more on the duke

Over the weekend Duke's first tooth FINALLY cut through! No more gummy smiles for Duke--he'll be looking like a toddler very soon. First tooth: 12.5 months.

Duke can pack the food away now, but he primarily wants to feed himself. Having no teeth, that's been a little tricky. He is NOT a fan of baby food. The only way I can get away with it is if he has plenty of food he can pick up and feed himself while I'm feeding him. Baby food is still the only way I can get a decent amount of meat in him. But with teeth emerging, soon he'll be feeding himself completely and much happier about it.

I also forgot to mention (2 posts ago) the other word he started saying. Funny I forgot it because it's the word he says most. "Go!" Braden, Maisie, Duke and I were coming up from the basement and Maisie was not climbing up the stairs. I was telling her to climb up, and so was Braden. Finally he said, "Go, Maisie! Go go go!" and Duke chimed in, "Go! ...Go go go!"

Now he says it all the time. When he pushes his push toy - "Go! Go!" When I pick him up and tell him we are going upstairs or out to the car, or wherever, "Go!" I wonder if it's a sign of who he's going to be. Always on the go?

Duke also hits his belly or things with his hands and says "Pat pat pat!" like Maisie does. And he is rapidly gaining in his walking ability. He's hit 15 steps on his own, and he can even turn and change directions. He just still hasn't figure out how to stand up and walk from a sitting position. So if he's in the middle of the floor sitting, he just scoots on his belly or crawls. He's funny in that he still scoots or crawls equally, but walking is definitely his preferred mode of getting around.

Duke likes to greet with a pointed finger and some jibber-jabber. He also constantly talks to me, "Ma-meh? Bsh-bsh-wazch-pickle-pickle." And sometimes it's a question. I do my best to respond, but if I don't respond when I'm holding him, he cranes his neck to look me straight in the face, "Ma-meh? Ma-meh?" to make sure he has my attention before he talks.

Duke also discovered outlets last week. Bummer. He can spot them anywhere we are. Yesterday he was caught swishing water in the toilet. And he loves cabinets--and unfortunately, two of my locks have broken and need replacing. So which cabinets does he go for 20 times a day?  Of course.

He and Maisie are starting to compete for toys. Lessons in sharing are beginning.

missie o'may

A few days ago Maddie and Caleb were playing next door, Duke was sleeping and so I took that rare opportunity to play with Maisie. I never get to have one-on-one time with her, and as we were playing play-do I remembered how much I LOVED this age with Maddie and Caleb. I must take more opportunities to spend one-on-one time with her this year.

So we're playing play-do and she is chatting away about play-do and then she suddenly launches into song super fast--like singing quadruple time--performing dramatically and with expression:
Cee-Cee my playmate 
Come out an' play wif me
An' bwing yoh dahwies fwee
Cwimb up my appuh twee
Swide down my wainbow 
Into my cewwuh doh

And then instead of finishing the song, she didn't miss a beat but finished with:
Akchwally, I don't do a cewwuh doh, I onwy do a wainbow. 

I almost died laughing! Not only was it just hilarious, but I'm sitting there thinking, what barely two year old can rattle off a song like that, all the right lyrics, perfectly following the melody, adding her own thoughts at the end, and do it all as fast as an 8-year old?! She is something else!

Dukester Update

Our cute baby boy reached 1 year sans teeth. Those bottom two have been threatening to pop through for months! I think I've been saying "any day now" since he was about 8 or 9 months old.

Duke has also had another massive learning spurt. Four days before his birthday he took his first steps on his own to Braden! He still hadn't really crawled though--just belly scooting. Since then, in the past two weeks, he has started crawling (though not his preferred method of getting around) and continues to take a few steps here and there, and occasionally still belly scooch. He can climb stairs now, open cabinet doors and get into trouble.  :)  Just this past weekend, he added to his word repertoire (which was only 1 word, Mama) and started calling Maddie "Na-Na," for Nanny of course; and he started saying "bah-bah" when he waves; and when Maisie was singing "Ring Around the Rosy" when she got to the end he squatted down and said "Ah don, ah don"--is that cute or what?!  And tonight at dinner he proudly signed "more" for the first time...just a few minutes after I had mentioned that he is the only baby in the family who hasn't signed. I guess he wanted to make sure I knew he in fact could. 

Duke has also decided this week that he loves his daddy. He is even begging for Daddy when Mommy holds him--shocking indeed! He has been a MAJOR fan of Mommy. He fusses and hollers for Braden. It is sweet to see for sure. I love that he loves his Daddy. 

qotd

After Maddie and Caleb mentioned today was Monday...
Maisie: Is today Monday?
Me: Yes, Maisie, today is Monday.
Maisie: Is today Friderday?
Me: No, today is not Friderday, it's Monday.

Being a teacher, you'd THINK I'd correct incorrect words, but I can't help but repeat them right back to the kids. It's probably why both Maddie and Caleb to this day still say, "napkeons."

qotd

Braden leaving for work:
Maisie: "Bye bye, Daddy!...Bye-bye, Biwee-Bob!"
Laughing, "I cawd you Biwee-Bob!"

qotd

Caleb explaining the angry birds card game to Braden:
"OK, I will tell you what all the power cards do. This power card I can't remember what it does. So if you have one, tell me to look away and put it back in the deck and then pick the top card."

conversations with a two year old

I forgot how funny conversing with a two year old can be...especially as articulate of a two year old as Maisie. Soon after she had turned two, we were riding in the car and she called out, "I don't wike it! I too cold. Turn the air off!" Braden and I looked at each other. I had no idea she could make those connections and put it all together. I told Braden that's probably one of the reasons our previous two year olds were fussing and throwing fits in the car--too hot or too cold, and we had no clue.

Maisie put on her sandal:
M: "I did it! All...by...seff!"
Me: "Wow! All by self!"
M: "All by MY seff."
Me: "Ohhh, all by MY self."
M: "Chidwen, obey yohSEFF!"
In case you didn't catch that, that was her new take on the bible verse she learned: Children obey your parents.

Maddie and Caleb were at our church's camp, and Braden was teaching there one day, so I brought Maisie to watch. I was sitting in the back behind all the kids and the teen helpers, and Maisie was running up and the down the aisle a bit. She caught the attention of one of the teen helpers and he waved at her and smiled. She ran back to me, smiling and said, "He wikes my belly!"

In the stroller on the way to Caleb's baseball game, Maisie was chatting with me.
"Mommy, do you have eyes???"

Bubby was leaving our house one day, and Maisie and I were sitting on the front porch watching her get in her car and leave. All of a sudden, Maisie called out,
"Mommy! Anudduh car! Iss anudduh car!" She stood up and looked at the car in awe and looked at me in awe, arms out in exclamation.
"Yes, it is. It IS another car."
"I...Iss...I, I I haff a...sitting in da car!!!" (She was so excited, she could not get the words out.)
"Yes, you sat in that car."
"MY sitting!"
"Oh, your car seat? Yes, you have a carseat in Bubby's car."
"Yah! My carseat!" (Still looking back and forth between me and the car in awe.) "PopPop."
"That's right. PopPop drives you sometimes in Bubby's car."
"Yah! PopPop!"

This boy has turned ONE!!!

You know...

You know this two year old has an older brother when you're changing the baby's diaper and you feel a nerf sword poking into your back and she yells, "On gawd!"

(And speaking of older brothers, she's wearing his shorts with the hole I need to fix...over her head and around her neck.)

a funny sight

Duke pushing Maisie. Yes, it happens often. He's looking to walk, she's looking for an easy ride. This photo was taken back a few weeks ago, when Duke needed some help. Now he pushes his sister like a champ.

qotd

As it was nearing Maisie's 2nd birthday I looked at baby pictures with her, telling her all about her birth. I talked a fair amount about how tiny she was and how she was my teeny tiny baby. She took to the phrase and has since said, "I your teeny tiny baby!" Well, she took it a bit further when she said to Daddy, "I wuv oo, my teeny tiny daddy!"

a birthday gift

Maisie still runs around checking clocks and telling everyone it's 8:49. Well, on my birthday Braden let me sleep in and I woke up, my eyes fell on the clock, and guess what time it was. You guessed it, 8:49! I laughed and told Braden it was Maisie's birthday gift to me. :)

family visit

After Nana's interment, Uncle Pat, Aunt Marissa, Cauthen and Catherine came and stayed the rest of the week at Nonna & FaFa's house as they were en route to moving overseas to Germany.  It was wonderful to see them again and spend those days together.  We went over to Nonna and FaFa's house almost every afternoon/evening for dinner. And one day Maddie and Caleb spent the entire day with them all sightseeing and going out to eat.  They loved it!

(What is Caleb doing to Maisie?? Zoom in on his face.)

Aunt Marissa and Catherine taught Maddie a clapping song, which she just loves to do and Maisie loves to now sing (too cute). 

We also celebrated Auntie La's, Uncle J's and my birthdays on the 31st of May.  We made Nana's pecan torte, one of her years-old, favorite recipes for entertaining.  That was special to all of us. Aunt Marissa didn't have the recipe on her, and neither did Nonna, so we messaged Aunt BJ on the ipad and she took a photo of the recipe card and sent it right back to us. Times like that when I love technology! There was Nana's recipe in her own writing.

Three candles, one for each of us. :)

We three blowing out our candles. (Methinks the camera man was in the wrong spot.)

But even more memorable than the torte was what Aunt Marissa did.  When she was clearing out her fridge and freezer in preparation to move, she saved the last batch of tomato sauce Nana had made for them on her last visit there, and the last batch of Nana's potato leek soup that she had also made.  So Aunt Marissa brought those frozen on ice all the way here, so we could all enjoy Nana's food together.  How special that was!!!  Little Dukey never got to meet his Nana, but he got to eat her pasta and sauce, made by her own hands! And boy how he loved it. He wolfed down about three helpings! That was a sweet, sweet memory for me (and quite a surprise--Nana's sauce, really?!!). Thank you, Aunt Marissa for being so thoughtful and generous! I will always remember eating Nana's soup and pasta sauce with you.

I've never been able to get Nana's potato leek soup right, even though I've talked through it with her a couple of times. So I took the last little bit and re-froze it for myself. It's sitting in my freezer and I'm going to give it another shot and see if I can make it taste like what's sitting in my freezer!  Let's see if I can, eh?  Aunt Marissa and I discussed it...fewer potatos (2-4), 1 large leek, more chicken stock than I've been using, and add sour cream not heavy cream. I think I've got that right. (Aunt Marissa, correct me if I'm wrong!)

It was so nice to see Uncle Pat, Aunt Marissa and Catherine and Cauthen again. Brought back so many memories of when they lived in Alexandria, and we saw them often for holidays and family visits. That was a fun season! We hope to see you all again soon!

Nana's Funeral

On Tuesday after Memorial Day, we attended Nana's interment. The family traveled to Arlington and Nana was buried at Arlington National Cemetery. Nonna, FaFa, Auntie La & Uncle J, and our family was there, including PopPop & Bubby. Uncle John, Aunt BJ, Grandpap and Jackie and Cara came. Uncle Marc, Aunt Debbie and Joe came, and Uncle Pat, Aunt Marissa, Cauthen and Catherine. FaFa's cousin Mike and his wife Mary also came.

The night before the funeral, we all met for dinner. Duke wore his special "I love Nana" outfit. It was Maddie's idea, and I thought it was a sweet one. I'm glad she thought of it.

This photo is special to me because of the next one.

This is an old photo of Caleb holding Grandpap's hand at the beach.  

Here we are with Grandpap.

The interment, the next morning.

The priest who did the service did such a good job! He was so genuine in his words, and so hope-filled in speaking of our eternal hope through Jesus Christ. I'm sure he performs dozens and dozens of funerals, but it didn't feel like this one was just one of many. He spoke thoughtfully and sincerely. There were lots of tissues and tears, but as I was walking Duke toward the back of the sanctuary during the service at one point, I was thinking those tissues and tears are sweet signs of what a wonderful mother and grandmother Nana truly was. We all miss her!

After the funeral service, some of us went to the Army-Navy Club for lunch--cousin Mike's treat. What a beautiful place! So Washingtonian.

The expressions of Duke and his daddy are the same in each pic. Too funny.

Nana, we love you and miss you and know we will see you again one day. You were an incredibly loving and caring grandma to me, who made so many things so much fun. You've left me gifts and skills and stories and recipes and many, many sweet memories. I'm very blessed to have had you as my Nana.

june 25

On June 25th, little Duke pulled himself up to standing, balanced and clapped his hands. He's workin' so hard at walking. I just hope the boy crawls first! He is the most determined to WALK out of all the kids. He can walk pushing push toys, and he can walk all around rooms now, by walking along the walls and from furniture piece to furniture piece. You set him down in the living room and the next thing you know, he's walking along the cabinets in the kitchen.

As far as crawling...er, that would be scooting on his belly...he gets around. But he'd much rather walk than scoot. I've been putting him on the stairs to try to get some crawling action. Duke, don't you know it's developmentally important to CRAWL??! Your momma does!