For the Grandparents

Another picture from when Grandma Kaye was here.

SEARA

Seara is starting to love singing (remember when she would scream every time I sang?!) She sings her own songs - tunes and lyrics - all the time. It is such a crack up. She is finally getting old enough to entertain herself for long periods of time. Like playing all alone with playdoh (during the boy's naps) for an hour and a half. Yeah, that was pretty much the best day of my entire life. :) One of her other silly quirks right now is announcing every good thing she does so as to elicit a compliment:

Sisi: Mama, look! I [fill in random thing here ... ate my lunch, lined up toys, etc.]!
Me: Wow, good girl Seara!
Sisi: Thank you.
Me: You're welcome.

Saying "you're welcome" is a very important step, by the way. If I don't say it she prods me. Seriously.

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Ever since Seara was born we have had her say personal prayers. As soon as she could talk, we tried to get her to repeat what we were saying. She never would. For a long time I just figured she wasn't old enough to say prayers. That is until Elijah started talking really well a couple months ago. He didn't have a single problem repeating what we said! Suddenly I realized what was up with Seara: she DOES NOT like to be told what to do. (Actually, I already knew that. I just realized that it extended to prayers as well.) So Seara never said prayers. Ever. Never repeated a single word. Only ever quipped "Amen!" at the end - probably in relief that we were done trying to persuade her to pray.

Then a couple weeks ago, completely out of blue, as Samuel started 'helping' Seara say her prayers before bed, Seara yelled out, "No! Let me do it, Daddy!" "Okay, go ahead Seara." Clear as day she recited:

Dear Heavenly Father,
Thank you for today.
Thank you for mommy, daddy, Sisi, Lije, and Enoch.
Bless President Monson.
Bless the Bishop.
Bless the missionaries.
In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

Where on earth did that come from??! We were flabbergasted. Since then no one else has been able to get a prayer in edgewise. Every single family prayer (morning and night), every single food prayer, and every single other prayer (Family Home Evening*, etc.) she has INSISTED on saying. It might get tedious, if she didn't throw in gems like "Thank you for Ratatouille," "Bless the sun," and "Bless mom to wear pink" every now and again. These prayers are only gonna get better from here on out. I can't wait!

*Monday nights where we get together and have little lessons on gospel topics like Jesus Christ, prayer, gratitude, etc.

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A couple mornings ago, as Sam and I walked into the kids room to get them up for the day, the first thing we saw were four pages of the book Hop on Pop by Dr. Seuss - ripped out and then ripped up. With a look of shock and dismay I asked, "What happened?!" Immediately Lija's face drooped with guilt.

Then our little dramatic Seara stuck her arms out, opened her hands in display form, and announced, "Ta-dah!" Sam burst out laughing, I stifled a giggle, and we jetted out of the room before we ruined the disciplining moment. Darn that Seara! Of course, in the breakfast prayer she said that morning she made sure to add, "Bless the Hop on Pop book that's broken."

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ELIJAH

We have officially broken Elijah's code. I can now manipulate him to do anything I want. It works like this:

Me: Elijah, come brush your teeth.
Lije: No! [giggles as he runs away]
Me: Lije, come give me a hug!
Lije: Okay! [comes barreling into my arms as fast as his little legs can carry him]

And seriously, it works every time. Ask for a hug and the kid is all yours! Of course, this makes perfect sense since after he wakes up from his nap he goes around the house finding every member of the family, yells their name ("Mommy!" "Seara!" "Daddy!" "Enoch!"), and gives them a big hug. As if he hasn't seen us in years.

I think Elijah's cutest talking mishap is that when he is tired he accidentally calls everyone "Lija." So the other night he was super tired as we put him to bed. Like falling asleep as we brushed his teeth. (Hmmm ... I don't think somebody slept during his naptime ...) So as I tucked him in bed he threw his arms around my neck and pulled me close, then whispered in my ear, "I love you, Lija ... [head shake] ... mama." It took a lot of internal strength not to laugh out loud at that one! Seriously, who knew that half the trouble of being a parent is trying not to laugh at your kids' antics??!

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ENOCH

Enoch is your typical 6 month-old. He can sit up as long as he is leaning forward to balance on his arms. He picks up toys. He babbles. My favorite babble is the one that sounds exactly like "yeah!" and that he seems to throw out whenever we ask questions. For example, "Enoch, is mom your favorite?" "Yeah!" Yup. I definitely love that one. :)

Enoch is my very first thumb sucker. I have to admit, I think it is just about the cutest thing in the entire world! Plus, it makes ten thousand times easier to comfort. Big fan of that. Seriously, if you took how laid-back Seara was as an infant, and added it to how friendly and smiley Elijah was as an infant, you'd get Enoch. He is such a sweet, smiley, mild-mannered baby. I think he must be God's method of keeping me sane.