Daddy's Homecoming!

Monday, January 23, 2012 - Preparations for Frank's return.  We made a poster to take to the airport to welcome Daddy home.  I arranged for a friend of mine to take some pictures of us when he got there.  And, I stayed up way too late making a dress for Faith's doll to match her own homecoming dress.  Sunday morning I learned he was coming home on Tuesday.  Prior to that he wasn't supposed to arrive for another week and I promised Faith that Dolly could have a dress!

 

Tuesday, January 24, 2012 - Frank' return home!  My friend, Christina went to the airport early to clear with the airline that she could come back to the gate with us and take pictures.  She was such a huge help!  Frank had been flying for about 24 hours and actually gave up a hotel in Baltimore so he could get home to us earlier.  He was one of the last people off the flight which was a little nerve wracking and of course we were all quite the show for the other passengers waiting in the airport.  We got a nice ovation from the folks there when Frank finally emerged from the jet way!

Welcome Home!

Faith August - 2 Years and 9 Months

As I write this I anticipate Frank coming home from his deployment tomorrow!  My main purpose in keeping up this blog has been so he can read updates on the girls and see pictures of them as they grow.  I have included in my 2012 goals to continue updating the blog at least twice a month for posterity's sake so that one day I can look back and see how my babies grew and what was going on in our lives.  We'll see how that goes :)  I also just finished a dress for Faith's doll to match the homecoming dress I made for her to wear tomorrow.  She is going to love it.  She is still very into dolly and being a great little mama in training towards her.
Sleeping:
We traveled back to Arkansas during this month and it was a pretty smooth transition and the girls did really well sleeping in the same room at my sister's house.  We've all had a bit of a cold the last week and the coughing is really wreaking havoc with Faith's sleep.  It will pass soon though and she is enjoying the kids' tea she gets when she coughs!  As I mentioned last month I stopped waking her to take her potty at night before I go to bed.  Well this month, she has done extremely well  having a dry diaper after 12 hours!  We have about one wet diaper a week on average and she cheerfully collects her sticker each morning, not for her chart but for her chest, leg, or Dolly!  Pretty soon I am sure we'll get to the day when it is panties only at bed.
Eating:
When we got back to Arkansas I put her back in her high chair which just sits in one of our chairs but found that her legs were too long and it was really uncomfortable for her.  So, that chair went to the other side of the table and now she sits in the bumbo with a place mat at the table and does very well.  The bumbo is simply for added height.  She does really well even when she sits only on a chair.  She has to take 2 bites of everything on her plate at a minimum because she is 2 years old.  She asked me one day how many bites I have to take, no comment :)
Skills:
Faith knows her birthday is in April (or Ape-A-Ril) and has become very interested in when everyone's birthdays are.  We've only just started talking about months in the home school pre-school that I am doing with Sabrina so it doesn't mean anything to her really that her birthday is in April and Rebekah's is in October but someday it will and I love that her vocabulary is increasing.  She continues to work on writing her letters.  This month she has been working hard on K (straight line down, angle in, angle out).  When we color she really would rather work on writing letters so it is obvious she is passionate about it.  She loves pointing out letter she sees everywhere, especially F and R.
Play:
This month Faith really started to enjoy the snow, which was good because Utah saw a lot of it while we were finishing up our time there.  She really likes to make snow angels and fall down and have me pick her up by the snow suit.  35 pounds of dead weight is no joke :)  As we received Christmas cards during this month, Faith loved looking at the family pictures people sent.  I usually gave her 2 or 3 while we were in the car and throughout any car ride she constantly asked what the mama, daddy, and children in the pictures names were.  She just loved looking at them, especially the kids and babies.  So, thanks for all the cards!  She continues to concern herself with everyone's owies and making sure they are getting better, it is really sweet.  I think she'll make a fantastic nurse if she decides to pursue it!  This has been a big transition month for Faith with so much travel (Utah to Vegas to Arkansas to OKC and back to Arkansas) but she did have some time for play; her favorite book (and Rebekah's) was one we got at the library, Moo, Moo Brown Cow and she really loves to play with her Cutting Food Box
Our Schedule (back in AR):
0800 - Wake, get ready, eat breakfast
0900 - Bible story, craft, worship!
0945 - Freeplay
1030 - Baking together, learning time
1130 - Sisterplay with Rebekah
1200 - Lunch
1230 - Chore, Outside time
1415 - Naptime
1600/1630 - Snack, dinner prep, solo play
1800 - Dinner, reading, bath, Bible story, bedtime o/a 1950

Rebekah Joy - 15 Months

I am so ready for her Daddy to come home and meet Rebekah again.  She is so different from the baby he left 6 months ago!  At her 15 month appointment she was 21lbs (only 1 pound heavier than at 12 months but still on track).

Eating:
Now that she realizes milk is a necessary part of every meal, I have started allowing Rebekah to drink her milk throughout the meal rather than all at once at the beginning as I had perviously done because if I didn't, she would fill up on food and not eat any milk.  She continues to love fruits and veggies and although meat is not her favorite, we've nipped the crying as soon as I put in front of her game that she thought she could get away with there for a while.  She really does love to eat and is generally pretty happy when doing so.
Sleeping:

Sleep has been pretty good this month except for some travel disruptions when we went to Vegas, twice, and then flew back to Arkansas but after a day or two of night wakings (and not long wakings either) she is back to normal.  She continues to take a morning nap most days but it isn't very long, maybe a half hour.  But if we are out and about the nap is skipped and then she goes down for the afternoon nap between 1:15 and 1:30, depending on how she is doing.

Skills:
Rebekah has learned how to climb steps this month and LOVES to do so.  I won't let her climb stairs in a house right now so she has to content herself with climbing at the park and onto her sisters footstool.  She is saying 9 distinctive words: Mama, Dada, Sister, Granddad (learned before Mama), Duck, Dog, Ball, Baby, and Shoe.  Her walking is improving and she is working at going down small steps.  She is a champion self feeder and has been for about 3 months but the doctor mentioned it the other day and I realized that I'd never said anything about it here.  Additionally, although I have been lax in teaching her any new signs, she is improving in the delivery of the ones she knows.  "Help" is looking more like the example than it did previously and she really tries to get "more" a little more finely tuned as well. 
Play:
Solo play is going so well.  I really think that my playing with her and the toys she has in solo play at the beginning of each week has helped out a ton!  It is like it shows her how to play with the toy and then she is happy.  There have been a few protests from her but the are short and then she resigns herself to her fate.  I think we'll start working on roomtime soon.  This Counting and Sorting Farm has become a favorite as well as her laptop; both of these have been good solo playtime and free playtime toys.  Faith got her the most adorable snuggle baby doll and she just lights up when she sees it.  She continues to love books and they were a primary source of entertainment during all of our recent traveling.