CAR Starts with C

This morning J was writing on his magnadoodle, like he loves to do, and informed me he had written "car". I looked excitedly over at the word and laughed out loud. He had written "COUNTRY", as in Town & Country!!! I thought that was hilarious! Unfortunately, he had erased it by the time I got the camera...I need to keep that thing in a more accessible spot!

We love our Town & Country, by the way, even though it's in the body shop right now as I type, getting some expected and unexpected repairs done on it. The passenger side window's motor died at the end of last week, and we have been driving around with a garbage bag duct-taped to the window! It was fun the first day, you know, a novelty? It was like riding in a helicopter. You could just picture the rotors moving faster and faster as we went from 0 to 60 on 41-A. By the end of the weekend, however, we were ready to take it in!

Way back when we bought it, we named our 2001 silver van Mini-Mobi, as in mini-mobile-home. We've put a lot of miles on our dear vehicle, even though she came to us with over 100,000! She's a good van and responds well to positive encouragement, like "go, Mini-Mobi, you can make it up the slippery slope of Grandma's driveway without snow tires! You go, girl!!!" And up she goes!

Here's a mini photo of Mini-Mobi (I imported this photo from Snapfish; I don't know why I can't make it bigger):

V's 3yr Doctor Visit

All five of us went to the new pediatrician's office yesterday for V's 3yr well-child check-up. Our appt was for 10:15am; we left the office around noon. but long wait aside, it was a great visit!

For J, there was this huge fish tank filled with pink fish that kissed each other and striped fish that dug holes.

For H, there were people to see, corridors to explore (and to be extracted from) and a video to watch.

For V, there was the anticipation of seeing the doctor!!!

She was really excited about going to the doctor's, probably because we borrowed The Berenstain Bears Go to the Doctor's from the library. She was a little nervous about getting a "shock", but I wasn't even sure she needed one. Indeed, she did - her Hep A booster. But she took it like a champ and got a princess sticker out of the deal!

V is in the 10th percentile for weight and height, which, as the doctor said, is not a big deal because "someone has to be there" and it's not like V has "giants for parents".

:)

I watched her sit trustingly and contentedly on the examining table, swinging her baby legs to a tune in her head and allowing the aide and doctor do whatever they needed to do. My pre-school-aged daughter didn't need Mommy right there, holding her hand, even if she did need me "close by". It felt like she took a miniscule step toward independence - a healthy, necessary part of growing up. It was a bittersweet moment.

Training Time

I've been slacking on our training times, but picked it back up again this morning.

Today I focused on manners with J and V. I gave each a plate with 5 goldfish crackers, 5 chocolate chips, and 5 raisins on it. They sat across from each other at the coffee table. They took turns asking each other for a treat. It was supposed to go something like this:

J: May I have a goldfish, please?
V: Yes, you may!
J holds out his hand.
V gives him the treat.
J: Thank you.
V: You're welcome.

And we did it until all their treats were gone (20-30 minutes).

I had to remind them about each line and action, but I'm not disappointed. It's just something we'll work on for the next week!

I'm glad the kids have each other to practice manners on!

With H, I worked on obeying the simple command: come here.

She did okay, but I'm seeing the need for consistent training and follow-up with her! She's in that very impressionable age (1 1/2), perfect for training!

I set her down somewhere in the living room with a toy and went into the kitchen area. I called her and made eye contact with her, holding out my arms. She came sometimes, with a huge happy grin on her face, which, of course, made me smile. And sometimes, she did an about-face and toddled off in the opposite direction. She's still in that cute-waddling stage, so I giggled as she wandered off, but still went after her, brought her back to the toy and called her again. We did this for about 10 minutes.

Even though the kids didn't do the tasks perfectly, it was good to focus on these skills for the short time we did today. It's an investment in their futures. Thank You, Lord, for my children!

Missed the Boat; Taking the Ferry

Well, I never did get out the Christmas letter/card and traditional family photo! Oops.

So, yesterday morning, I dressed the kids up and took pics of them to get on a Valentine's card. I put the pics on Snapfish and picked up my completed photo cards by 11am at Walgreens! I love online and one-hour photo services!!!

Here are some pics that didn't make the cut:

I thought it'd be cool if the action shot would work out. It didn't. Still cute, though!

For obvious reasons, I did not choose this photo.

Isn't this a darling photo? We borrowed The Berenstain Bears Get in a Fight from the library last night, but from this photo, it's hard to imagine why we'd need to read it! If you were here 24/7, though, you'd see why.

:)

And here are the photos that made it on the card: