Bad at Updating

Well... I'm sure there have been a lot of funny little things that I've missed sharing with you these past couple weeks. But they've been insanely busy, and they've left my mind as quickly as I committed to remember them.

Tuesday the 11th, as you read, Dominic had tubes in his ears. That same Tuesday and Wednesday, I was out of town. Wednesday the 12th, Amara broke her collar bone and we spent Thursday at the doctor. That weekend, Jon was out of town. Monday through Thursday, I was out of town. Then this past weekend, we spent away at a family wedding and with Jon's Grandparents. The poor kids don't know which end is up anymore... neither do the poor parents! They were troopers through it all -- their worst days were when we weren't all together as a family. Though the drive this weekend was wearing and the wedding kept them up WAY past their bedtime, they function MUCH better when the family is a complete unit. God sure knew what he was doing when he gave kids a Mom AND a Dad. I still am just in awe that anyone can do it on their own. I depend so completely on Jon to keep things running smoothly (and I hope he says the same about me).

Anyway, so in this past couple weeks, here's a little bit about both kids...

Dominic:
He continues to improve in his walking skills. He absolutely LOVES his new freedom and explores everything with confidence. He enjoys being in the middle of the action and for now appears to be fearless -- which makes me fearful! He continues to be very much laid back and easy going. He does have occasional temper flares when he doesn't get what he wants (shown by smacking the person taking from him what he wants), but for the most part is pretty even tempered.

The other major change since tubes is his vocabulary. He tries to repeat everything now and is quite good at communicating what he wants. He understands most of what we ask, giving us a nod or shake of the head in response. He also points at his choice when we ask him "this" or "that." On the flip side, when he gets into something he knows he's not supposed to and we call him on it, he'll turn to us and shake his head -- he knows better! Little imp.

The biggest comment we get from others observing him is that he's such a happy baby. Very true. He has the best laugh... and he knows it... so he "fakes" it a lot, just to get the positive attention. He's a little snuggler and a total Momma's boy. I'm sure he'll grow out of that -- he cries for a bit when I leave him, but quickly warms up to the person caring for him.

Dominic also LOVES to eat, which I'm sure is no surprise to any of you who have held him. He's up to 30 pounds right now and has beautiful, squeezable, chubby legs. His favorite food is Nutri-Grain Bars -- he can down one of those so quickly you're looking to see where he dropped it. He's starting to use a fork and spoon, but prefers to feed US with them, rather than himself. Either way, it's a messy ordeal!

Amara:
Amara's recovering well from her injury. She's got pretty much full (pain free) mobility back in her shoulder. The thing I forget about, and have to be careful of, is hugging her. Pushing in on her shoulder still is painful for her. She also thinks she's pretty cool with her injury and prefers to wear her "swing" and "wrapper" (sling and wrap). When we went to church, people expressed their concern, and she quickly explained to everyone, "I broke the collar bone," very important sounding. A doctor at church explained that it was probably better to wear the sling in public even though she doesn't need it, because it makes people aware to be a bit careful. Myself included!

Sandy has started the girls on a little faith-based home school curriculum in September. Amara surprised me yesterday by reciting the entire "Pledge of Allegiance." I've got it on tape and will upload it later. She's also added several new songs to her repertoire: "He's got the Whole World in His Hands," and "The Wheels on the Bus" to name a couple. I love to hear her sing, and she does it almost constantly. Her pitch is improving a lot, too.

It was very cute this weekend... she's starting to understand which people "belong" to her and are "safe" to go to. In the past, she'd pretty much stick to Jon and me, but not venture independantly to other adult relatives. Twice this weekend, I watched her walk up to Grandpa and give him some toys to play with her. Once she crawled right up next to him on the couch and snuggled in to watch TV. And she must have sat on Grandma's lap for half and hour reading books... all unprompted. Having had wonderful relationships with my Grandparents and Great-Grandparents, it makes me so happy to see that relationship developing without my interference.

That's about all I can think of right now. I've got a travel-free week this week, so I can hopefully remember to type up the funnies as they happen again!