Trains!

Erik took a day off last week & we took Kellen & Annika on the Sounder up to Seattle! Kaarin spent the night/day with my parents, for the first time, & did AWESOME!!:) It was just easier not to have her with us, since she wouldn't have cared about most of it & is so squirmy now that she is mostly walking...oh yes. Anyway, we started our day out at the Pike Place Market (we have 2 books, "Larry Gets Lost in Seattle" & "Seattle ABC" that we read a lot, so we wanted to visit several places in our book! Pike Place is of course one of them) for doughnuts fresh from the oil.:) Delish as usual! We looked at the fish, flowers, etc. (Kellen received quite a scare when the monkfish he was looking at suddenly MOVED, with the help of the 'fisherman', though Kellen did not know that...not the best start to our day!). Then we went down under the viaduct (also in our book) to the Seattle Aquarium (yes, in the book).:) We had lots of fun there, then walked down to Ivar's for lunch...Annika fell asleep on the way there, & slept through lunch! Kellen & Erik fed the seagulls french fries.:) Then we took the monorail to Seattle Center where we saw the EMP (we didn't go in, but it is a site in the book) & the Space Needle! We didn't go up this time...the fountain was on, so we watched that for awhile, then got some (not-very-good, overpriced) ice cream. We took the monorail back then headed back to the Sounder. Kellen fell asleep on the way back to the train & slept the whole way home on the train!! Overall it was a really fun day, aside from a couple of things.:) I'm so glad Kaarin passed the 'spending the night' test! She got another opportunity this past weekend, though Kellen & Annika were with her this time! All 3 kids spent the night Sat. night while Erik & I celebrated his birthday. Happy Birthday!

So, yes, Kaarin is mostly walking now! She is probably at about 80%. She still crawls if she needs to go really fast.:) She is SO proud of herself when she is walking. She grins the whole time. She is so much like Annika in this way.:) Kaarin is also quite the climber. She loves the stairs, ladders, chairs, etc. She climbed up the ladder to the playground the other day, all by herself! She climbs on anything she can. Over the weekend she mastered climbing onto the rocking horse all by herself, & rocking & getting off too! She is still just a joy to have in our home, & is happy most of the time! She is officially down to one nap per day, & usually goes down between 1-1:30. She sleeps about 12+ hrs. each night, from 8ish to 9ish. I am still nursing her twice a day, & plan to continue until Sept. (we are going to Maui for our 10 yr. anniversary, so I will have to be done by then!).

Annika has been sick the last 3 days or so, with a fever. She is going to the Dr. tomorrow, so I'm sure she'll be better by then!;) She is a lot more clingy when she is sick, & is not quite as independent.:) I hope she is feeling better soon! She is doing a great job with her letters, colors, & drawing! Her pictures look a lot like what she says they are! She is not drawing people yet, but has been drawing crabs, jelly fish & dolphins! And shapes. She pretty much knows all her letters by sight (I think I mentioned this before) & knows most numbers 1-10 too.

Kellen has also been sick this week, though his fever is gone now. He is doing a lot better these days, & we are doing a better job parenting him.:) His misbehavior is less often, & is over more quickly too. He is sort of using the potty again...he did great for a few days when he got trains, then I told him he would get 1 more train but lose it if he chose to wear a diaper at home. He has not had those trains for about 4 days now.:( He certainly has his own ideas. He continues to be so funny with his words & conversations.:) I love listening to him talk when he is playing with Annika or his trains/cars. So cute! I can't believe my boy is turning 4 in a couple weeks!

A couple of funnies:

*The other day someone rang our doorbell just as I was getting Kaarin out of bed...Annika & Kellen ran to the door, & Kellen yelled after Annika, "Don't answer it, Annika, it could be a Ranger!" :)

*In the mornings the kids like to get naked either to go to the bathroom or get dressed...Kellen came out the other day all naked, so Annika started stripping. She says, "Almost naked...." Then she started jumping around & said, "We naked! We matching!" Kellen said, "We're not matching, Annika, because you have a binky & I don't." Then he pointed at her and said, "And you have that & I have a penis." hee hee

More Kid Funnies

*I asked Annika today if she needed a new diaper. She replied, "It fine, mama!"

*Annika recently has started asking, frequently, if I am happy: "You happy, mommy?" It is usually after someone has done something to make me unhappy...

*After Kellen hurts someone, I ask him to give them a kiss & then he tells them he is sorry. Sometimes when I ask him to kiss Annika, she says, "It o-tay! Me happy now!"

*Today I found Kaarin standing on her little kid table, next to the piano...I got the camera out & she looked at me, smiled, & said, "Cheese!"

*Last night we were praying before dinner & I heard Kellen say in a quiet voice, "Put your milk down, Annika."

*Today Annika was in the bathroom trying to go & I picked her used diaper up off the floor. Kaarin looked into it & said, "Poo poo!" (there wasn't any, but she knows where it goes!)

*The other day I asked if anyone wanted to listen to the story I was going to read Kaarin before I put her down for nap (they get really upset if I start without them, most of the time). Kellen said, "No, I don't want to listen because I have been reading books all year."

*Tonight after dinner I was in the kitchen cleaning up, Kaarin was standing on a chair at the refrigerator (she really is a climber, that girl) & Annika was still in the dining room at the table. Erik had gone out to mow the lawn & Annika shouted, "I see daddy!" I said something back to her, & Kaarin said "Dada" & pointed straight at Erik's picture on the refrigerator.:)

Kellen has been doing a lot of pretend play lately, especially with his trains. He talks for them in different voices & talks like he is reading a book. For example, he will say in a high-pitched voice, "Look out! I can't stop!, shouted Flora." It's fun to listen to his imagination develop. Kellen is doing awesome at baseball - he really could skip t-ball all together, since he can hit on a pitch. Probably there aren't too many 4 yr. olds who can pitch, so I guess that's why they play t-ball...he has Erik hopping in the 'field' though!

Kaarin is our most verbal child so far at this age, I think -- I will have to look back to be sure, but she already says consistently the following words:
thank you
mama
dada
bubble
cheese
poo poo
bye
good night (in a sing-song way)
whoa
whee (while swinging, of course!)
there (such as after she gets something)

Annika is catching on -- today she picked up Potato Head's purse & said she was going shopping. Then she came to me & said, "Here's your coupons, mommy!" She is doing a lot of pretend play too, but not usually with trains.:) It's fun to see her imagination develop differently than Kellen's.

Tonight Kellen was in his room, playing with a deflated balloon, kind of chewing it in his mouth. I told him he needed to take it out of his mouth, that it was dangerous. He asked why, & I told him that balloons can get stuck in his throat & mommy would maybe not be able to get it out to help him. He wanted to know why again, & I told him that balloons can get stuck & make it so he can't breathe, & if he can't breathe he would die (he has been talking about death a bit lately, not sure where it has stemmed from). He asked again about that, & I said that if he can't breathe, his brain can't work, & if he brain can't work he can't eat, or walk, or play...Annika was lying on the bed & she kept saying, "Me be with Jesus? Me be with Jesus?" :) I told her yes, if she died she would be with Jesus. Then she said, "Not be with mommy & daddy & Kellen?" No, baby, not until we die & go to be with Jesus too! Quite good insight for a 2 yr. old.



Annika has learned to recognize her ABCs already! We were reading The Berenstain Bears Count Their Blessings yesterday & on one page thunder booms, KABOOOOM. She pointed to each letter & said its name! She is also learning what words start with what letter. She learns so much with Kellen, it's great!

Chambers Bay

We went to Chambers Bay today (it is nice & sunny, but was breezy & a bit chilly there) to fly our kite & watch for trains! The kite flew great, & Kellen & Annika both got to hold the string. And we were lucky enough to see 4 trains!!! I'll try to post some pictures later.

Some side notes:

*Today we were eating breakfast & on the back of the milk carton is an advertisement for the meerkats at the Woodland Park Zoo. Kellen asked what they were, & Erik told him meerkats. He said, "Mirror cats? Like cats that look in the mirror?"

*We were discussing (also at breakfast) what we should do on this sunny day today. Erik asked Kellen if he wanted to go to the park & watch the trains & fly our kite. Kellen said he did, then said, "Maybe mommy will come with me & you can stay here with Kaarin & Annika." I told him that daddy wanted to see the trains too, & he said, "Well, we could tell him about what we sawed!"

*Yesterday the kids stayed with my dad while my mom, Kaarin & I went to do some errands. We came back & they were all sleeping. About 1 hr. later, Annika apparently woke up & heard me, so she decided to come down the stairs all by herself! (Our rule is that the kids have to stay in their beds until we come to get them up...this is the first time they haven't waited!!)

*Kellen went poo poo in the potty again yesterday, so we took him to Toys R Us to pick out a train. Then we all went to Krispy Kreme for our free doughnut on National Doughnut Day! (Ahem...Kaarin, my mom & I also went earlier in the day, during our errands...! Yum!)

Dentist visit

We had our first visit to the dentist on Thursday, & it went.....AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I was amazed, impressed, & so proud!! We had talked about it a lot, & I had also promised treats if they did what they were asked.:) We went in, & Kellen went first. He sat in the xray chair, wore the apron, & did everything they asked him to do for his xrays! Then he sat in the dental chair & let them brush & floss his teeth & paint on fluoride!! The only thing he didn't want to do was wear the sunglasses.:) As soon as Kellen was done, Annika jumped up into the chair & said, "Me turn!!" She did not have xrays or a cleaning (I guess since she's only 2) but did get her teeth looked at & fluoride painted on. I think she was actually a little disappointed that her check up was so short!:)

After the dentist, we went to get one of our 'treats.' We received a Blockbuster family night card for Christmas a couple years ago, & it expires at the end of this month...so I decided I would take the kids to each pick out a movie. Well, at Blockbuster, kids movies are only $1, so I decided not to waste the gift card on those & would just pay for them. When it was our turn to pay (Kellen picked Cars, by the way, even though we have it -- our movie gets stuck so he wanted one that didn't get stuck; Annika picked Bolt) the lady behind us paid for our movies!:) It was only $2, but it was still a nice gesture! After that we went & picked up a Little Caesar's pizza for lunch, came home & watched our movies.:) Their other treat was a sucker. They also got a balloon & new toothbrush from the dentist.

Lopez weekend

We have returned home from a weekend at Lopez Island with all of the family (well, most...). We didn't get as lucky this weekend with the weather, but we did get lucky with low tides! We haven't spent a lot of time up at the beach in the last year, & it wasn't until recently that the kids (older 2) really started getting interested in the exploration of the beach. This weekend was amazing with all the things we found on the beach, & the kids didn't seem to mind the weather for the most part (they did get cold but once they warmed up they were ready to go out again). Kellen had a blast filling his bucket with crabs, eels, star fish, hermit crabs, jelly fish, etc., & also touching sea anemones. Annika enjoyed it just as much, though she wasn't as big of a searcher under the rocks like Kellen was. It was great to see them enjoying the sea creatures & learning so much! We also had a great time with cousins & family.

Kid updates:

Kaarin: She is so funny & happy!! I love her personality, partly because at this point she is just so happy & funny.:) She has a few moments of defiance, but they are nothing compared to what brother & sister come up with. She is really good at signing "all done" & "milk" these days, & we are adding in "please" & "thank you." She is by far our most verbal child at this age, & she is imitating all sorts of words & sounds. She doesn't really need to sign thank you because she already says it. She chatters all the time & laughs at herself.:) She is just a joy. She has been taking LOTS of steps & walked half way across the room tonight! She is so proud of herself when she does it. I am mixed: it is so cute, but I know that once she is fully walking she will just grow right into my toddler instead of my baby! She is just so sweet.

Annika: Annika took a big tumble off the couch tonight & hit the corner of our coffee table.:( The solid, wrought-iron coffee table.:( She has a large cut & bump on her head, but was such a trooper in using the boo-boo bunny (ice pack) to help it feel better! Annika is so verbal these days, though she still needs a little interpretation from mom to others.:) She loves to be a big helper around the house, setting the table, taking care of Kaarin, etc. She is so funny, though sometimes it requires looking past her stubbornness to see it.;)

Kellen: Kellen had his last days in Miss Karen & Miss Karen's class last week, & had a graduation day & class picnic! It has been a good year for him, & they were so patient & nurturing to him & his little quirks.:) I think he will be most sad in Sept., when he goes back to the same class but to different teachers! Fortunately he does know one of them already, so that will help. Kellen used the potty today (after refusing the last 2 months since our trip to CA & our remodeled bathroom) but didn't want to wear his underwear again after nap...maybe tomorrow. Kellen cracks me up with his insight & interpretation of things.:) He is still working on some behaviors, but is doing much better now that things have settled down around here.

Speaking of tomorrow, the kids go to the dentist for the first time!! Could be interesting...