Such sweet sounds!

* EDIT & UPDATE BELOW *

My little G-Man is talking up a STORM! I think month 13-now (he will be 15 months next week) has been amazing in language and large-motor development. (He started walking at 13 months, 2 days.) Here is a list of words (phonetically) that G-Man uses regularly and appropriately (along with translation):
aanj’ = orange
nana = banana
cree or cree’kur = cracker
up = up
see = see
hot = hot
dada = daddy
mama = mommy
daa or diggy = dog or doggy
keee-keee or caa = kitty or cat
baa = ball
go = go (said with determination usually!) ;-)
hi = hi (the newest word!)
cow = everything that’s an animal right now (except for cat and dog)
a-gool = apple or circle, we’re not certain yet but it’s definitely purposeful!
waar = water (he still signs this one too as he says it)
I forgot to list these words in the original post:

shoe = shoe

ark = ark for his Fisher Price Noah's ark playset

And, about 3 weeks ago he started connecting words! He will regularly say, “See up” if he wants to see something above his level and needs us to lift him. Or, “See hot” if we are cooking. He started out asking to “see” what I was cooking and I would respond with, “No honey, this is hot. Ouchy.” It took 1 night of hearing that and the next night it was,
G - “See up!”
Me- “No sweetie, it’s hot.”
G- “See UP!” (with demand in the tone!)
Me – “Sorry sweetie, it’s hot. Ouchy.”
G- “SEE UP HOT!!!!!” with much demand and a grrr thru clenched teeth and red face afterwards! It was awesome! I scooped him up (away from the stove) and told him how much I love his words! Good job baby!

Many of you will notice one word conspicuously absent from this list.
NO.
That’s right; he’s 15 months old next week and has never once said “no”. I am proud of that! He does hear the word from us, but sparingly. We will say, “No honey, that’s a pretty. Let’s play over here!” (or similar if something is dangerous) and redirect him to something or somewhere appropriate. I was in the parent room at church yesterday and one grandfather said no to his 9 month old grandson more than 50 times in a 10 minute period. Seriously!?!?! Are you kidding me? And then, in a few months when that’s all the boy says the parents and grandparents will be soooo frustrated! Yes, kids do need to hear the word no, but say it once and follow it up with what they CAN do! Set your child up for success rather than a constant verbal beating!

Anyway, my little G has been a sponge and I love sharing words with him! I know that he is soaking up all of these words even though he cannot say them all yet, one day, all too soon, I am sure he will!

Some random pics

I've been pretty neglectful in the bloggy world lately. Here are a few pics from our latest happenings.

On Fridays I work long days. I am usually up at 4 and get home around 5 or 6. So, Friday while I am at work. Kyle texted me this picture, it's G-Man still sleeping at 8:15am. Ya, totally unheard of. Naturally, then next day when I was home and desperate for sleep, that G-Man was up at 5:45.

G-Man and Dog having an after daycare snack as we play outside.

G and his new veggie this week - asparagus. Yum!!!!

A very Happy Easter to all

Jesus our Lord is Risen today! What a glorious day to celebrate we had here in Minnesota. It was sunny, warm (high 60's) and a day spent with family. Here are a few, unedited pics from our day. Enjoy. I hope you all had a fun day!

Little G-Man checking out the Easter basket and sand and bubble goodies that the Easter Bunny brought for him.

Mommy and G-Man, yep, that's the dress I made! My first attempt at garment sewing.

Me and my handsome boys!

G-Man checking out Grandpa's "new" tractor.

In case you didn't know, there's a war going on

And it's the most fierce war ever waged. It's a war for souls. In the last few months two different girlfriends of mine have found out that their husbands were having affairs. Both of these women are strong Christians, believing and raising their children to love the Lord. Both of them had/have husbands who are ambivalent at best, about Christ and his love of us - for all of us. Marriage is sacred to God, it's a covenant we enter into with Him and someone we love and cherish. God wants marriage to last us our lifetime, he directs husbands to love their wife and wives to respect their husband. When someone sins in a marriage it hurts not only the marriage but God. I so clearly heard this today as I was leaving one of these friends' home: "Satan is busy, but God is stronger." Satan is not going to give up on a single soul without a fight. He sees both of my friends as a strong threat to him. These women are strong, loving Christians, they don't preach at or to their hubby's, they don't drag them to church. They simply live as women of God, living by example of His love for us. They are sinners, (we are ALL sinners) and they know it. They don't put on airs about being "perfect Christians". Because of this and their gentle love, slowly, their husbands will see God in their marriages. It may take 15 or 20 or 40 years, but I believe that with time and prayer that their partners will turn their hearts over to God. Satan cannot have that so he attacks their marriage, tempting with alcohol, false promises, adultery and the "rush" of sin. Then he covers it with lies. I found this in my bible today as I was praying for my girlfriends and it really hit home:

Ephesians 6:11-20 (this is only 11-13) Put on all the armor that God gives you, so that you will be able to stand up against the Devil's evil tricks. For we are not fighting against human beings but against the wicked spiritual forces in the heavenly world, the rulers, authorities, and the cosmic powers of this dark age. So put on God's armor now! Then when the evil day comes, you will be able to resist the enemies attacks; and after fighting to the end, you will still hold your ground.

It continues, and I encourage you to look it up in your bible to read. It's a good one! So, if you find yourself under attack, discouraged and fearful, know that Satan is busy, but God is stronger. Surround yourself with prayer warriors and lift up your eyes to the Lord. He is our Salvation, strength and hope.

Where has all the talent gone?

Seriously, what kinds of stars do we watch on TV and in movies these days. Most of our entertainment is computer generated. At the risk of sounding ridiculously old fashioned, there are not any fantastic stars like yesteryear. Take Gene Kelly. That man could act, sing, dance and yes, TAP DANCE ON ROLLER SKATES! Check out this video. It's long and the last 2 minutes are so worth it!



So, like I was saying, where is the talent for our kids to watch and idolize and try to emulate?

still here!

Just incredibly busy! I still haven't started sewing my Easter dress...ya, no time like the present, right? I think tonite I have to get that underway.



G-Man fell last Friday at home with daddy while walking. He cracked his little head on the newel post (the big post at the bottom of the stairway banister) and it bled quite nicely, thru 2 bandaids. Hubby felt compelled to tell me a few times during the day that head wounds, though not severe still bleed alot. I thought it was cute how he didn't want me to worry. He must have forgotten that I was a first responder...



We have been busy getting home from work and daycare and then heading outside to play for an hour! The weather has been awesome and our snow is finally gone. All that's left is a little mud, perfect for playing! the hill in our backyard is quite steep (despite the view from the video) and G-Man's first time crawling in the back yard he crawled right up to it, (after having done some walking), turned around like he does to go down steps and proceeded to scoot down the hill the way he does down the stairs. Such a smart boy! Hope you are all enjoying sunshine and a wonderful first week of spring.

This was shot earlier this week. I was hoping to catch him saying aadio (radio) and annge (orange). I didn't but it's still cute!

I only have a sec

So, here's the latest.
My G-Man is walking more and more each day! Today he showed off for our chiropractor and took 5 steps all on his own. He is also talking up a storm! My video camera is busted (grrr!) so I have to figure out a new option. He now says SEE HOT! We tell him no, he can't see the stove when we're cooking, it's hot, ouchie. He has picked up that several things are hot and ouchie and now he demands to see them by saying SEE HOT! He says SHOE as we get dressed and put shoes on. Today as I was singing Old MacDonald he started chiming in on the EI-EI-OOO parts! It was sooo darn stinking cute!

We played at the park yesterday and G-Man totally enjoyed the textures and dirt in the peagravel! I think he spent 35 minutes just playing with it with his hands and crawling in it. I loved watching him experience something new and just revel in it!

We went to the MN Zoo on Sunday afternoon with our friends Chad and Melis. We had a great time enjoying the unseasonably warm 64 degrees! (For those who don't live in MN that is sooo not normal.) The grizzly bears were the best on Sunday too. Two of them were wrestling and playing righ in front of the glass! G-Man saw them coming at us and as one fell into the pool, spearated from us only by the 2" glass, he almost crawled over my head. From that moment on, G-Man stayed wrapped around my neck, head nestled into my shoulder and eyes as big as saucers fixed on the bears. Again, no pics...ya, I know. I suck.

I have my dress all cut out, but haven't sewed a stitch yet. I am planning on starting that part of the project tomorrow.

Hmmm, I think that's about it. I hope to be back soon with some pics and video! For real!

So... or, rather Sew...

I have been hankering for a proper Easter dress this year. That turned into a thought that the family should have matching or at least, coordinated, Easter clothes too. Then I had to sell Hubby on the idea. Then, I had to find THE dress. It proved impossible within the budget I had set. Naturally, all the shopping was done via the internet. Who has time to run to all the stores anyway? So, I harkened back to my childhood, when Mom would sew an Easter dress for my sister and I each year. Ah yes, I can sew! At least, I can quilt. If I can cut apart fabric, reassemble it into various shapes and sew it into a quilt, I can certainly sew a dress, right?

I spent hours the past few nites browsing thru the pattern web sites and finally came across a spectacular dress at McCalls. What do you think? (it's here) Then, I had to find just-the-right-fabric. Ya. I know. Hard! However, I grabbed my friend Melis, and we hit the quilt stores. They have high quality cottons and cotton blends with fabulous new spring lines that are hitting the stores now! I couldn't decide between two of the fabrics that we found though...so I got BOTH! Yes, I am planning on making 2 dresses! Both fabrics are quite different. I will be using the narrow band of fabric as the spaghetti straps and for a top edging around the dress. The red, white and blue fabric is from a 1930's reproduction line. It reminded me of my Grandma Johnson, Americana, patriotism...I love it! The brown with pink flowers is just plain fun! I plan on topping off each dress with a cute, lightweight coordinated cardigan sweater.

The hard part is going to be deciding which dress to wear for Easter! I think the red, white and blue...then I can put Hubby and G-Man in blue shirts and we will all "go." Of course, that fabric may require that I have a hat too! I am excited!!! Wish me luck! I'll model them here once they are finished.

"WOW!"

Thursday morning I was waiting for G-Man to wake up so we could go to daycare. I had turned on some lights, uncovered him and was talking quietly to him. (he was sleeping in our bed)

He stretched sooooo long! I was shocked at how big his was, arms outstretched over his head...legs straight and toes pointed. It was a great stretch!

Then, his beautiful blue eyes popped open, his face exploded into a HUGE grin and he said as clear as day, "WOW!"

Then, G-Man rolled over to his tummy and slid out of bed and crawled to Monster Dog to say good morning, smiling all the way! It was awesome!

He loves to say "wow" and "see". He's never said "no"...yet! Here is some video of him with a few wows...this is about 2 weeks old.

So much to catch up on!!!

I love this one! He had been jumping in bed. Hubby blames me for all G-Mans new bad habits cuz I was laughing at his antics! Oh well... ;-)

G-Man had pneumonia, he was awful rattley & sick...but he's all better now!

(G-Man at daycare, Tam - our daycare provider - texted this to me!)

I had bronchitis at the tail end of his pneumonia. I am getting back to better now!

Hubby got a wicked BAD BAD cold with sinus infection at the middle of my bronchitis...just yesterday is he starting to feel alive again!

G-Man took his FIRST STEPS at age 13 months, 2 days!!! He walked between me and Daddy! It was soo cool! I teared up, we all cheered and he repeated it! Since then we have been offering our hands and encouraging more walking. He has taken 5 steps all by himself with out any support from us or furniture. Running by Easter????

My G-man is also a chatter box! I love listening to him talk! I will try to get video this weekend. I need to get fresh batteries in the video camera. He will reach for something and say quite clearly, "see, see"! It's awesome! He also says, "whas at" for what's that.

G-Man loves to try to assemble things too. He is always trying to fit things together, put lids on bowls, match screw tops with our water bottles, put caps on bottles and then build towers with them.

And, he is brushing his teeth! I started sitting on the floor and brushing my teeth and helping him brush his. He took over and now will crawl to the bathroom, open the drawer where his toothbrush is and brush his teeth all on his own at least 2x a day! I love it! (At least once a day we do a re-brush for him and get all of his gums and teeth, just so nothing is missed.)

Our internet has been down at home almost every nite when I have tried to blog. We are looking at different providers now, so hopefully there will be more pics and video soon! Thanks all for your patience! Have a spectacular weekend!