Families are Forever

Quick Update: Everyone got the stomach flu (except Teddy).  It was a fun week.  It ended Thursday, so at least we weren’t sick over the holiday weekend.  

Also, I was given the go ahead to walk without the crutches as soon as my leg would hold my weight; so I practiced for several days, and as long as I don’t walk around too much I’m not using the crutches at all.  I can just use one crutch when I go out (like on Sundays).  My knee occasionally buckles unexpectedly, but the therapist thinks it’s just not strong enough yet.  I limp heavily, and the doctor wants the limp to be gone in 6 weeks when I come back.  Strength training here I come!

Lorenzo.  I love this stage.  I adore babies anyway, but this is one of the cutest stages there is.   He is 16 months.  When He was a year, he could say Mama, Dada, ba (ball), bu (binky), and bubu (bottle).  His newer words are much clearer, and I love the surprised look Shawn gets when he does or says new things.  He says book (with the “k”!), ball, drink, brothers (brus), and of course, cheese.  I’m pretty sure “cheese” was one of the first words of all my babies.  They love cheese.  He loves eggs, and if he sees them, you have to give him one (same with the cheese).  Boiled is probably his favorite, but he’ll eat them any way he can get them.  

He mimics other words too, and it’s so fun that babies who can’t even say a sentence still understand so much.  You ask where his toys are and he goes to the toy basket.  Tell him you’ll read him a story if he brings you a book (this is said an awful lot in my house, especially as I haven’t been very mobile lately), and he grabs a board book from the shelf.  Ask him if he’s hungry and he walks to his high chair and waits for you to put him in it.  This evening I told him to come lay down on the bed and go to sleep and he did!  (Love it when that happens.)

I love the games they play at this age.  He plays peekaboo, tag, catch, and we played with playdoh for an hour (at one time!) while the rest of the family was at the pool on Friday.  I didn’t even know (or maybe remember?) that babies that young could do one thing for that long.  It was fun.  And he likes me again.  Of course, if Shawn is around he still prefers to go to him first, but he comes to me and plays with me now instead of running away.  He points to body parts, but only when you say them in Chinese.  Don't worry, I'm sure he'll catch the English words soon enough.

Okay, so we’ve established that I love my baby.  I love the rest of them too :).  Xander has been an angel about potty training ever since the pull ups.  He brings me books and asks me to read them for about 45 minutes each day.  Teddy is learning to clean really well, and he’s proud of the job he does now.  He is better than me at Chinese (he practices more than me, and loves it when we practice together).  Olie is so excited about going to cub scouts in August!  He is getting better at helping to watch his little brothers.  Both Olie and Teddy love to play board games and do so at every opportunity.  They can get their chores and schoolwork done pretty quickly if they decide they want to play a game.  Demetri is just getting too old.  His feet are the same size as mine, and he steals my socks and t-shirts.  He and Shawn went on a 7 mile hike today with the Young Men.  He really wants to go on the 50 mile hike in two weeks, but I don’t know if that will happen.

One of our new hobbies for now is watching “Little House on the Prairie” or “Mister Ed” while I go through my exercises.  Now they want to live on a farm, with snow.  I’m just happy they like my old shows.  I don’t like much of anything that is newer. They laugh hysterically at "Mister Ed."  I should record them watching it.  It's more fun to watch them than the show!

I bought a hat.  It hides my hair well, which is in serious need of help.

 I'm pretty sure out of 20 pictures there was only one with everyone looking at the camera.

 Pictures.  Other than sleeping, the only time they look like they are holding still.