It looks like Lenah, who took her first steps on Halloween night, is crossing over into the walking. She has been taking steps, but she has preferred crawling and cruising over walking. Each day now she's doing more and more walking. She can get all the way across the room by walking, but if she's in a hurry (usually when she's trying to make off with Blake's binki) she reverts to crawling.
We're gearing up for Christmas. The kids have got way too many gifts this year, but I'm sure it'll be fun. Farah wants a Monster High doll, an Easy Bake Oven, and princess dresses. Blake wants jets and monster trucks. I think he'll like the robot I got him too. I know Farah will love the little pet shop set and dog stroller and accessories.
A few cute things, one day Farah asked me with a look of worry why did I give them the last name Payne (pretty sure she was thinking "pain.") We pulled into the driveway and Farah said, "I think Lenah has awoken." Tonight when Blake got sent into time out for refusing to apologize to Lenah for spitting in her hair, Farah said, "I swear," with a look of exhaustion.

Blake's fingers were water logged after the bath. He looked at them and said, "my fingers look crinkly like Grammy's."
A few nights ago Blake was fussing about getting out of the tub and Farah yelled to him, "Blake, you'll never get a girl to marry you if you act like that!"

November 2013 Round Up

Lenah turned one and we had a great little party for her. Unfortunately for me, I didn't start planning/preparing until the night before. I arrived home with the party supplies from Wal Mart about 11 p.m. on Friday to a completely dirty house. The party was at 11:30 the next morning. Needless to say it was a stressful Saturday morning, but we pulled it off. I had a color scheme of turquoise, purple, and fuschia. We had white table clothes and serving dishes with jelly bean decorations. I filled mason jars with jelly beans and had little signs up with jellybean images, saying things like "It's 'bean' a great year," and "Happy birthday day Lenah 'Beana.' " We also had some pretty Gerber daisies and other flower arrangements scattered around.

We pulled out the inflatable ball pit, and it was actually warm enough for the kids to play in the backyard. We wrapped up the party with a rather wild game of bobbing for apples. Farah got really into it and at one point just jumped into the tub of water. I forget how much she listens to what adults are saying. At one point, my friends were teasing that she looked like me in college. After the party, she said, "I got wild today, just like you did in college!" She is still referring to herself as a "party girl."

In other news, Blake is officially, completely potty trained (or house broken, as my dad would have said). After only 2 1/2-3 weeks of potty training, he started going into the bathroom on his own to go potty without needing to be told. We went to the National Zoo last weekend, and that's when I realized that we drove an hour and a half each way and spent five hours at the zoo without incident. Unfortunately, his temper hasn't been as under control.
He has really been throwing some temper tantrums lately. The other night I tried to use a tactic on Blake that always worked to get Farah to brush her teeth at that age. I used to tell Farah that the dentist (she had no idea what a dentist was) would be checking her teeth and he'd be very upset if they weren't clean. I tried to use that on Blake, and before I could even finish my thought, he shot back with, "I'll kill that dentist." That's a favorite phrase of his. If I anger him, he makes a spitting noise and threatens me. Sometimes it's a little cute, but more often than not it's a lot annoying.

It's been almost a month now since Lenah took her first steps, but she's still not really walking. She likes to crawl and cruise. She will take two steps between objects, but she likes to be able to reach out and touch what she's walking to. I guess she's just cautious. She's saying some more words. She has been saying, "go" for awhile now. She points and says, "go, go, go!" She's not a really clear talker, but she will imitate sounds/words, and has her own words for things. She is still so sweet and funny. She loves to pluck Blake's binki from his mouth, turn away from him, and laugh hysterically. It's kind of fun seeing someone dish it out to Blake a little. He is really good with her though, and doesn't retaliate (yet anyway).

Farah continues to like kindergarten. Each night we sit together after the others have gone to bed, she reads Hop on Pop, and then I read a chapter book to her. Right now we're reading The Trumpet of the Swan. She got her first report card. She got all satisfactories and pluses, except one minus in the paying attention category. I think she's a little too boy crazy for a kindergartener! She also got her PALs reading score back. She got an 89 out of 102. The benchmark score was a 28, so I guess she's well above the minimum. Farah continues to be very imaginative. She can play by herself for a long period of time. She's hit or miss if she'll allow Blake in on her play. When she does, he loves it though! They can play beautifully together, but if she's not in the mood for him, he turns into a terrorist wrecking all of her plans. They can have some major battles. Farah is patient and sweet with Lenah (at least for now). Lenah lights up when Farah talks to her. The other night I was working with Farah before bedtime and I tried to introduce counting by 10's. She had had enough and in a deep voice she said, "Ugh, lady. You're makin' me pull my  hairs out." She has also learned the sign for crazy (twisting her hand around by her head to signal someone's "loopy.") She loves to use that, usually on me or Blake.

Farah added to the night time prayer, "Dear God, please make all of my clothes loose."

October 2013

Well, I think Blake really is potty trained. He hasn't had an accident all week and today is Wednesday. This is going so much better than I expected. The first week he was perfect at daycare, but bad at home, this week he's done well both at home and at daycare.
Lenah has been having a bad rash and has been fussy in the evenings both yesterday and today. We're afraid it's a food reaction (maybe dairy?). I'm going to change her diet and see what happens. She's also had diarrhea on and off for the last two weeks. In better news, she said "hot" tonight. She definitely tries to say other words as well, such as "dad," but she can clearly say "duck." She is also turning into a climbing machine, but still not walking.
Farah:

Very fun day

Today was an exceptionally good Saturday. I ran the Zombie 5k race at Clearbrook park with Kristen. After surviving the zombie apocalypse, I went back in time with my family to the Civil War. Heath, Joyce, Ron and I took the kids to the Cedar Creek Battle reenactment in Middletown. I loved all of the period costumes, plus there were soldiers on horseback, real cannons, and the re enactors' authentic tents and cook fires. The battlegrounds were full of tents selling period items. Farah got a beautiful handkerchief, fan, and parasol.
One funny moment between the race and the reenactment was when Blake came downstairs naked and glistening. He had coated himself with Vaseline from Lenah's room. I called to Farah to see what her brother had done. She gasped when she saw him and said,"you look beautiful!"
In less exciting news, potty training sucks! I think he's doing well and he turns around and pees all over the place two minutes after going on the potty. He does so well at Trisha's house; I don't know what her secret is!

Fall 2013

This fall Lenah has said her first word, duck, as in the plastic duck in her tub. Blake has started potty training; it's going great at Trisha's and not so great at home. He's good for at least one major poop in his pants each night. Farah is doing well in kindergarten and has a huge crush on a boy named Braeden. Tonight she wrote a list of things she liked about him and drew a picture of the two of them holding hands.

A few cute things to write down before I forget:
1. One afternoon in early October Farah was still up after the others went down for their nap. Blake had been a handful and we speculated that he would be a difficult teenager. This came from the fact that she had been playing teenager all day, which is her most favorite pretend game. Farah said that Lenah would be a good teenager. I reminded her that we really didn't know what Lenah would be. Just because she is a good baby doesn't tell us what type of teenager or adult she'll be. Farah agreed, and said, "yeah, she could end up being Spanish." Hmm...well, that's probably one of the few things we can guarantee won't happen. She continued, "we'd all be like, what are you saying, we can't even understand you!"

2. On the day Blake turned 2 1/2 years old (October 12th), he was so funny all day. That morning he told me, "you coffee smells fabulous!" When Heath tried to change his diaper after lunch he screamed, "I'm too busy right now!!!!" At naptime, he just started walking up the stairs saying that he needed to rest. He went into his big boy underwear after naps and did great that afternoon and the next day. He will start to refuse to get on the potty until you remind him that there's a treat involved. Unfortunately, the potties are all designed for girls. He's got to push his little boy parts down so he doesn't pee on the floor, or I have to help out to make sure there's no mess. I was trying to help him that first day, and he said, "No, stop! She doesn't like that." He had no idea what was so funny. One more cute, but not so well behaved Blake moment, came when I asked him to repeat what bedtime book he wanted to me, since I couldn't understand him with his binki in his mouth. He shouted at me, "I just told you, Little Critters!"

Quick update on all of the kids:
1. Farah is doing well in kindergarten. The teacher told us in conferences that she is a great listener and helper. She saw her silly side once and was shocked, of course we weren't! She still doesn't like dressing for the fall weather. Last year she hated panties, any waistbands, and socks. This year she's okay with panties, as long as she can wear them around the top of her thighs instead of her actual bottom. She is fine with pants, as long as they're the soft legging type pants, which is fine by me, but she hates shirts, unless she can pull the straps off of her shoulders. She has ripped many a dress and shirt by tugging on it incessantly. It looks like the Incredible Hulk has been dressing her lately.
Farah is still highly imaginative and plays great by herself. She's a good big sister and very helpful. I would definitely describe her as sensitive, sometimes to the point of being over dramatic, artistic, and intelligent. She has friends and gets along well with others, but she definitely relishes her alone time. She and Blake bicker, but they can get along very well too. She and Lenah adore one another.

2. Blake is a very funny little guy who is developing quickly. Just recently I've noticed a change in his reasoning and language abilities. He's just starting to seem older to me. He can pedal his tricycle, as of late August/early September. It takes a very long time to get around the cul-de-sac still though. He has a great imagination, he loves books, and he plays well alone or with others. He often plays monster truck, pretends to be a dinosaur, or enjoys flying his toy planes around. He adores Brent and Avery, and I think he'd move in with the Curtis family tomorrow and never look back. Blake is extremely cuddly and sweet. He can be very caring and compassionate, but he also has a hellacious temper. He can scream louder than anyone I've ever met when he's offended. He has a very hard time taking no for answer. He's also a total sugar addict. If you ask him what he wants to eat at any time of the day, the answer would most likely be "ice cream." I would best describe Blake as funny, charming, and temperamental.

3. Lenah really makes me wonder what kind of kid she'll be. She's seriously the most laid back, sweet natured baby I've ever had the pleasure of knowing. She is also really developing in leaps and bounds in the last few weeks. She reaches for me now, she understands more words and simple commands. She does get frustrated and doesn't like to have things she's chewing on taken away, but she recovers quickly. She has a bit of a sense of humor. One day when I was taking out the trash and all three were playing quietly, I came back in to find that someone had left the gate opened and Lenah had made it to the top of the stairs in the short time I was gone. She was at the top laughing hysterically! She is also very easy to make laugh and very cuddly. She has the best happy face (pictured above), she scrunches her nose and snorts.
Lenah is also a fabulous eater and has very healthy tastes, unlike her brother! She does beg for any sweet treat that her siblings might have though. Lenah is sweet, adaptable and cuddly with a sense of humor. Actually, I would say that all three have the sense of humor in common and their ability to play well on their own. They all also enjoy books (they get that from me!).

For Halloween this year Farah is planning on being Clawdeen Wolf (from Monster High), my fear is that this is really a hooker costume with werewolf ears. Blake is wearing his wolf costume from last year and Lenah will be a lamb-very symbolic.

Farah starts kindergarten!

Farah started kindergarten recently and has loved it! She got Ms. Harendza, who seems incredibly nice. I was disappointed at first to see that her friends were all in another class and I wasn't crazy about the looks of some of her classmates. Farah didn't seem fazed though and has already met a good friend, Isabella, whom Farah keeps calling Emily Elizabeth!

On the third day of kindergarten, Farah wasn't feeling well (the stomach flu had been going through the house), but she seemed up to going to school. She was okay when I dropped her off at Trisha's, but she got sick on the bus! The poor baby threw up on the way to school. She caught the throw up in her dress because she didn't know what else to do. When she got to school, she carried it off the bus in her dress. Thankfully, they cleaned her up and gave her a change of clothes. Trisha was able to go and get her and I picked her up shortly after they got home. She ended up missing the next three days of kindergarten! It's been a rough start to the beginning of the year.

Farah 8/13

Last night after prayers, Farah said, "you know what really nice thing I done tonight?" I couldn't really think of anything, but I asked her what she had done. She said, "I didn't give you any of my cherries tonight because I didn't want to stain your shirt." How thoughtful:)

August '13

After breakfast I read the kids The Gardener, which was a book we recently got from the library. It was a beautiful book written in a series of letters from a little girl to her family during the depression. As we were getting near the end, I saw Farah's eyes getting misty. We had one final letter to read, and Blake announces, "I got poop on my finger." Way to kill the moment. He did proceed to poop on the potty (for the second time). He's good about pooping on the potty, but he wants to spend a solid 20 minutes in there. I can only sing the bumblebee song so many times.

We went to the Frederick County fair tonight. Farah and Blake rode rides and Lenah was a great sport about staying up late. I love, love, love this age with Lenah. One thing I  will not miss however is nursing a baby in the grass behind a carnival ride. On the way home there was a little scuffle about their choice of movies. Farah wanted to watch Annie Oakley (from the library) and Blake didn't want me to take out his movie about helicopters. I told him sometimes we have to share movies. I was surprised when he laughed after hearing this, instead of pitching a fit. Then I understood, he said, "we have to share boobies!" What a boy.

July '13

Farah asked me, "why do people go on 'honey balloons' after they get married? Blake and I went to Sky Meadows State Park today. He was so excited to go into the woods, but lost steam halfway through. I tried to tell him that hiking would make him big and strong. He started shrieking, "no, it's making me little." We did have a really nice time though, seeing a snake skin, butterflies, a deer, and spending time in a beautiful spot by a creek. When we got home I asked him if he liked his "alone day." He said, "Yes, but I don't want to be alone. I want my sisters." So sweet.

Family Trip 7/13

We braved a beach vacation with the three little ones (Farah 5, Blake 2, and Lenah 8 months). The amount of things we had to pack was mind boggling. We even decided to pack enough food for snacks and making lunches. We had some good times-watching Blake's first reaction to the ocean, Farah braving the deeper waters and swimming in the waves, Lenah chowing down on sand. But there were some bumpy moments as well! We decided to leave on Sunday night and drive for a few hours in the evening, so we'd be closer for the next day. We're only talking about a 4 hour total drive, but 4 hours with 3 screaming kids feels like an eternity! We stayed near Richmond in a pretty nice hotel with a separate room for us. Well, Farah and Blake went down easily in the front room, and Heath, Lenah and I were in the bedroom. Heath wanted to stay up late, so he was on one bed with his laptop watching movies, while I slept on the other queen bed. At 2:30 in the morning, Heath sloooowly opened the loudest Triscuit box known to man. He couldn't hear it apparently because of his headphones, but he must have thought opening it slowly would make it better. After countless minutes of crinkling, I wanted to throw the box out of the window. After that even the chewing was keeping me up, not to mention the light from the monitor. I wasn't sure if he was going to make it through the night alive. (I'm trying to insert paragraph breaks, but they don't seem to be working for some reason, so I'll just stick a bunch of photos between the paragraphs.) When we got to the beach we were wowed by our hotel suite. It was at the top of the hotel and had a great kitchenette with a full refrigerator and table, two couches, and three balconies. We just knew that this was going to be a fabulous few days after getting a look at our hotel room. Heath even suggested booking another night...little did he know he'd be begging to go back to work in a few short days. We had a great first trip to the beach, ate dinner in, and had an early night. All in all, a good first day at the beach. The second day started early and ended late. We realized vacationing with three children means you are essentially a pack mule and a slave to snacks, meal and nap times. We were constantly looking for sunscreen, pacifiers, Blake's missing Croc, the one and only bathing suit Farah would wear, the dress to the miniature doll she got on the boardwalk. You name it, we searched for it and then hauled it around, and then searched for it again. I think things came to a peak when we rented surreys for a ride on the boardwalk. This was my most favorite part of our previous VA Beach vacations-driving on the boardwalk, getting ice cream, watching concerts, and letting the kids play in the sand playground. Well, this surrey was defective (or at least Heath thought so). The pedals were a little stiff, but Heath was getting angrier and angrier the more he tried to pedal. When we got passed by another family going twice as fast as us, I think that was when he had it. He abandoned the surrey by the Neptune statue and we had to hoof it back. I tried to salvage the moment by stopping with the kids to hear a dramatic retelling of a sunken ship off of Virginia's coast hundreds of years ago. The kids were actually riveted by the story. The next night proved to be better. We saw a circus performance and were pleasantly surprised by fireworks over the beach. At one point Blake was strutting around with his shirt up entertaining half of the audience! The kids, all in all, were complete troopers. Don't get me wrong, they did have their moments, but I think the cumulative effect of three kids having bad moments, plus the heat, plus all of our gear, had a corrosive effect on our nerves. We also managed to find the most boring museum on the entire east coast, some aviation museum run by very grouchy, very old men. For some reason there were massive dinosaur statues out front that had a redeeming effect for the kids, and probably taught them that dinosaurs roamed the earth the same time as WWI airplanes. Nothing could top our drive home though. I had a really great morning with just the big kids, splashing in the ocean while Lenah napped. We took them to the aquarium, which is always a good time. We got on the road at 3:30, and Heath just knew that we were doomed to spend hours in traffic. In one of his less rational moments, he suggested we just pull over for two hours, because that's what the roads were going to be like. I never said I told you so, but we never hit any major traffic on the way home. What we did hit might have upset Heath more than traffic ever could...strange car noises. Heath tied wagons and things to the top of the car and they made a noise similar to that of a motorcycle following too closely behind us. It drove him crazy, but Farah and Blake were relaxing with a movie on and Lenah was fast asleep, so I threatened him within an inch of his life not to pull over and disrupt this rare peace. It did prove to be more than he could bear, so he pulled over and rearranged things. As we pulled away, the kids were still relatively peaceful, and I admit that it was nice not feeling like a Harley Davison was in our trunk. But as soon as we hit 60 mph, a far worse, loud, high pitched whining noise began. In the midst of this new development, Heath missed the fork to stay on 64 and ended up on an inner loop taking us through Hampton Roads and Newport News, over bridges, through tunnels, and in general slowing down our trip. We still had the fact that all three kids were quiet going for us, but the noise was now driving us both to madness. We found that if we stayed under 60 mph that the noise was gone, so we creeped down the wrong route as slowly as possible, again trying to maintain the fragile quiet that we had been blessed with. Finally, not being able to stand one more eighteen wheeler passing him, Heath pulled over for gas and took everything off the top of the car. As he was unstrapping our excessive baggage, Lenah stirred, then Blake, and finally Farah. At one point they were all three completely hysterical from being awaken from their precious naps. The good news is that they did calm back down, but only Lenah continued to sleep (and she did so almost the entire way home). The bad news is when we returned home, very late at night, we found Heath hadn't factored in the massive heat wave that had come through while we were gone and turned the air conditioner off. We were all tired and grouchy and our house was a warm 95 degrees at 10:30 at night. Home sweet home.