So a quick update of life in the Valley…

TIMMY

Timmy is now 13 months old. We are entering what is one my most favorite stages of the preschool years. He jabbers constantly, and is quickly developing sounds that are intended to be actual words. The best ones are “doggie,” “light,” “on,” and “uh-oh.” In fact, “uh-oh” is clear as a bell, and he even uses it at the appropriate moments (dropping something or falling down).  He also greeted Eric with a very clear “Dah-ee” when he walked in the other day. It was most definitely a.dor.able.

Timmy’s still climbing and running all the time. He giggles with his whole self, and he puts all he’s got into fits and meltdowns, too. He put through 3 top teeth, but it took about 10 days. Either he has really slow-moving teeth or seriously thick gums. Either way…teething is painful for both of us! On the other basic fronts, he has finally started sleeping really well (most nights he goes from 8:30 or 9 to 7 with little, if any, fussing), and he’s gotten much braver with people food. He’s finally adjusted to milk, and I’ve almost stopped supplementing with baby food. Now we’re starting to experiment with silverware, but we haven’t made much progress on that front yet.

ALEX

This week’s great love is doing workbooks. My mom gave us an entire workbook of hidden picture pages (and I found another one that added mazes and dot-to-dots as well), and Alex has searched and found and colored his way through them both – along with every other workbook I could find to give him. He’s emptied my stash almost completely! It’s fun to watch him do the hidden pictures, too, because instead of circling the pictures when he finds them, he just colored the picture in the list the same color as it’s surroundings in the picture. So if he found a bug hidden on a blue roof, the bug is colored blue. And a flag on the grass is green. And if he had to find 3 of a particular item, the list picture gets a rainbow of colors, one for each hidden space.

We did survive the frigid temperatures, too, although Alex was getting a little rough in his play with his sisters towards the end. He likes to sled and eat snow, but his favorite outdoor activity is finding a big stick and whacking it against a tree until it breaks into smaller and smaller pieces. I guess there’s just no separating a boy and a big stick!

ERIN

Erin loves to go outside, especially if it means one-on-one time with her dad. The other day, she bundled up and went out to play so that she would already be outside when Eric got home and could join him in the garage. When he did get back, I glanced out the window to see that he’d showed her how to slide down on her belly on the ice, no sled needed. I got some video of it later, but it was quite a fun adventure for her!

She also can be a total sweetie. Our neighbors up the lane have a 4 year old who loves to play with my kids. They’ve been out regularly this week to sled and whatnot together. Anyway, one of the times they headed up to his house to play, Megan was the last to get her snow clothes on. She wanted to go, but didn’t want to walk by herself. I started her and then came in quickly to throw a coat and blanket on Tim to walk her up, but when I opened the door, Miss Erin had come back and was walking with her. Without being asked. Love.it!

Erin’s also discovered a new love: My Little Ponies. She and Meg spend a lot of the day playing with Pinkie Pie and Rarity (who is actually an older pony, Cup Cake, but they don’t know who she is, so they pretend she’s Rarity) and Rainbow Dash. Sadly we cannot watch the episodes nearly as often as she would like. But I’m sure we’ll survive the trauma somehow… 😉

MEGAN

Megan loves coloring. LOVES coloring. She also loves puzzles, playing dolls with Erin, and snuggling with me, especially in the middle of the night. 😛 There has definitely been an increase in her drama in recent days, but I’m sure that has as much to do with cabin fever as with her age! We are still fighting with potty training. I guess that is just my lot in life (hard PT-ers). The last couple of days have been seriously difficult on that front. I hope we see improvement soon.

On the other hand, Meg’s started snuggling every chance she can get (or create). And I love it. This girl gives hugs like she does everything else…with all of her. She wraps herself around your neck and holds on TIGHT. And then she snuggles in and grins up at you with the sweetest little Meg face she can muster. Yep…definitely love that little thing!

And as for the rest of us…we are surviving. Not always with great beauty, and occasionally with big meltdowns (that would be me, mostly), but day-by-day we are making it through. I’m not in any hurry for Spring, to be honest, because I’m really trying not to wish away my days. But man, is it hard to stay focused and engaged all day, every day, with all four kids at once. I’m just worn out from the drain of it. Still, it’s just a stage and it’ll pass, and when it does, I’m sure I’ll miss it. Or parts of it anyway. I will NEVER miss potty-training. EVER!

Just sayin’! 😉