2013 :: week 35

Sunday we had to say goodbye to Jill. Lauren was excited to give her a hug. Anthony sometimes says that our kids have the Crane Goodbye Gene, where we have to hug and say goodbye multiple times.

Monday was our anniversary, and as far as anniversaries go it was kind of meh. We both were feeling sick and Anthony had to leave for DC. This isn't the best picture that has ever been taken of us, but considering how we felt, it's actually not bad. Melanie and Andrew were gracious enough to watch the kids for us so we could grab a quick bite to eat before TJ flew out (thanks!).

Going on day 6 of The Headache/Cold of the Summer that would never end. Yes, it is capitalized as this headache and cold really rocked me this week. Will helped me convalesce with lots of snuggles during our afternoon quiet time.

Will is on a Robin Hood kick right now. This is notable because it is the first feature film that has held his attention the whole way through. Of course he is especially into the fight sequences, and has brandishes his broom, AKA sword at me more often than I would like.

Check out that tiny braid! Lauren's hair has a host of issues right now as it grows out--bangs that are constantly in her face, uneven lengths, strange side hair, etc.  It's fun to be able to do a little something with it.

Thanks to Target summer clearance, we are the proud owners of a bubble wand.

After the kids went to bed we enjoyed a fun evening of folding laundry and watching The Bible miniseries.

2013 :: week 34

Last Sunday was our Stake Conference. TJ sang in the men's chorus and had to be there an hour early, so we didn't drive together. As usual, getting the kids out of the house involved some stress (why does it take my 3.5 year old longer to put his shoes on than his 1.5 year old sister?) so they were looking forward to seeing the nice parent, Dad, when we got to church. They were especially excited that there were 3 dad's--one in the choir seats and 2 projected on screens.

One of the things I was most looking forward to with Will in preschool was some one-on-one time with Lauren. So far Lauren and I have enjoyed taking several morning walks together. She is such a slow eater that I started bringing part of her breakfast along with us.
  

Will in his happy place--pushing his own cart, loaded with mac and cheese, eating a Hy-Vee cookie.

Two of my sisters came to town this week. Wednesday evening we took advantage of the recent heat wave and hit up the pool. Lauren and Will love having extra adults around to adore them.

Thursday evening the boys got their hair cut at the Great Clips that opened up down the road. Half way through his cut Anthony observed that he looked like Sam from Clarissa Explains it All.

For a variety of reasons I had a pretty bad headache all week. Jill saved me and came over Friday afternoon and watched the kids so I could take a nap. Then we walked to the park with TJ and played with the kids for a bit. Despite the heat it was a gorgeous afternoon.

Will got to attend his first Primary Activity Day Saturday morning. The Marble Man was there and taught the kids how to play a variety of games. The older kids had a tournament and the younger kids played "picking plums." Will really enjoyed himself, and actually got pretty good at shooting a marble.

7

8.26.06

The Life That I Have

by Leo Marks

The life that I have

Is all that I have

And the life that I have

Is yours

The love that I have

Of the life that I have

Is yours and yours and yours

A sleep I shall have

A rest I shall have

Yet death will be but a pause

For the peace of my years

In the long green grass

Will be yours and yours

And yours

 It's nice being married to someone who lets me laugh at with them all the time. TJ is good to me.

feeling 22 (months that is)

Because Lauren routinely feels happy, free, confused, and lonely in the best way (and because many of our recent posts have been Will-centric) I wanted to record some memories of Lauren on the cusp of her 3rd year. In the words of Taylor Swift, it's miserable and magical at the same time. Oh yeah.

First off, it is really hard for me to believe that Lauren is the same age now that Will was when she was born. He seemed so grown up, and she's still my baby. And yet, when I look back at things I recorded about him then, their behaviors and abilities are very comparable.

She's been cutting her two year molars and I teeth for what seems to be all summer. As such she has developed an affinity for her pacifier. She chews on it all the time. Until this summer she only ever got it in bed. I've gone soft and let her have it other times too occasionally.

Speaking of teeth, brushing teeth is one of her favorite activities. Mentioning that it is time to brush teeth is a good way to soften the blow of bedtime.

Still loves to climb (and check herself out in the mirror).

She is quite confidant. At the pool she would just walk away from me to wherever she felt like going.

She's a go-getter. She feels confidant that she can handle anything Will is doing.

At Deanna Rose she didn't want to ride in the wagon, she wanted to pull it. The entire trip improved when she got over that.

She doesn't like to be told no. The way she reacts depends on who has wronged her. She reacts the worst when I scold her, but anytime she is told no she narrows her eyes at the offender and can maintain a stink eye for several minutes. I'm a little concerned for the day when she has more words to put behind her feelings.

In short:

Lauren loves...
...reading Caillou books
...fake laughing
...going to the pool
...singing I Love to See the Temple
...dinner (she doesn't eat much at breakfast or lunch, but at dinner she puts it away)
...her doggie, blanket and pacifer
...dumping out toys
...taking her shoes off and switching them to the wrong feet

Lauren dislikes...
...brushing her hair
...the word "no"
...sippy cups
...hugging when it wasn't her idea
...Will getting something she didn't get

It's hard to sum up Lauren in words. But she is pretty wonderful and I'm glad she's my girl.

aquarium fun

Because of his lazy eye (amblyopia), Will has to wear an eye patch over his good eye 3 hours each day. The novelty of the patch wore off after about five minutes the first day, and within 15 minutes he was in full-fledged revolt mode. Being the accommodating parents that we are, we instigated a series of rewards to get him to wear the patch.

Initially he got a small treat for putting on the patch (for example, 5 chocolate chips) and a popsicle at the end of the three hours. We rarely have to do that anymore. Occasionally we throw in a few chocolate chips or the like at the halfway point, but that really depends on the day. After a successful 3 hours of patch-wearing he gets to put a sticker on his chart. The chart tracks his progress towards a bigger reward. For his first reward we decided to take him to the Sealife Aquarium at Crown Center (due to to a coupon we received in the mail for a free child's admission).

I give all that background to say, last Monday the long awaited for day arrived. Will finally earned a trip to the aquarium!

 Proudly posing with his chart.

The kids were instantly affected by the underwater mood music and got their groove on in waiting area.

Will stopped and examined each area. He had a lot of questions and seemed genuinely interested in the fish.

Lauren yelled and got nervous if the fish swam too close for her comfort.

 My favorite picture of the day.We weren't sure if the trip to the aquarium would be as exciting as the idea of a trip to the aquarium, but it lived up to the hype.

We visited the aquarium once before, a few days before Will's birthday (because under 3's are free), and the turtle area had since been added.

 Climbing on the fake turtle nests.

 Lauren enjoyed roaming free and hiding in tight corners and alcoves until I put an end to that.

 She raced through the aquarium. Keeping track of her was difficult, being that most of the exhibits were dimly lit and she took my pleas for her to stay close as a challenge. Eventually I just strapped her into the stroller.

We spent quite some time in the tunnel watching the various fish swim back and forth.

 Will was very brave and touched a sand crab and a few sea stars in the tide pool.

Lauren wasn't convinced we needed to take this group shot.

All in all we had a really fun afternoon and I left feeling quite proud of Will. Not only had he earned the activity by doing something he doesn't really enjoy each day, he was very well behaved and polite the whole time.

it's (way past) time for a pool post

Our neighborhood pool closed last week, officially marking the beginning of the end of summer. The pool was a big part of our summer routine this year and as such, I have lots of pictures to share.

It took Lauren about a week to really warm up to the pool. Granted, it wasn't terribly warm. We had an unusually cool transition to summer, so it wasn't exactly hot in June.

At first it was a victory just to get her to sit in the water.

She really liked the climbing on the hippo slide. 

She would sit and the top and touch where the water comes out for as long as I would let her. She didn't really like going down the slide, so I had to keep a close eye on her to keep her from clogging the line.

The net--our toy that garnered the most attention from other kids

We got some pool tools which our kids played with about 3 times before they decided that other people had better toys and started to pick up unattended toys when they got the chance. Our toys were still there and only interesting when OTHER kids wanted to use them. I subsequently spent more time this summer keeping track of who was playing with our toys and who the toys my kids were playing with belonged to than I thought possible.

Lauren loved floating on her back.

Depending on the kid, puddle jumpers are awesome. With Lauren, it was money well spent. Once she got used to it, she floated confidently all around the shallow portion of the pool.


It was really fun seeing Lauren take a liking to the water and develop some beginning swimming skills.



I already blogged about Will's swimming lesson experience. His skills continued to expand over the second half of the summer.

For awhile this was the only way he would get his hair wet, but by the final weeks he was getting his head wet each time.

He spent many hours pretending to be various animals--shark, hippo, orca, octopus, snake, etc.

 

 Where's Will?

 

Will always got pretty excited whenever we ran into friends at the pool. And due to the many hours we put in at the pool, we actually made some new friends too.

I made the mistake of packing a snack early in the summer, and it became an expected thing each time we went, no matter how long we were there.

I mean, of course I want to keep them hydrated and nourished. But I don't think an hour trip to the pool after dinner necessarily warrants multiple snacks.

My sister Laura was able to meet us at the pool a few times when she wasn't busy. The kids were always excited to see her and much better behaved when she was around.

I have always loved pools, but with kids each year is different. I had some reservations going into the summer about how I would be able to handle two kids by myself, but the kids did great. This year I am thankful to the pool for effectively wearing out my kids each time we went and keeping my house marginally cleaner than it would otherwise be. Seriously, our house has been more cluttered this week than it was all summer.

'Til next year!