I'm Sick of This

Ellie has a sweet personality. She's funny, kind-hearted, and good to her baby brother. She's also 3-years-old, which means she may not always behave as we would like her to. She is also still learning new phrases and trying to understand their meaning. One particular evening, she was being rather naughty and testing our limits. She was in time-out a number of times during the course of the evening. It was bedtime, and she had just done something to land her in time-out again. Everyone was tired, and I was not as patient as I maybe should have been. As I passed her to take Max up to bed, I said to her, "Ellie, you have got to start listening better. I'm sick of this."

After her sentence in time-out was complete, Jason took her up to bed. He read her a story, then as she was falling asleep, she said to him, "Dad, is Mom getting sick from me being bad?" Jason sleepily answered her that "no" that is not what I meant, but he didn't elaborate too much. A couple seconds passed then Ellie said, "Dad, I think I'm getting a fever from being in time-out so much." It's a good thing the lights were off in her room, so she couldn't see Jason stifling his laugh.

...and Away He Goes

Max has finally mastered crawling. Around Christmas time, he was getting quite proficient and moving on his hands and knees, and finally it all clicked. It's kind of an amazing experience to watch it all come together, when they figure it out and can coordinate the movements of their arms and legs. He's a pro now and is getting quite speedy.

He's thinks it hilarious when he starts to move toward the stairs and hears one of us yell at him to "stop," then hears us chasing him down the hall. And we are seeing a very different personality come out in him compared to his sister. Ellie was always a very cautious baby, rarely ventured away from us, and didn't try climbing or walking till she was completely confident that she wouldn't fall. Max, on the other hand, regulary explores the house on his own...we'll hear glasses clanging together which signals that he's moved into the dining room. He has great balance and will pull up to standing then try to take a step. He falls on his face, but gets right back up and tries again. He is Mr. Adventurous. I wonder if this is a signal of trouble ahead?

Horsin' Around

We traveled to Columbia to celebrate Paige's 3rd birthday in January, and somehow we came home with a new giant toy. Max discovered this horse and was having so much fun with it that Uncle Bryan said to take it home. He looks like such a big kid on it...he shouldn't be able to sit and play by himself yet because that means he's not my little baby anymore.