Gwendolen's 18-month stats and Miriam's 4-year stats

Nothing lets you compare your children to each other like a joint doctor's appointment, and that's just what Winnie and Miri had yesterday.

Both are on target developmentally. They're as happy and healthy as two little girls can be, even on opposite sides of the spectrum.

Winnie's stats

Height: 31 1/4 inches (27th percentile)
Weight: 20 pounds, 5 ounces (17th percentile)
Head: 19 inches (92nd percentile)

Miri's stats

Height: 43 1/2 inches (98th percentile)
Weight: 44 pounds (97th percentile)

 Our big and tall Miriam received two legfuls of shots (I didn't mention the word "shot" until we were in the exam room and it was too late to run away), and our scrawny little Gwen received just one. Both of them settled down when the nurse brought them suckers.

I thought it was interesting when the med student accompanying our pediatrician asked some questions about Gwendolen:

"Does she talk?"
"How many words?"
"Does she string words together?"

Then the pediatrician announced that Winnie is advanced in her speech. They expect 18-month-olds to have a 5-15-word vocabulary; they expect 2-year-olds to have a 50-100-word vocabulary. And they don't expect kids to start stringing words together until they're 2.

I came home and told Seth that Winnie easily has at least 100 words that she says (without parroting). He was a little disbelieving, so we spent the evening remembering words we've heard her say, and we wrote a list. The list dominated our dinner table discussion.

The final count (and I don't think the list is yet complete): 112. I think that's why her head is so big in comparison to the rest of her body. Where else would she keep all the brains that store her words?

Rebekah meets Brandon Mull

Our kids love books. Winnie brings me board books and sits down in my lap so I'll read them to her. Miriam looks forward to our weekly trip to the public library and story time. Analee can often be found in her top bunk with her nose buried in a book. Rebekah complains that we only let her read for half an hour before lights out at night.

So when I found out that Brandon Mull would be signing book at Barnes and Noble during spring break, I asked Rebekah if she'd like to go. Rebekah has read the entire Fablehaven series, has listened to/read the Candy Shop Wars about 20 times, and started the Beyonders series. (She is about halfway through the last book now.) So she thought that sounded like fun.

When Grandma Scott heard we'd be meeting Brandon Mull, she told us that he was presenting an assembly at the school where she teaches third grade earlier that day and asked if we'd like to come. Rebekah was gung-ho, so I took four little girls ages 18 months through 8 years to another elementary school during our spring break.

That evening, we all drove to the mall and Seth carted the younger girls around while Rebekah and I stood in line to meet the author face-to-face.

 Holding a couple of her Fablehaven books and her Kindle.

After we reached the front of the line, Brandon asked her which of his books she's read. Then he asked her how old she is. Then he asked me if she had read them by herself. (They're all pretty long books--like 400+ pages long--but I assured him that she has, in fact, read them by herself.)

Rebekah showed him her Brandon Mull library on her Kindle. I asked if he wouldn't mind signing the inside of her Kindle cover. He happily obliged.

Rebekah with Brandon Mull.

Rebekah came home from the experience super-excited to finish the Beyonders series and with a couple new signatures in her books.

Miri-ism #26

While watching the Saturday morning session General Conference:

Miri: He looks like a real nutcracker.

Apparently the effects of age on Elder Holland make his face look like a wooden doll that smashes walnuts in its jaw. He's still an incredible speaker.

Charlotte

Since we have a house full of girls, we love babies. And girl cousins. So when the newest girl baby cousin was born in Rexburg, we drove up to give her a visit at the hospital. She did not disappoint.

First Uncle Kent showed Charlotte off to our family.

Then we passed her around and took turns holding her.

 While Aunt Melissa entertained Winnie.

You done good, Melissa and Kent. She's gorgeous.

To see more, start here.

Spring breaking

The girls' spring break started last Friday and Seth had to take a day off in the first quarter, so we made a day out of it and started by going to the Civil Defense Cave north of St. Anthony.

The girls had been to the cave once before--at least, the older ones had been there before. I wore Ana on my hip the last time we went. This time, I carried Winnie in the sling and Seth carried Miriam/held her hand as we explored the cave with our flashlights and glow bracelets.

Seth and the bigger girls going down into the mouth of the cave. Once we got back far enough, it was warmer in the cave than it had been outside.

Winnie managed to hold on to her baba throughout the entire cave.

Ana in the cave. She wanted a picture of her standing on top of a bunch of rocks, but of course you can't see the rocks because it's so dark.

Our adorable girls in a little room off the main chute of the cave.

Water has dripped through the cave and created some incredible ice formations on the floor. The girls enjoyed shining their flashlights through them so I could take pictures.

Some ice stalagmites.

Rebekah sitting on a rock at the mouth of the cave on our way out.

Seth carrying Miri back toward the light.

Seth had to take a picture of my white hair at the mouth of the cave.

The only downside of the whole caving experience was seeing the litter and graffiti scattered throughout.

Our next stop was for lunch at Pizza Pie Cafe, then we took the girls to the Teton Flood Museum.

Miri and Ana looking at how a log cabin may have been set up and furnished in days gone by.

 Winnie feeling Seth's stubble.

Miri sitting on an old school desk seat.

After looking through the exhibits and watching a movie about the flood, we discovered the children's room and spent some time there.

Rebekah found some skeins of yarn in the children's room and found a spot to finger-crochet her a scarf.

Winnie wearing a fancy hat and playing with toys.

Then we drove to BYU-Idaho to walk around the Thomas E. Ricks Gardens.

 By this point in the day, the girls were begging me to take a picture of them every 30 seconds. I promised them each five poses in the gardens.

Rebekah sporting her newly made scarf.

Seth had to get in on the action.

Miriam telling me she wanted 11 more pictures.

Winnie even smiled for the camera.

Then we stopped by the Benson building to show the girls the dead animals (every time we called them "stuffed animals," the girls thought we were taking them to a store to play with teddy bears).

Picking their favorite animals.

We all came home tired, so the day was a success. To see more, click here.

Miriam is 4

Miriam has the benefit of having her birthday before everybody else's in the calendar year, so as soon as Christmas was over, she started counting down the days until she would turn 4. That day finally came last week.

 Miriam showing how old she now is.

Grandma Susan and Grandpa Dennis were out of town on her special day, so they weren't able to come to the party. Instead, they had Miri over for a sleepover the week before.

The evening of her birthday, we had Grandma and Grandpa Scott, Uncle T, Aunt McKall and Bennet over for dinner and festivities. Miriam chose ham and potato soup and rainbow Jell-O for her birthday dinner. Then we took turns whacking the piñata she helped make and decorate. The weather outside wasn't really conducive to partying, so we took the piñata in the shop.

Miriam with the piñata she helped make. She painted the outside (with a little help to get it all covered), picked the picture to put on it (Prince Eric and Ariel with Melody) and colored it.

Sometimes the piñata whacks back.

The kids played with their prizes and ate some of their candy, then we went back inside for presents.

 Seth getting Miri's light-up aquarium working.

Opening her present from Aunt McKall. Uncle T is thrilled to be a part of the fun.

She received a princess dress, Ariel Play-doh set and mermaid stickers from Mom and Dad; a light-up aquarium and the requisite batteries from Grandma and Grandpa Scott; Polly Pockets from Analee (these are hand-me-downs from her sister--Ana knew how much Miri loves to play with them "and I don't play with them very much," so she gave them to her); a magic show from Rebekah; chocolate bunnies to share with her sisters and cousin from Grandpa Wirkus; and Minnie puzzles and Minnie and Sofia the First coloring packs from Aunt McKall, Uncle T and Bennet. (Aunt Jessica, who had to work that night, dropped by a  few days later with a coloring book, crayons, Disney princess jewelry and Ponies coloring for Miriam.)

Then came the ice cream and cake.

 The cake Miriam chose for her birthday. Look familiar? She put the fish and star fish on all by herself. Rebekah posed her arms to make her "look excited."

Licking frosting off the hindquarters of the mermaid who sat atop the cake.

Everyone sang to Miriam, she blew out the four candles on the mermaid cake she requested, and we all partook of said cake and ice cream.

It's safe to say she had a fun and memorable birthday, because that night as we tucked her in, she asked me, "Mom, when is my next birthday?"

To see more pictures, click here.

All Ana wants for St. Patrick's Day is her two front teeth

These two teeth have been loose for approximately a year. When Ana finally let me yank one, then the other out, she began sporting this adorable double-wide gap.

I've been making her say things like "Sister Suzy sitting on a thistle" and "She sells seashells by the seashore." Who knows when those permanent teeth will start poking through? I've got to enjoy it while I can.

A little mischief

What Winnie lacks in stature she makes up for in personality and climbing abilities. The other day I set out two very brown bananas on the counter so I could make banana bread later. Winnie pushed a chair over to the counter, found the squishy fruit and helped herself. This is how I found her:

 I wonder what nutritional value banana peels have?

 She didn't seem the mind the bruises.

At a later date, Winnie decided to dump out all the toys from her bucket and use it for something other than storing play things.

This funny little girl loves finding little cubby holes to sit in. She also loves Elmo and refers to almost all Sesame Street characters (except Cookie Monster) and Mickey Mouse as Elmo.

Ana-ism #25

We got a new-to-us used Laser printer, and tonight I was plugging it in and getting it set up. The girls were watching attentively. Later, after quite a few minutes of sitting there idle, the printer started making unprompted printer-ish noises.

Seth: That's weird. I wonder what it's doing.
Ana: (glances at the printer, looking confused) It's... celebrating.

Miri-ism #25

Miriam has got some weird exclamations.

Miri: Oh, Mikes!
Seth: Huh?
Miri: "Mikes" means "Oh, bomb." And "Oh, bomb" means "Dang it."

bravery

Last night for Family Home Evening (and in honor of Presidents Day) we took the kids swimming at the aquatic center. Andrea spent most of her time in the shallow end with Gwen and Miri, while Bekah, Ana, and I spent most of our time bobbing around the rest of the pool, floating and playing tag and having "torpedo races."

Prior to last night, Bekah had jumped off the low dive one, maybe two times. As we got to the pool last night she told me, "Dad, I'm not sure if I want to do the diving board." "Okay, sweetie," I said. "Whatever you want to do." But after fifteen or twenty minutes in the water she had worked up enough nerve that I accompanied her to the deep end where she trepidatiously walked to the end of the board, hopped off, and triumphantly swam to the side.

Twenty minutes later, we returned again to the deep end. This time she was a little less hesitant, even throwing her arms and legs into the air as she jumped and doing a bounce or two on the board before plunging in. I followed her off the low dive each time, working on my flipping skills, because there's nothing people to see more than a hairy 31 year-old man doing flips off the low dive.

Finally, as we neared the end of public swim hours, she asked, "Can we go a few more times?" "Okay," I said. "How many more times?" "Five."

Times one through four showed a continued increase in bravery and skill. Finally, it was time for the last jump. I could tell she was psyching herself up for something.

"I want to do it, Dad. I want to do the high dive."

"Oh, Rebekah. Are you sure? You don't have to."

"I want to Dad."

So we waited in line. As we neared the front of it, I listened to her talking to herself. "Ohhhhh, I don't want to. I'm too scared. But I do want to. I really do. But it's really high." Back and forth, back and forth. By this time, Andrea and the little girls had come to the edge of the pool to watch.

I was sure she was going to talk herself down. But finally, with nobody between her and that long climb, she grasped the ladder rungs and pulled herself up to the top of the diving board. Then, to my utter astonishment, she walked to the end and jumped off.

Elated, I climbed up the board and flung myself off as well, then swam to the edge of the pool laughing and beaming. "I did it, Dad! I did it! It was so scary, I thought I was going to die, but it was so awesome. Only my hands really hurt because the water smacked them, and my swimsuit rode way up, but I DID IT!" I picked her up and twirled her around in my arms. "Bekah, I'm SO proud of you! That was so brave."

And it was. Rebekah has, for a long time, been the most "cautious" of our children. But now there's a new kid in town, a brave kid, and no high dive is safe.

Bekahism #53 and Ana-ism #24

While watching the Olympics ...

Seth: These guys go down the ice faster than a car. I wouldn't want to do that.
Ana: Why not?
Seth: You could crack your skull. You could break your neck. You could break your back. You could break your leg.
Bekah and Ana (in perfect unison): That's why it's called skeleton!

A bedtime story with a happy ending

The other day Miriam asked Seth to tell her a story:


Once there was a princess baby named Winnie. One night after the queen and king put Princess Winnie down to sleep in her royal crib, an invisible dragon came and bit the princess' finger. The biting dragon hurt her, so the princess cried and cried. 

First the queen came up and checked to see why Princess Winnie was crying, but she couldn't see anything. Then the king came up and checked to see why Princess Winnie was crying, but he couldn't see anything.

Finally, the queen went up one more time to see why Princess Winnie kept crying and crying. The queen used her magic and was able to see the invisible dragon that was biting the princess' finger. She grabbed the princess out of her royal crib and cried out for the king. The king came with his sword and sliced the dragon off the princess' finger, and Princess Winnie finally stopped crying. 

The king used his sword to turn the invisible biting dragon into a friendly dragon, and everyone lived happily ever after.


As wonderful a storyteller Seth is, he borrowed the plot from a real-life experience that happened shortly after Christmas.

We HAD put Winnie to bed. She DID keep crying. Both of us went upstairs to see why she was fussing, because it's unusual for her to carry on so for that long. When each of us went up, all we saw was Winnie with her blankie, her baba and her puppy.

When I went up the last time, Winnie had let go of her puppy, and I could finally tell what was wrong. The ring finger on her left hand was totally blue. The string that made up the dog's mouth had gotten twisted around and around her finger and cut off the circulation. I whisked her from her crib and cried out for Seth. He ran upstairs, saw the problem and immediately rushed back down to retrieve a pair of scissors.

As soon as he cut the string and it unwound from Winnie's finger, the blood rushed back in and turned it a healthy pink.

I shudder to think what would have happened if she had given up and gone to sleep; the poor girl would have only nine fingers.

Seth trimmed all the string off the puppy, and Winnie continues to sleep with it every nap and night.

The naughty (and now mouthless) puppy.

Winnie with her puppy. Don't worry, she's not crying because of another puppy bite; she was upset because she had just woken up from a nap and I put her back in the crib so I could take a picture.

Gwendolen's 15-month stats

Winnie is now more than 16 months old, and I'm just getting around to posting her stats from her check-up. Sigh ...

Height: 30 inches (28th percentile)
Weight: 18 pounds, 12 ounces (15th percentile)
Head: 18.5 inches (82nd percentile)

She's still a shrimp of a thing (I'm waiting for a big growth spurt like Rebekah experienced when she was about 18 months old), but her size doesn't slow her down. She climbs up on everything now, including kitchen chairs and the table.

In fact, the other day when Ana and Miri had pushed kitchen chairs over to the counter to help me make chocolate chip cookies, I heard something being scattered all over and turned around to see Winnie on the now-abandoned chair with the overturned jar of chocolate chips spread across the counter. She was stuffing chocolate chips into her mouth by the fistful.

Winnie's 15-month words:

• Animals sounds (horse, cow, fish, lion, monkey, dog, cat, snake, bee, pig, sheep)
• Mine
• Blankie
• Poopy
• Hi
• Bye-bye
• Night-night

Miri-ism #24

Miri: I like girls and daddies, but not normal boys.