About the Kids

Camden:

• Every meal is his favorite. Every day at breakfast it's the best bowl of cereal/biscuit/poptart he's ever had. Every lunch and supper we're having his favorite chili/peanut butter sandwich/lasagna, etc. I guess it's a good way to live - enjoying every second.

• He's big into counting these days. For example, he had 2 pieces of pizza, 9 Pringles, and 20 M&M's yesterday at lunch.

• We've struggled with his self control pretty much ever since he turned 2, but he is getting so much better and learning to control his temper and tantrums.
  

• He loves baseball. Seriously loves it. Last night after practice Brian asked him what his favorite part was, and he said, "Just all of it. I love all of it."

• He can play for hours on end with a paper wrapper that he folds up into imaginary army men, or with a little set of magnetix that he sets up as a battle, or with playdough that he builds into an army. Do you see a theme here?

• This isn't always the case, but he is currently in a helpful phase. He thinks it's the best thing ever to vacuum or help put the groceries away. So far, he's still not a big fan of mating the socks or folding towels, but I'm determined he'll learn.

• He loves for me to read books to him. In fact, if I'm reading one to Rory (and it doesn't matter how babyish or girlish it is), he'll stop whatever he's doing to come listen. He doesn't have a favorite - he'll listen to anything I'll read.

• Like a typical boy, he's not a big fan of brushing his teeth or taking a bath. Too bad for him I'm a mean mom and make him do both regularly.

• He and Rory are finally getting along better. Don't get me wrong - there are still lots of screams and fights, but there are also alot more peaceful (although very loud) moments. Their new favorite game is wrestling. So far no one has been hurt. They even hug each other when they have to be separated. Seriously precious.

Rory:

• I always said that once she started talking, she'd never stop, and she's proving me right. The child repeats almost every word that I say, Brian says, and Camden says plus adding her own words and sentences in. It is never ending. Her voice can be quite loud and high-pitched. She's much louder than Camden ever was. It's such a cute age because she is learning so much.

• The first words out of her mouth almost every morning and after naptime before I can even get to her bed are "read a book?" Her favorite book right now is Maisy Goes Shopping and There's a Dragon Downstairs. Unfortunately for her, they're library books so she's only got a couple more days to enjoy them.

• We hear alot of "mommy do it" around here. She most definitely is a mommy's girl. At each meal, she watches and the very second I finish my food, she is asking to sit on my lap to finish her own meal. She gets upset if Brian does much of anything for her and has been known to sob just because he gets her out of the car seat instead of me.
  

• Last night at baseball practice, she asked to play baseball, and I told her she could play when she was a big girl. She must have repeated the phrase "my play baseball big girl?" one hundred times last night.

• She is still very attached to her red towel from Korea, especially when she's upset or tired. She is almost desperate to rub it across her lips during those times. And even though she is not all that affectionate, if she is being especially sweet, she will rub the towel across our lips because that's what comfort represents for her.
  

• She is starting to show some clothing preferences. So far, not fighting me on anything, but when something new shows up at our house, she wants to try it on and it's hard to get it off her!

• After I dressed her for church on Sunday, she went in to Brian to get her regular praise, and he told her "nice hairbows." She looked up at him and said, "nice shoes."

The kids were both so good yesterday even though they missed Brian and we spent several hours in two different grocery stores. We all went to baseball practice last night since it was a nice evening. I've decided soccer is alot more fun to watch because Camden played the entire time. In baseball, we spend most of the time waiting for Camden to have his turn so in 1.5 hours of practice, there are only a few minutes of action.

I did meet an interesting mother at practice last night (I say interesting because it was the kindest word I could come up with). Within the first few minutes of meeting her, she had (1) introduced herself to Rory, then promptly told her to go play up on the hill in the mud; (2) asked "is she adopted" in a whisper as if it were a secret, (3) told us that they were adopting a girl from Mongolia because there was no way they were going to take a chance on having a third biological boy, (4) when she told her sister that Rory wasn't potty trained, the sister said "well, she should be." Interesting times at baseball practice. I'm pretty sure Brian is going to be the baseball practice parent from now on. No one bothers him while he grades papers on the bleachers.

I've finally figured out how to upload videos from the camera to YouTube so you might see a few more of these. This is just Rory after naptime yesterday.