Mom's Turn

No time for pics, but wanted to give a little update. We had a very busy week last week. Instead of working just 2 1/2 days, I was gone for 5 days in a row! I worked last Tuesday and Wednesday, and then had my ASHA (American Speech and Language Hearing Association) National Convention in Chicago from Thursday - Saturday. (I drove into the city with the least amount of anxiety ever, I'm so proud of myself!) That was my first ASHA conference and it came very timely. You see, I attended higher language level topics needed to help me feel more comfortable working at the middle school level. Plus purchasing resources always helps too!

Another exciting part was I stayed for the awards ceremony where I saw Senator John Glenn, the astronaut, introduce his wife Annie Glenn who gave "the Annie" to Julie Andrews for her contributions to the field of speech and language pathology. As you may recall, she lost her singing voice after vocal chord surgery. She is such an elegant, classy lady who eloquently spoke and charmed the pants off of me! Click here for more details Julie_Andrews.

Little Ones Under Foot

I am not lacking for company in the kitchen! Notice the chair to Simon's left? When that chair is in the kitchen, it is the "cooking chair". We now host our own daily kitchen show. According to Simon this is the introduction. "Welcome to Mommy's Kitchen, today we are cooking ______. And my little helper is Simon!" Norah just can't keep away!

Fall leaves are always a beautiful sight, even when we rake 10 yard bags full. Which generally puts us at half-way done. Simon enjoyed his brand-new rummage-sale toy. He never saw or played with the toy until raking day! For $2.00 spent in August, a very used wheelbarrow and leaf blower amused Simon for the afternoon. He worked just like Daddy!

So what is more impressive - seeing the fall leaves, or still vibrant green grass? This is the color question of the day, inspired by my Aunt Cindy's search for color (live_a_colorful_life). Bright colors are hard to come by naturally in the Midwest at the end of November!

Snap that Monkey . .

. . . right out of that tree!

Evidence of all the preschool fun (and learning) that Simon is experiencing!

Hey . . . It's Vertical Day!

A long time ago, back in college, my very first room-mate introduced me to "vertical hour", which was really 11:11 a.m. or p.m. Any time the clock said 11:11, it was vertical hour. Really a minute, but does vertical minute sound as cool as vertical hour? Nothing really happened, except that catching the time when all the numbers stood vertically brought happy thoughts or it was a chance to make wishes. This transformed into vertical day, when November 11 is 11-11! So I shared this thought with my Aunt Cindy and Uncle Mark, in CA and they caught onto the fun. Because how many things in life are so simple and pointless, but fun? Trying to share a vertical minute with a Californian is rather tricky with a 2-hour difference but always special!

Check out her rendition of Vertical_Day!

Happy Vertical Day!

Moving and Doing

Simon and Norah have fun in the tub together!

Norah and her painted stool from the art teacher at my last year's school!

Where I found my Honey-Bunch one day. She was complaining because she was stuck!

I put on an outfit the next size up; and well, let's just say the pants are too big!

Here are some video clips of Norah's and Simon's doings. Norah has been sitting, crawling, and standing for awhile, but the first clip is the beginning of this fine skill. Enjoy listening to her chat as well as one of Simon's and our favorite pastimes! Enjoy!!

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Happy Halloween!

Halloween began at our house in late August/early September when Simon declared that he wanted to be a snowman! He never changed his mind; we hope that his strong decision making skills continue with him throughout life! My hunch for his costume was a lion, as he had perfected a ferocious ROAR. I never predicted a snowman. We read the book "Snowmen at Night" in August because he refused to put it away, so yes, we read winter books in the summer. Anyways, he picked out a striped, long hat and scarf from the pictures in the book - which was fantastic. Because a long time ago I knitted him a stocking cap that he wore twice. The second time he dropped it in a store and it was never to be found again. So, I knitted another hat, that was much too big and it finally fits him now! So, he had a striped, long hat with a matching scarf! Norah was a candy corn, which was Simon's first costume.

Preparations for Halloween included making a snowman costume, carving pumpkins, and making "famous pumpkin cookies". We have adopted a treasured family tradition from when I grew up. We only trick or treated to the neighbors we knew, and in order to get a treat, we brought pumpkin bread. So we now say "in order to get a treat, we give a treat". And we deliver pumpkin chocolate chip cookies to all of our neighbors. Enjoy the pics.

Just after Norah was born, Aunt Debbie and Uncle Masato sent us this black and white hooded outfit. I was told that parents dress their little ones like this quite frequently in Japan. Luckily I remembered to pull this outfit out a few days before Halloween! Norah wore it all day on October 30th and on Halloween when she was changed out of her candy corn. It can be tricky to crawl all around dressed as a candy corn! Simon called her "little penguin" when she wore the outfit!

Simon went to preschool in his costume. There was a parade in the "gym"/parish hall where the kiddos trick-or-treated around the room. Just way too cute to see 14 little kiddos enjoying childhood! He is loving preschool and it is amazing to see and hear what he is learning.

7 Months Old

Norah was 7 months old on October 17th! Here are several pics to show all of her different faces. She grows and changes so much. She has become a very fun little girl on the go! Here are her new skills:

• enjoyed water play in the pool and the bath; splashes like crazy
• took a bath in the big tub with Simon
• kneeled and bounced in the crib while holding to the top; hence the need to lower the crib
• gave Mommy a curl for her birthday
• Army crawled with efficiency to get to Mommy's toes and Simon's puzzles
• Crawled for the first time on October 3rd - at 6 1/2 months old! Quickly learned to crawl to desired items.
• Crawled up our two little stairs!
• Pulled herself up to standing on October 15th!
• Tells us she's tired by rubbing her eyes, desired a pacifier when going to sleep
• Started eating food for lunch as well as breakfast and dinner. Oatmeal is a new grain!
• Vocal games include: coughing noises back and forth, "ada", "duh", "wuh wuh"
• Started to reach for Mommy, stare her down, or crawl to her when hungry.
• Started to look less identical to Simon, and a little more like Mommy. However; some pictures are such reminders of Simon at this age!