's first birthday, Zion's first steps, a trip to the zoo, a ride on a train, a trip to the park, picking blue berries, a visit with old friends at camp-meeting, many games, fun in the pool, and fun just being together.

Those of you who caught the mention of "Zion's first steps" should not interpret this to mean that Zion is now walking. He has taken a total of seven steps. The first was on his birthday. And then the next day he walked two steps, paused to get his balance, then walked two more. But that's about it so far. I was waiting to share this until we at least had a video, but that will have to wait until he wants to walk some more. Zion's daddy, Jeffrey, also took his first step on his first birthday. Like father, like son.

We survived our cross-country flight yesterday. Elise had her own seat, and Zion was left to roam over our laps and the tiny space at our feet. It was tight quarters to say the least. I think that Elise summed up her opinion of Zion's invasion of her space very well: "I'm having trouble with Zion. We need to put my Zion away. We need to put him in a crib and send him back."

I should mention that we have already secured tickets for the kids and I to fly out to Portland for Christmas. Jeffrey's schedule is very limited, so he will fly out on a different flight. So, instead of just enduring a long day with our baby and toddler, I was lamenting having to do this trip all over again in December, without Jeffrey and with an even more mobile Zion. Eek. So these are my ideas on how to survive the trip:

1) Portable DVD player. Does anyone have any suggestions for DVDs for toddlers?

2) Special snacks

3) Benedryl? Does anyone know if this works?

4) Double stroller

5) Willingness to ask complete strangers to help me out

6) Car seat? I'm weighing the trouble of bringing on a car seat versus the benefit of being able to strap Zion in and offer a comfy nap spot for Elise.

If anyone has ANY travel tips, please let me know!

Jeffrey and kids with Great-Grandma Twila

Train ride at the zoo

Elise picking blueberries in Grammy and Grandpa's yard.

Zion waving for Grandpa Leon

Flower Girl and Birthday Boy

I am posting this from Jeffrey's parents' home in Portland, OR. We are here to celebrate the marriage of his younger sister Lori to Cody. Elise was quite pleased to serve as flower girl for the event.

Elise smiled for pictures, fulfilling her important role as an adorable replica of the bride. Then came time for the main event. Elise headed down the aisle, chucking fists full of petals high into the air. About a third of the way, she caught her toe on her dress. As she bent down to pull her dress free she must have decided that this was a great chance to refill her flower basket. But seemed to have changed her mind, because she then stood up and flipped over her basket to dump out all of the reclaimed petals. Elise then set the basket down and grinned, pleased with finding a quick way to fulfill her flower-dropping mission. Around this time the groom, Uncle Cody, saved the day by taking Elise by the hand to escort her the rest of the way down the aisle. Once she was safely in her seat with me, she turned to me and declared, "I'm ready for my treat!" Bribery works so well with two year olds.

Everyone thought that she was just precious. I'm sure that their were literally hundreds of photos of Elise taken at the wedding. We will share some of the professional ones when we receive them.

The wedding day was also Zion's first birthday. Zion didn't seem to mind, or should I say Zion didn't seem to notice that we shifted his special day a day later to make way for such a special wedding. Elise on the other hand seemed to think this whole celebration was all about Zion's birthday. When Cody announced at the reception that the cake would be served soon, Elise shouted with glee, "Zion's birthday cake! It's Zion's birthday!"

Elise with her new Uncle Cody.

Elise enjoying a well earned treat.

Lori with Zion.

Other favorite quotes from Elise this weekend:

Sharon making plans for the wedding morning: "What do we need to do tomorrow morning?"

Elise: "Wake up!"

Me: "Elise, did you hear Zion crying last night?"

Elise: "Yes, Zion was crying. He was saying, 'Mama? Mama are you here? Mama are you not here?'"

Jeffrey: "Do you need to sit on the potty?"

Elise: "I need to make poopy and pee-pee. Then I need a treat. At home we have blueberries, cookies, animal crackers . . . They taste good."

Birthday Memory

Last week, Elise was excited about Zion's soon approaching birthday. She carefully told me all of the details that we needed in order to reproduce the scene she has watched in the video of her first birthday. We needed cake, candles, Zion in no clothes, Memaw's flowered tablecloth, and everyone singing "Happy Birthday". I warned her that the tablecloth may not be the same because Memaw lost the flowered one during our last visit a couple of months ago.

That weekend we headed over to Memaw and Great-Grandpa Tom's house for the 4th of July and an early birthday celebration for Zion. As soon we got out of the car, Elise made a beeline to the pantry where she proceeded to lift up a rug and pull the out flower tablecloth. She held it up and declared with great satisfaction, "It's the same! Zion and Elise have same tablecloth."

Now, I don't know if she saw someone put it away, or if she hid it herself. But if you are missing any items after a visit from us, be sure to question Elise.




Elise is enjoying getting gifts such as this chef's outfit as "the sister of the birthday child". I remember the many gifts that I received on the birthday that my sisters share =)

Hiccup Delight

Zion's head rests on my shoulder. His tummy is pressed against mine. Little arms and legs sprawl in a hug. And hiccups. Mine and his together. His are frequent little jolts that translate from his tummy to mine. They remind me of when his hiccups shook my stomach from the inside. Back when he and I were one person becoming two. My hiccups bounce his whole frame, and he laughs like he's on an amusement park ride. He pops his head up to grin at me then plops it back down with a confidence akin to ownership of this part of me that cradles him.

Scary Z

Elise likes to pretend that she is scared of Zion. Usually his presence is fun, or a non-event. But every once in a while she decides to play scared. When he comes crawling towards her, she will run to me excitedly and say, "Mommy want to pick up Elise? Zion scare Elise." This crossed over to truly ridiculous today when she spied Zion crawling towards us from the other room and announced calmly, "I'm about to be scared".

Potty Party

It is time to take the plunge. It is time to brave public restrooms and embarrassing puddles left on the floor. It is time to relegate diapers to nap time and bedtime. This is day two of carting my pantie clad princess around town sans diaper. And so far, we have two successful trips to public restrooms and no accidents. Way to go Elise!

This is Elise's favorite potty song:

"We're having a potty party

'cause it's the thing to do.

Sometimes we make pee-pee,

sometimes we make poo-poo.

It's a potty party!"

Fun times in the Colburn house =)