Vacation Bible School

 

This week we had VBS at church. Last year we only got to come 2 days, but this year I taught the youth class so we went every night. To say it was tiring would be an understatement. Toddlers are not meant to stay up past 8:30 at night! But I think everyone had fun and learning a lot about God’s Amazing Wonders, which was the theme this year. It was centered around planes and traveling to amazing places God created. Leah caught on to the catchy songs quickly. She was also able to memorize the week’s memory verse very easily.

Andrew was in the nursery class, separate from Leah this year. There was only one other kid his age. About halfway through each night he got really fussy and only wanted Mommy. Mostly he was tired, but it was also such a different routine from what he’s used to at church. Still, he got in some cute crafts! (The handprint plane is Leah’s but the footprint is his.)

 

They got their picture taken in the clouds.

 

Leah loved that she got to see her little girlfriends every night. These four girls are great friends at church and were inseparable this week! They are all right around the same age.

Leah’s class was the biggest of all the classes!

 

My class ended up being harder than I imagined. The first night I had two. It was a piece of cake. Then four 12 & 13-year-old boys showed up. They were wild & crazy the whole time, barely quieting down for a 20 minute Bible Study. Not so sure how I got stuck with middle school boys, but I am definitely not cut out for them!

 

At the end of the week, they got their Pilot’s License!

 

Friday night we do a program for the parents. Andrew got a fun headband.

And here’s all the kids that came. We had a great crowd! And there were at least 6 who accepted Christ—I’d say that is success!

Andrew @ 2 years

 

I’m a little late, but we’ve had a busy week! Here’s a little update about my 2-year-old little boy:

* We haven’t been to the doctor yet, but when I weigh him, he’s about 26 lbs. (and has been for a few months now) and I think 32 inches tall. He wears mostly 18 or 24 month sized clothes, but unlike his sister, he’s shorter and bigger around the waist.

* He’s still a pretty good sleeper, sleeping about 11 hours. He is very easy to put down, and many times will tell you he wants to go to bed. He never puts up a fight about naptime either, and will usually sleep 1 1/2 to 2 hours in the afternoon. He still likes to be rocked a minute before he goes to sleep (and read a story), and that’s when he’s still my cuddly little baby. Soon he’ll be moving to his big boy bed, though!

* He’s quite a picky eater, and most days I’m not sure how he (or his sister) is even surviving! He loves most meat—things like hamburgers, sloppy joes, tacos… He also likes strawberries & bananas, but not many vegetables. I don’t know that he has a favorite food—really he has to be coaxed into eating most anything and it takes him forever to get through mealtime. He still loves to have his food fed to him (especially if it takes the form of a big truck or an airplane) and will eat more that way. He loves to have strawberry milk every morning and afternoon when he wakes up but the rest of the day, he wants his juice.

* He also finally has just about all his teeth. He’s just now getting in the last two on the top (with the exception of maybe some molars.) He is always sucking on his fingers, but that may be because his gums hurt?

* He has quite a big vocabulary, and many times when we’re out people will ask me how old he is because they’re so surprised at how well he speaks. He’s also smart in other areas—he can sing his ABC’s, although he doesn’t yet recognize the letters, he can count 1 to 10, he knows several colors and shapes. If anything is set to music, he can remember it!

* He is very independent. There are times when we’ll do something for him (like put him in his car seat, or close a door) that he wants so badly to do himself that he will whine until we let him go back and do it again. He insists on climbing stairs “by self” and always has to try things that Leah can do by herself.

* His favorite toys are trucks to drive around, putting things in said trucks, collecting rocks, and anything outside. In that way, he is all boy. But he still doesn’t mind sitting and listening to a story, driving Leah’s baby stroller around, or even pretending to be her baby doll. The majority of the time, he and Leah make a great team—she bosses him around and he willingly does whatever she says. But then the rest of the time they hate sharing their toys!

* He is such an easygoing little boy. He really doesn’t complain about much, and rarely has tantrums. He loves to try new things and is always so willing to just go with the flow. He’s such a fun-loving little boy that also loves to be cuddled and give kisses. I love it when he comes in the room just to say “Hi, Mommy…” and then turns around and says “Gotta go, I love you…”

Andrew’s Car & Truck Birthday Party

 

I like to do birthdays big! I don’t know why I feel compelled to decorate & have presents and a special meal at every birthday, even if it’s just our little family. I just want the kids to have great memories of their special days! We had a great little party last night for Andrew’s 2nd birthday. It was our family plus Uncle BJ, and it was so much fun! I think the kids had a blast, and I was so happy with how everything turned out, especially on my very minimal budget!

I tried to get him to show me he was 2 years old, but every time he was just silly.

I

Most truck/ car-themed parties I saw actual decorations for used construction trucks or monster trucks or tractors, but Andrew is really just into cars and trucks in general. So I used a combination of all of that, to make sort of a transportation theme. I made these little circles myself, with construction vehicles. My favorite thing was the stoplight, which said Happy Birthday Andrew. I used that as my color scheme. As soon as Andrew saw the decorations and we told him it was for his birthday, he walked around saying, “My birthday! My birthday!”

       

Andrew kept saying “My birthday’s up there!” He was fascinated with the balloons, and I think he thought his “birthday” was the streamers & decorations. He didn’t eat much of his cheeseburger for dinner.

We were able to get way more presents than I thought. He got a bat and ball, and insisted on holding the ball to open the next present, which was a HUGE semi-truck that can hold other matchbox cars inside of it. He loves to put things inside his trucks, so I thought, why not buy one that is made for that? I should have made him open this last, because after that, all he wanted to do was play with this truck. He woke up this morning wanting to play with his truck.

  

     

The tractor from Uncle BJ was the second big hit. It now goes wherever the big truck goes. He must have played with them for at least an hour after the party.

   

BJ got Leah a ladybug stuffed pillow, which she loves!

Nana sent a box with some clothes and other things, but by the time he got to that, he wasn’t as interested. He already had 3 great new things! Should have switched the order of the opening!

  

I was so excited with how the cake turned out. I just saw an idea on Pinterest and went with it! We have a little car play mat that came with a bunch of road signs & construction cones so those came in handy. I just printed the other little signs on the computer & glued them on cardboard & sticks. A little green food coloring & some black decorating icing & voila!

Even Andrew was so pleased with the results. Note how differently he reacted to the singing of “Happy Birthday” than his sister did when she turned two!

   

Time to dig in! This takes great concentration!

  

Maybe I should have re-thought the green? Do you think he liked it?

Apparently vying for some attention, Leah got into the winter gloves & hats in our closet and proceeded to play with her toys while wearing mittens. In the middle of July.

And BJ showed Andrew how he could ride his big truck.

Probably my favorite part of the day was just playing around after we were all cleaned up. They stayed up giggling and laughing until about 9:00. No one was grumbling or complaining. Could have been the sugar, but more likely just the fun of being around family!

Andrew This Far (video)

I finally figured out how to make photo slideshows with music! If this works, I may be making more of these. So here's a little tribute to Andrew for his upcoming 2-year-old birthday-- his life so far. I don't know that the song is completely fitting, but it's fun!

Swimming Lessons

 

We went out on a limb this summer springing for a membership to our community pool (which is less than a mile from our house)-- I had no idea if the kids would really even like it, since the few times we went to the pool earlier in the year, Andrew was afraid of getting in the water and Leah liked it but was very clingy. We've spent most of our time in the small 2 ft. kiddie pool, and both of them really do love it! This past week, we enrolled Leah in swimming lessons, Monday through tomorrow. Tuesday and Wednesday she really didn’t want to go at all, and she would cry when I was dropping her off. If I stayed, she would run to me and not want to finish the class. It was tough seeing how much she hated it, but I knew if she just stuck it out, she would thank me for it later—I really wanted her to get over her fear of the water. So most days I just dropped her off because she would do much better.

The teacher was great—she pushed her even when Leah didn’t want to be pushed. She was not afraid to deal with it when Leah was crying and whining that she didn’t want to do it—she made her do it anyway. That is apparently what Leah needs! And it did make me feel better that 2 or 3 of the other kids in the class (there were only 5 total) acted the same way in the water!

Today I stayed through the class and I saw a very marked improvement in her. She didn’t cry about going, she seemed excited about getting in the water. The teacher had them jumping off the diving board, and though I could tell Leah had a little fear while she was in the water, she did it willingly with no tears or whining. The sense of accomplishment she felt and the praise she got for doing so well really motivates her and now she’s telling me she’ll show me again another time how she can jump into the deep end. I am so glad we stuck it out and that she’s becoming so much more confident in the water!

(She’s the 2nd one from the left—she only wore her hair in a ponytail because the teacher asked her to.)

(Okay, so maybe she didn’t so much jump off, as she was dropped in. I’ve always heard that’s the best way to learn!)