Some Things I've Learned....

Have you ever taken a handful of rocks and thrown them in the dryer just to see what it would sound like when you turned it on? No? Me neither. But I have thrown a large load of baby clothes in the dryer, which, judging from the sound, you could easily mistake for rocks. Baby clothes have about a gazillion snaps on them. When those things are tumbling around in the dryer, it is incredibly noisy. Tip: Don't put baby clothes in the dryer just before going to bed. Sleep does not come easily when you're hearing what sounds like firecrackers going off in the laundry room. I guess I could snap all the clothes before washing them, but honestly, who has time to do that???

That's just one of the many, many things I've learned since having children. Another thing I've learned is that when one child gets sick, so does the other...and so does Daddy.........and then, inevitably, it gets passed on to Mommy too. Yep...I finally caught the cold that has been coexisting in our home with us for the past couple weeks. So far, it hasn't seemed to hit me quite as badly as everyone else, though. Thank goodness for that! I've still been able to be an active participant in playtime, which usually entails some type of dancing, singing, acting crazy, or all of the above.

Since everyone in the house has had a cold, we ran out of tissues long ago. I keep forgetting to buy more, so we've been forced to use toilet paper. Jacob is better now, but last week when he had a runny nose, every time I asked him to go get a tissue, he would bring back one tiny square of toilet paper -- not nearly enough. I know the economy is bad and times are tough, but it's ok to use more than one square, Jacob. Each time he brought me a square, I was reminded of my Granny who used to ration out toilet paper like it was the last roll on earth. "Only use three squares!" she would say. Sometimes I used four, just to be a rebel.

Annabelle has had lots of fun this week with a new toy -- the Jumparoo. She loves it! Her eyes get really big when I put her in the seat, then she usually starts jumping like crazy. It's so funny to see her little feet moving all over the place. In this video, she's not quite as active as she has been, but it's still cute.

While Annabelle was in the Jumparoo tonight, Jacob was shaving and playing Santa Claus (a.k.a taking a bubble bath). He loves bubbles! He put the bubbles all over his chin and said, "Yook! I shavin'!" Then a couple minutes later, he said he was Santa Claus. When he got some in his mouth and started to eat them, I hollered, "Ewwww! Don't eat bubbles!" For some reason, he thought that was hilarious. He cracked up and laughed harder than I've heard him laugh in a long time -- so hard that it even brought on what I call the smoker's laugh. You know, the laugh that sounds kind of like Mutley? So funny!

Naptime has been interesting lately. For the most part, Jacob still stays in his big boy bed, but there are some days when he decides he has better things to do. One day last week, he kept getting out of the bed saying he needed to use the potty. He is a smart boy and has learned that the potty excuse works everytime. If he says he needs to go, I feel like I have to take him. Well, after almost an hour of "false alarms," he finally stayed in bed for a while, so I thought it was safe for me to go get ready. When I got out of the shower, I went to check on him and found him laying on the couch with a couple of his friends. I decided to leave him there. A nap on the couch is better than no nap at all!

As far as potty training goes, we're not quite there yet. He gets it. He just doesn't do what he's supposed to all the time. He's getting better though. He's eating more and more marshmallows lately, which is a good thing (marshmallows are potty rewards). I've tried to use big boy pants as an incentive, but it's not really working quite the way I had hoped.

Annabelle is just as happy as ever and she has the smiles to prove it. She smiles on command. All she needs is someone to smile at her first. I've discovered I can make her laugh by tickling her up around her neck. She is also constantly talking and making the most adorable little baby noises.

Here she is hard at work....."Hmmmm...how can I get this thing into my mouth?"

She has definitely reached the "mouth stage." She wants to put everything in her mouth. She is also fascinated by drink bottles. If you are holding a bottle in your hand (or a glass or a cup for that matter) she will grab it and put it in her mouth. You can see the thrill in her eyes when she sees something that interests her. Playtime is getting more and more fun!