Finch, Seraph, Bear, Angel (left to right)

Seraph has been putting food in her mouth on purpose!  She doesn't like to do it when Mom is nearby......but she'll climb up when everyone is gone and poke food with the back side of a spoon and then taste it.  So far she likes Oreo ice cream (ooops, she's allergic to dairy!) and strawberry jam.  What??  When did she start liking sweet stuff??

Her skills at making HUGE messes with food have really developed this past month.  (This is a big step from  not wanting any food to touch her!)

She's added many new words this month, too.  Yesterday she said: "Mom, I need you to give me drink." When I reminded her to ask for water in her cup. She says, "Mommy" every time she sees me...which I just love!!  She's very loving...and gives us hugs and kisses...and her favorite toys hugs and kisses....and my kids' friends hugs and kisses.

She's getting more used to taking the bus to preschool.  Today she frowned, but didn't cry.  Delightful Finch kept asking, "Mommy, where is my bus?  I want a bus to take me to my class!"  She's out of luck as we live very close to the school she'll be attending next year.

Finch is also having a hard time with Angel's potty training.  Finch doesn't understand why we don't all get candy when *she* goes potty. Beautiful Rabbit (as the oldest child) is very sympathetic of Finch's plight.

Honk, Honk

Finch

Finch: I'm not in trouble, Mommy.  I'm AWESOME!! and Beautiful Rabbit is awesome, too!

Tells it Like it Is...

Finch and Angel were playing a game. Angel fell down and started crying.  Finch decided the game was over and walked away....
Mom: Finch!  Go see if Angel is ok! [like go give her a hug and ask if she needs anything]
Finch: She is NOT ok. [task completed, walks off]

One

Finch: Can I have another applesauce?
Mom: No, I told you that you could only have one.
Finch: But I want one!
Mom: No, you already had one!
Finch: but I want one that's a different one because this one is gone!
Mom:...
Finch: Say "yes", Mom.

The Slumber Party

Finch and Angel dragged their beds together for a slumber party.

It wasn't long before Seraph was in on the fun:

Cuties! Hope they have fun :)

Mirror mirror on the wall....

Finch: Mom, I have to go look in the mirror.
Finch: OOOooh!!  I am BEAUTIFUL!!!!!

What I did today

• found the what I did today blog
• played make-up with my "dolls"
• "camera me!"
• tickled Bear
• ate sushi
• a little shower/water therapy with Seraph
• listened to that lil stinker (Seraph) empty the spoons out of the drawer ....twice!
• reminded the kids about the "no water out of the tub" rule and made them clean it up.
• walked Bear to the corner for school
• hugs and kisses
• "run for our lives!" (that's what Finch says every time she flushes the toilet....and you just have to run! She grabs her pants on the way out...and comes back to wash hands)
• learned about a heart defect that doesn't affect my life
• opened a late Christmas present that was beautiful (and my favorite color) with a note that make me LOL (thx, M)
• watched the first Yin/Yang episode of Psych w/ Beautiful Rabbit.
• mourned the loss of "Dora Saves the Day" because of a huge scratch......though Dora will always be with us in our hearts.....and also with us because Angel can recite the whole thing start to finish and does so almost every night at bedtime and then again at 4am.
• ran out of room on my camera's memory card!
• enjoyed being happy

Ooops...

Made the mistake of showing Finch how silly she looks when she's jumping up and down for the picture!

How do the kids know to be wild and crazy at bedtime when Dad's working late?
Strong Bear read bedtime stories to Finch tonight while I took care of the twins.  Wow, it's nice to have another reader in the family!

Delightful Finch: Camera me!!!

 

Dress up

princesses

The kids played dress up tonight....and then marched downstairs all together to show Dad.  Ooops, guess they forgot Dad worked late and wasn't home yet.  Good thing I got lots of pictures!

What did I say??

B: Mom, can I have some gold fish [crackers]?
Mom: You haven't finished your dinner!  You need to clean your plate before you can have any goldfish.
B: Mom, my plate is clean. [lasagna having been dumped in the sink] Now can I have goldfish?
Mom:  ooops...
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poor word choice on my part.  No, this wasn't delightful Finch...but I love this picture of her.  I bought my current camera so I could take pictures of her that aren't blurry.  That girl can NOT hold still when she's happy.

The Bedtime Games

Tonight we put the kids to bed.....
and they just kept coming back downstairs.  Finally I put Bear and Finch to bed for the last time.  Under no circumstances where they to get up for any reason.  If they got out of bed again, I'd close the door. (the lightbulb in their room is not working, so closing the door is a big threat.) If I had to come up again after the door was closed, no computer or iPad for either of them tomorrow. Less than a minute later.....I see a rope-like object dangling over the side of the stairs accompanied by giggles.  Unbelievable!!!
Finch hurt her leg running back to bed.
It didn't help that Seraph was outside their bedroom door playing.  Angel slept through all of this.  She's an angel :) [Seraph goes to bed later than the other kids....but that's a story for another day]

The Gal in Charge

Delightful Finch woke me up this morning to tell me that she didn't want diapers any more and she was going to wear princess underwear today.  She'd already taken off the (completely dry) diaper from last night and was fully dressed. I guess that's the end of that.  Even with the weird week, she's still easier to potty train than her brother :p
Happy the weekend is here!
People are starting to get ready for CHD Month (February)....I can't think of anything I want to do to promote CHD awareness aside from drawing more hearts.  ...and I'm already doing that, so I'm not sure it counts..heh!
Seraph has an appointment with her GI doctor next week.  He'll check her G-tube and see that her eating/weight gain is on track.

Meatloaf, please!

We started a new thing for dinner last week.  7 people in my family...so each person gets a night to be in charge of dinner.  (Mommy is their helper!) It's been crazy fun. The kids love measuring, stirring, and especially picking what to have. I get to kick everyone out of the kitchen save the ONE person in charge of dinner.

Tonight Delightful Finch is making meatloaf. We had it last week, and the kids loved it so much they wanted to have it again.  Beautiful Rabbit declared it the week of yummy dinners every night.  and Strong Bear said I'm the best mom he's ever known. (which, of course, is totally true!)
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Finch [kneeling in front of the oven staring at the meatloaf]: I did a great job, Mom!

Babies take naps

my "sleeping" princess

Delightful Finch is having some potty trauma.  It started around Christmas time...and it's getting worse and worse.  After being completely potty trained for a month, she's having accidents without realizing it.  She's terrified of some (but not all) of the potties in our house.  The scary toilets rotate a bit.
I put her back in diapers...but she still tries to hold everything in til she can go potty.  So, we have to take off the diaper for potty breaks at various intervals.
No fever, no pain. Trying to get her to drink more water - with some success.  However, it hasn't changed anything.
I can't figure out what's going on with her.  Any ideas?

Painting with Whipped Cream

Whipped cream painting is like finger painting but the mess isn't as permanent.  We used to do this in preschool.  What better way to trick Seraph into playing with food!!

Finch loved it!!

Seraph was NOT tricked.  Not even for a minute.  It was perfect for Angel, though.

Then I "wised-up" and put Strong Bear's on a plate.  Big mistake.  He barely drew at all!  It went straight in his mouth.

A great holiday (or any day) activity.  Clean up is easy - wipe everything twice with a warm/hot cloth.  Maybe next time we'll try pictionary--naming shapes and letters.

Snow Day and Cuz

Cousin D came to visit.  He was a huge hit.  Everyone loves him.  Seraph watched through the window as he made a snow bunny then a snow turtle.

 Angel helped - she decided the bunny didn't really want to be left on the porch so she scooped him up and threw him down on the ground.  Bunnies prefer to be on the ground.

 Finch handed me snowballs (I was inside with Seraph) so I could throw snowballs at D and Beautiful Rabbit (not to be confused with snowy rabbit).

 Beautiful Rabbit needs to work on her aim :p  She threw very gentle (and barely packed) snowballs at Seraph's window (before we opened it).  Seraph LOVED watching the snow splat right in front of her face. Giggles all around.

 Ok, I need to get Seraph some boots.

 Cousin D fixed snowy bunny...and then gave him a safe little hideout - safe from Angel and bunnies would rather be on the snow than the cement anyway....

 Snowy Bunny's new house.

It's supposed to snow more tomorrow....and I haven't taken pictures of the snow turtle yet.  He's HUGE!  This was way funner than snowmen.  Thanks Cousin D!!

My kids all took LONG naps after he left - can't wait for him to visit again :)...tehehe

Finch Earns a Puppy

 There comes a time when you're willing to stand on your head while singing Elmo's song while juggling a ball with your toes rather than keep changing diapers.  Delightful Finch required just the right set of circumstances, but she is basically potty trained now!

I invite Angel to go potty all the time....and she tries, but nothing ever comes out......until today!  It finally clicked and she just got it.  Sexy Haqon agreed to take care of Seraph's meds/feeds/diapers/etc as well as feeding the kids and keeping the kids from getting bored so I could follow Angel around all day helping her learn this potty thing.
I'm happy with her progress.  At first she was surprised by ummm..puddles...but now she can hold it in for almost an hour before needing to go potty.  Soon, I'll be able to get Finch and Angel on the same potty schedule...and that'll be perfect.
Then I'll only have one in diapers!  I can sooooo handle just one in diapers.  Sooooo much nicer than 4 in diapers.  AEEEEEEE!!! Thank heavens they grow out of that stage :)

I'm lucky my lil Angel is such a good copy cat.  Way to go, lil roo.  xoxo
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Mom: Finch has been really awesome at this potty thing, so I'm gonna go ahead and get her a puppy.
Dad:[omg, are you crazy!!!] uhhhhh - don't you think we should talk about this first?
Mom: why?
Dad: ......
Mom: oooooh, not a real puppy, sweetie, ...one of those Leapfrog Puppies that says, "I love you, Finch" and sings her songs like Angel's and Seraph's.
Dad: Whew!
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Happy First Day of Autumn!!

My lil Angel had a fantastic day.  We drove through heavy rain to the library.  The rain stopped just long enough for us to run in and grab our books.  We grabbed happy meals on the way home and then played til the school kids came home.
Watermelon for dinner plus way too many of Angel's favorite treats:  gummi bears with chocolate pudding and donut holes.  I forgot to break out the colored marshmallows, so maybe we'll do that today.
Thanks to everyone who called and sent cards for Angel's special day (that she doesn't have to share with Seraph like her birthday.)
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Angel: hey you, buzzy-bee fly!!  Hi-yah!!! [complete with karate chop]
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Finch: Hey, can I have it?
Mom: I dunno, that's Dad's.  You'll need to ask Daddy.
Finch: Oh, Daddy wants you to know that he wants me to have it.
Finch: [smiles sweetly with a "problem solved" look in her eyes]
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Seraph: ssssSSSSSSsssssSSSsssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss!!!