December 16

Brendan keeps asking for Nicklas to come out now. He knows that Nicklas won't be coming out until after Christmas, but he also knows that when Nicklas comes out, Oma is coming. The other day he held a baptism for the baby Jesus from the Nativity scene. He had all the figures around Jesus and he was saying "baptism, baptism, baptism..."
Luke has been telling us lately that he's the baby. He points at himself and says very insistently, "BABY". We may be in for a bit of trouble...
Tomorrow, Brendan turns three! He's very excited about this and likes to tell people that he's going to be three years old. He's looking forward to the candles on the cake.

November Recap

Everything's going well here. Brendan's learning to read. Luke has developed a habit of of running in circles around the living room, grinning and screeching. We call him "crazy baby". About a week ago, Michael was having a beer with dinner and Brendan asked me if I wanted some. I said no, I couldn't have beer because I have a baby in my tummy. Well, the other night, Michael was having a root beer in a brown glass bottle (Brendan thought it was beer). Michael offered me some and Brendan scolded him, "Daddy! Mama not have beer! She have baby Nicklas in tummy!"

One More Post...

Since Luke was an absolute bear to put to bed tonight, I thought I would mention a few good and cute things he did today.
He folded his hands very nicely for prayer before dinner. Often, requesting that he fold his hands results in one of his infamous meltdowns.
He put his crayons away without any complaint when Michael asked this evening.
He woke up in a wonderful mood. Of course, he was a puppy, but he was at least a happy puppy.
After bedtime prayers, we sang "All Praise to Thee, My God, This Night" and he folded his hands and sang along. Well, he sang until we got past the part about the dump trucks. He was done then. Bet you didn't know there was a stanza about dump trucks in that hymn, did you? Well, there is, Luke composed it tonight. It goes something like, "Ah do bah doo dee dee ah, dump truck dump truck dump truck, ah dee bah doo..."

Tummy ache!

After dinner tonight, we let the boys have cookies. This is a very rare treat in our house, so the boys were quite excited. When Brendan finished his cookies, he asked for more. I said no, that too many cookies would give him a tummy ache. He looked at me and said, "Brendan WANT tummy ache!"

October 18 - St. Luke's Day

The Lesson I Learned Yesterday:

When you are standing in the kitchen washing dishes and your almost 3-year-old announces from the living room, "Mama, Brendan cleaning!" Do not simply assume that he's playing with his toy broom as is usually the case when that announcement is made, say, "Thank you, dear." and go back to your dishes. Oh no, not a good idea. You REALLY ought to go to the living room and find out just what he is cleaning and more importantly, what he is cleaning it with...

...He might, just might, be scrubbing the living room carpet with his brother's toothbrush.

October 14

Brendan is absolutely loving feeling Nicklas kick lately. He will come up to me throughout the day, place his hands on my belly, and say, "Nicklas! Kick Brendan's hands!" He is so delighted and laughs hysterically when Nicklas actually does kick. He also asks Nicklas to come out and play. He's starting to understand that it's going to be a little while yet before that happens, though.

September 27

Okay, I'm getting really bad at this. I've been a bit busy, I guess. Anyway, we found out that we're having a third boy! Everything is going really well with the pregnancy; I feel great and the baby, Nicklas, is growing and active. Brendan really enjoys feeling Nicklas kick and wiggle, Luke isn't so thrilled by it. Of course, Nicklas does seem to have a habit of kicking Luke while he snuggles with me...
I started Preschool with Brendan at the beginning of the month. He's such a bright little boy and I love watching him learn. He already knows his numbers from 1-10 and can actually count objects up to about 6 most of the time. He knows most of his colors and shapes and is getting much better at coloring. He knows most of the Lord's Prayer and a good portion of the Apostle's Creed.
Luke is taking more and more, although he rarely does it in front of anyone but us. He can do several signs as well.
Both boys are obsessed with motorcycles. Thanks, Dad. Lately, the keyboard bench has been being turned upside down and used as a motorcycle. Before that, it was the box that my photo printer came in.
My friend Becky and I took our children to the zoo earlier this month. Brendan loved the alligator and the jaguar; Luke wanted to join the kangaroo herd. Last week, she and I took the children to the fall festival at Salomon Farm. Luke was delighted by all of the tractors; Brendan enjoyed the petting zoo and the pumpkins.

August 6

Sorry it's been so long. It's been a rather busy few months.
Brendan is completely potty-trained now!
Luke is starting to talk a lot more, although you still have to be paying very close attention in order to catch anything he's saying.
This afternoon I was finishing unpacking their room when I walked out to the living room to put something in the Co-op box. There was Luke, sitting at their little desk, sharing his pacifier with a stuffed puppy. He'd give the dog a turn, then take a turn himself. Very cute and sweet.
Brendan has fallen in love with Curious George. Oma bought him a book of Curious George stories last week and it is his new favorite. Today, he named his sock monkey "George". I pointed out that it wasn't actually Curious George and he looked at me and said very firmly and matter-of-factly, "George!" And that was that.
Our new house is very nice. I'm happy with it. It's much smaller than I'm used to, but I'm trying to use that as motivation to get us more organized and to get rid of the stuff we never use anyway. There are a few things that need to be fixed, but the landlord is working on them. It's going to work out well.
The new little one is doing great. Spends a lot of time bouncing around. Michael has already felt him move once. I'm so happy to be pregnant again; another new little one to love and raise, what could be more wonderful?