Faith August - 29 Months

Faith is 2 1/2 years old now! 

Faith went to the dentist this month and did a great job with the hygenist.  The denist was another matter but she did eventually open her mouth for him.  All her teeth look great.  She has 2 of her molars.
Sleeping:
There have been a few naps this month where it has taken her a long time to fall asleep so I've moved her naptime to begin anywhere between 2 and 2:15 depending on how much exercise she's had that morning.  For about the last week we've been dealing with her getting out of bed at bedtime and have been dealing with it appropriatly.  She is not allowed to get out of bed for any reason, even a legitimate one warrants punishment, because, as I have explained to hear, I can hear any entreaties for assistance when she makes them and then when I am in her room she is allowed to get out of bed.  That seems to have fixed the problem but we'll give it a few more days to see for sure.  It still takes her a long time at night to fall asleep but she is quiet so I don't care!
Eating:
She is still a great eater.  Plain beef in the form of a roast is not that appealing to her but she knows that what is served is what she gets.  Thursday nights we've been having dinner at Sabrina's house and I bring dessert so usually when the promise of dessert is set in front of her it is more motivation to finish her meal even if she doesn't like it.  Broccoli and brussel sprouts are about the only veggies she doesn't like; apricots aren't her favorite fruit but that is about it on fruits and veggies that she eats reluctantly.  Snack time in the afternoon is now more sporadic depending on the time she wakes up and whether we are running errands after dinner which necessitates and early dinner time.
Play:
In addition to getting out of bed at bedtime she has also started coming out of her room during solo play.  The hammer came down there as well.  There have been legitimate needs (or she thinks so) for her to come out such as needing Dolly or needing Dolly's purse opened.  I've told her that she can come out but if it is illigimate reason (determined by me) then punishment will be delivered.  Playing with Rebekah has gotten much better.  We've been doing sibling play in the living room.  If the word "mine" is uttered then she has to sit in the corner until she is ready to share.  Sibling play toys are kept in my marron bucket and all other toys are put up when we have sibling play.  Next month I might move it into her room.  A new toy we got this month that she just loves is the B. Toys Critter Clinic:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002YIX23S/ref=ox_ya_os_product
Skills:
"I can do it by myself" is the phrase constantly heard around our house!  She has started to speak in the 1st person much more and I love it.  Her 2nd person speech has all but disappeared and only every once in a while will she speak in the 3rd person.  She loves to try and put her shoes on.  She can get her pink sandals on by herself and about 75% of the time she gets them on the correct feet.  She is starting to remember our Bible stories more and connect them with craft.  The series we did on Noah's ark was the first one where I really saw this.  Even today (2 weeks after we finished Noah) she was talking about the olive leaf in the dove's mouth when putting the craft into the box to send to Daddy.  There have been a couple of days this month with potty accidents but they are getting fewer.

Our Schedule:
0800- Up, breakfast, ready for the day, Bible story time
0900 - Outdoor time
1000 - Snack, chore
1100 - Craft, get lunch ready
1200 - Lunch, if we have errands to run we do them here.  Also, we've had several days of going to the park after lunch with the Langhaugs now that the pool is closed!  If we don't go out then we have freeplay and sister play during this time.
1400/1415- Nap until 4 or 4:30
1600/1630 - Snack, Solo Play, Dinner prep
1800- Dinner
1830 - After dinner activites include freeplay, walk, park, library
1915 - Bath, Bible reading, Bedtime o/a 2000

 

Rebekah Joy - 11 Month Summary

Rebekah is such a delight.  Solo playtime improved this month.  I started staggering her and Faith's start time so that Rebekah and I could have our time together before she went into playtime.  Then I would try to put her in on the quarter or half hour so that I could just close the door on the room and then 25 or so minutes later I will turn the monitor to her room and wait to hear the timer.  Either she is doing better with it that way or I just can't hear the screaming as well through the closed door.  I am happier with it though and I figure she will eventually learn to play in there rather than just soothe herself and hold her stuffed animals!
Eating:
We had a battle over meat this month in that she didn't want to eat it but I insisted that she do so.  I won.  After that 2 day fight she has been an even better eater than she was before.  She is on 100% table foods, other than Sunday nights and Wednesday nights when they are in the nursery at church during the dinner hour.  Then I provide purees for the workers to feed her but when those are gone I will give them table food to feed her.
Sleeping:
For the last several weeks she has been periodically waking at night coughing.  I don't think she has an ear infection as she has no other symptoms but I was blaming the congestion on teeth but none have come in (she still only has the bottom front 2).  Her afternoon nap is no longer in her carseat and she is doing well with it.
Skills:
Rebekah has a unique crawl/scoot and she is doing well with it but it looks so painful.  I am sure she is destine to be a gymnast with the flexability she is demonstrating!  She is mobile but is also content to sit in one place as long as she has toys, especially books.  She loves to look through them and I never have to tell her to keep them out of her mouth!  We have done blanket time a few times and I haven't had to correct her yet.  I am sure that as her mobility increases so too will her curiousity and she won't be quite so content on the blanket.  We'll see.  She has learned "all done" and "milk" and does them both consistantly.  She also comes when she is called, for the most part and we will continue to work on that as her mobility progresses.  She is drinking water from her sippy cup and feeding herself her own bottle.  Once she is on complete cow's milk I will switch her to the sippy only.
Play:
Like I said, solo play is improving, mildly (but I feel better about it whether she does or not!).  She continues to enjoy books and balls as well as a few other toys I've gotten for her like the Melissa and Doug grasping giraffe http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002IPGXTC, her Rainmakers (we have a large and a small one) http://www.amazon.com/Battat-68716-Rainmaker/dp/B003CI1DAS/ref=wl_mb_hu_c_3_dp , the Manhattan Toy Put and Peek Birdhouse http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0001NEAB6/ref=ox_ya_os_product, and the Plan Toys Roller http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000RE6S1E.  She loves the swings at the park as she has all summer!  She is also learning to "share" in that she enjoyes picking things up (anything including the rubber tire pieces at the park, my shoes, toys, etc.) and giving them to me.  That has helped a little in Sister Playtime as I have tried to incorperate that by Rebekah handing Faith the block or whatever and then Faith building something out of it.  Sister Play is something that will continue to evolve but I feel like it is important to teach them that there are times when they play together.

 

Our Schedule:

0800 - Up, breakfast (nurse + 2oz pumped milk), dress, Bible story

0900 - Outside time

1000 - Water in sippy while Faith has snack, start chore

1030 - Nap (somedays she'll only sleep 45 minutes, others she sleeps for an hour and 45)

1200 - Lunch (nurse + 2oz formula)

1230 - Errands if we have any, if not, then blanket time, freeplay, and sister play, followed by reading

1400 - Nap (usually wakes around 1545)

1600 - Snack (nurse)

1615 - Mama time / structured play

1645 - Solo play

1715 - Kitchen time / free play

1800 - Dinner, evening activity, bath, bottle and bedtime o/a 2001

Noah Found Grace

Faith and I are finishing up our 2 weeks studying Noah and the flood.  This has been the first craft series where I've really seen Faith put the story and the crafts together.  Several times while reading our Bible story in the evening she would say "remember Mama, remember when we made...." and here she would say whatever craft corresponded to what we just read (the rain, the animals, the dove, the rainbow).  It was exciting to she her little mind working.  We also sang two songs this week: Noah Found Grace in the Eyes of the Lord by the Statler Brothers and The Animals Went Marching Two by Two which is on an album of kids Bible songs that I have on my iPod for the girls.

Using a medicine and a dropper filled with blue colored water, she made it "rain" on Noah's ark.  This craft was a huge hit!!

I found this one on a blog called "a little mcd".  I cut out blue paper to make the sea and taped it to some white construction paper.  Then out of tan paper I cut an ark on the fold.  On the inside of the ark she put stickers of land animals and then in the sea she put stickers of sea creatures. 

I printed out about 20 different animal picutres (2 of each) and put the pages through my laminator and cut out each animal.  Then I spread them on her table and had her find the matching animals and put them over on the floor rug.  Perhaps the next time this story comes around I will have her build some kind of ark first and then have the kids put the animals from this matching game "in" the ark.

I found this rainbow rice craft on a blog called Toddler Brain.  I took one cup of rice and about a TBSP and a half of vinegar and put them in an old yogurt container.  Then we added the food coloring and shook it up!  I poured out the rice onto a foil lined cookie sheet and baked the rainbow at 170 for about 15 minutes. 

When it was dry and Rebekah was up from her nap we went outside to enjoy the cooler weather and play with the rice.  The girls had a BLAST playing with it!

"And lo, in her mouth was an olive leaf pluckt off." - Gen 8:11.  Faith loved saying this verse, I have no idea why but the olive leaf was exciting for her to talk about.  The dove hand print template came from dltk-bible.com.  I also found the olive leaf there but in a different place.  I traced Faith's hands and used them as the dove's wings and her top feathers. 

The Fall

Faith and I spent two weeks on the story of the fall of man, although there was a craft break during our trip to St Louis.  We read Genesis 3 as our Bible story in the morning and evening and then during the crafts that related to that story.  I am amazed at her memory but I am learning the scripture verbatum as well by reading it so many times per day!

This is the fingerprint painting we made of the tree of knowledge of good and evil - she loved this craft, mostly because it involved paint!

We made two serpent crafts, one in which she threaded the squares of felt onto a ribbon with a button at one end and the other was a paper chain snake with some wiggle eyes at one end.  With both snakes she really wanted to put them around her belly but none of the pictures I took turned out well with the snake in that position.

I got to watch the Langehaug children the day we made the forbidden fruit out of a paperbag stuffed with newspaper.  The girls enjoyed painting the bags red but I think they were wondering why they only got one color.  I guess I am just too conventional!

What craft series would be complete without a play-doh day?  Please note Adam and Eve wearing their aprons, as this was after the fall while they were hiding from God.  Faith enjoys doing the voice of God saying "Adam, where art thou?"

Grandparents Visit

My parents went canoeing for a week in the Boundry Waters near Ely, Minnesota and then drove down to AR to spend a little time with us.  I had procured a construction staple in one of my tires and was so glad my dad was here to convince me to take the car to the auto shop on base rather than just ignore the dash indicator light as I was wanting to do.  Dads are so good for that kind of thing.  He also helped me mow the lawn; actually he helped me do the edging because I can use the mower just fine but the edger is impossible for someone of my height to use!  We spent lots of time at the park and playing and although we didn't do anything super exciting, the girls loved having their grandparents here and I really enjoyed the company.  My mom insisted on doing the dishes every night and just that was a huge blessing.  They took Lady back to Utah with them and we will join them in October.  Incidently, I have taught Faith to sing "London Bridge" and at the end she has added a tag line "my fair Lady, is in Utah!"
Here are some pictures from their visit:

Reading with Granddad; this was a constant activity!

Rebekah getting some dancing lessons from Granddad, the best teacher!

Gran and the girls during out lawn care marathon.