Beckys Blog

Grandma and grandpa (my parents) kept the kids for us this weekend. It sure was refreshing to have a couple days for just the two of us! We went to a conference in Portland, stayed in the Double Tree Hotel, ate catered meals, and got very little sleep. It was great! From what I've been told, the kids behaved just fine too. Here they are ready to go on Friday night! of course, 5 min after this picture was taken, they BOTH had blow out diapers and I had to change them out of their cute little matching T-shirts. (They say "Daddy's little girl", and "Daddy's little boy" And, after a weekend of fun, this is how Raquelle came home! At least I know she had fun. I picked her up, and she turned and reached for my dad! It's good to know that I can leave them for the weekend without any emotional break downs from them. The lovely black eye and scrapes are from her having a little too much fun on the trampoline and the porch swing. So, we got the kids b...

This morning, Raquelle was fussing. So I went to see what she needed and she was knocking on the bathroom door. I opened the door for her and she went over and knocked on the toilet lid and said "this". So I opened it up, took her diaper off and sat her on it, and she went potty! I'm still in shock! I think I may start sitting her on it a couple times a day since she is showing an interest. I guess it's time to invest in marshmallows for rewards! Don't worry, I won't do anything crazy like stick her in underwear yet. I had been planning to start taking her potty at about 18 months, but if she is interested in it now, great! Maybe we'll use a couple less diapers.

I thought it would be fun to post pictures of the kids with their current favorites. Here is Raquelle with the Duplo blocks that Aunt Marjorie bought for her this week. She is also wearing the dress that she picked out at Walmart off the $4 rack. I liked the blue one better, but she just had to have the pink one. Daddy said yes, since it was only $4. With the blocks, technically they say for ages 2 to 5, but it only took her 2 days to figure out how to put them together and take them apart. And dumping the bucket and picking them back up is just as fun as building things. This one toy will entertain her for an ENTIRE morning (from wake up until lunch time). Titus LOVES his taggie dog. He is finally starting to laugh and smile at toys, but this dog seems to be the heavy favorite. He lights up when he sees it, he tries to stick it's nose and paws in his mouth, and he snuggles it up against his chin. He played on this blanket with just the taggie dog for about 20 min today. ...

I can't believe it! My sweet little love bit me! And she left teeth marks! It really hurt! She was sitting on my lap being all happy and lovey...giving me hugs and kisses and smiling and talking gibberish. Then, suddenly, when I thought I was going to get another big wet slobbery kiss, she took a chunk out of my shoulder! I don't know what to do for this!? She has never responded well to spankings (they have absolutely no affect at correcting the bad behavior). Time out seemed to be making progress, until she climbed out of the time out playpen yesterday. Someone recommended hot sauce, but I've heard that in young children it can cause mouth ulcers or burn their taste buds off. So for those who have had a biter, what worked? I guess I should just be glad that this first bite was my shoulder and not Titus's! In other news and events, Raquelle climbed out of her crib yesterday. So, we lowered the rail all the way down and stacked all her stuffed animals on th...

My attempt at getting a good picture of my kids. Getting both kids to look at the camera and smile in the same picture is virtually impossible, especially with the few seconds of delay from when you push the button to when the picture takes. Anyway, here are some of my attempts. Raquelle wants to be a little gymnast. She is very flexible! 2 faces, 1 smile! Raquelle is more interested in me tickling her knee then in looking at the camera. Finally - both kids looking at the camera at the same time! Titus being cute. Titus being even more cute. So he can't really sit up on his own yet. It's hard to tell, but Raquelle is actually trying to catch him.

We've entered the scary part of parenting. Raquelle is starting to copy or imitate everything she sees me or Thad do! When I scold her (Raquelle! NO NO!) She turns and shakes her finger at me and says "NO!". I never realized I shook my finger until she did it back! She sees me swaddle Titus, so if he is in reach, she will take his blanket over and try to wrap him up. She also tries to burp him...so I'm having to try to figure out how to teach her it's ok for mommy to burp baby, but not ok for her to hit baby! It's hard to punish her for something when she thinks she is helping, or she is doing it because she saw me do it! Other things she imitates, she tries to open doors using the handle, she likes her doll or stuffed animals to wear a diaper (Left over smaller sizes work well for this), she rocks her teddy, and she likes to hang toys over Titus for him to play with. Here is the most recent copycat moment I have caught on camera. I finished this boo...

Titus rolled over last night! I put him down on his back for a nap in the play pen. After about an hour, he was on his side. 10 min or so later he started screaming! I went to get him and he was on his tummy! He hates being on his tummy (thus the screaming). I was sure he wouldn't roll till 6 months or later, but he has proved me wrong.