Catching On

We've been telling and showing aydri how to say "bye, bye" for a little while now. She will wave bye bye occationally, but it seemed very random and I didn't really think she understood completely. Well, today, Kendi brought a friend home with her from Ballet and I had them go in her room where they could play with all the toys without worrying about aydri choking on any of them. I was listening to them on the moniter when I could hear aydri's voice in there too. I went and picked her up and took her out. As I was setting her down in the living room she waved and said, "bah, bah," a few times. It was so cute to see her finally say it like she knew what was going on even if it was a minute too late.

Now, Aydri thinks she can stand all by herself. She does for a second and then crashes hard. I can never get to her fast enough. I don't know why she falls so hard. I hope she gets better at it soon.

Aydri - 9 months

My how time flies. Adyri is getting quite the personality lately. It crazy how different two sisters can be, but its fun to note the differences. I always knew Kendi was very stubborn, but I did not expect Aydri to be even more stubborn than her. Aydri is a hundred times more stubborn, but when she finally settles into something she is content with her lot. They differ in that as well. If Kendi isn't happy with something, like bedtime, she will never be happy with it. Recently, Aydri has been waking up every hour all night, every night. Jared and I have been switching two nights on, two nights off. We were both feeling like we were at the end of our rope so I decided to try the delayed response method. In other words, just let her cry it out. I had done this with Kendi at about the same age. Kendi only cried for seven minutes the first night. I thought it was too easy, but then she always cried for a couple of minutes every time we put her down. It did help her sleep all the way through the night. When we tried this with Aydri I was expecting similar results. Aydri cried off and on for a solid hour. When she finally fell asleep she stayed asleep all night and hasn't cried in her crib since. She goes right down for naps and sleeps til shes done. She's figured out that we don't come in anymore and seems to be fine with now.

I'm beginning to learn that Kendi is vocal about things she doesn't like and Aydri fights things she doesn't like. When Kendi didn't want her diaper changed she would just scream. When Aydri doesn't want her diaper changed she grabs and swats my hands. Funny girls.

Aydri has started reaching for people she likes. Especially Jared when he gets home from work. And Gma Bulloch pretty much whenever she can. She cussed and screamed at the doctor and wouldn't stop crying. It was the first time would couldn't get her to stop. We can leave her with anyone in the family and she does fine. She's pretty good with most strangers as long as they're not putting cold stethoscopes on her. She plays very well especially if Kendi will play with her. She explores everything and is very good at sneaking off. She climbs on everything and tries to shake it. She will cry if you pick her up from Gma Bulloch's crib because it shakes especially well.

Dear Aydri - 8 Months Old

You're not very enthusiastic about eating. You would rather be playing and you get distracted by other people in the room. It takes quite a while to get a good meal down. Lots of games and trying to sneak food in your mouth. Very opposite from how your sister ate. We couldn't shovel it in fast enough for her. You get the most excited when I say, "All done!"

You are an explorer. And a sneaky one too. I think your right there by me and when I look up you've disappeared without a sound. You are good at getting yourself in trouble. You love to pull your self up on everything and you'll even grab a toy and stand there for a second. You have different ways of crawling depending on what you're doing. You'll crawl around using the bottom of your right foot so you can transition to sitting right away when you need to. When you get excited to get somewhere you'll try to crawl so fast that you almost stay in place. Its very cold outside, but you love to go for stroller rides.

You laugh a lot when you're really tired. Kendi makes you laugh the hardest. You play peekaboo with yourself by pulling the blankets up and down over your head. You love to sing whenever someone else starts singing. You jibber jabber and make all kinds of funny sounds.

Thursday, December 17th

As I put my days into writing it seems like everyday is so much like the last, but I know they are not. I wish their was a way to record things as they happen. There are so many cute and funny things that the kids do that are so quickly forgotten. I can't even remember what they were just yesterday.

I can see the Positive Parenting started to have an effect on Kendi. Instead of throwing fits she just threatens to throw fits. Some things that she has said are, "If you don't let me, I will run away," and "If I can't then I'll be mad." I just ignore these statments just I like I would a real fit and she doesn't really do it. I think she's realized that her fits don't gain any attention anymore, but she doesn't know how to get her way yet. I know that she starts to act up more if I'm not giving her adequate attention for behaving well. Its hard to get over the mentality of igoring your kids when they are good in fear of disrupting their good mood by talking to them. This book has also made me realize that most negative behavior, even from adults, is for attention and no other payoff. There is definetly a more positive atmosphere in our home lately and I didn't even think it was that bad before. I love it.

Aydri is starting to stand by herself. Just a few days ago she wasn't even pulling herself up at all. And then when she started she was really wobbly. I realize that I need to take pictures when she first starts doing something new because by the time I get the camera out she mastered it and is on to something else. I thought my Christmas decorations would be safe through Christmas, but this morning she was getting anything within sight. I hope she doesn't start climbing the tree. I'm thinking about putting it on top of the table. I'm glad I have one of those really high ones.

After Jared came home for lunch, I had him drop us off at my parents while he went to work with Dave. I worked on tags for our Christmas gifts. Jared came home late because they had gotten really excited about something new they want to create. We've been talking to Dave and his family about home schooling. I'd like to get started with Kendi. Right now she is learning to read with Hooked on Phonics and a lot of help from me. Its fun to watch her learn.

After Jared got done with Dave, we left Aydri with my parents so we visit some friends. We went home first and ate dinner and made some more snowy popcorn. The Schaffers had invited us over for Christmas treats and boy did they have a lot of treats. It was fun. Kendi watched something about Casper Christmas while we talked about food, family, politics and gospel. We really enjoyed our time at their home and look forward to spending more time with them. Brother Schaffer is in the High Priest Group Leadership with Jared so they are good friends. His wife is the sweetest lady you'll ever meet.

We left there to go get Aydri. Chad was still at my parents house so we stayed to play a game of cards. We played Mormon Bridge. Jared and I kept switching off with the lead score. Jared and I never win so this was fun and we teased each other the whole time. Kendi even played with Grandma's help. Grandpa took the game way too seriously as usual. Cari was tired and just played probably more for us. Kendi got bored and didn't finish with us, but she thought she was the winner anyway. Aydri was so tired by the time we were done that I actually rocked her to sleep in my arms. That doesn't happen very often.

We borrowed Its a Wonderful Life and went home. When I got there I was putting away the popcorn we had made and realized that the popcorn we had already put into cans tasted like spray paint. I used some can that had blue lids so I painted them silver and put a bow on top to make look like presents. We had to call the Schaffers and tell them not to eat the popcorn. I was livid. I have sleep issue to begin with and being mad doesn't help so I had Jared bring the laptop in the bedroom so I could fall asleep watching Its a Wonderful Life. That was a great idea. Love that movie.

Wednesday, December 16th

Jared got off to a late start so I knew it was going to be a longer day for me. Everything started out like it normally does. Kendi and I cleaned and started laundry. Aydri played and took naps. Aydri is getting to be a handful. Gone are the days when she would just sit in one spot and play with toys. Now she thinks she needs to climb on everything constantly. She's even starting to cruise. She's too little to do this. You can barely see her head over the top of the couch cushions as she shimmy's along. She even thinks she needs to stand up in the bathtub. I let her stand up as long as she wants to so she will get stonger and have more control, but I have to be right there in case she falls, which she almost always does. Silly girl.

Kendi is being funny about getting bigger. She will stand up and say, "Look how big I am." After cleaning the car out I installed her carseat so that we could just buckle her in with a seatbelt and she loves it. Also, whenever I tell her that its time for a bath she asks to take a shower like a big person. She got especially excited this morning and squeeled, "I wear seatbelts and take showers! I'm so 'sited!" She makes me laugh.

I finally got the bathrooms cleaned that I had been meaning to do for two days. For some odd reason as I was finishing up I started to feel completely worn out. Aydri hadn't been sleeping well during her naps so I put her down so I could take a nap. I told Kendi to wake me up if Aydri cried. Kendi loves responsibity and offered to take care of Aydri when she woke up. I thought I would hear her if she woke up while I was asleep. Thinking she would finally take a long nap I was dissapointed to be woken up after about ten minutes of sleep. Kendi had even tried to give her her binkie, but she was ready to get up. Once again Kendi offered to "babysit" so I could rest. I really wasn't feeling well so I layed down on the couch and watched the kids play. Kendi was such a sweetheart. She brought me a blanket and a teddy bear. She would come over and stand by me and say, "I'm taking care of you," or "I love you, mommy." She would tuck in the blanket and even climbed on top of me.

Jared finally came home at four and could tell I wasn't feel well. He made dinner and took care of the kids while I continued to rest. We went to his parents early to watch the rest of the finaly of SYTYCD. I continued to lay on the couch over there and probably layed there for three hours. Luckily Aydri was tired enough to fall asleep on her dad while we watched the show. We went home and I went straight to bed. I thought I was on the downhill side of this sickness, but that was the worst day I had had yet.

Tuesday, December 15th

Tuesday was a pretty typical weekday for us. Jared went to work early so he could come by 3 pm. I love it when he is able to do this. Three is about the time I start getting worn out and less patient. While Jared was at work, Kendi and I did dishes, folded towels, worked on Christmas presents and tried to clean the kitchen before we started making more snowy popcorn. Kendi got so whiny that I had to put her down for a nap. I wanted to get the bathrooms cleaned, but I couldn't get the kids to sleep at the same time. Kendi is usually really good at helping me with housework, but we just didn't get them done before Jared came home. Aydri played really well and I had to rock her to sleep before she would take any naps. Her teething and stuffy nose have made it hard for her to get to sleep and we are creating more bad habits. I feel like with some things you just have to do what you need to in order to get by. Especially with babies. I actually enjoy rocking her to sleep. We get to snuggle and there doesn't seem to be anything more satisfying than a baby falling asleep in your arms.

When Jared got home, the plan was to take the Expedition to the Southwest Tech garage to get the brakes done and have the O2 sensors looked at and then clean our car. Jared had been on the phone with his distributor and found out some good news concerning Deseret Book. This was a huge relief as we have not had the sales we were used when we sold the artwork ourselves. When Jared went to start the Expedition the battery was dead. We decided that since our car battery was struggling as well we would barrow a battery charger to charge them both that night (although we later forgot). *Sigh* We still wanted to clean our car so we took the kids to my parents. My mom wasn't there right away so we hung out with Cari for a little bit. Aydri just loves Cari and was being funny with her. She would lay on Cari's lap while she chewed on her sippy cup. Cari would sit her up and she would fall back in her lap. After several times of doing this we realized that Aydri was doing it on purpose, like it was a game. She's so funny.

When my mom got home we left the kids to go clean the car. I had noticed that our car seems to be getting smelly with age. Or maybe its because Jared and his buddies take it to play basketball. Whatever the reason, I had recently noticed an old stinky boy smell which means that it must be bad if the owner can smell it. I was determined to get the whole thing shampooed. We drove around and coudn't find any shampoo machines that still worked. So just went to Jared's parents house to vacuum and spray it down. I think I'll look into making some air fresheners.

We went back to my parents house, ate dinner and played Settlers (I know, again). Jared won. We watched NCIS while Aydri took a nap. When Aydri woke up we went up to Jared's parent's house to watch SYTYCD. This is a tradition of ours. It was the finaly. The missionaries called just as we started watching. One of them is Filipino and wanted to talk to Jared in Tagalog before he went home. They also wanted Jared to draw something for their Zone Conference. Somehow we ended up staying very late and we got very tired. Aydri fell asleep on the way home and didn't even wake up when I took her clothes off.

Monday, December 14th

We were all feeling a lot better, but I still didn't feel like a had much energy. Aydri seemed to be doing a lot better than she had been for a while. Jared always wakes up really early to start working so he can come home early. Aydri used to wake him up around 5 am, but lately she's been sleeping in til 6 or 7 so he didn't get to work as early as he'd like. I stay home with the kids and do housework that never gets finished to the point I would like. I also work from home and never get as much done as I would like to there either. My main priority is my kids and I try to make sure they get the attention they need. The girls are actually really good at playing by themselves and with each other. The only problem is that they make a wreck of the house. I'm glad though because I would rather have them playing creatively than sitting on their behinds in front of the tv or computer. Kendi is getting better at helping me cleanup afterward. We had some friends drop by with Christmas gifts and Kendi I started to make some for our neighbors. We've been experimenting with Snowy Popcorn and peppermint candy canes. We ate the whole first batch.

Jared came home from work frustrated because so many people wanted him to do things for them and he couldn't physically do it all. Jared is currently working as a web developer. He goes to his parents house where its quiet. We also try to sell his art, but it isn't our whole focus right now.

After Jared came home we had family night. Our lessons are short for Kendi and she loves family night. We did a lesson out of last years December friend. We talked about Temple's and Snowflakes and how they are all unique. Kendi did an activity where she matched the snowflakes to find out which prophet dedicated which temple. Then we made paper snowflakes to hang in our window.

Then we had dinner and went shopping. We bought a toy for the toy drive and some groceries and grabbed a movie on the way out. We went home, watched the movie, and went to bed. Jared said he really enjoyed his evening and felt better after having been frustrated with work.

Sunday, December 13

I hate how busy this time of year is. This is the time of year when I especially want things to slow down. I've decided to keep a short daily journal for at least one week of every month. I want to remember the simple everyday things we do as well as the big events.

This Sunday our whole family woke up sick. Aydri has had a stuffy nose for a few days now and the rest of us finally came down with it. Jared had to cancel on his missionary meeting and I had to find a substitute for the nursery class that I was supposed to substitute. Why doesn't anyone answer their phones on Sunday? Without going to church our Sunday felt extremely long. We figured that we had already exposed my family to the sickness so we went over there to play our traditional game of Settlers. When we got there my Aunt Bonnie was there. It was fun to visit with her. Then her daughter, my cousin Trish, showed up with her boyfriend, Kade. We found out that Kade is going to school at the Southwest Tech Center and works in a garage that will fix your car for free. They just happened to be working on things that our needs right now. What a blessing.

We went home early and went to bed. We were all tire from being sick and being up all night with Aydri.

Kids, Kids, Kids

There's lots of things going on with the kids. They do clever things everyday and I need to be better at writing them down.

Aydri can crawl normal now, but most of the time she prefers not too. She can pull herself up on to anything within reach and that seems to be her favorite thing to do these days. We noticed her third tooth coming in just yesterday. She is currently very congested so this had made for several miserable nights for all of us. She has been sleeping in the crib in Kendi's room. Kendi loves this and normally Aydri sleeps really well in the crib. She says Dada now as well as Mama and sometimes it sounds like she says Kendi too. She has a lot of personality and has become very vocal in the last few weeks. Another loud person to compete with in the house. Her little antics make us laugh.

Kendi is a little sweetheart. I've been reading a book about positive parenting and it has helped us get along very well. She has always been a sweetheart, but she has a stubborn streak and has always been a fit thrower. Since I've been reading this positive parenting book I haven't had to put in time out anymore. In fact I think time out is silly now. It never worked long term and it wasn't always an option. Thanks to Jana for getting me this book.

About a week and a half ago we went to Monroe for a boutique show to sell art. It was a great experience and we got to see a lot of my family that lives in that area. As we were cleaning up, Kendi came showed up with my cousins that are around her age. Kendi noticed a lady that was dressed up as Mrs. Claus. Kendi followed her around for a few minutes until Mrs. Claus noticed her. Kendi gave her a big hug and told her that she wanted a scooter and barbies for Christmas. It was adorable, I wish I had my camera permanently attached to me for moments like that.

I love my girls so much. Its so much more fun to relive the wonders of Christmas through the eyes of your kids. I would say its even more fun than when I was a kid myself.

Aydri - Seven Months

I didn't realize that when Aydri would turn seven months old it would hit me that she isn't a little baby anymore. She is an older baby now. This really has been a big month of milestones for her too. She pretty much can go anywhere she wants. She army crawls and is pretty quick at it. She will get on her hands and knees and rock back and forth like most baby's do before they crawl. She will even take one step and then dive back down and army crawl. Recently, she will even get up on her hands and feet. She has also figured out how to get back on her bum from crawling. She folds her knees up underneath her and shimmys her hands back until she lands on her bum and then sits up. Its very entertaining to watch. I can't believe she's figured it out already. She eats all kinds of foods now and has tried juice, but doesn't really like it. I don't think its what she's expecting when she tastes it.

We usually stay out visiting family in the evenings till about her bedtime. Sometimes she falls asleep in the car on the way home. I've even considered bringing her pajamas with us so she's ready for bed when we put her in the car seat to take her home. If she's not already asleep, I usually get her ready while Kendi and Jared read stories. When she's ready I take her in to say goodnight and give hugs and kisses. I lay her down in her bassinet and she is usually really good at falling asleep by herself. Its so cute to see the way she rolls over, pulls the blanket to her face and closes her eyes. Lately, she has been waking up more in the night. I think her teeth are bothering her enough to wake her up and for her to realize she is hungry so she cries for a bottle. We get less sleep now than we did when she was a newborn.

She wakes up for the day around seven. Jared is usually up by then so he takes her out and feeds her while I get up. She doesn't stay awake too long before she goes down for her first nap. When she wakes up from her nap she gets her baby food breakfast of fruit and cereal with her vitamins. She loves it that way.

She has started making more than just vowel sounds. She jabbers like she knows what she's saying. I've taught her how to say mama really well, but she only says it when she's whining. Backfired on me. She likes to copy noises and games we play. Aunt Cari got her clapping and now whenever someone says "Yay" she will start clapping. Jared was blowing raspberries on her neck a few days ago. She would laugh so hard and then try to do it back to Jared. She would stick her tongue out as she would try. It was adorable. She is very interactive now and fun to play with. Kendi has a ball. Aydri follows her around while Kendi hides and they both laugh so hard. They torture each other and love it at the same time. Aydri will crawl to her toys and Kendi will snatch them just before she gets there. They go all over the place doing that. They both love it. Aydri likes to grab Kendi. Sometimes Kendi thinks its funny and sometimes she doesn't.

Aydri gets so excited when Jared comes home from work, but as soon as he leaves the room she starts crying. She knows that I come and go all the time so she doesn't cry when I leave. She stares at strangers more, but still has a smile for everyone. We can tell that she's learning at a much quicker pace now.

Yes Man

Kendi's latest little thing is to say "Yes man," whenever I ask her a question. She must have heard people saying, "Yes ma'am," in a movie, but she doesn't know the word ma'am. She always says it so proper and politely. It makes me smile.

Aydri is turning into a little explorer. She scoot/crawls anywhere she wants to go. Her latest favorite discoveries are french fries and cheerios.

A few days ago, I was visiting my parents house. Kendi was in the back bedroom watching Mary Poppins. All of a sudden we heard a crash coming from the room she was in. Jared went to investigate. Kendi had been watching the part with the penguins where Burt adjusts his pants to dance like the penguins. Kendi wanted to dance like penguins too. She was standing on the bed and had adjusted her pants to be down around her ankles. When she tried to dance she fell off the bed.

We always ask Kendi after church about what she did in nursery. Last Sunday she had a picture she had colored that said, "I can be happy when I say I'm sorry." So I asked Kendi what she had learned about and she told me about a story she had heard. I prodded her a little further to see if she had learned about saying sorry and she quickly responded, "I didn't hit Blythe."

Aydri - 6 Months Old

Stats:
Weight: 16 lbs, 9 oz. 70%; Height: 27 in 90%.

I know I've said it before, but time goes by so much faster with the second child. Its not fair. Aydri has started eating vegetables. She's had her first hair cut and she can sit up and play by herself. We still put pillows behind her in case she gets excited and falls backward. She likes to lay in bed with us while we read stories to Kendi before nap time. She likes to watch Kendi sing songs like ABC's, I'm so Glad When Daddy Comes Home, and Happy Family. She will hold the bottle long enough to get it in her mouth and then she thinks someone else has to hold it for her. We're trying to teach her to hold it all by herself. She can scoot and roll anywhere. We have had to baby proof the house in the last couple of weeks. She is a busy body. Always has to be looking, moving, reaching and going for something. She does not like to be held.
Update: Aydri just had a tooth break through today.

Little Shopper

Last Monday we had a family night lesson on money. We used play money to show how we earn money by working and that the money gets used on bills and things. We showed how we only have a little left and talked about saving and spending. Kendi seemed quite interested. We helped her count her money and talked to her about how 10% goes to tithing and some goes to savings and some goes to spending. She had about $11 in her spending piggy bank when we were done. She put some of it in her purse and wanted to go to the store. We were planning on going anyway so we let her bring her money. She started looking at everything in the store when we got there. At first I thought we were teaching her completely wrong. It felt awful to walk around the store just trying to find something to spend money on. I explained to her how she could save her spending money until she had enough to buy something she would really like, but at first she just wanted to keep looking. She was kind of funny about how she would pick something up, look it over, and then put it back on the shelf. At one point she had settled on a doll. I once again tried to explain to her that she has lots of dolls and didn't really need another one and that once her money was gone she couldn't buy anything else. It didn't feel like she was listening, but I knew that I had to let her decide. I thought that she would have to learn this lesson the hard way. BUT THEN. . .She remembered that she really wanted to buy a scooter. She has been talking about them for months. We took her to look at the scooters and told her that she didn't have enough money for one, but she could save what she had and wait til she got more to pay for it. She decided that that was what she wanted to do. I was soooo proud of her. We walked straight out of the store after that.

We went in to Deseret Book today to get an idea of the current prices of artwork. We've been a little out of the loop lately. While we were there she kept seeing things that she wanted. Remembering the lesson we had had she kept asking Jared if he a certain amount of money to pay for certain things. People in the store would laugh and think she was being cute. I finally reminded her how much money she had to spend if she really wanted something. She found something that she really wanted. I told her that if she bought it she wouldn't have any money left to put toward her scooter. She immediately put it back.

I know that a scooter is just another toy, but I'm glad that Kendi can understand that we can't have everything and that's okay. I think she will really appreciate her scooter when she can finally buy one.

Copy Cat

So Aydri has been copying a few things for a while now like kissing noises and sticking her tongue out and blowing, but recently she been doing a few more. I didn't realize that I nodded my head at her so much until she started nodding back. She does it constantly. She has also been saying, "mama, mama," when she cries. I remember Kendi doing this at 6 months. At first we thought Kendi was just making a new sound and that she didn't really know what she was saying, but we realized that she did it consistently when she was hungry and started saying other words too. She was an early talker. Aydri has started doing the same things. Can babies really say their first words at 5 months?

Dear Aydri - Five Months Old

I can't believe I let this much time pass without writing about Aydri's five month mark. I guess we're just having too much fun.



You are about 15 pounds. You've been chunking up a little more. You've learned how to play with anything you get your hands on. We can keep you entertained with toys now. You actually prefer to play rather than be held. You could sit and watch Kendi all day. You get both legs swinging when you sit in the bouncer. You get excited when you get it going really fast. You will laugh very spontaneously. Mostly at sudden new sounds. It catches everyone off guard and then they try to repeat it over and over. You get bored with it a lot faster than we do. You rarely cry. Even when you're hungry you just whine a little to let us know. We took a trip recently and you've come to dislike the carseat, but if we play music and give you something to play with you're fine. You're very quiet in your crib. We never know if you're really asleep in there or not. Even after you've been asleep and you've woken up you don't make much noise. You just play. You started cereal a couple of weeks ago. You'll eat it, but you act like you don't care for it. It takes a while to feed you because of how lackadaisical you are about it. You can sit up by yourself, but sometimes you'd rather not. We still have to be careful about sitting you up. You like to go after things. You can scoot, roll and maneuver your way anywhere. You mostly go after the binkie and you've figured out how to put it in you mouth by yourself. We love how happy and cheery you are. You brighten every ones day. Your whole face lites up when you smile.