Bananas & Standing

I just gave Elaine her first banana. She was very suspicious and tried to spit out the first bite. (The only solid food she will eat is oatmeal). She then decided she liked it, but would not admit it. She glared at me the whole time she ate it, crawled quickly away, and then quickly returned for more. She ate about 10 little pieces this way, never acting like she was enjoying it in the least.

Anyway, I decided to tape her funny reaction; while I was doing so, she let go of me and stood, unassisted, for a good 2 seconds! Unfortunately (and of course), the camera ran out of memory right then. Watch closely, and at the very end, you can see her let go with her left hand. She stood for long enough for me to say, "You're standing," for her to look down and realize she was standing, do a mini squat, stand back up, and then sit down.

Losing Battle

Our yard is totally infested with dandelions. Over the past couple of weeks, I've spent hours in the front yard, digging up the little buggers by the roots. Our front yard is now dandelion free. However, our back yard looks like this, and I'm not even going to try . . . . .


I didn't know dandelions could be bushes!

Moose Antlers and Patience

A couple weeks ago, Mariah and I were pulling dandelions in our front yard. She picked up a stick, put it to her head, and said, "This is a moose antler!"

I said, "You have a good imagination," to which she replied, "I have a good memory."

me: "Yes, you do."

Mariah: "And I'm patient!"

Hmm. Maybe she has heard her mother praying for patience?

If I Were a Lion

My favorite children's book right now is If I Were a Lion, by Sarah Weeks. It captures my 2-year-old to a T.

We got it from the library last week (I just grabbed it off the shelf without reading it). It's a gem.



I loved watching Mariah's face as Mike read it to her that night before bed.

As he read the first page, "I'm sitting in the time-out chair because my mother put me there. She said, 'You try my patience, child! I do not like it when you're wild,'" Mariah's eyes got wide, and she looked first at me and then at Mike with this oh-my-goodness-this-book-is-about-me look in her eye.

The little girl in the book then goes on to explain how she is far from wild:

"Wild? Who me? That's so absurd. How could she even use that word?"







"If I were a lion, I'd growl and roar and knock the dishes on the floor."










". . . Am I howling? Do I bark? Rummage through the trash at dark?"

And so on. The illustrations are darling; I especially like the wall-art additions on each page.

Very fun book.

Chubbers

April Showers?

April 16th, at my parents' house, we woke up to this:

So, Mariah tried on her Christmas dress (which I had acquired the night before at a Relief Society swap meet) to celebrate, and then she and I headed out to shovel the snow in the warm April sun.

The snow melted very quickly and was almost gone by the end of the day.

Yankee Dog

While Mom, Dad, and the boys were at the condo in Island Park, we stayed at their house to puppy sit Yankee.

Mariah and Yankee got more and more used to each other as the week went on. Yankee settled down a bit, and Mariah got more tolerant and brave. By the end of the week, they acted like siblings. I felt like I had both the good and bad of 2-year-old twins.

Elaine was a bit more nervous than Mariah, and I tried to protect her the best I could for the first few days. But Laney would purposely go by Yankee or take Yankee's toys and then cry for help when Yankee started bugging her. So I finally decided to just let the 2 of them work it out. After a day of that, Laney would just put up her hand and cringe whenever Yanks came by, and Yankee got more used to her and stopped bugging her so much.

Island Park

For spring break, my parents rented a condo in Island Park for a week. Then they got asked to speak in church Easter Sunday, so they decided not to use the first 2 nights. They offered it to us! So, three days after I got back from St. George, we packed the girls up and headed out for a snowy getaway. We figured out it was the first family vacation we have ever been on! (We went to Arizona once, when Mariah was small, for one of Mike's dental school interviews, but that wasn't a vacation.)

We had such a good time! We had our doubts when we arrived Friday night (late), and Mariah was up until 1:30 a.m., loudly pitting her will against ours. But the rest of the time was so relaxing and pleasant.

We had a lazy Saturday morning, with French toast and hashbrowns for breakfast. Then, while Elaine slept, we took Mariah out exploring in the snow right by our condo. Ten feet of snow and pine trees. Beautiful!

After lunch we headed over to an Easter egg hunt and swimming. The girls loved the water, even though it was a bit chilly. Mariah did not want to get out.

When we got back to the condo, Mariah fell asleep at the table, in the middle of a bite of grapefruit. I was so shocked (she has never fallen asleep anywhere except in bed or in the car) that I didn't think to take a picture until I had moved her to the couch. She slept there until dinner time.

The girls were in bed and quiet by 9 p.m. (after some struggling) Saturday night. Mike and I played some Screeble and had a nice relaxing evening.

Sunday morning we got up and had pancakes and hashbrowns for breakfast. (Can you tell I like an excuse to break from our daily oatmeal?) Then we headed to Rigby to visit Mike's grandparents, Grandma Carol and Grandpa Joe. We went to church with them and then had lunch at their house before heading home. Grandma made some fabulous rice with veggies. She had even gotten some tofu just for me. Everything was delicious.

The girls were angel travelers, both on the way there and on the way back. We met up with Mom, Dad, Vic, and Davie in Salt Lake to exchange the condo key. Then we went "home" to their house to puppy sit Yankee for the week.

Uncle Eldon

(Life has been crazy busy, and I haven't posted forever, it seems. Things have settled down somewhat, so I'm going to play catch up.)

At the beginning of April, my dad's Uncle, Eldon Gentry died. He was the last dairy farmer in St. George; he was an incredible man. Dad lived with Eldon and Yvonne while he went to Dixie College. He worked on the dairy with Uncle Eldon to pay his room and board. Eldon had a great impact on his life, and thus on mine.

Growing up, we would stop at the Gentrys' each time we passed through St. George (usually a few times each year). I have very fond memories of their house: the pink swivel chairs at the kitchen table; the mirrored living room; sleeping in sleeping bags on their front lawn when we arrived too late at night and didn't want to wake them.

I also remember visiting the dairy and being fascinated with the milking machines.

We always referred to Eldon and Yvonne as "Uncle Eldon and Aunt Yvonne." Until well into my teenage years, I thought Yvonne's name was "Auntievon."

I will always remember Uncle Eldon with fondness; I'm so thankful for the example he was to my dad and to all of us.

Christine and I drove down for the funeral. We took Elaine and Orva and had a great time. Laney and Orva are opposites in many ways, but their voices sound exactly the same! We could not tell them apart. Christine and I had the following conversation a few different times:

(baby crying, talking, or growling)
Christine or me: "Who was that?"
Christine or me: "Don't know."
(another baby sound)
Christine AND me: "Oh, that was definitely mine!"

Smile!