January RoundUP

DALLIN - two years and two months old

- freely maneuvers in and out of his crib. in the picture above, he knew he was supposed to take a nap, but he climbed out of the crib anyway, then cried by the closed door. when we tried to come in or get him out, he'd say "no tanks" amid the sobs. finally he just fell asleep by the door.

- successfully wields power from the parents and siblings. try as we might to explain that one should share, not hit, and not get into everything . . . he evidently rules the kingdom.

- enjoys looking at books by himself

- transitioned from playing in his own world, to playing with others. he wants to play whatever those around him are playing and tries to follow along. playing trains with big brother ike tops the list {"Ike, 'mon!} as well as playing house with sage.

- very vocal about his needs and knows what he wants; frustrated when we don't understand

- uses the rolling pantry stool as his gateway to our house. he wheels the stool all over the house - to the desk to pull out pens and paper; to the counter to grab food; to the sink to play with the water; in the pantry to pull down cans of food; to the window to look out at the snowman; to the laundry room to push washing machine buttons . . . he's doesn't bother asking anyone for help - he just goes for it.

- common phrase "no tanks, a wike" meaning, "no thanks, I don't like it." applies this phrase first to food, toys, naps, bath, siblings' kisses or hugs, but usually does like it.

- sings songs "Popcorn Popping" "I Am A Child of God" "Do As I'm Doing" "Twinkle Twinkle" "Sunbeam" "Snowman" "I Love to See the Temple." we love to hear his sweet, little voice. oh - and Hannah Montana via his sisters!

- pushes and rides a scooter

- prefers running to walking - moves his little legs as fast as they will go to keep up with his siblings

- choosy about shoes. . . absolutely will not wear an unfamiliar shoe. we've developed a routine to introduce the next size of shoe about 3 months in advance so he will be used to that shoe by the time his foot is ready.

- crawls around on the floor panting and begging for long periods of time pretending to be a dog




MADELEINE - eight and a half


- growing stronger and progressing well in gymnastics. frequently comes home sore from practice but decided that she wants to be a gymnast at byu someday.

- loves science and prefers non-fiction reading if i can get her to read at all

- listens and sings to music; picks up the words to songs easily

- asks lots of questions because she wants to "really know" and not satisfied with mediocre answers.

- prefers pony tails and t-shirts to fancy outfits. but when i offered her my green sweater that shrunk she dolled it up.




ISAAC - four and nearly a half

- pictured above with a carved bat apple inside it's cave (dinner roll)

- builds intricate train tracks around our main living area; the longer the loop and the more cross tracks the better

- rides back well without training wheels. although he took off the trainers last year, he can now successfully stop. he's almost too fast for my little heart! he can almost start by himself, too, but we are not encouraging this mastery. yet.

- is concerned when other vehicles pass us on the road and lets us know. "mom, that car is passing us. WE should pass it." or "good. we just passed two cars. we're the fastest."

- throws out words like "adult supervision" and "appropriate;" uses adjectives such as "gorgeous" and "astonishing"

- teaches himself to read and write upper and lower case alphabet letters

- LOVES puzzles and games

- randomly gives mom a kiss "let me kiss you mom . . ." and reaches up to smear one on my cheek or if we're reading books will kiss my upper arm or leg (whatever is closer). incredibly sweet

- continues to be a peacemaker - if a sibling is crying he'll give up a favorite toy saying, "here sage, you have it." if another sibling left something out and they are supposed to put it away (but arguing . . . very rare :) ike will step up and "do service"



SAGE - five and a half