Whew! Made it!

We made it to Iowa, safe and sound. The whole trip went really well... actually... I really can't complain. Nathan and James were in the row in front of us (two seats), so they had their own little party up there in row 14. Kaitlyn and I had our own fun in row 15. :)
For a while I didn't think Kaitlyn was going to nap on the plane, but finally, sleepiness overwhelmed her and she passed out. It was about 3 o'clock. She and I BOTH slept on the plane for about an hour and a half to wake up to 30 minutes left in the flight. Perfect. I do remember slightly waking up to flight attendants walking by with carts and trash bags and throwing them dagger eyes... DON'T WAKE MY BABY! Ha ha ha.
We arrived at the Des Moines airport and were welcomed by Grandpa and Grandma Wilcke. Harrison was supposed to come, and thankfully we didn't tell James this bit of info., because apparently he bailed at the last minute and didn't want to come after all. James was very excited to get to Harrisons house, so we loaded up our rental Dodge Avenger and set out on the 3 minute trip to the Neipert house.
When we pulled into the driveway and parked the car, James couldn't take it anymore... he giggled and said, "I'm so exctied to see Aunt Beth!" Ha ha.
We had a great dinner and family time at their house and now we're in Ames for the night. Tomorrow we'll set off for Charles City, Marilyn's hometown, to see the DeBolts. It'll be fun, but it'll be tight. 13 adults and 4 kids in a condo. Snuggle time!
I am very excited about tomorrow, it should be fun. Grandma and Grandpa are having a lot of fun with the kids, especially with Kaitlyn and her extensive vocabulary. Hopefully she'll convince Bennett to get on the talking train.

Off to Iowa tomorrow

We're leaving for Iowa tomorrow on our Thanksgiving vacation. We're so excited!!! Kaitlyn has been showing signs of getting a cold... figures! I just hope maybe it's teeth and it won't be some virus that will spread throughout the family while we're gone. That's the last thing we need.
I was trying to finish watching the latest episode of ER on our DVR while the kids were napping. Of course, both of them woke up with about 10 minutes of the show left. I heard James waking up, as usual, but then heard him talking from the stairwell asking me to come upstairs. Dang, ok... pause.
I got upstairs and James was BEAMING with pride. He said, "I got myself dressed Mom!" OOOOOH, my baby! I was so proud! We haven't even been working on this much, it's just something that he did! He has taken his PullUp or his Overnight off once in a while, and then put pjs back on, but this time, he put on his undies and his jeans! One little hiccup... the jeans were on backwards. I was so proud of him that I was beaming now too, but when he walked arond the corner, I had to turn around and giggle. I couldn't help it.
I will try to blog while we're gone, so bug me on email to get that done. :) I usually have some pretty good stories from these trips. WISH US LUCK!!!

See you soon Iowa family!

Kee Kew... Wehcome! Do it!

Kaitlyn likes to say "thank you" when you give her something, it is so sweet. It sounds like 'kee kew'... and since she doesn't really get it yet, she says "you're welcome" right after it. This sounds more like 'weh come'.
She also is starting a phase of mixing a few word to form a sentence. Such as... "Look! Flower!" or "Juice, please." She even says, "Look! A book!" or one of my favorites... "Do it!"
Kaitlyn is great at identifying vehicles, she always says, "airplane!" when she hears one, or "truck!" when she sees a truck outside.
I can't remember right now if this story has appeared in my blog or not, but one day we (James, Kaitlyn and I) were sitting at a stop light, and Kaitlyn was trying to say something. She would say is twice... and finally I looked over to my left and saw a bus stop sign. The city bus in Orlando is the Lynx, and the stops all have paw prints on them. Kaitlyn was saying, "A CLUE! A CLUE!" from Blues' Clues that they watch. James and I always say it when we spot a bus stop, so why shouldn't she? :)

Don't cry over spilled Mt. Dew

A few days ago, Nathan was on the couch enjoying a Mt. Dew. James came down from his nap and then spilled the Mt. Dew... all over our new ottoman and all over his shirt and pants. Oops.
Now THAT is the reason that I had an extra slipcover made and have it on the ottoman (under it are two absorbent crib pads to soak up the extras) just to protect the fabulous look of the upholstered fabric. Genius.
James cried... of course, as all kids do when they spill something. I remember that feeling when I was a kid that when I spilled something I felt just AWFUL. Why is that? Anyway, as we consoled James and told him that it was okay and we all spill sometimes, Daddy told him to take off his clothes. I think he thought that they were going to be gone forever since he replied with the sappiest tone in his voice (and a desperate frown on his face), "But I LIKE these clothes, and you buyed them for me...." So we had to nicely tell him that we'd wash those clothes and that he could just wear dry ones. Nevertheless, they weren't all that wet so we just cuddled up on the couch and watched a little TV.
Nathan let James redeem himself by going to get Daddy a new Mt. Dew from the fridge in the garage. Little stinker actually got it right! He's so smart.
Better go get showered. We are off to a play group at Monkey Joe's this morning with James' classmates. It should be fun, and since it's pretty chippy outside, it's good to play inside. I've never been to Monkey Joe's so hopefully it'll be great fun. Kaitlyn is going to stay with Mom, I think she's too young... and I really don't want to have to keep track of both kids in a zoo like that! :)

This week in the Wilcke Household

These photos are from the last few days...

Kaitlyn wearing Mommy's slippers walking around in her jammy shirt and diaper.

James holding up the card that he and Kaitlyn received from Harrison and Bennett.

James showing off his turkey hat that he made at school.

Kaitlyn is 20 months old today!

I woke up this morning to Kaitlyn babbling while waking in her crib. This is the usual way I wake up, but the babbling this morning made me smile. "Looooove you! Looooooooove you!" was coming through the monitor! AKA, Mom get up here now I'm going crazy in here! :)
Yesterday Kaitlyn went over to Grandma Kathy's house while James was at school. I had a chiropractic appointment so Mom offered to keep Kaitlyn company while I went alone. Fine with me! :) When I got back to Mom's house, Kaitlyn was playing on the floor in the family room with Grandma and the guitar that usually is perched up against the wall, but today was on the floor. Kaitlyn stood up, leaned towards Grandma and pursed her lips to give Grandma a big smackeroo! Of course she obliged, and then Grandma turned around to me and said, "She just gave me a kiss!"
Last night after dinner, Nathan and I were sitting on the couch while the kids were playing on the floor. Kaitlyn came up to me, looking like she was ready to rumble (get tickled on the couch), so I picked her up and gave her a good hug. She buried her head in my neck, giggled and said, "I love you!" AWWWW, Nathan and I just laughed... and were filled with delight.
She is changing so fast and every day brings something new for her. She can now go out on her own at the playground and I don't have to watch her every move... well... ok, I do, but she can get up the stairs and go down the slide all by herself... again, and again, and again! "FUN!" She says.
We think James is entering the stage of sometimes napping, sometimes not. Waaaaah. I really really really really like it when both kids nap. :) Hmmm... I guess all good things come to an end, but the question remains... WHEN DO I GET MY NAP? Ha.
James was laying on his bed the other day getting ready for a nap, and he said that he wanted to tell me something. I said, "OK...?" and he replied with some babble that I didn't understand and then declared, "Next! On Playhouse Disney!" LOL.

Fun!

Kaitlyn has taken to announcing that she's having fun or what she is doing is fun by saying, "FUN!" in the middle of her laughs. It's hysterical.
A few days ago we were all in our bedroom trying to get Daddy out of bed from his nap and the kids were taking turns jumping (assisted) off of our bed. James is big enough now to jump off of the mattress, but Kaitlyn steps down onto the foot-board that is only about a foot up from the floor. She was so excited! I'd make her go give Daddy a kiss, then she'd come over to me, sit down, hold my hands and then "jump" down. She'd laugh and then say "FUN!" and then come back around to the bed and climb up again. We could've done this for the rest of the night.
She has also been having a lot of fun pretending to be a snake and flicking her tongue in and out. She did this at the playground yesterday, and it was just so funny. I have NO idea!
Oh yeah, no more pooping in the potty as of yet. DARN!

Hard to keep a straight face....

I went to the Y on Thursday without the kids since Ashley was here to babysit. She helps us out a few times a week so I can have a sanity check and get a few things done... work, grocery shopping, workouts, etc.
When I came home and walked through the door, James greeted me with a big smile and eagerly asked, "Mommy, have you seen my BALLS? I have a small ball and a big ball! Come see my balls!"
While trying not to burst out laughing, I looked at Ashley all the way across the kitchen and family room to see her giggling and smiling... we were really trying not laugh hysterically.
Turns out that he had two balls under a pail on the couch... a small ball and a big ball.
Now really, if it were you, could you have kept a straight face?!? :)

The Y with a playgound

After Kaitlyn was born, I took my kids over to the Winter Park YMCA that is less than a mile away from our house. The purpose of this trip was not for me to work out, but for me to see what goes on in their childcare center while parents are gone. I'll just put it this way... we never returned. Ah, well, I take that back. Nathan took James there a few times, and since it was before James was in school, James bawled his eyes out every time Nathan dropped him off. Very, very sad, and we could never leave guilt-free from that place.
So we stopped going, I didn't want to go because of the 50 kids that were in there with only 5 women watching them, and Nathan didn't go because he just got out of the workout routine.
A few months ago, I started bringing them to the YMCA that is still near our house but further than the other one that I talked about. The Crosby Y is fabulous, but it has an older crowd that attends. Since it is smaller, the care center is small and in less demand. Perfect! We started going, so I could get some exercise. After going two times in one week, Kaitlyn got Roseola and James got strep AND a virus at the same time. Awesome. We didn't go back... until I couldn't handle it anymore. It was just too HOT to walk outside.
I decided to try again, with the commitment that I would thoroughly wash my hands and the kids' hands for like a minute and a half for each finger (ha). So far, we've been good, no sicknesses except for maybe one or two that James brought home from school.
This was another motivator for me to go to the YMCA, the fact that James would be bringing viruses, etc. home from school anyway, so what harm would it do Kaitlyn to get out a little bit.
We have come a LONG way with the childcare at the Y. Kaitlyn started out by crying when I left, although she always seemed to get over it within a minute of my leaving. We met Miss Lindsey at the Crosby Y and she makes a big scene (in a good way) when Kaitlyn comes to play. This helped a lot, and I'm very thankful to Miss Lindsey for making this better for us.
After getting comfortable at the smaller Crosby Y, I ventured over to the Winter Park Y and decided to give it another go-round. Their group class schedule is way more focused on the harder strength training and exercise for younger to older people rather than just an older crowd. They have an outdoor area for the kids that is covered and has a playground and cars and trucks to pedal around. Perfect, absolutely perfect! The kids LOVE it, and now every time I tell the kids that we're going to the Y, James asks, "Are we going to the Y with a playground?" He gets so excited, and he actually has cried when I come to get them and has asked me to go back to work out because he's having so much fun.
Even Kaitlyn runs in there with excitement now, which leads me to believe that she'll have an awesome transition into school next year. That makes me happy because we had a rough first four school weeks with James (once a week though).
Yesterday I took the kids to the park playground since it was gorgeous weather. James couldn't understand that we were going to a playground, but not the Y with a playground. He finally figured it out when we got there, that it was an actual park instead of the Y playground.
This afternoon, around the same time that we went yesterday, James asks me, "Mom? Can we go to the playground without the Y?"
I love how these kids think. ;)

My name is James...

James was talking to Grandpa Gary on the phone tonight, and when it was time to wrap up the conversation, Nathan told him to tell Grandpa, "I love you." He did. THEN, he added... "My name is James, and I love YOU." Ha ha ha!
Then later this evening, after Kaitlyn had gone to bed, James was having a snack while sitting in his undies and t-shirt on the couch. Nathan and I were dinking around on the computers when James just announces, "I love you Mom and Dad." MELT.

Beep... Beeep... BEEEEEP... this is a SPECIAL REPORT....

Kaitlyn, our 19 month old, just pooped in the potty!
We were all sitting at dinner, and she was in her highchair. She was squirming for a minute, but we thought it was because I was up in the kitchen. She said, "Pooopy!!!"
I checked, nothing... so I said, "Do you have to go poopy? Do you want to go poop in the potty?"
"Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes!" as fast as she could rattle it off.
I took her there, took her diaper off, placed her up on the BIG potty, and she did it! There was even intent and good pushing! What a big girl!!! :)
Will it happen again? Probably not. Ha ha ha.

A conversation with Kaitlyn

My little girl is 19 months old. 19 months. She acts like a 3 year old, it's incredible sometimes, and outright hysterical.
For a while now, James has been washing his hands at the island sink instead of the main sink. We have a little white chair, toddler size, that butts up to the counter so he can climb up and reach the faucet, soap, etc. I now have a 19 month old daughter that wants to do the same... and she even goes to the pantry to drag the chair (after I have put it away to hopefully discontinue her repeated attempts to wash her hands) back to the sink. She is a stinker, and she's smart!
Today was no exception, and she climbed up on the chair to play with the faucet (it's a stretch to say she's washing her hands). I think I probably told her no and got her down once, and then she did it again. I got her down again, but this time picked her up and held her. She then told me something along the lines of, "Hands! Want!" and I replied with, "No we're not going to wash our hands right now, and I don't want you to make a mess."
... THEN she said, "WHY?"
ARE YOU KIDDING ME? She's 19 months and already asking why?
I said to her, "It's messy and I don't want you do do that now," and then she made me laugh with a pathetic repetition of the word "please?". Even Nathan cracked up, and he was in the next room. It was hysterical. I wish I remembered the exact situation as it played out, but I inherited my mother's memory problems. :)
Kaitlyn also likes to go to the dog and cat's water bowl, stick her finger tips in the water, then put them in her mouth and say, "mmmm". SICK. I try to get there as soon as I can to keep this from happening, but sometimes I'm too late. Today I tried to scold her (very gently of course) and told her, "NO! No, no, no!" and she just looked at me and laughed like I was playing a game. Awesome.
What age can you start the naughty step technique? :) Ha. I've got my work cut out for me with this one!

The pirate and the Tootsie Roll

Halloween retrospect 2007

Renegade

James got to bring Renegade home from school this weekend. Renegade is the class "pet" that gets to visit the kids' houses over the weekend. Each child takes a turn bringing Renegade home, and then gets to put an entry into Renegade's journal as to what they got to do over the weekend. They also get to draw a picture or put a photo in the book of them playing with Renegade.
I think it's a wonderful idea, I just can't imagine how many beds this horse has slept in... ;)