Music, no music, make up a tune, radio, or the snapping of fingers. You name it and Sara can dance to it. Adam is usually soon to follow, although with much different moves. I have lots of video of Sara dancing over the past year and she is certainly evolving. It's not unusual for us to be driving in the car and she is tapping her hand on her knee to the beat on the radio, looking all grown up. Adam will often ask me to turn on the radio. If the volume isn't sufficient, he is sure to let me know by yelling "LOUDER!" I love that they love music. It's one of my passions in life that seems to have gotten crowded out by the daily grind. I foresee that the kids will keep the passion alive in our household!
I started singing Rockin' Robin to the kids one day and they looked at me like I was crazy. I got on my laptop and found an old version and cranked up the volume. Sara quickly fell in love with it. After the 10th playing, I was thankful Shannon came home so he could take a turn dancing with her!
Next we have dancing to the show So You Think You Can Dance. This is a family favorite. When they find a routine they particularly like, they ask me to play it a few times so they can really get the choreography down! Adam loves doing the splits and krumping. Sara likes it when Shannon lifts her in the air like the pair routines. This time really made me laugh when Adam ran up to Sara and said "hold hands." Later it turned into a game of just holding Sara's hands and pulling her down on the floor, giggling.
For Adam's birthday, Grandpa Mollenhauer got him a dumper that made all kinds of noise, played music, and shook. We had to put it away until recently because he didn't like all the noise and was scared of it. Thankfully, a few weeks ago he asked to get it out and he pushes it around. It has also turned into a dance opportunity with the rock and roll music it plays. Apparently Adam is the DJ who is in charge of pushing the button when the music stops. Check out Sara's hips!
This was also the first time that Sara jumped and both feet left the ground - a developmental milestone!
Saturday, July 9, 2011
Potty training day 1-3
Today is Day 3 of my potty training attempts with Adam. He seemed quite ready a few months ago and was very interested in going on the potty. I finally decided that, while he is still very young, I might as well hop on board with his enthusiasm, ramp up my commitment level, and see what happens. The walking around bottomless approach was not something that appealed to me. Just going straight to big boy underwear and still cleaning up puddles of pee on the hardwood and carpet still didn't sound appealing. I searched online and found some training underwear that have a waterproof outer layer. They can also be helpful for outings when they aren't quite ready or naps and longer stretches of time. Reminds me of when I was young and you wore the thick underwear and a separate plastic underpant over it...these are just all together.
Armed with our big boy underwear, our step stool for the toilet, our potty seat that attaches to the big potty, and our big dispenser of mini M&Ms displayed right on the counter, we started our Day 1 on a positive note of "no no no's". It seems over the past week or so his enthusiasm has diminished. Unfortunately, a trigger has gone off in Adam the past few days and all we hear constantly is "no no no." It's getting a little old. But we pushed ahead anyway.
Day 1 resulted in 5 successes and 3 pees in the underwear. They were probably mostly my fault because I wasn't having him go often enough.
Interestingly enough, Day 1 also resulted in Sara hopping on board. Prior to this, she has just sat on the potty and has only gone once. But now that she sees what's going on with Adam, she wants to get in on the potty dance celebration, as well as the downing of the M&Ms. When Adam is done, Sara is quick to pipe up "Sara, too!"
Day 2 was even better. Lots of successes and only 1 pee in the training pants. And an occasion of 2 M&Ms for #2! I finally broke down and corrected Sara with the anatomically correct body part name when she kept saying we were wiping Adam's butt. She kept repeating the "p" word over and over again. I know her memory and wonderful enunciation will come back to haunt me some time soon in an embarrassing way in WalMart or some other public place!
Today is Day 3 and we have started off well so far. Just 1 accident. Sara has continued her enthusiasm to join in. Not every time but quite a few. We also had a couple times that Adam told me he had to go so that is progress.
I guess we'll see where this journey takes us. If we succeed, that's great. If not, we'll try again. I'm not overly worried about it right now since they are only 2 1/4. But for now I'm committed as long as he is. And she, I guess...
Armed with our big boy underwear, our step stool for the toilet, our potty seat that attaches to the big potty, and our big dispenser of mini M&Ms displayed right on the counter, we started our Day 1 on a positive note of "no no no's". It seems over the past week or so his enthusiasm has diminished. Unfortunately, a trigger has gone off in Adam the past few days and all we hear constantly is "no no no." It's getting a little old. But we pushed ahead anyway.
Day 1 resulted in 5 successes and 3 pees in the underwear. They were probably mostly my fault because I wasn't having him go often enough.
Interestingly enough, Day 1 also resulted in Sara hopping on board. Prior to this, she has just sat on the potty and has only gone once. But now that she sees what's going on with Adam, she wants to get in on the potty dance celebration, as well as the downing of the M&Ms. When Adam is done, Sara is quick to pipe up "Sara, too!"
Day 2 was even better. Lots of successes and only 1 pee in the training pants. And an occasion of 2 M&Ms for #2! I finally broke down and corrected Sara with the anatomically correct body part name when she kept saying we were wiping Adam's butt. She kept repeating the "p" word over and over again. I know her memory and wonderful enunciation will come back to haunt me some time soon in an embarrassing way in WalMart or some other public place!
Today is Day 3 and we have started off well so far. Just 1 accident. Sara has continued her enthusiasm to join in. Not every time but quite a few. We also had a couple times that Adam told me he had to go so that is progress.
I guess we'll see where this journey takes us. If we succeed, that's great. If not, we'll try again. I'm not overly worried about it right now since they are only 2 1/4. But for now I'm committed as long as he is. And she, I guess...
Saturday, June 18, 2011
Watering flowers
I got a lovely hanging basket of flowers for administrative assistants day a few months ago. Every day or every other day the kids and I go out and water the basket until it's overflowing so they can enjoy the "rain". Sara especially ends up soaking wet.
Park playdates
The past few months our twins group has met at a different park each week in various towns. It has given us great opportunities to get out more and explore the world and socialize with other kids. I was able to capture a few shots at our hometown park before the other kids arrived. Sara's first day with pigtails!
Monday, June 13, 2011
Sara's new nightgown
My aunt told me recently that something that makes a little girl really start to look older is the first time she wears a nightgown. I would have to say she's right. Sara picked out one at the store and she absolutely loves it. I think she would wear it every night if she could.
A day at the farm
I can't believe how far behind I am with blog posts. I'll try to catch up little by little.
One of the things that I am really enjoying about the twins group I belong to is that we do fun social outings from time to time. About a month ago, a group of us met at a local family owned dairy farm for a tour. Before the tour started, Sara stopped to smell the flowers...lilacs, my favorite!
Our first stop on the farm was to pet the new twin lambs. I wasn't able to snap a photo for that because I was trying to keep track of them around the animals. They really liked getting right up close and burying their little fingers into the soft wool coat.
Next we got to pet a chicken. So neat to reach out and touch the feathers.
We also got to see 2 horses and 2 foals that were being kept on their property for a little while. We had to be very careful while standing at the gate and she brought the foals by for us to see. They were pretty skirmish.
Then it was on to meet the stars of the farm - all the lady cows living in what they call the Taj Mahal. About 250 dairy cows get milked every day and a Prairie Farms truck comes every other day to pick up the milk and take it to the local processor. It's back on the shelf at the store for consumption within 24 hours - now that's fresh!
And the babies! She had so many right now she didn't have "houses" for all of them.
Hopefully the kids won't remember that I wouldn't let them get out of their stroller to walk up and pet them. Maybe for the next visit. We had a lot of rain recently so it was very muddy and the animals were quite dirty. Considering that the kids suck their thumbs, all the germs were on my mind.
We tried to make it through the tour of the milking house but the kids were getting hungry and tired and wouldn't sit still. Instead we spread out a blanket under a tree and enjoyed a picnic lunch before heading home. We only had to shoo off the farm dog a few times so she wouldn't steal our sandwiches!
One of the things that I am really enjoying about the twins group I belong to is that we do fun social outings from time to time. About a month ago, a group of us met at a local family owned dairy farm for a tour. Before the tour started, Sara stopped to smell the flowers...lilacs, my favorite!
Our first stop on the farm was to pet the new twin lambs. I wasn't able to snap a photo for that because I was trying to keep track of them around the animals. They really liked getting right up close and burying their little fingers into the soft wool coat.Next we got to pet a chicken. So neat to reach out and touch the feathers.
We also got to see 2 horses and 2 foals that were being kept on their property for a little while. We had to be very careful while standing at the gate and she brought the foals by for us to see. They were pretty skirmish.
Then it was on to meet the stars of the farm - all the lady cows living in what they call the Taj Mahal. About 250 dairy cows get milked every day and a Prairie Farms truck comes every other day to pick up the milk and take it to the local processor. It's back on the shelf at the store for consumption within 24 hours - now that's fresh!
And the babies! She had so many right now she didn't have "houses" for all of them.
Hopefully the kids won't remember that I wouldn't let them get out of their stroller to walk up and pet them. Maybe for the next visit. We had a lot of rain recently so it was very muddy and the animals were quite dirty. Considering that the kids suck their thumbs, all the germs were on my mind.
We tried to make it through the tour of the milking house but the kids were getting hungry and tired and wouldn't sit still. Instead we spread out a blanket under a tree and enjoyed a picnic lunch before heading home. We only had to shoo off the farm dog a few times so she wouldn't steal our sandwiches!
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