Sunday, August 31, 2008

Funny Danica Story of the Day

Lately, Danica’s been interested in her night-light turtle that her Aunt Steph gave her a long time ago. The Girl started using it recently because she’s figured out that her room is really dark at night, and we like it because it shuts itself off after forty-five minutes. The turtle’s shell is perforated with star-shaped holes and is lit by three internal LED lights in different colors (amber, blue, and green) which can be changed by buttons on the turtle’s back.

Kindra usually lets Danica play around with it for a bit when she first gets into bed, and this was the ensuing conversation:

K: “Okay, that’s enough playing. Let’s choose a color now.”

D: “How about dis one? Orange [amber].”

K: “That’s nice, but Mommy likes blue or green.”

D: *Click* “Okay, blue.”

K: “Aw, thank you, sweetie.”

D: *Pause* *Click* *Click* “How about dis one? Orange!”

Heh.

Friday, August 29, 2008

Ketchup

Sorry about not updating more, but things have been really busy. In fact, Wednesday was the first time I set foot in my office in over four weeks. Even though I was working and traveling for business during the time away, there is a ton of work that I still need to catch up on (whee). Anyway, onto the kiddies…

Colin spent his first full day at daycare on Wednesday, and it didn’t go all that well. It didn’t go horribly, but it didn’t go well. He apparently cried and whined all day, but stopped immediately and let out a relieved sign when Kindra arrived and held him.

Today, Kindra left a burp cloth that she’d used last night with Jessie (per Jessie’s suggestion). Colin snuggled up with it all day, grabbing it and pulling it up to his face, and would only take a bottle when Jessie had the burp cloth on her shoulder. I’m leaving my shirt with him next week to see what happens…

The funny Danica story about Colin’s first day was that at some point during the day, Colin was crying and Jessie was trying to calm him down. Danica grabbed Colin’s blanket, walked over to Jessie and said, “Wrap him up!” Nice to know she’s paying attention to what we’ve been doing…

It’s amazing how much Danica’s language skills have developed over the last month. I was remembering how she used to communicate a year ago, and it was all signs. My favorite sign that we don’t get to see anymore is “baby.” She used to sign it so vigorously we thought she might hurt herself. *Sigh*

Signing is pretty much gone, but we will see remnants sometimes when she really wants to make a point. Occasionally she’ll say “mommy” or “daddy” and sign as well to make sure you understand, but that’s about it. Still, she enjoys watching the Baby Einstein signing DVD that we got from Kindra’s parents, and I think we’ll see a resurgence when Colin’s old enough to sign. Hopefully she’ll help him out.

I actually have more to say, but I’m tired of writing and forcing my brain to think, so that will have to wait until next time…

Sunday, August 17, 2008

Home at Last

392 miles with two kids and one twenty-five minute stop in just less than six hours got us home from our (almost) three-week trip away. And we’re happy to be back. In case you were wondering, we spent fifteen days in Des Moines visiting Kindra's family, flew to the Bay Area last Tuesday to see my family, and then rented a car and drove home Saturday night in hopes the kids would sleep most of the way.

It was nice to be away and around family, but difficult on all of our schedules. We're trying to get back in the groove quickly, since I'm traveling this week and the first part of next week, and Kindra goes back to work next week on Thursday. Next Wednesday will also be the first time Colin will go to the daycare provider, which is a little crazy in its own right.

Well, back to work. More on our expedition to come...