Alien Invasion

These pictures were taken on Wednesday. While Bohdin and I were doing schoolwork Nyla and Cora were playing together. Cora is at the age where she wants to touch everything Nyla touches and do everything Nyla does. For the most part, Nyla is taking this pretty well. Sometimes she doesn't like doing art with Cora because she tends to ruin the painting. I actually think Cora does really well with art. Cora did the craft at story time in the morning which was pasting and coloring a snowman. I pasted for her but she colored. I really liked it. I'll have to take a picture of it. After Nyla got mad that Cora was ruining her painting they found something else to do. They built blocks, sat on the sit and spin, and then moved on to the spinny office chair. I don't usually get such a nice block of uninterrupted time. I glanced over at the them spinning together in the chair and almost told Nyla to stop spinning for a while but Nyla seemed fine and I figured if she wasn't dizzy then Cora would be okay. About 30 seconds later, Cora started vomiting. Her spinning tolerance appears to be lower than Nyla's. I should have known because this is not the first time this has happened. Bohdin's school time was paused and we had to finish up later.

That smiley face was Wednesday's face. Thursday she was taken over by the bad mood alien. Cora likes to wear shoes and if the closet door is left open she will try to grab her "oosh" as she calls them. The problem is that she wants them on and off at the same time. It is frustrating. Thursday began with a case of the shoe on/offs and only went downhill. Nyla told me several times in the morning that I should put Cora to sleep because she was so grumpy. By the time she woke up from her nap her world had collapsed. She wanted to be held but not held. She wanted a drink but didn't want a drink. She wanted to nurse but didn't want to nurse. She had a bad case of the I want it but don't want its. She cried and cried and cried. It's Friday night and I am still recovering from that nightmare day. Today was okay again. I don't know what happened but I hope it never happens again. The only unusual thing that happened was that she developed a rash Wednesday evening. It was gone by Thursday morning.

Today was a beautiful today. I've been making the kids take advantage of our unusually sunny and warm winter. Bohdin became increasingly sick throughout the day so by the end of the day he was inside resting while Nyla, Cora, and I enjoyed the weather. Bohdin started the day with a runny nose and developed a fever this evening.

New Year

Nyla woke up on New Year's Eve and wanted to go camping. The fact that the high for the day would be in the 40s and a strong wind and cold front would be moving through was irrelevant. We took out the tents and sleeping bags and Buddy set them up in the yard. It did provide hours of amusement. Bohdin had a book and game in his tent. I'm not sure what Nyla did in her tent. Cora was out there for a while as well. In the late afternoon Buddy started another fire and the tents were moved closer to that spot. Once again the kids played in them for quite some time. Nyla was wearing jammies because she really did want to sleep outside that night.

After dinner we set the countdown to the new year. We took some liberties and did it earlier. It was nearly seven when we yelled happy new year. I modified a friend's grape tradition and substituted chocolate because we didn't have grapes. Everybody recieved three pieces and we went in a circle eating the chocolate and saying a wish for each one. Bohdin's last wish was that we could do this every year.










On Sunday Nyla and I went to the fabric store together so I could get some new pins and thread.  She always likes to get out of the house no matter the destination.  She was somewhat bored until we were making our way to the checkout.  There was a lot of Valentine's Day stuff out and then I had to be the one to wait patiently while she was browsing.  Another little girl came along and they hit it off instantly.  By the time we left we were invited to her birthday party this weekend.  I don't know if we'll go because it is her second birthday party invite for this weekend and I don't think we can do both. 

The cold front came through and we had some snow on Monday. It wasn't much but the kids did get excited. At the end of the day it wasn't even enough to call it a dusting of snow. We were able to make chunks of ice though and Bohdin had fun chopping them with an axe on Tuesday.

Hole

Buddy has been slowly putting new insulation into the attic because the current insulation is almost nonexistent. Monday he went up with many rolls and I took the kids down to the basement so they would stop bothering him. Bohdin kept asking to go up and Cora was just making a mess of the toiletries. Since we were in the basement we didn't find out until later that Buddy had slipped and put a large hole in Nyla's ceiling. Buddy was physically okay but certainly very mad at himself. It took several hours to patch the hole.



Nyla likes to have people do everything her way. It's something we talk about constantly but it is hard for her to compromise. It comes up often when she is playing with Bohdin. She'll want the playing to go a very specific direction and if suggests something else she will get mad and storm off because he "is not playing fair". She also gets very mad if he takes too long to do something or gets side tracked. The other day they were playing and Bohdin took a break to get a drink of water or something. Nyla got really mad and sat on the stairs demanding that he return right away. Bohdin did not so she just kept yelling out to him to return. Finally she yelled "If you don't come right now you're fired!". Nyla is going to grow up to be that mean boss that everybody complains about.

Bohdin has been doing a lot of math recently. He keeps spouting out math facts like there are seven days in one week, 14 days in two weeks, 21 days in three weeks, or there are 1000 pennies in ten dollars, or in six years he will be 13. Yesterday at the fabric store I was looking at bags of scraps that looked interesting. I had pulled some out as possibilities and Bohdin started adding up how much it would cost if I bought them all. That's not the kind of thing I want to hear when I am trying to make an impulse purchase of something I don't need.

The kids were playing outside today while I was making lunch. The weather continues to be nicely pleasant for this time of year so I want them to take advantage of the sunshine and warmer temperatures before they disappear. Bohdin was planting an apple seed and Nyla was digging for treasure because she has already started wondering what she will get Bohdin for Christmas next year. Cora just tries to keep up. While they were outside a package arrived with hats made by Great Nana. Nyla was the most excited. She is the biggest fan of hats out of the three of them and she loves Great Nana so much. She has not stopped talking about her since we last saw her at Thanksgiving. I hope we can see her again soon.

Christmas

Nyla stuck her whole head into the popcorn bowl and came out with a messy face.


Nyla was the last one to wake up as usual. I told the kids they could open their stocking when they woke up but had to wait for everybody to be down before opening anything else. I took somebody's idea of wrapping up everything in the stocking as well. Kids like unwrapping presents so I'm guessing they liked it. I wasn't around when they opened their stockings.





This is the hat that Bohdin bought for Nyla at the dollar store. She was thrilled with most of her presents. She usually exclaimed loudly then hugged and kissed her present. The only one that confused her was a board game. Bohdin likes board games more than Nyla but since I bought several for Bohdin I didn't want Nyla to feel left out. She is too young to play any of the Bohdin games so I bought one for her that we could all play. She did warm up to it later and we did play it several times. We never got around to playing any of Bohdin's games.



Nyla says her favorite present was the one from Paul and Jenn. They bought her a Playmobil princess thing that came with three unicorns. One was pink and the other was a baby unicorn. She loved that. I gave her the used Playmobil stable I bought several months ago although I very nearly didn't because I'm getting tired of Playmobil. I also gave Bohdin a small apple farm set that I had bought a while ago. They really loved the Playmobil stuff and played with that for hours. Later Bohdin said his favorite present was the thunder tube. I filled the stockings with small musical instruments. Cora seems to enjoy the basket that Nyla bought for her the most.



The stockings I made for the kids. I made Bohdin's stocking last. When he used fabric glue to attach the ornaments and presents, Nyla wanted to decorate her stocking as well so she added a snowman, butterfly, and present to the bottom. Bohdin and Nyla both designed their stockings and they helped me choose the design and fabric for Cora's stocking. Bohdin's original fabric choice was really awful and luckily he changed his mind.



Cora loved unwrapping Hershey's kisses and taking a mouse size bite of it before moving on to the next one. It was a messy endeavor.



After Cora's nap we went outside and Buddy built a fire. The weather has been on the warmer side and it was sunny so we needed to take advantage of the nice weather. Winters here tend to be very gray and cold so it was nice to see the sun. Buddy and Bohdin stayed outside for more than four hours. Nyla, Cora, and I didn't stay out as long. I needed to make dinner, Cora has very little sense of fire safety, and Nyla isn't that outdoorsy. She also became cold after taking her jacket off and refused to put it back on again.






Bohdin took this picture. He asks to use the camera often but I have always said no because it is an expensive camera. Today I let his use it. He was very careful and took some nice shots.

Milk Servant

Buddy has done some framing over the past week for the new bathroom. There is still a little bit left for the door. Although we are ready for the plumbers we'll wait until the new year to schedule them. I think we're all hoping that this bathroom is done quickly. We all miss having one on the first floor.




I've been busy this past week sewing stockings, getting Christmas presents, and planning Bohdin's next semester. I fell behind on the planning in October and I missed it. Science almost screeched to a halt since that is the subject that requires the most planning with the curriculum we are using. I took the kids shopping on Saturday and Sunday for presents. Nyla and Cora came on Saturday. Nyla found a basket for Cora at the thrift store and bought some candy for Bohdin from the grocery store. On Sunday Bohdin came as well. He bought Nyla a small notebook and a bunch of little things from the dollar store. He did a really good job choosing. Nyla chose a few more things for Bohdin as well.

Saturday morning Bohdin wanted to be nice and get Buddy and I breakfast. He put milk and cereal in a bowl and brought it upstairs. I thanked him but told him I ought to eat downstairs. Once there we say down and Bohdin prepared himself a bowl of cereal as well. Nyla was feeling left out and wondered out loud who was going to get her breakfast. She is perfectly capable of doing it herself but she often has moments where she would prefer to be served. Bohdin got her a bowl and cereal but then had to go to the bathroom. While he was gone Nyla poured the cereal into the bowl. Once Bohdin returned Nyla called him a milk servant and wanted him to fetch her some milk. Bohdin was not pleased. He just wanted to sit down and eat his cereal that was getting soggy. He's a nice person so he did actually get the milk from the fridge for her. I can't believe that Nyla called him a milk servant. Actually I can.

The weather wasn't too cold today and I made the kids go outside. After a while I was able to join them and we played red light green light. I grabbed the camera and took a picture on the red light. I tried to get a nice picture of the three of them afterward but it didn't work out. Nyla was sad that Cora was sitting in Bohdin's lap instead of her own. They all had dirty faces anyway since we had a picnic lunch outside so they were doomed from the beginning.





Last time I wrote that Nyla only wanted to wear summer clothes. Once I took away her summer clothes she decided she just wouldn't wear clothes at all. She would only wear underwear inside the house despite having goose bumps. She is slowly starting to wear clothes again.

I forgot to mention last time that Cora is saying mommy now. It's interesting to me that she pretty much skipped right over dada and mama. Bohdin didn't do that but it feels like a Bohdin thing to do. Cora's pronunciation is a little funny. Buddy says it sounds like she has marbles in her mouth. It's a good description. I think it has improved over the past week with a bunch of practice.

Cora has been choosing to spend more time with Bohdin and Nyla. She now has free reign on the stairs and will follow them around to wherever they are playing. She plays with Nyla more because Nyla will play with her when Bohdin is busy reading or whatever. Bohdin doesn't seek Cora out as a playmate the same way that Nyla does. She's still really young so it will be interesting to see what happens in the next several months as she gets better at playing with others.

Sisters

Nyla was watching Angelina Ballerina one morning and Cora decided to lay with her a few minutes instead of coming downstairs with me. On the show they were singing about how great sisters were. Cora is getting to the age where she tries to copy Nyla and be with her more. She notices that Nyla sits on the potty so Cora has tried sitting on the potty as well. So far nothing has come out but it's a giant leap forward that she will even sit on the potty.



Cora has become more aware of when she pees. Every time she pees on the floor she will say "uh oh uh oh". She is less consistent with saying uh oh when her diaper is on. She also says uh oh when she spills water which is constant. She likes to use a regular cup like everybody else instead of a sippy cup. She has no awareness yet that when she is walking around with the cup and bends over liquid spills. Plus she is still at the clumsy age so water gets spilled that way as well. Normally if she wants a cup of water she spills it within two minutes and wants at least five refills before she actually ingests enough water that she is done or just moves on. Nyla is a juice drinker which Cora has noticed so she has started asking for juice instead of water. Sometimes I give her a tiny splash of juice in her water.



I took Bohdin in for a referral for speech therapy. His stuttering was really bad last week but the day I took him to the doctor he didn't stutter at all. Overall it has improved this week. By the time we get the paperwork done and the appointment made with a speech therapist maybe he won't be stuttering anymore. It's a slow system. It took a few weeks just to get in for the referral appointment. It could be February before we see a speech therapist.

I've been listening to the two child appropriate songs from the musical The Book of Mormon when Bohdin and Nyla are around. The opening song titled Hello is a play on Mormons coming to the door and introducing themselves and their religion. Buddy came home from work the other night and was in the kitchen when Nyla entered. Buddy said hello and Nyla responded with hello. After a slight pause she said "My name is Elder Sniff". It was hilarious but you have to know the song to get the joke. Nyla wasn't trying to make a joke so she was sad that we were laughing.



Part of the reason that Bohdin is stuttering less this week is that he is talking less. At the library on Wednesday he wanted me to check out books from the Secrets of Droon series. I agreed even though I didn't think he would actually read them. He still prefersto read picture books even though language in them is much more difficult. Yesterday during Cora's nap he read two of the books. The first book had 100 pages. I still find it difficult to believe he could read two books like that in such a short time. I asked him questions about the book and he was able to answer them but I'm still skeptical.  I had to pause writing this because Bohdin woke up.  We were talking about the audio book he chose, Black Beauty, and the books he read yesterday.  Maybe he is just a better reader than I knew. 

Second Party

The kids looking out the window at the first snow flakes of the season. It only snowed for a couple of minutes unfortunately.



Nyla's princess dress from Halloween. Sometimes she wore this with fairy wings and other times she dressed as a monkey.


Cora showing off her bottom molar. She has had many new teeth erupt in the past few weeks. Besides that bottom one she has the two molars on top and the eye teeth are coming in as well on top.



Not even a week after I noticed I take crummy pictures of Bohdin's birthday parties I did it again. I think everybody had a great time. After lunch and cake the kids played upstairs a game they called town. Some kids were parents and some were babies and the different rooms were maybe different houses and they had sleepovers. It was quite involved and I didn't catch it all. The game wasn't going well for every child so I told them to pick something new. They broke off into different groups with some going to the basement to play Playmobil and some stayed upstairs to continue playing town I think. It was a game of toy trading which doesn't sound very exciting but they had a lot of fun. Cora had to sacrifice her nap for the party and after some initial tiredness she began playing with them as well. All of the kids are so great and we'll miss not seeing them every week. They all wanted to come back again and I hope they do.





In the summer Nyla used to ask me every morning what the weather would be so she could dress appropriately. When I told her it would be hot outside she often liked to put on pants and a long sleeved shirt. Now when I tell her that it is cold outside she likes to dress in short sleeved shirts and shorts. She will even go outside wearing summer clothes but with a jacket on. She will wear the jacket only from the house to the car or the car to the store. It is very time consuming to wait for her to put her jacket on and off in the car. Plus it is 40 degrees outside and not at all shorts weather. I finally hid all of her shorts because she won't stop choosing them. Today she took a pair out of the dirty clothes to wear under her sleeveless dress. Either that or she found my secret hiding spot. Nyla claims that she is hot so she must wear shorts but her goose bumps suggest otherwise.