Fall in Wisconsin

Sorry, I've just realized how long it's been between posts--almost a whole month! Believe it or not, life is not much different than it was a few months ago. Robert is doing great. Separation anxiety has run its course, and he's now much more independent.
Last weekend we went to the Elegant Farmer (http://www.elegantfarmer.com/) to pick a pumpkin. It was a crisp, cold morning. We took a hay ride up to the "pumpkin patch." I put that in quotations because after we got up there and saw them hauling pumpkins off a truck and dispersing them throughout a field, we realized that it was more like pumpkin "seeking" rather than "picking." We laughed, both realizing how muddy a real pumpkin patch would be, and promptly headed straight for the pumpkin truck to make sure we didn't have to "seek" too hard in the cold! Robert had a ball. He loved walking through the field getting all dirty and didn't seem too cold at all. He also loved the hay ride. He laid down in the hay on his belly and pretended to swim in it. That was funny!

Enjoy the pictures!

14 Months

It's getting chilly, the leaves are beginning to change, and it's unmistakably Fall in Wisconsin. I'm in heaven. Fall is my favorite season, especially when it IS a season, complete with cool weather and orangish red leaves. Robert and I have been playing a lot these days. He's already got a great imagination. We built a "cave" fort out of couch pillows and a blanket. Then we played Noah's Ark with his new (barn sale for $1) Little People set. He knows how to make the animals walk along and even feeds them from the little food barrels that came with the Ark. He repeats everything I do, so I pretty much act out a scene, making the animals talk and eat, and then he does it. It's so fun! Sometimes he pretends to eat out of the food barrels, too, and sometimes he pretends to eat the animals. Hmmm....I haven't found out how to work that into the story of Noah's Ark. Everyone keeps asking me if Robert is talking, yet. He's trying words all the time, but nothing really consistent besides Dada. He's got that down and uses the sign, too. He loves his Dada! He's also tried bubble, PaBop, dog, shoes, water, milk, Elmo, and unfortunately poop (he gets that from us telling the dogs to hurry up and "poop" when we take them out :). I'm sure he's tried other words, too, but these are the ones that come to mind. He's still signing, and we will continue to add more signs to try to help him communicate. He makes an annoying grunt and points when he wants to say something for which he doesn't have a word or a sign. It's awful, especially during dinner!

He's getting clingy lately, a bit like seperation anxiety, and has even been getting up again at night. He cries when Daddy leaves and when I drop him off at Kids Corner when I work out at the Y. He gets over it pretty quickly, but it's really sad. I've read about it, and though he's a little old for seperation anxiety, it really seems like that's what it is. I've just been trying to nurse him whenever he ask for it and to give him lots of extra cuddles and attention to reassure him of my love and support. And of course, prayer. We'd certainly appreciate your prayers, too!

Apple Picking

Today we went apple picking at the Nashotah House "orchard." It's really just seven trees, but they produce yummy apples for us each year. We really went to take pictures of Robert as I've not taken him to get professional pictures in a while, and we thought this might work. It did. Here's one, and don't miss the link to the left called "Apple Picking Robert". They are great!

Nashotah Five Reunites

After a long summer apart, the Nashotah Five (all born in July '08) reunite. They can be found toddling around together during various times of the day depending on sleep schedules. Margaret's legs are longer than all of the babies' legs put together, and I think her walking record hit over a mile the other day when she went toddling across campus with her push chair. Adeline is bound for the stage as I've now seen her perform some complicated dance moves by herself in the center of a crowd of people, loving every minute of it. Aidan is our resident adrenaline junkie and has recently shown Robert how to crawl under a car AND how to stand up on the tricycle seat. Emmaline is a sweet and cuddly mommy's girl, but I'm proud to say that she'll come to me with a big smile every time! And Robert, well, he's a bruiser and if left alone would somehow injure (by accident, of course) most of the above mentioned babies with any of the various playground toys strewn around the circle. Though we only get to speak a few sentences together at one time because we're always chasing babies, we moms are good friends and love to share parenting ideas and trade stories.

I am so blessed to live like this!

Notes about Baby Robert

• He started Toddler Gym, a class for 1-2 year olds that introduces them to following directions, playing games, and group play. Yes, he's way too young for it and cannot grasp any of the activities. He had about a thousand meltdowns throughout the 30 min. class. I'm going to try it once more and let him just play with the gym toys (balls, hoops, bowling game, etc.) and watch the other kids without trying to get him to do each activity.


• He's started holding his hands up and looking around when you ask him any questions, as if to say "I don't know!" It's super cute.


• He dances to any unknown sound that could be construed as music. I busted him grooving to that annoying beep sound that comes on TV when the station is doing a test.


• He blows bubbles in the tub, though somtimes sucks in when he means to blow out and almost chokes to death on water.


• He can climb the stairs with super hero speed.


• He hits and bites. Well, he does, and I thought I'd just be honest about it. We're working on it but would appreciate your prayers. It's probably just a phase. Right?


• Oh yeah, and while I'm at it, he throws tantrums and screams until he's blue in the lips. Prayers please.


• His only experience of "juice" is V8, and he likes it!


• He's still obsessed with sports balls.


• He actually asked for a specific food (crackers) yesterday using sign language.


• Just today he learned from Aidan how to safely get down off the curb by sitting down first.


• He hugs us around the neck and shows his love by resting his head on our shoulders and sucking his thumb. And as a special bonus for me, he reaches his hand up and plays with my hair.


• He got a new high chair with a bigger tray in an attempt to allow him to move his food around without having to throw it over the side onto the floor. I'd say it's about a 20% success rate so far.

Oh, I could go on and on, but I won't.

Love to all!

Lazy Days of Summer

And we said at one point early in our marriage, "let's not have one of those living rooms filled with kids toys." Hahahahaha!

Daddy and Robert doing some vacuuming together.

Robert was entertaining himself while I was cooking and when I looked over to check on him he was emptying my water bottle all over the floor. Nice.

It's the last week before classes, and the past few weeks have been, well, lazy and boring. That's a good thing!
We've enjoyed having Rob around to play and help with household chores.
We've been welcoming new families.

We've been playing outside a lot! Robert still LOVES all kinds of balls and is getting really good at throwing. He also loves playing with the young boys in the community, and boy do they love him. Everytime we see them it's, "Oh, it's Robert, hi Robert!" And the teenage girls also flock to him, but all they want to do is kiss and cuddle, and he's just not as into that as they would like!

Robert's been to the doctor. He's in the 100th% for height! Oh, and he weighs 27 lbs. (only 95th%).

I can't really think of anything else to write about. Life is good....

Birthday Finale!

Robert's BIG birthday party was this past Saturday. He celebrated with two of the four other one year-olds here at Nashotah House. Though the weather changed the outdoor picnic to a gym party, it was a wonderful celebration. And most importantly, Robert tasted his first cake! Thanks to my very talented friend Melissa, Robert has his own "smash cake" as well as a really awesome soccer ball cake to share with everyone. Not only did the cakes look amazing, they tasted like heaven! So the parties are over, and we are settling in to the fact that our baby Robert is now a toddler. He's walking all over the place--even more than crawling now. Soon he'll be talking, and before we know it, he'll be off to school. I don't even want to think about that!

Thank you all for your birthday greetings, cards, presents, emails, and phone calls. Thank you all especially for your prayers this past year. We love you!

P.S. I'm putting up more pictures under the First Birthday link to the left. I'm also putting up some cake eating videos.