She's a peach!

That would be how JP describes Emma at the moment. She has been walking for about a month. She still reverts to the 3 point crawl every now and then...but if you ask her to walk, she will do it most of the time. She is also developing her emotional side. She is definitely not a happy camper when you tell her "no" or take something away. She will through herself on the floor, and have her little drama as long as someone is watching. The moment you leave she stops. During the drama if you try to talk to her she will just say "no" and get away from you and continue the show. Sometimes it seems very comical to me, so I have to keep myself from laughing.

When are we going home?

This is the question Sammy asked me several times this morning when we were home. I told him we are home, and he looked at me and said "no...I am pretending we are at the playground." He even pretended to be on a swing and slide...he is definitely one to imagine and pretend. Last week he even told me he wanted to be a "space alien." I asked what is that, and he said..."a person who explores space." Eventhough he is no longer visiting his friends from Africa he has other things to keep him creative.

Pigeon Books

John David just discovered Mo Willems and the pigeon books. He thinks they are soooo funny, and he loves reading to his brothers and sister, and anyone else who sets foot in our house. Sometimes he can't even make it through the book without laughing either...despite that he pretty much knows them by memory now, since he brings one home every week. His school library has four of the books, and he just rotates through them. He is definitely enjoying reading now, because he will even pick up a book without being asked to read. He really enjoys reading to his siblings, and discovers he can read more books everyday as his reading improves. It is really exciting to see his reading, and vocabulary grow on a daily basis.

my butt

That would be baby boys new phrase. He did it for the first time this past tuesday. He was upstairs taking off his clothes so he could take a shower, and he came out to the landing and mooned JP and I as he laughed and said "my butt." A couple of times a day I find myself telling him to pull his pants and underwear back on. He is definitely following his brothers...and of course the brothers get a big kick of it...so why would he stop with such a great audience.

speed crawler

I think Emma is practicing to become a speed crawler...she definitely knows that she can get there faster if she crawls and she only walks if you hold her hands. If you let go she sits down...so she is following two of her brothers' footsteps. Like I said before...I am in no hurry for her to walk. Carlos will have an interesting life once she is mobile.
She loves going up the stairs and will show off that skill several times a day. Mommy has to be quick if we are already upstairs because she make a run to the stairs when she know that we are coming down. She has not attemted down the stairs, but I will have to show her. I know that she will learn that quickly, just like getting off the beds and sofas.
She will also try to hit and when she is told no....she gives you a cute laugh or smile. Her daddy claims that she has learned Diva qualities from her friend Aimee Grace. However it is just her being a girl. On the trip to Houston one minute she screams because Carlos is touching her or trying to hold her hand...and then 2 minutes later, she is screaming because Carlos will not hold her hand. girls...go figure!

tenders and boys being boys

Just a heads up, this is not about a food. So awhile back JP and I had discussed how we never gave the boys a name for their boy parts. Apparently Kung Fu Panda has done that for us. Both of the boys can be heard making comments about their "tenders." Yeterday the radio was on and the boys were dancing, and I even overheard Sammy say he was spanking his tenders. His back was towards me, so I really don't know what he was doing, except being a boy.
They both have think that booty and poop are funny things. They haven't laughed when they toot, but I think that will happen any day now. They are such boys...and Carlos even laughs with them.

Bye Bye Diapers

This is probably not the most exciting update for all of you, but it is a visible change in my checking account. Carlos no longer wears diapers not even at nite. He has been diaper free since two weeks when he refused to put on a diaper at grandma's house after his bath. I can count the number of accidents we have had on one hand...I must say that I am very thankful for that. We have even made two trips to Houston with potty success. He prefers the Elmo underwear and other Sesame Street characters are a close 2nd with the pinguinos and Wiggles in a tie for 3rd place. He only wears the non character underwear after an accident...so that way he is motivated to keep his favorite characters dry.

bye baby girl face...hello stairs.

This morning Carlos came into my room and hopped into bed with me to watch his Wiggle video. At that time Emma was fussing, so JP brought her over too and he left to go to work. While I was laying there, I noticed that at 15 months and 3 days Emma has lost her baby girl face. Even with her crazy morning hair, she still looked more grown up. This evening I have looked at some pictures from the past...and it has confirmed that Emma is growing and changing. I am sad to see this happen since she is my baby, and on top of that my baby girl. I know that every change brings a new discovery and she will soon attempt more new things. For example today discovered she can climb the stairs...and she did that 3 times with her brothers calling her from the top, and her mommy following behind. We will have to try to get a video of that tomorrow.

Pinguinos and Elmo

I have to say that I am very suprised at how cooperative Carlos is being with potty training. I just figured I would try this while we are home during the day. If we go somewhere we will still wear diapers, just like at night. Thanks to grandma and abuelita we have a good supply of Elmo and penguin underwear. The first day he wore Elmo and we had three accidents. Day #2 he had penguin underwear and his goal was to keep them dry. When he did have an accident he told me "pinguinos wet" and I had to hold back the laughter. Day two had two accidents and I thought he was done with potty training. He got frustated one time when I took him potty because he wanted to keep playing, so when I took him to the potty he threw the undies in the potty. I was able to refocus him with a pair of cookie monster and grover undies and we were back on track. Yesterday he only wore his underwear in the afternoon, but he was able to keep the pinguinos dry. Today we were back to Elmo again, and he made it through the day. At 3 he told me he was wet, but I didn't see any obvious clues on his shorts. When I took him potty I noticed that his undies were a tad moist, but that was it. To me that is a sign that he realized he was going and stopped it so he could go potty, so I really think he has it down pretty good. He put on a pair of clean undies and made it through the rest of the day. We will try again tomorrow, and hopefully he will do just as good.

I'm not a magician

John David was playing with Sammy. John David was magically hiding items and Sammy had to find them. Sammy would ask for clues, and John David would say that a magician doesn't tell his secrets. Then they traded places, and it was Sammy's turn to hide the things. When John David was looking he walked right past were Sammy had hidden something. Sammy was quick to tell John David he had missed it, and John David reminded him that a magician doesn't tell his secrets. Sammy responded "I'm not a magician." I must say that was the end of that game.