Wednesday, March 23, 2011

Corbin Ender is 2 months old!

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He is really one happy camper!

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Dinosaur Baby

I just love this little man!

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And this little outfit!

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He like to imitate a T-Rex while wearing it.

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Sometimes he will do the worm while wearing it.

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And then he overachieves and gets really high with those little legs.

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And then other times he just wants you to know he will stomp on you!

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But mostly he is just exudes cuteness of a deer in headlights.

Did I mention how much I love this little guy?

Playdoh and Play cars

I had a bit of trouble with Playdoh.  Not the mess it makes.  Not the gross smell.  Not the little pieces that collect under the finger nails.  Non of that.  I had trouble with the kids mixing the colors.  Like major trouble with this part.  ????  I don't understand it myself.  But I just could not get over the fact that the colors will be mixed and then the kids would not have a fun time with the playdoh after that.  I thought that if the color of the hotdog was not realistic they would reject the tactile dough and move on to something else.  Well, after a few phone calls to Kristin and my mom I finally worked myself into giving the kids more than one color to play with at a time.  I just let them be free with it. 

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And you know what, they loved it. Of course you knew that. Everyone knows this. But OCD Art mom just did not. They don't care that now we have a lovely shade of slate blue playdoh to play with. They just love making snakes and plates and balls and piles of it.

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All mixed up. All blended into a new shade. And I am OK with it all. (except the smell...)
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Corbin was just being a rock star during the day lately. He is up much more and becoming much more aware of the world around him. I really look forward to the day that we can take him out into the world and just hang out in the yard under the playground and just look at the clouds together. But I will have to be happy with floor cuddles.

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My little peely baby!

Scott and I have started to purge the house and our lives of all the excess that chokes us every day. Reducing the clutter has really helped us just be able to maintain the organization in the house.  However, sometimes a box here or there remains and becomes a magical object.

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Yep, this was hours and hours of fun (and only a few tears when Izzy scribbled on Devon's steering wheel). I had to secretly toss it in the recycle pile after a few days and the fact that it was totally falling apart. Can I just say I love FREE toys!

Painting Time!

I know a part of me really, really wants to see all three kids love art as much as I do.  I feel it has propelled me in so many different arenas of life.  So I am constantly straddling the fence of slyly suggesting some art or craft but not wanting to push them into it.  Well, maybe Devon I do push since he really does not like to get messy.  Izzy on the other hand just could care less about her state of being.  She welcomes messes.  So, I feel like it is my duty to get Devon as messy as I can every day.  So that means I will smear peanut butter on his hand or yogurt on his cheek to get him more accustomed to messes.  And how easy they are to clean up.  But, I think we might have found one craft that he likes.  It is not too messy and it is fun.  And I don't go crazy about mixed colors or what have you.  WATERCOLORS!

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Their cute little aprons and the mess of colors was so delightful to see.
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Devon really was getting into making the brush do different strokes. He also learned how to really load up the brush for a max color stroke. These are some of my favorite art pieces he has done in his short little life.

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Devon really wanted to show me how he could paint with his feet?  How cute is he?
And not to mention the joy it brought Izzy just warmed the little place in my heart.
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Saturday, March 12, 2011

Potty Party...take one

POTTY PARTY!!!
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Whoo hooo!  I got a bit overzealous with wanting to start potty training Devon AND IZZY with a 5 week old at home.  Really Jeanne?  That was a bit over reaching.  Well, I did not really realize that until we were in the thick of it.  But let me rewind to the beginning.

We have received so many pairs of undies for Devon from our friends and Devon picked out some for himself months ago.  But, Isabelle had no special underwear or any underwear for that matter to start her newest journey of being diaper free.  So, off to Target we went.

At first, Devon was excited about giving her some of his favorites.  He is really good at that!
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Scott thought I was a bit crazy for carrying my huge camera into Target to document the underwear shopping. I guess there are worse things...
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Finally, Isabelle decided upon some Pixar and Dora undies. She was so excited that she got to pick them out. But I supsect she was more excited to be walking in a store.
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Look at that joy!
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The following day was POTTY PARTY!
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Both kids picked out the inaugural pair and we put them on. Izzy walked around with only her Dora's on and Devon picked out a lovely pair of Thomas (well James) pants.
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My thought was to go with the three day method. (Where you put underwear on, feed the kids tons of water and wait) Well, Devon had a few successes and Izzy...well, lets just say she was oblivious to any of the tinkles. After two accidents, we went right back to the diaper. She was so not ready. Devon was doing pretty good. I think if I would have kept with it, he would be flying diaper free right now. But, my complete oversight of Corbin was hindering our attempts. When "GO TIME" happened, I just could not leave Corbin. There were so many tears and crying from Corbin that it really stressed me out.
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I mean, how could I let this little nugget of happiness cry?
So, we aborted our party by noon. I suspect that in a few more weeks when Corbin becomes a bit more predictable we will try again. This time with only Devon. I think he will catch on right away then. Since our party, he has asked about once or twice a day to use the potty. So, he is getting it.

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At least we decorated for the big day!

Puzzling to Piggy tails

How the heck did an entire month slip past my watchful eye?  I swear, the more kids you have the faster the clock ticks.  So, I am going to try to catch up before the big monthly post.  You know I love those monthly shots!  :)

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Devon has been on fire as of late.  He is obsessed with puzzles.  And when I say obsessed, I mean obsessed.  I do believe he would enjoy an entire day of only puzzling.  Yest, we have a little tornado called Izzy and tiny puzzle pieces and her really do not mix.  So we contain the would be mess by only allowing the puzzles to be done at Izzy's nap time.  For a few hours everyday Devon gets hunckered down at the table with his puzzle and goes at it.

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He first started with a simple 12 piece one.  After completing it was some help for us, he went on to be able to do it without any help.  Then we presented the 25 piece ones.  Again, almost effortless for him.  He is really good at puzzles.  Then he graduated to the 50 piece ones.  Now he will pull out his puzzle and sit down and put together about 10 in the 90 minutes of Izzy's nap.  He is so content.  It is adorable.  After he finishes one, he will run over to me and ask me to see his work.  The pride in his eyes makes it so worth it.  Not to mention that I am able to get some work down while he is engulfed in this joyous activity.

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I find it really wonderful that he is able to love something so fully.  Almost too fully.  He quite often will ell me after breakfast that he thinks Izzy needs to go down for her nap at 10am.  He will whole heatedly believe that.  My little nugget just loves to puzzle!


Isabelle has hit a very, very important milestone.  Specifically her hair has hit a milestone.  It is long enough to put up into tiny little piggy tails.  It really melts my heart to see her like this.  I kept thinking we were just waiting for a ponytail.  I totally forgot that piggy tails are the most adorable and precious "tail" a little girl can sport on her head.  And surprisingly, she likes them. 
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I just love this little girl.

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