My Sweet Girl

I have found myself getting more frustrated lately. Pierson is more easily agitated. I think he wants to move faster than he's able to right now. And he knows what he wants, but he just can't seem to get to everything. In addition, Madelyn is trying to revert to babyhood on many issues, and I know it's in retaliation to Pierce "becoming a person" as opposed to being the tiny baby she used to love. It also doesn't help that he has decided that 4:00 am is an appropriate time to wake up. (Two nights in a row--the first nigh he went back to sleep. Last night he didn't.) So, I'm a little tired. I decided that I needed to spend a little time focusing on the good things about my children.

Yesterday, Madelyn went to school and when I picked her up at the end of her day, the first thing she said was, "Jocelyn wasn't here today." Jocelyn is one of her little friends. Madelyn then told me that Jocelyn was sick. We came home and got ready for her nap. We went through our routine--potty, pull-up on, story, pray, sing song. As I was walking out of her room, she said, "Wait, Mommy. We need to pray for Jocelyn." She then said, "Dear God, please help Jocelyn feel better. Amen." That was good for my heart.

Some funny things Madelyn says:

Nemember--"Mommy, you said I could have a snack, nemember."

Bemuter--"Daddy, I want to listen to music on your bemuter." (Watch You Tube videos on the computer.)

When she's stalling--"Now, wait a second..."

And even though she has zero interest in dressing up for Halloween--"Twick or tweek"

The Honeymoon Is Over

I knew it would happen. I just wasn't sure when, but Madelyn's complete fascination with Pierce is officially over. I think he has become very real to her and she's starting to treat him like she treats her friends. You know how it goes. Most of the time kids love their friends, but every now and then, the friend grabs a treasured toy or interferes with an agenda and BAM-yelling, grabbing, the occasional push or hit occurs.

Well, Pierce has just found his voice and is babbling. It started last weekend when I would hear the occasional "ma". Just before his nap today, I heard "ba, la, ba, ma, la..." In addition, he can scoot pretty well, now. So, he is no longer this little blob that just lays around. Madelyn has not appreciated his attempts at toy snatching and she is becoming quite jealous when Pierce gets more attention than she does. I've heard lots of "Look at me, Mommy. "lately. I've also witnessed a lot more of Madelyn grabbing things from Pierce and she's also really into "helping" him learn to crawl. This actually looks like she's cramming his body into the ground. I think you get the idea.

Yesterday, we were at the mall and the kids were riding in the double stroller. Madelyn insists on riding in the front. As we were leaving, very much past naptime, Pierce started grabbing Madelyn's hair. I would pull them apart and he would immediately pull it again. Madelyn was screaming, "Stop it, Pierson." very loudly and was close to hysteria. I felt bad for Madelyn, but she refused to move and part of me was thinking, "Atta boy, Pierce." as he was getting a bit of revenge while his sister was strapped down.

Pumpkin Carving

JD decided to buy two pumpkins for carving, one for Madelyn and one for him. After Madelyn's nap on Sunday, JD thought he would show Madelyn how to carve the pumpkin.



Madelyn was very into it until it was time to pull out the pumpkin guts.



She decided she would just hold the bag.



And here is the finished product:



JD has not completed his pumpkin. If it is blog-worthy, I'll post a picture when he's done.

Flashback

As I was watching Pierce this afternoon in his efforts to move around, I experienced major deja vu. I dug around in our files and found this photo:




Nearly two years to the day, I took this picture. New computer. New kid. Same fascination.

Are you kidding?

Checking today's date...yep, Oct. 15. Okay, as I'm sitting here watching the Fox News channel, I am viewing a Christmas commercial. ARRGGGHHHH!

A heart issue

Since football season started, Madelyn, Pierce, and I have been wearing our VT gear every game day. I'll have a Tech t-shirt on and Madelyn will say, "I want to be a Hokie." Then, we'll go in her room to get her VT gear. She then wants to make sure that Pierce is a Hokie, too. So, we'll get Pierce all dressed up, too. I think we have succeeded in our attempts at early indoctrination.

For whatever reason, JD has chosen not to participate. So, on Saturday, JD and Madelyn went out to pick up dinner. As they were waiting in line, Madelyn starts talking about how Mommy is a Hokie, and Pierce is a Hokie, and Madelyn is a Hokie. She, then, informs JD that he is not a Hokie (because he doesn't have on a VT shirt). Talk about a punch in the gut. JD tried to explain that you don't have to be wearing a Hokie shirt to be a Hokie and that being a Hokie is in your heart.

I'm thinking that there's a deeper message/lesson to be taught here, but I wasn't quite sure how to tie being a Hokie in your heart with a message about loving Jesus and having him in your heart. Something to ponder for next time.

A new look

I decided to play around with my blog and change it up a bit. I don't know if I'm finished tweaking it, so you may see more changes in the days to come.

7-months old

Pierce is 7 months old. I'd like to say time flies, but I feel that is becoming trite as I want to say that all the time. He's starting to prefer standing. When I try to sit him in the floor, he gets really stiff and forces his feet to the floor. I usually have to bend him at the waist to get him to sit down. He will rock back and forth on his hands and knees for short periods of time but hasn't figured out how to move his arms and legs to crawl. He's starting to move to get to something he wants using a combination of rolling, scooting, and stretching. Changing his diaper is a two-person job because he rolls over so much. I really do feel exhausted after getting him dressed. I know many things will get more difficult when he starts to crawl, but I think my back will get a bit of a rest from having to carry him all the time.

He's a very easy-going baby and usually has a smile on his face. Madelyn loves him and is good at making him laugh, but I sometimes think he wishes she would give him a little more space. She doesn't give much service to the concept of personal space. And as much as she loves him, I've seen bits of jealousy here and there, but I know that is to be expected.

I feel very thankful to have two healthy, sweet children. Here are some shots of Pierce on his "7-month day."

Pierce is discovering that air blows out of the register and he really wants to catch it.

As I mentioned, he's starting to move to get what he wants. I took my shoes away from him once and moved them to what I thought was a safe location...those shoes are pretty dirty. It took him a few minutes, but by golly, he got them again.

Play-Doh

Madelyn has developed a mild obsession with Play-Doh. It's fine with me, though, because it really keeps her entertained. Yesterday, she made me dinner several times and Pierce felt left out because I wouldn't let him eat my "dinner." He really did get frustrated when I wouldn't let him take a bite as I pretended to eat my "cake." I actually had to feed him dinner a little early. Here are a few pics. You can see that Pierce got into the action a little bit.

September pictures

September pictures are posted here:

http://picasaweb.google.com/cmtaliaferro

Weekend Visitors

We had a nice weekend with my parents and my mother-in-law visiting. Here are some pictures from the weekend:

Swinging with Grandad.

Building a castle

Interesting look, don't ya think?

Watching the game with Grandad.

Resting after an intense ending to the game...too close for comfort.