adventures with Grandma

Before we get started on the adventures with Grandma, just a few things they did that were so cute.

Last week Whitney was crying about I don't remember what, so Tucker wanted to give her a kiss.  Well, that didn't work out so well.  Whitney started screaming "no kiss, no kiss!" but he gave her one anyway and then she said, "Yucky kiss".  Yet another sign of sibling rivalry.  Here's another.

Whitney figured out how to climb out of her crib on Thursday.  Once Tucker saw it, he immediately started climbing out of his crib, but quickly stopped when several times in a day he got his leg stuck and he was hanging on the side of the crib at an angle.  He hasn't figured out how to flip his body so his leg stays parallel to the bars, so he gets his leg wedge in at a 90 degree angle.  This means he is still a prisoner in his crib.  And apparently a POW.  Whitney totally took advantage.  Saturday night they were up until 9 :30, even though they didn't take a nap all day because of Whitney.  First she climbed out and took Tucker's blanket from him.  Then she took his toys away from him and threw them out the bedroom door into the hall.  Then she unplugged the nightlight and the music.  This got him screaming so Daddy intervened.  He found that she had thrown more of his toys in the dirty laundry hamper that is in their room.

The next day was even better.  Since they were so exhausted from the war games the night before, Tucker fell asleep on the way home from church.  When we got home, Whitney also asked for "sleepy, sleepy", so I put her in there, Tucker already asleep.  A half an hour later, Tucker started screaming like he was hurt.  I ran in there and found that Tucker was in one corner of his crib, and Whitney was in the opposite corner of his crib, jumping up and down.  There was also a Little People school bus (pretty good size and heavy toy) in there that must have landed on him when she threw it in before she climbed in.  She was laughing and having a great time, but Tucker was screaming because he really just wanted to be taking a nap and couldn't.  It was VERY HARD to keep a straight face when I went out to tell my Mom and Grandpa why Tucker had been screaming and why Whitney was no longer taking a nap.

I think Whitney has a great sense of humor, though, to go along with her sense of revenge.  She is very good at making up silly songs.  She likes to put in other words for songs.  For example, the wheels on the bus can also say things like "Whitney goes up and down" or "Grandma's auto" in place of the normal lyrics.  We do a lot of song requests in the car.  Whitney tells me which song and what lyrics she wants me to sing while I drive.  Usually it's pretty fun, until I loose track of stuff when I'm concentrating on driving.  And I've had to do a lot of concentrating on driving this past week.

My mom and Grandpa (who we also call Papa) are visiting and we are having a grand time of it.  It's good timing, though, because Jim is out of town on "business" at the E3 trade show.  Anyone in the gaming industry knows he is having a great time of it.  So we are having a great time with the grandparents.  We've been doing multiple activities in one day, something for which I never have the energy or patience for usually.  Here are our examples so far.

Friday we went to the indoor mall playground until it dried up enough to go to the beach playground.  And after all that, I even had time to go pick up medicine for Tucky at the pharmacy.

Saturday I went to a baptism, my mom picked up my bountiful basket, we went hiking and Jim cooked a seafood dinner.

Sunday was church, made easier with mom there than me alone and we walked around the botanical gardens later in the day.

But today was the king of all king of multi-fun events.  We went to the locks, went on a ferry ride and went to dinner at a friend's house who also took us for a boat ride on Lake Washington.  More details on the adventures of doing all this with two two year olds below.

We've also been having a great time eating really well.  This is the time to bust out the yummy recipes of homemade bread, spanish rice, salsa, spaghetti sauce as well as take advantage of Jim and his choice of seafood and him being around to cook it correctly (non-rubbery form).

The playground with 3 adults and 2 kids was awesome.  I even sat down and watched for awhile I think, for like, 15 minutes.  It was heaven.  And the babies thought it was heaven because they could go wherever they wanted, separate from the other, with the attention of an adult the whole time.  Tucker was so excited about this attention, he couldn't stop beaming his smile, and intermittently jumping up and down, literally, for joy.

Hiking was also entertaining and work, all in one.  Whitney probably hiked a mile, most of it uphill, "singing all the while".  It was very fun to listen to.  We made up all sorts of silly songs and looked at catapillers eating leaves and such.  Tucker wanted nothing to do with hiking uphill, so Jim had to carry him.  I didn't bring the baby back packs because then they would have wanted a ride the whole time and fallen asleep to mess up bedtime, but Tucker didn't walk anyway.  And he was hard to hold because he only wanted to be held in one position the whole time.  And of course, he only wanted Daddy.  He knows Mommy would have made him walk more than that. And I wonder why Jim doesn't really like hiking as a family much right now??!!  I'm amazed at how strong my hubby is.  On the way back, though, Tucker hiked about a mile also.  It might have been made possible by his better mood once he had a snack of licorice and fish crackers.  Or that it was downhill.  Who knows.  But Whitney pulled a fast one on me.

I got tired of carrying her on the way back, so I told her she needed to walk while my arm took a break.  She didn't like that, of course, so to distract her from the issue at hand I thought I'd give her a choice of walking with her boots on or off.  The ground was muddy, so I thought she'd pick boots on.  I was wrong.  And on top of it, she walked a long time like that.   She thought it was really funny, to walk barefoot on the trail.  She had to take really small steps so it wouldn't hurt her feet as much on the gravel.  No comment.  I do remember reading in that book that gave me the idea about choices that you have to give them choices that you are also ok with.  Now I know why.  I don't think I'll forget that tip from now on.

Sunday was way cute when we went to the gardens.  Since Whitney didn't take a nap with Tucker, she fell asleep there and stayed asleep in arms the first bit.  So Papa and I got some really cute snuggle time with her.

Whitney loved having her own seat, but Tucker looks equally happy

Hike in the woods

Hmmmm. don't know how to rotate properly, I guess.  Tucker in the gardens

Tucker and Grandma moment.  Of course water is involved

Whitney taking a nap in Papa's arms

Rocky decked out by Tucker in style with the new beads Grandma brought

This is the way to ride in a boat.  Make awesome friends who like to share.  This is actually someone in our ward that is more my mom's friend than mine....

Tucker underneath in the boat.  He saw the bed and said "No sleep, sleepy!"

Papa cruising in the boat.  Sure beats paddling

Tucker looking at Papa through the ferry window

Mom at the locks

Us happy passengers on the boat

Mom and I trying to figure out what time we would need to get back on the ferry to get to the dinner/boat appt.  We figured out that we would have to get right back on.  Whatever.  No comment about that planning on my part.

view of the city from the ferry

Monday was an adventure, I tell you what.  Doing all that stuff in one day was a little crazy and hurried at times.  The funniest hurried bit was the ferry ride.  We were parked in the loading zone, waiting for the ferry when I told my mom she could take papa with her and check out the nearby waterfront until we loaded.  Well, they didn't get back by the time I needed to load the car on the ferry.  I wasn't too worried about it until I got on the ferry and realized that my mom had my purse with my money and I had forgotten my cell phone at home.  They also had the receipt with the proof of purchase to get back.  I sweated that out and was really relieved a bit later when they showed up on the ferry.  That would have been a little too adventurous for me.  They sweated it out a bit, too.  They didn't realize that the passengers could board after and during car boarding and totally thought they had missed the boat.  Literally. But it all worked out and Tucker had some really quality time with Grandma looking at the trucks and boats on the ferry.  They looked at various boats on the water and Tucker pointed to them, saying boat.  The very distant ones he called baby boats.

It also was an adventure with potty training while they were gone.  Whitney woke up while they were gone and Tucker was still asleep, plus the ferry was about to load, so I didn't have enough time to take her to the bathroom.  So we improvised.  You don't want to know.  But Whitney and I, I have decided, make a great MacGyver team.

The babies were amazingly well behaved during dinner at the friend's house.  I was so proud of them.  Especially after a day of essentially being in the car.  Whitney also loved the boat ride.  That was to match up with Tucker's fascination with the locks.

We're having fun and, Auntie Jill, we wish you were here!  I'll do a part II to grandma adventures in a few days.

more big fish

Whitney being cute.  Tucker pushing the bike trailer

they though this up themselves

I'm finally getting the "big fish" videos up.  I'm pretty sure this thing is getting more mileage in the house than in any lake or pool.  Something you learn only in a rainy place.  Oh yeah.  That reminds me.  Another thing I've learned is that bubbles don't pop if the driveway is wet.  I can blow lots of bubbles and the babies can stomp on the bubbles when they land.

This is also another toy that got resurrected this week.  But I had to take it away because Tucker hogged it most of the afternoon.  But.  I also found out that Tucker likes play dough.  He was sitting just like this (there is a plastic chair inside this tube ) when i opened up the cabinet to get the play dough out.  He fell over, whacked his head on the cabinet, but didn't have time to cry because he wanted to get to the play dough before Whitney. 

She only got through the first two pages of the first book before falling asleep with her hand in the book.

Tucker with the Mr potato head glasses on.  He has the bib on because Whitney put it on him herself.  He was patient and let her do it.

Whitney was pretty impressed with herself.  She asked me to take this picture.  She mastered how to climp up and then back into these tubes this week.

These sleeping pics are going to become very rare from here on out.

Isn't this so delicious?

more deliciousness

Tucker parking his cars on the piano.  He is starting to line things up.  He was playing "bump, bump" on the piano then parking them, just like the parking lots.

Every day I'm understanding Tucker better.  I've realized in the past couple of days that he's got the pretend play thing going really strong.  This morning he was pushing his dump truck full of balls around.  I sat down to play with him and he smiled then said " Buscamos el playground". He then started driving his truck around saying "donde esta el playground" over and over until he pushed his truck to where most of the rest of the balls were.  Then he started pulling out different colored balls and giving them turns on the swing, which was his arm swinging with the ball in hand.

He is also really getting an opinion about what he wears at times, too.  Just like Whitney.  On Sunday I pulled out two Sunday shirts to give him a choice of which one, but he started screaming.  I couldn't guess why, so I just picked one and tried to put it on.  He took it off.  Then he wadded it up, opened up the closet, threw it in a "secret" place and slammed the closet door shut.  He finally stopped screaming and pointed to another (thankfully) Sunday shirt.  Apparently he wanted that one.

I think the reason the terrible twos phrase has been invented is because they don't sleep enough, so they just don't know what they want.  But they do know it must be something other than what their parents want.  Whitney does this thing that drives me up the wall.  She asks me for something, usually in a nice voice, and so I give it to her.  But then when I give it to her, she doesn't want it.  So I take it away.  Then she screams because she really wants it.........   This can go on for up to 5 cycles no problem.  I haven't tried more because I get annoyed.  But seriously.  What is that about? I've noticed the frustrations of being two and melt downs come on days they don't nap.  Which are most days.  They do take a nap about once a week, though.

 I haven't decided which is worse.  Taking a nap or not taking a nap.  This week they both asked for "sleepy sleepy" two days in a row, so I decided to let them sleep for a good amount of time.  I woke Tucker up one day after he had been sleeping for 3 hours.  It was like I woke him up in the middle of the night.  Lots of screaming upon awakening, but he still went to sleep around 9:15, which has been his normal on a nap day for several months now.  (don't worry.  We're not crazy.  He's in bed an hour before that, just sings to himself).  But the second day that week they both asked for "sleepy sleepy" must have been an unnecessary nap.  I woke him up after 2 hours, but he still cried for another 45 minutes, like I was waking him up in the middle of the night.  And then he played in his crib until 10 pm that night.  That is ridiculous.  He may not be bothering us, but 10 pm!!!!  Then he woke up at 6:30, regular time the next day.  Needless to say, the next day was exhausting keeping him up until 7 pm, but now the melt down time is more around 5:30 pm instead of 4, so it's getting closer to his actual bedtime of 7.  And that is pretty nice.  Especially since it is pretty light around here until 9 pm.

We had a fabulous weekend, though.  All sleep times considered.  Saturday Daddy went dirt biking, then Mommy went kayaking when he got back.  So awesome!  Today was relaxing, too.  Daddy took the babies to the store.  I got so much done on projects I've had sitting for forever.  And they were only gone 2 hours, but it felt like a whole day.  Which meant I had a lot more fun just playing with them before and after.  Like Tucker and the dump truck.  Or when Whitney and I played sidewalk chalk. 

She invented things she wanted me to draw until we had the whole driveway filled up.  Then she colored things in while Tucker drove the bike trailer over them saying "aplasta" (Smash) over and over.  We also went to the playground as a family, which was nice.  It was great one on one time for them because they could do their own thing without having to stay together all the time as well as have a parent follow them around.

Jim is good at inventing games for them.  Yesterday he drew a bunch of sidewalk chalk circles in the driveway so Whitney and Tucker could jump from each one.  I heard Whitney talking to Jim about it this morning, which was pretty cute.  He also has them run between us.  So we stand in one spot while they run back and forth between us trading parents.  He usually flips them around.  I usually give them a hug and kiss.  It works out great.  They get lots of energy out.  And...... Tucker can totally keep up without stopping, coughing or slowing down, thanks to asthma meds.  I love that!

This week I brought out the balls again.  It was great.  They pushed them up and down the halls in boxes.  Tucker has entertained himself for long periods of time in various ways.  He fills his dump truck, then dumps them out.  He pushes them over speed bumps in the house while in his dump truck.  He loads his dump truck and throws them one by one down the stairs, then goes downstairs and loads them in the dump truck, only to start the process over again.  One day he and Whitney played for an hour just by team work.  Whitney stood in the crib while he threw them all in.  Then she threw them all out.  He figured out that the smaller balls can stay stuck between the crib rails if he throws them just hard enough and had a whole bunch stuck midway down his crib rails. I got a ton done with all this.  But after I was done, I asked if they wanted to go outside and they said no!  Crazy because we don't get as much outside time here as I would like.  Those 130 balls are awesome sometimes.

Whitney continues to be a little helper.  I was walking down the hall, carrying her, one morning.  I'm doing much better, but still cough a bunch in the mornings and evenings.  So I started coughing while I carried her and she covered my mouth for me.  She was watching me cook on the stove and told me to turn on the light so I could see.  And I rarely turn that light on, but she was right, I could see better.

Thursday we went to the park in the rain anyway, but I was glad we did.  There were some ducklings on the pond!  No one else was there, so they were desperate enough to see if we had food, and we got an up close look.  Whitney started saying big one and baby one, pointing to the different ducks.  Then, when we got home, she was eating avocado.  When she got down to the last bits, she started calling them baby avocados and that "Whitney wants to eat the baby avocados".

They like to make each other and Mommy laugh.  Tucker put on the the Mr Potato Head glasses on himself, then came running in to show me, laughing hysterically.  Whitney put a lid in one of those toys that pop open.  When you push the button and the toy pops open, the lid comes flying out, up into the air.  She came running in to show me then said "Whitney funny!" and laughed some more.

Well,  that should be enough, Mom, to tide you over until Thur.  See you then!

road trip

Tucker put this on as a necklace and then they both started laughing hysterically and saying "Tucker is funny"

The end destination of our road trip

Tucker was certain that Rocky wanted a turn to play with Big Fish

Whitney finally solved the eating of the smoothie without a mess.  Put the cup in the bib

Tucker at the restaurant (this cool restaraunt had this for them)

Whitney eating fondue while tucker works on the etch a sketch.  Priorities.

Whitney snuggling

Whitney playing the "snowman" song

both playing nicely on the piano

Tucker waiting his turn for the potty in the morning

playing snuggle and reading books

Tucker going to bed

one of the parks we stopped at on the road trip

How is this not cute?

"Big Fish!"

A happy Daddy homecoming

Whitney's turn at the park

Whitney chowing down on fondue

another park on the road trip

We went for a roadtrip yesterday.  I don't know if I like road trips right now.  We were only in the car for about 2 hours at a time, but here's how it went.  I decided to drive so Jim would entertain the kids.  His plan for entertainment is pure media.  I thought I'd go bonkers.  The kids and Daddy had a great time.  When Aladdin started replaying on it's own, I'd had enough.  We pulled over and Daddy started driving so Mommy could stop listening to kid movies.  But there was a lot more screaming going on, pointed out Dad.

Whitney had a blast.  She kept asking for movies.  She picked out Mulan and Aladdin on her own.  I think it is because they have black haired princesses on the front covers.  Mommy kept asking Daddy to fast forward the scary parts and Daddy said "what scary parts?".

I've noticed that as soon as Daddy walks in the door, Whitney asks for tick tock.  It's what she calls what is essentially a music video of Hickory Dickory Dock.  It came out in the discussion of how many movies are ok, that Daddy taking care of kids at night goes like this:  As soon as Mommy walks out the door, the kids run over to the cabinets and ask for fish (goldfish crackers).  He fills up an entire sandwich baggie full of fish crackers and they all go downstairs to to jump on the mattresses while watching movies.  And that's why there isn't time for bath time or brushing teeth before bed.  So that's why the Mommies need to stay home with the kids.  If not, there would truely be no tooth brushing, eating of other foods besides fish crackers (namely fresh produce) and the movies would run continuously.  At least, that's how it would go in this particular house.  And that's how you know how sick I was.  I called Jim to come home to take care of the kids, not even caring that all of the above was going on.....  Now that is sick.

On a much happier note, we also have been having a good laugh at all their antics, now that we have a better idea of what they are saying.  Today in church when they were saying the closing prayer, Whitney started loudly saying to me," No sleepy-sleepy Mom!"  She was wanting to go to nursery ASAP.  Believe me, I'm right there with you, honey.

All the kids were going crazy in Sacrament meeting today.  One kid turned the lights off five different times.  That high council speaker was quite amazing.  He didn't even flinch once.  Another lady (who doesn't have any kids of her own, I might add), pounced on that kid the fifth time.  Good thing.  The mom needed an extra set of hands and the rest of us were using our hands to keep our kids out of trouble.  But it was kind of funny to watch her fly out of her pew.  She didn't look too patient or loving.  I blame all of the craziness on the solar eclipse.  That, of course, being in Seattle, we got a full view.......  Hahahaha!  Jim was all prepared with glasses and everything, but was a bit disappointed with all this cloud cover.

The other night I noticed a yellowish film forming on their teeth.  I can't decide if it is the antibiotics or the fact that good bacteria is no longer in their mouth due to antibiotics.  Either way it is gross.  So I decided to get serious about teaching them to brush their teeth on their own, including the spitting out of the rinse water.  Whitney just swallowed the water and didn't even bother swishing.  Tucker got the swishing thing down, swallowed it, then leaned over the sink while opening his mouth, as if he was about to spit it out, just like Mommy, but obviously nothing came out.  So I said out loud, Well I guess we'll save that for another day!  So he happily climbed down saying, "another day!".  Yep. another day.

More good news.  Tucker has gone potty in the potty three times this week before bath.  But I'm not too excited about full on potty training yet.  I'm not ready.

the words to the mother's day post

Well, it took until today to get the meds into my system enough.  I still cough a bunch if I move around too much or talk, but finally not coughing as much.  I got a little nervous about the coughing because whooping cough is going around the community.  But then I remembered I got my booster.  Whitney was quite a trooper because I think she got it as bad as I did.  We both had ear, eye and sinus infections.  Somehow Tucker didn't get sick until the eye infection.  I have no idea how that happened.  But then Whitney ended up recovering pretty well and taking care of us.  She really wanted to give Tucky his medicine.

Today was also a great day because they took a nap.  Which means I took a nap.  I feel so much better!  Imagine that!  I have no idea why today was a nap day, but I'll take it.  They both asked for "sleepy, sleepy" and I lost no time putting them in their cribs.

It was absolutely gorgeous this past week.  I was so bummed I didn't feel better, but glad at the same time that I could sit still and watch the babies play.

Some of the biggest events in this house this week were "big fish" and Tucker went potty (accidentally, I think) in the potty.  We had a big celebration, but he looked a little surprised why we were celebrating.  Hasn't done it since, but maybe in a month I'll get the guts up to potty train him.

He's been having fun being more independent.  He absolutely loved taking the trash cans out to the curb and back in.  Felt very big.  Needed some help, but that didn't bother him.  I think he is growing again.  He ate three regular cereal bowls of noodles for dinner.  Mom, how does that not remind you of S?

Tonight at dinner Daddy gave him a tortilla.  He made a fish out of it and said "swimmy, swimmy!"  Cracked us up.

Whitney likes to play "I'm hungry".  Either she or Tucker says I'm hungry and then Whitney mixes up some soup with her toys in a pot or makes a stack of bark.  Then they pretend to eat it.

Today we dumped all the toys in the tub so I could wash them after they were done with bath.  They had a blast.  Longest, quietest bath time we've had in awhile.

Happy Mother's day!

This post is just for "the Grandmas"  I'll do another post about what we did this week when I don't need 4 IB profin to be upright and moving.  I plan on that day being Tuesday.

For now, enjoy the cute pics and videos.  Amazing for how sick we all were this week.

This makes Tucky (and Whitney) laugh really hard.  Such a boy.  He also laughs hysterically at his gas, unlike anyone else in this house.  Boy from day one, sometimes to my embarressement

Grandma An, this is Tucker when he was talking to you on your birthday.  He smiled when you said his name.

Whitney loves this thing

She put a load of toys in it to play with.

Playing with their babies in the tubes

Tucker talking concerned about his baby''s ouch.  He even gave it a kiss (black smudge on the knee from when he ran over baby with the mopbucket wheel.  You win some, you loose some.)

This one's for Aunt Linsey (and check out that gorgeous sun!)

for some reason Whitney likes to feel her sheets when she is upset.

Tucker carrying water over to wash the car.  They also had put bubbles on the side of the car just like Daddy to help out.

Tucker being cute while holding the hose

The working man with the hose

the master gardner using the hose on the flowers.

Obviously we wouldn't be here if it weren't for you!

I had a great day today, but now I can't talk

She loves her pillow

Tucker has chocolate on his face from the party treats

Whitney let no chocolate escape

This was actually fun.....for us not the busboys

playing at the beach three days after winter jackets.  Welcome spring

more cuteness

picking sand out of his mouth unsuccessfully

burying himself

I had a great day today, even if I was getting sick all day.  Toward the end, I finally couldn't physically talk.  The only bummer about that is that I love to chat it up with people and couldn't, even though I really wanted to.

It started out great.  It was sunny, Mina brought me up a surprise.  The babies only screamed during breakfast and Whitney screamed when leaving the park, but no other screaming.  They took a nap today.  It was a bit forced.  I drove for 1/2 hour for them to get to sleep, but either way, there was a nap, which means a lot less grumpy the rest of the day.  Two friends treated me and my kids to lunch.  That was a double special treat.  Not only did I have yummy food, but I also didn't have to cook or clean up after my kids.  Poor busboys.  The restaurant should be recommended, just because they accommodated a party of nine, 6 kids under the age of 3.  Whitney and Tucker both chowed down

After lunch and nap, we went to the local beach park.  Tucker and Whitney filled the bucket a bunch, threw rocks in the water, ate fish crackers for snack and we all basked in the sun.  Glorious.  Whitney had a fit all the way to the car.  She didn't want to say bye-bye to the playground.  A dad stopped and talked to Whitney.  He had a 10 month old in his arms.  He asked Whitney if she was ok and introduced his son.  I wasn't sure if he thought I was kidnapping her or if he just wanted to try to calm her down.  I got the feeling he thought I was kidnapping her.  Tucker looks like me, but Whitney looks like Daddy, so he might have been trying to check things out.  She was definitely hamming it up.  I think she screamed at the top of her lungs for the 15 long minutes it took to walk up the hill while she was having a fit. 

While she was screaming, Tucker was saying things like "oh look! Agua!" and "bye-bye playground" and watched a frisbee being thrown by another girl and her dad.  But the cutest was he said was "Oh! Tiene hambre, Whitney?"  He said it with such compassion, like he had figured out why she was so upset and he could offer her food to feel better.  It was very cute.  Especially since most the time when he's that upset it's because he is hungry.

Once she ate dinner, we had a blast again.  So Tucker was right.  She played with her butterfly wings, Tucker read "one drum"  book.  he can turn the pages and mimic the rhythms of the words pretty well.  Tucker gave me a jovial rendition of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star with his soy milk covered spoon keeping the beat.  Yep.  Gave them "o's" for the lazy dinner tonight.

I also was in contact with a bunch of close friends and family, which was awesome. And it was sunny.  Very lovely day.

Last week was cold and rainy, so we stayed in a bunch.  I bought an apple tree last Saturday.  On Sunday, three deer showed up and left footprints all around my tree that had yet to leaf out.  So I put up a deer fence in between temper tantrums and rainstorms.  Took me until Thursday to finish, but no lost leaves to deer.  The bunnies also hopped around the yard to check things out, but couldn't reach.

Tucker is really getting sentences out and his own thoughts expressed.  One day he pointed to the flowers and said "oh no! Flores!"  I didn't understand him for a few times, but he finally pointed to the flowers that had wilted until I figured it out.  He was very concerned for them and that I needed to know about them to help them out.

Tucker also played Grand Old Duke fully by himself.  He even did the rolls to the left, right, upside down and the knee bends while he sang the song.  He did it with one of the baby dolls.  Then he gave the other baby doll a turn.  He also tells me to "stop it, mom" and to "let go" if he wants to do it by himself.

Another time Tucker climbed up to play on the piano.  He was playing nicely on the keys and singing Jesus wants me for a Sunbeam.  Then he did it again, so I peeked in and saw that the book was open to that song.  Pretty cute, even if I'm not sure if it is coincidence or not.  He will sing in his crib up to an hour, instead of napping.

He is continuing to wrap my friend around his finger.  One time we left the house and he said "Buscamos Lorena".  He also said it before church and couldn't wait to see her.

Whitney's sentence structures and communication has also taken off this week.  I feel like this week every day was different as far as how well she could put together full sentences and communicate her ideas.  Here are some examples.

I picked up some chocolate chips at the store this week.  Whitney said "I want to hold it, Mom".  She then kept trying to pull the chocolate chip cookies off the picture and said " Mom, I want to eat it."  Yeah, me too, Whit.  She also told Tucker to "bite it" when she was sharing food with him and feeding it to him.

One day we went to the playground and when we pulled up she said "a different playground".  She also wants the Sunbeam song on repeat for going to sleep.

She loves to shop.  We finally found her Sunday shoes and she was so excited to hold the bag.  She also loves to give the clerk the products to buy.  And, hold on to your pocket book Mommy, because there are two pages in two different books that talk about buying stuff.  One is from the book "Life is Great at Grandma's".  In it, it says that "if she takes you shopping, she will probably buy a treat".  Another one is about daddies and it says "daddy will buy your favorite treat".   She smiles and grins at both pages rather big.

She is also a big helper.  She cleans up without asking often.  She also got the diaper rash cream when I asked her to get it.  She knew right where it was and brought it right to me.  She is mastering stirring.  One morning she even stirred the pancake batter without spilling once.

They went to their first little kid birthday.  I guess they had a great time.  After we left, Tucker kept saying "buscamos jake's".  Whitney said "Whitney happy at Jake's"  Jake was the birthday boy.  I did feel really bad for Tucker.  He was in time out for 10 minutes at the party by accident.  He hit someone, but I didn't have a timer, so he was so good in time out, I forgot to get him out.  Poor kid.  He gave me a big hug and a smile anyway.  They had a blast.