Learn Something New Everyday!

I feel like the kids have been learning so much lately! We all are, I guess. Here is a run down on what we have been learning:

Grant is saying more and more words everyday. He has learned to say banana. It sounds like 'mana', but I know what he is saying and it is adorable! His latest favorite word is 'engine'. As in fire engine. At first when he said it I thought he was saying 'onion'. I showed him an onion a couple of weeks ago and it was a word Emma learned pretty early on, so I just assumed. But, I should have known with this little guy that it was indeed 'engine' he was saying. He loves books about trucks and work machines and tractors.
He has also learned to tattle on his sisters. It cracks me up! He will run out where I am (or Kenneth is) and get in 'the stance' and say which ever sister's name who happens to be the offender at the moment. Today instead of just saying their name he also added a word to describe what the offense was; e.g. "door" when they had closed their door and would not let him come in.
A couple of weeks ago I meant to write a post about how Grant had FINALLY learned to sleep like a normal person!!! He was sleeping all through the night 11-12 hours and for about a week was napping anywhere from 2-3 hours in the afternoon. It was amazing!!! I was so excited that he finally got it after so long of only napping for 45 minutes, or if I was lucky 1 hour and 15 minutes. Well, good thing I didn't write that post because it didn't last! Everyday for the last week and a half Grant wakes up sometime in the 4 o'clock hour. I tried going in and telling him it was still time to sleep, but it wasn't working- he would still cry. So, I tried telling him when I put him to bed at night that I wasn't coming in until it was time to wake up in the morning. So now, he cries from whenever he gets up in that 4 o'clock hour to 6 am when I go and get him. (That is my policy- 6 am is the earliest I want these children awake in the morning.) We've tried putting him to bed earlier to see if that is what he needed, we tried to put him to bed later to see if he was simply getting too much sleep. Neither worked- he still woke up at the same time. The last few days the wake up time is slowly creeping later: 4:20 am, 4:30 am, 4:45 am and this morning 4:50 am. I am hoping that he will creep it right back up to 6 am. Sheesh. I tell ya, I tell ya, I tell ya.

Arianna is learning to potty train!!! She is the complete opposite from most children, however, because she is pretty much doing all of her #2s on the potty and up until today almost always refused to do any #1. Funny lady. We have been motivating her with small animal toys that she can earn every time she successfully does something on the toilet. I really think she is the type that will just have to decide when she is ready to be diaper free. No one can make up her mind for her. That's kind of how the current training came about. One day she just went in there and did it, even though for weeks we had the animals on the refrigerator and she knew how she could earn them.
It's funny, we thought for sure she would train before Emma did. It sure didn't happen that way. Maybe it was the move. She was starting to train a little back in Maryland. For a long time we would ask here when she was ready to go on the potty and she would say, "Tomorrow". Well, today, she decided it was time to give her diapers to Grant- she is a big girl now and ready for panties. (Just to prove her point to me that she was a big girl she brought up the fact that she even showers now). So, as I write this, she is in panties for the first time. The real question is: Am I ready for this? (The extra laundry and frustration) Well, I better be if she is!

Emma is learning to read! She is really getting the concept and amazes us sometimes with what she understands and picks up on. A lot of it at this point is memorization, but she is really learning and it is exciting!! We are talking a lot about what we want to do for school for her in the Fall: Homeschool or Kindergarten. I am leaning towards Kindergarten and Kenneth toward Homeschooling. I was homeschooled myself for a little while and I have worked in a Kindergarten class, so I am biased. We'll see. I went to observe a kindergarten class in our assigned school a few days ago. It was pretty good, but I wasn't completely won over.
Here is Emma at 'resting time'. She doesn't even try to get comfortable anymore; it's all about the books!

I am learning to get back into my workout routine. I was so good when we were in Maryland before we moved. I felt really great- healthy, strong and my clothes fit comfortably. Then we drove across the country, lived in a hotel for a month and then had to move in. I kept telling myself that I would start up again when we were settled in the house. Then I felt like we were never truly settled because there were still unpacked boxes, still things I couldn't find, still pictures unhung. Then. . .Kenneth was at the end of his semester and then all the craziness with the Lymphoma happened. Well, now that we are in a routine with our new life and now that my thighs have been nagging me for a few weeks, I have started again. I already feel better about myself! I am excited to get back in the routine. The kids are learning to stay out of my way. That was another reason I dreaded getting back into exercising- the kids inevitably need something or have a melt-down and I am interrupted and it bothers me. It is easier this time with Kenneth home and willing to help me fit this into our schedule. So, here goes!

What has Kenneth learned, you ask? He has learned to accept the fact that he is a handsome bald man and is now willing to have his picture here on the blog. So, here he is:
This is when we were saying goodbye to Karen, Kenneth's sister, at the airport.

The kids are loving Dad's head- what a great place for the animals to stand!

Kenneth is actually doing quite well. He has a great appetite and feels healthy and strong. We feel so thankful.