Kids at work

The kids have been hard at work being kids. 

Annie is saying some really funny things lately. Unfortunately I always think I'll remember them, then forget before I get around to writing them down most of the time. She has taken to calling me mudduh. I guess it's because Rachel calls me mother sometimes, for some unknown reason, and apparently Annie has taken a liking to it and won't call me anything else, except for the occasional middle-of-the-night "Mommy!" The other day in the car Rachel and Annie were having a conversation about Jacob:

R: Do you know who Jacob is?

A:

R: What's Dad's name?

A: Daddy is my fawduh! He's at work.

R: Yeah, but what's his name? (in a very patient, condescending voice)

A: My fawduh is Dad.

R: Yeah, and what is his name?

A: Dad!

R: No, his name is Jacob.

A: No. My fawduh is Dad. He is not Jacob. Dad is my fwend! 

Annie can be a sneaky little devil sometimes. The other day when Rachel was at preschool and Ryan was taking his morning nap I realized the house had been quiet for a little while, so I went to investigate. I heard music coming from the girls' room, and when I got there the closet doors were closed all the way, which they never are. I opened them and found this:

 

Our little Annie had found the iPad and instead of asking Mom if she could watch it and risk a "no" answer, she went to hide in the closet to watch it. Smart girl.

Last night I called up to Annie to tell her to come down for dinner. She yelled back, "Okay! Annie to the rescue!" Later, during dinner I was talking to Rachel about the Junie B. Jones books she got at the library, and turned to Annie and said, "Annie B. Jones, do you want more squash?" or something along those lines. She replied, "I not Annie B. Jones. I Annie to the rescue!"She's hilarious.

Ryan has become quite the cheeseball. He has his fake laugh to join in when everyone else is around him. And when we pull out the camera he immediately gets a big smile and says "eeees" (cheese).

He loves tools and anything he's not supposed to play with. He was especially happy to "help" me put this cabinet together. He kept climbing in, thwarting my efforts every step of the way.

He's getting lots more words every day. He says A-ee (Annie), aych (Rach), vvvvv (vroom), dah dah (dog), eeeow (meow, which apparently dogs and cats both say), ed (bed), da da (daddy), shs (shoes), da (diaper), and more. I think it's interesting that both of the girls first words mostly started with b (ball, bath, bottle, bup (up), etc.), but Ryan doesn't have any words starting with b yet. He's just not into his lip sounds, I guess. He occasionally says mama, but prefers to call me dada. He likes his tongue more for making sounds than his lips, I guess. Including blowing raspberries, and sticking his tongue out as far as it goes, which he thinks is hilarious. 

When Ryan was younger, before he was walking, he would sit on the ground and spin himself around on his butt, pushing himself around with his feet. It was so funny. Last night in the tub he decided to bring back the fun and spun around and around and around saying vvvv (vroom) until he got so dizzy he would tip over. Then he'd start again. That kid loves baths. He blows bubbles, floats on his tummy and splashes so much that Annie sometimes wants to get out. The girls have issues with their faces getting wet sometimes, but not Ryan. I wouldn't be surprised if Ryan is swimming like a fish in a year or two.

Rachel has been having a hard time controlling her temper sometimes lately. But she's learning that when she's mad it's okay to go in a room by yourself, or hit a pillow or a couch, instead of her preferred method of screaming like a banshee and throwing things. So the other day she was mad at me and made her own room that no one else was allowed to come in. In the laundry room. Later when she had calmed down she let Annie join her and they had lots of fun.

Rachel is getting to be a huge reader. She reads small chapter books, like Junie B. Jones, and the Magic Treehouse, and most of the time her temper tantrums come when she's reading and I ask her to help clean up, or do something for me. She loves to read and is really good at it. 

She is also very artistic and loves to make things. She colors, cuts, glues, and paints whenever I let her get out the stuff. At Michael's the other day they had these $1 bird houses, so we got one for both of the girls and they had a fun time painting them. They're hanging up outside now and every day the girls run out to see if the birds have found their houses yet. (They haven't.)

FHE refreshments this week were strawberries with Nutella. And so we had the bearded ladies:

And Ryan, the cool dude:

He loves sunglasses. He'll put them on me (poking my eyes in the process), then take them off and put them on himself, and smile proudly, then take them off and put them on me, and on and on. I think he even says some version of glasses, but I can't remember how he says it at the moment.

So, there's our kid update. They're all doing great and having lots of fun living. And they're fed, clothed (most of the time), and alive at the end of the day, so I must be doing something right. :)