Levi Update

 The latest with Levi...

Our sweet boy is growing up. He can: climb and descend stairs facing forward without any help, unscrew containers (e.g. mascara, toothpaste, small jars, etc.), open doors (he can turn the handle and pull to open the door, but hasn't quite mastered the turn-and-push maneuver), and take really good care of Froggy (his favorite soft toy). His vocabulary and general language use are exploding. He picks up and can reproduce nuances and has a great command of the idiomatic uses of English for one so young (at least, according to me). He is very complementary, i.e. he often complements haircuts, chins, tummies, bums (e.g. "beautiful haircut", "nice chin") , and even an occasional action (e.g. "nice catch" when Nathan caught him from falling at the park the other night). He has recently started to reply to requests with "Oh! Sure, sure, sure" and loves to help and have responsibility.

We recently tried a merry-go-round for the first time at a park near the Riverton Library. He likes to go very slowly, which was just fine with me. (That's a piece of apple that he's holding right there.)

Later that day, Levi was a great assistant in a grand cookie-making venture at Grandma Boo-boo(my mom)'s house:

He is growing up and getting so tall. He weighs about 30 pounds lately and is growing (grown?) out of his diapers, so I plan to get busy this next week and make him a batch of diapers that will fit for a little while longer. Or maybe this is just the time that has come to potty train. Hmmm

The latest update with Ivy is that she officially has a middle name: Fiona. Suzanne, Nate's mom, really likes the name Fiona. A while back I asked her to think about whether she would like Ivy to have that as a middle name or if she, Suzanne, would rather have Fiona as the first name of some future granddaughter. Well tonight, we discussed it and Suzanne proclaimed that she likes the name "Ivy Fiona". Wahoo!! I really wanted her to agree to that, as I have grown quite attached to that pairing.

Also, I finally finished the phenomenal project of sorting all of the girl clothing that I have. I sorted into the categories: 0-3 months, 3-6 M, 6-12 M, 12 M-4T, stained, and to-pass-on-and-let-it-bless-someone-else's-family. I thought that I had more than enough of just about everything, and since the sorting I have found that to be sort of true. I have a TON of 0-3 M, quite a lot of 3-6 M, maybe enough 6-12 M, and practically no 12 M and bigger clothing. I also have very few girly socks, no tights until little Ivy is at least 12 M, and no long-sleeved onesies that will fit her if she's any bigger than 8 lbs. So, now we know what to look for in the clearance at Target and at garage sales (wahoo, we love garage sales!)

Also in preparation for the arrival of this next little one, I followed the advice of my dear Auntie Becca and got a copy of a book titled "Hypnobirthing" (for only $1 at a garage sale) and am appreciating the information I have read thus far. Nathan and I are also taking a birth class of the same title and enjoying it. The main goal is to have a pain-free, natural (completely free of medical interventions) birth, and I'm really starting to believe that Nathan and I can do it.

The book also speaks of the baby's abilities and experiences before birth. It says that a baby in the womb experiences the mother's reactions and emotions. The baby also recognizes familiar voices, so the recommendation is to read and sing and talk to the baby and be sure to let her know she is wanted and loved. It is also helpful to let her know that she is coming to a good family where the parents love and take care of each other and their children are wanted and loved.