Family Alive

I’ve been so busy catching up, I’ve not said anything about what my 2 little busy-bodies have been doing lately.  It’s been a busy summer, and they’ve been a lot of fun. 

Josiah… Today was a little traumatic, as we had a minor surgical procedure to clip the skin under his tongue, because he’s been "tongue-tied" since birth.  This means that the under part of his tongue (his frenulum, actually) is connected too far forward.  His pediatrician has said all along that it’s obviously not causing problems with eating so he didn’t think it needed to be done.  But two speech therapist friends of mine said that it was pretty noticeable, and since it’s such a simple procedure, it would be better to do it before he developed speech problems.  So today was the day.  It was really quick… he was gone from us for less than 15 minutes, and the doctor came in less than 5 minutes after they took him back.  He’ was a little tipsy from the anesthesia earlier, but he ate well and didn’t complain at all today, so I think he’s healing quickly.

He’s been full of chatter lately, with one word "da" for dog, duck, down and Dad, and "do" for Dora and door.  I know we said his first word was "waffle" a few weeks ago – and both Brian and I still swear he said it! – but we haven’t heard it again.  Yesterday, though, Brian and I both thought he said "amen" after we prayed for our meal.  We’ll see if he starts making more letter sounds with his new, longer tongue. 

He’s definitely turning into a little busy boy, and he’s into all kinds of trouble.  He’s climbing on stools and using them to climb on the couch.  He wants everything on bookshelves and counters over his head, and he’ll reach his little fingers up there and try to get them around anything that might be up there.  He’d rather pull things off bookshelves, empty our DVD cabinet, un-organize my tupperware shelf and bang on pots and pans than play with any of the toys around here… unless Analise is deeply engaged in something, and then he wants to be in the middle of that, which of course, she’s not happy with.  I’m doing a lot of referring and trying to distract him from her little block/people adventures and puzzles. 

Analise is doing really, really well.  I feel like in the last couple weeks, we’ve entered what I call, the Age of Reason.  She’s very compliant, and much more understanding of our no’s and compromises.  We’ve decreased the crying fits from 3 or more a day to less than 1.  The change is amazing, and I don’t have to hold my breath waiting for her to unravel when she doesn’t get her way.  If she asks for something, and I say no or give another time or option, she’s ok with it.  Her patience has improved tremendously, even with Josiah trying to play with her more.  The two of them have sweet little times of playing at the small table and kitchen area, Josiah sitting on a chair, and Analise serving him play food for dinner.  He LOVES it when she plays with him.  Some of my favorite phrases of Analise right now are: "That would be a PERFECT idea!" when I suggest something she likes, for example playing a game after I put Josiah down for a nap; "That would not be a perfect idea," when she’s not in full agreement of something.  It’s amazing how she sounds like a little adult so often. 

They’ve started romping around more, bouncing on my bed and testing out the couch as a jumping/bouncing apparatus.  We’re curbing that, but it is fun to see them playing together on the bed, rolling around laughing and giggling.  I’m definitely getting less done around the house because Josiah’s into more trouble!  And between the two of them, they can make a huge mess.  Analise, though, is really great about helping get things cleaned up. She’s amazingly good at puzzles, so we’ll spend lots of time on the floor putting together complicated puzzles, up to 48 pieces.  She also really likes to help me do things around the house, like putting the silverware away, putting things on the table for dinner, taking her clean clothes to her room and sorting socks.  It’s nice to have a little helper! 

Analise’s preschool orientation was today.  She’ll start school again next Tuesday, 2 days a week.  She’s still taking ballet, and she loves it.  She’s getting quite good at her ballet moves, too.  The other evening, Brian came in to find Analise putting on a dance show, with his parents watching from the couch.  Josiah was walking around the "stage" clapping for Analise.  Her personal cheering section:)  The other evening as I was cleaning up the kitchen, I came into the living room to find Brian playing the piano, Analise singing loudly, and Josiah standing on a chair clapping for everyone.  The Little Looney Toones in concert. 

Ok, I’d better call it a night.  We’re reading Velvet Elvis by Rob Bell in our church Life Group, and I’ve got a little catching up to do before tomorrow night.  Good read!  I highly recommend it!  I hope to share more eventually, when I get my thoughts all sorted out about it.