May 26

Watch out world...

...Nicklas is scooting!

May 21

Brendan's new favorite hymn is "Lord, Keep Us 'Standfest' in Thy Word". The rest of us refer to it as "Lord, Keep Us Steadfast in Thy Word".

May 17

Awww!
Brendan and I were just working on his Uppercase Letters workbook and were practicing the letter "I". The page had a picture of an ink bottle and I pointed out that "I" is for ink. He looked up at me and said, "Mama, 'I' is for I love you."

May 12

Nicklas has figured out rolling as transportation! He likes being able to get to his brothers' Quatros (huge Legos), Luke's Crocs (very tasty), and books (also very exciting). He does NOT like the leg of the couch (ouch!, plus it stopped him from rolling further) or rolling over so that his back lands on a toy (ouch, again!).
He is also pushing himself up on his hands and knees, but that doesn't last long. He has no balance yet, so when he pushes up, he quickly falls over onto his side.

May 8

Nicklas is now rolling over in both directions and is quite proud of himself for that achievement. He also now weighs 16 pounds! He holds his head up very well while on his belly and is even starting to get his belly off the floor for short periods of time! Maybe we'll have another early crawler/walker just like Luke was... He's also a wiggle-worm. When I go to get him up from a nap, every time I find him in a completely different spot than where I laid him down.
Luke is still working on potty-training. We have occasional successes, but progress is slow. The entire day of Call Service he stayed dry! But most days he only goes once or maybe twice. I asked him yesterday why he wouldn't go in the potty. His response was, "Oma". "Oh, will you go for Oma?" "Yeah!" "Will you go for Papa?" "Yeah!" "Will you go for Mama?" "No." Oh boy, this is going to be a challenge!
Brendan is, as always, a huge help to me. He is learning to do more and more chores. He can make his bed reasonable well (for a 3 year old), can get himself dressed, puts the towels from the bathroom into the washer, puts away the silverware from the dishwasher, gets out bibs and napkins for supper, and two days ago, he got Luke dressed completely on his own and without being prompted by me! He is very sweet to Nicklas, getting him toys, wiping up drool and spit-up, and reading books to him.
Yesterday, Brendan informed me that he was a pumpkin and Nicklas was a bugaboo. "And Luke? What's he?" "Spoiled!" Sung a la Aunt Becky. At which, Luke jumped up and began running in a circle, singing "spoiled!" over and over.

April 17

He's catching on...
When I put Nicklas down for naps or to bed at night, he has begun to cling desperately to my arm as I lower him down. "If I hold on tight enough, she'll give up and not make me take a nap!"

April 5

At noon today, I asked Luke if he would like a sandwich for lunch. "No." "Well, what would you like?" "Bread!" "Would you like anything on your bread?" "Ummm... Jelly!"
But he didn't want a sandwich for lunch...

March 6

I meant to update here a few days ago, but I've been rather busy.
Brendan told us a few nights ago at dinner that when he gets very, very bigger he is going to be a pastor.
Nicklas had his two-month check-up yesterday. He weighs 12 pounds, 4 ounces and is 23 1/2 inches long!
We traveled to Wisconsin last weekend to attend a friend's wedding. Brendan is still talking about "the party."