Ignore the caption.

This picture is totally true...if you imagine that instead of a pretty dress, I'm still wearing my nightgown. At 4pm.

Telling Secrets

Baby Jail

Nobody knows...the trouble I've seen... Nobody knows...my sorrow.

Nobody knows...the trouble I've seen.
Glory, Hallelujah.
Look at Shirley in the background. She really thinks she's in jail. Poooooor Shirley.

Shirley!

Shirley, Shirley. Oh, my Shirley.
If Richard is my pride and joy, Shirley Jean is the apple of my eye. Has there ever been a two (almost three) year old so beautlful? So intelligent? So independent? So lovely? So sweet? So loving? Never.
My Shirley girl changes every day. Her vocabulary has exploded in the last six weeks and she is now constructing four or five word sentences such as, "I can't sleep right now." "I canna do it myself." "I need another one, please." "I'm still dry, see?" "I canna do the light!"
Shirley loves her brother. Usually. She loves it that he is starting to wave, and will frequently say wave to him while saying, "Hey, buddy!" She is also a very good helper with him. She will bring me a diaper or nukie and will often try to comfort him when he cries.
Shirley's favorite activities include coloring, painting, singing, dancing, watching Curious George, reading ANY book, praying, snuggling, bathing and cooking. Her current favorite book is "How do I love you?" She has the whole book nearly memorized and re-tells to me at random times. The other day she said, "Mama, I love you like blue days." The actual line from the book reads, "I love you like the sun loves the bright blue days." Close enough for me! Her other absolute favorite book is called, "God Lives in My House." Every time we finish reading it, she tells me, "God lives in my heart, Mama." These are the things I will always remember.
Shirley's favorite foods are spaghetti, noodles with butter, macaroni and cheese, strawberry-banana smoothies, apples, cheese, bananas, pork, chicken, apple juice, chocolate milk and "lunch" (aka: sandwiches).
Shirley Jean LOVES other children. She loves going to the playground (indoor these days) or the nursery. She immediately jumps in and makes friends. This is a complete change from about six months ago when she screamed bloody murder when I tried to leave her in the nursery at church. Praise the Lord for answered prayers! She is very social and often asks about her friends. She particularly adores her friends that are a little bit older. Can you blame her? They're just so COOL!
Shirley loves spending time with her Grandmas and Papas and asks for them frequently. She also adores "My Lorn" and "My Rine." (Lauren and Ryan.) She loves her other aunts and uncles, but for some reason Lorn and Rine have really bonded with Shirley's heart. Every time they come over she waves goodbye saying, "Thanks for coming to my house! I LUFF you!"
Shirley's problem solving skills are pretty amazing. If she wants something off the counter, she gets her stool. If she knows Mama will say no, she asks Daddy (I suspect this will continue for a long time). If the wheels on her stroller won't turn, she tips it over to figure out why. She hides nukies so that when I take them away after naptime she will know where one is in her secret stash. (If you're wondering, her secret stash is in the oven of her play kitchen. She doesn't know that I know.) You name it...she'll try to figure it out.
Shirley knows all of her letters by sight and most of their sounds. She can count actual objects up to thirteen. After that, everything is "twenteen." She can recognize her name in writing and is starting to recognize Richard. Soon I will have to teach her her last name. Pray for us! :) She is getting pretty good at drawing a circle, but that's it so far. Of course, she knows all her animal sounds...including some pretty crazy animals like a wombat, penguin and camel. I'm not even kidding.
At this point, I am very pleased to say that Shirley is 99.7% potty trained! For the most part she even wakes up dry! I am so proud of her! She LOVES going potty, and "Doesna need help, Mama!" This is not true. She needs help, but won't admit it. Nothing spells disaster like a little girl trying to do it all herself in the bathroom. I'm just saying.
As you can probably tell, I am so proud of my princess. She has captured my heart. There will never be another Shirley.

Finger painting!

Ready for some yunch!
Miss Shirley got out of her bed at some point in the night and curled up in Daddy's clothes.

We found her like this in the morning.

Magic paint!

Richard!

I guess since I've done such a lousy job of blogging in 2011 (ok, let's be honest...for most of 2010 and ALL of 2011 so far, but who's counting?), I think the best thing to do would be to give an overall update of what's been going on with the Haiku Babies.

Where to start??

I think the best place to start is with Baby Richard. What a sweetie pie my little boy is. Since I last wrote, he has become proficient at:

-Pulling himself into a sitting position (this may not seem like much, but it was a major turning point at our house!).

-Pulling himself up on everything.

-Using his new found skill of pulling up to reach for anything and everything within his little arm span that looks like it might be a.) interesting, b.) dangerous, c.) completely inappropriate for a baby.

-Crawling on all fours (though I have to admit, I miss the army crawl).

-Saying, "Hi!" (I know. I can hardly believe it myself.)

- Waving (I admit, it's more of a salute than a wave, so he's not exactly proficient, but we're working on it.).

-Scooting along the edge of the couch.

-Playing peek-a-boo with a towel or cloth diaper--all on his own! He thinks he's so funny, too.

Richard loves to eat. I have not found a food that this boy refuses to eat. He doesn't necessarily love green vegetables, but that baby bird mouth opens up for whatever I offer, no matter what. His favorite foods consist of anything orange! He loves squash, peaches, carrots and especially sweet potatoes.

He loves following his sister around and at any given chance reaches for a fistful of her hair. His hobbies include: playing in the dog water, playing in the bathroom garbage, playing with the dishwasher door, pulling the canned goods out of the pantry, begging for food and eating stickers.
He also loves music and singing and dancing. When he hears a tune he likes, he sits up and wiggles on his bottom. grooving to the music.

Richard hates having his nose wiped. It is personally offensive to him to have this done. I don't get it.

Richard is ALL BOY. He is constantly covered in bruises and scrapes. My friends assure me this is normal for boys, but I can't quite get used to it.

When he was born, I didn't know how having a boy would be different than a girl. He surprises me every day with his sweet antics and interests, and has quickly become this mama's pride and joy. We are so blessed with the calling to raise a boy. What joy Richard Joseph has brought into our home!

Point in case: Richard took a major dive a couple weeks ago and scraped up the end of his nose. I was so ashamed, we didn't leave the house for a week.

Notice the rainbow of bruises on his forehead...previous injuries. Sigh.

Enjoying a dill pickle...

Ready for breakfast!

Oh, so handsome.

Christmas 2010: Better Late Than Never

Here are a few of my favorite pictures from our Christmas. It was quite the whirlwind weekend! We had our own family Christmas at home together, then we spent Christmas Eve with Richard's family, then headed to my parent's house. Shirley got to open so many gifts, she because quite the little ham by the end of the weekend. Every time somebody handed her a gift, she exclaimed, "For ME?" Next year, I hope to teach her to say, "You shouldn't have!" Baby Richard LOVED all the action of the gift opening. He would crawl around in the piles of paper and watch all the excitement around him.
We made all kinds of wonderful memories this year and I can't wait to see what next year brings. As the children get older, this only get more and more fun.