Family Musings

I've been trying to motivate myself to do more fun things specifically for Mary each day after we drop Charlotte off at school. So today, we went to the park at 7:40 AM. I wasn't even sure it would be open that early, but thankfully it was! Despite the sand pit being closed, Mary still had a good time. I tried to discourage her from taking the sand toys out of the bag, but she insisted and said, "dat's otay. me can petend!" This is her using her sand toys to make us some breakfast. In this case, it might have turned out better that the sand pit was closed. Later she called out to me, "de eggs are almo done honey!" For some reason she calls me her honey, which I don't mind at all. I have all sorts of nick names for her too. My favorite though is May-May, which comes from how she normally says her own name. Recently though, she's been trying to say it more like Mare-a, which sounds much more like her actual name. Because the ground was wet, M...

This is one way we entertain ourselves in the Sabin household. This $5 laser pointer is pretty cheap entertainment!

Yesterday morning Mary wanted a banana. So, I gave her one, not knowing she'd already eaten one before I woke up that morning. I guess she thought she pulled one over on me and started doing this little dance.

I've posted before about why I think it is important to teach my children sign language . And when Charlotte was little I posted all sorts of cute , edited videos of her showing off the signs she had learned. But, as with any second child, Mary just hasn't seen any of the sign language love. So, let me remedy the situation right now with this 2-minute video of Mary showing off what she has learned from me, Charlotte, and Signing Time . Most of these signs came from Playtime Signs so I guess it's time to switch the DVDs out! Oh, and I just found out the other day that Signing Time has come out with Bible Fun: Friends & Play . I might have to add that to the girl's birthday lists!

Memorial Day Weekend 2011 My husband is addicted to sun screen. He always wants to know where it is or how soon he can get it. If we have an outing planned that will involve more sunlight than you get walking from the car into the mall, then he wants sun screen. I complain about it a lot because it is another layer of things to do before we can leave the house and get onto the fun. Really though, I am glad he is doing what he can to avoid a future with skin cancer. Especially because he is pretty adamant about the girls getting sunscreen too. And now it is an almost normal part of our routine before we leave for outdoor play dates. In an effort to ease our schedule, I've tried several different kinds of sunblock. The worst was some baby sunscreen towelette that was supposed to be just open and wipe. Actually, it was gross and greasy and had way too much lotion on it to be easy to use. Generally though, I've just pushed through the fits from the girls and made them wear ...

I finally knew the Bag Holder had secured a permanent place in my kitchen when I went to cook dinner last night. Without even thinking about it, I reached for the Bag Holder to prepare a chicken and rice recipe I've made before using regular bowls. It wasn't until I added the last ingredient that I even realized that I had changed the way I cook, bake, and store food. Thank you Kara for sharing this simple yet innovative kitchen tool with me. It's a true multi-tasker that would make even Alton Brown proud! And before I sign off with this series of reviews, I thought I'd share a few of the ways I've used it that haven't been documented on the blog yet. I used the Bag Holder to put up about 70 pounds of tomatoes. I was able to buy them for about $3 so I couldn't pass them up, but I had to figure out a quick way to store these gems! Ready to be flash boiled to make skin removal easier. After their ice water bath and skin removal. They felt so ...

The story of Jonah and the whale has been at the top of Charlotte's favorites list recently. And some play acting with Daddy recently resulted in this cute short. I guess we could call this her first leading role!

This post is to indulge the grandparents... but the rest of you should feel free to stick around to look at the pictures and watch the video. You can ohhh and ahhhh over them all you like as well.  Waiting for instructions from her teacher... Making sure her hair is neatly tucked behind her ear. Waiting for church to start so they can sing... seems to be a fairly relaxed group.  There's a good message in the song and some cute facial gymnastics around 3 minutes.

This afternoon, after her nap, Charlotte got a surprise announcement from Daddy. They are gone now for 1 night of camping about 45 minutes from home. So it's just Mary and I until 11 am tomorrow!

She's been teasing up for several days now with a few steps here and there. Then yesterday, she took 12 all by herself.  Oh, and  as a bonus, you can see her sign cookie... which is one of the things we had been using to motivate her. It was just a plastic counting cookie though.

Getting Mary to successfully swallow her solid foods was not as easy as I expected it to be. Last Friday, after 3 weeks of trying, I spoke with Mary's speech therapist and she gave us a Nuk Brush .We place it on the tip of her tongue and then roll it back. This forces her tongue into the motion necessary for swallowing food. I've used it only a couple of times a day since then (the goal was 4x a day), but finally today, it worked! Mary ate an entire jar of carrots! She barely spit any out. I am so proud of her for learning so quickly how to move the food to the back of her mouth. It makes meal time much less stressful! For those of you who care... here is some video of her not only eating the carrots, but actually opening her mouth and leaning into the spoon to get some more. This is the first time she has done that. In the past, I had to trick her into opening her mouth so I could get the food in. :)

I thought I had told you a long time ago about my cheese making experience in Nagarote , but I can't find it. So I guess I never did. But don't worry, you won't have to miss it, now you get to see me in my cheese making debut!

If you've ever wondered the answer to that question, well, today is your day. Besides her obsession with all things "choo-choo," she loves to run. I don't usually mind it and figure it helps her get in enough exercise. The other day she just went crazy though combining her love of choo-choos and running. Take a look:

Who needs a big backdyard and a fancy trampoline? Not us! Charlotte can make a game out of anything... including my exercise ball. Doesn't this look like fun? Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com Charlotte translation = "Daddy, stand up." (heard at the very end)

I've been less video-y recently, but am trying to make up for that today. After posting the "Hot Wings" video, I thought I'd share a few more with you. Here is Charlotte explaining where we will be going in just a couple of weeks. (Translation = "Nicaragua") And video proof that Charlotte isn't the perfect angel her grandparents think she is. What I find so funny though, is how she can turn the tantrum off so easily! This is Charlotte playing "1-2-Jump," one of her current favorite games. I received a BabyCenter.com e-mail at her 21-month birthday saying it would be a couple of months before she would be capable of jumping on both feet. Guess Charlotte forgot to check her e-mail! :) She's been jumping with both feet for a couple of months already! I've already shown you how Charlotte likes order, and this video is more evidence to demonstrate that exact thing. Notice how she carefully selects only the squares to stack. And finally, now ...

Are you as manly as my 1-year old daughter? Can you handle eating (medium sauce) hot wings? :) She liked it and would have eaten more had I given them to her.

Bruce, Since we don't buy each other fancy-schmancy Hallmark cards, I decided to create a video montage to show how far you and Charlotte have come since her very first day with us. I am so glad we get to do it again with another little baby later this year! I love you for being such a good father! Enjoy! Jennifer Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

A long time ago I announced that I would begin vlogging at NewBaby.com. I did upload several videos until I misplaced my Flip camera, then just kind of slowed down. Well, I still haven't found my Flip, but using Bruce's camera, I shared my thoughts on a new book, Better Birth The Ultimate Guide to Childbirth from Home Births to Hospitals. If you care to see that or my other video blogs, just take a look at this handy widget I created this morning. Let me know what you think. I'll post the widget in my sidebar so that you can see when I add new vlogs automatically.

There has been a lot of speculation about who the VIP was that came to visit us last week. I had many inquiries about who it might be, and even some suggestions that it was either Bruce or Charlotte. It was neither, but someone equally important to our family. And now, I can tell you (and show you) who our VIP is. Her name is Miha and she is a friend of ours all the way from Romania! Bruce met her while traveling there several years ago and then I met her when I traveled to Serbia a couple of years later. On Miha's first day with us, we took a short road trip but the jet lag caught up with her. While in the US, she wanted to enjoy some special crackers that she can't get in Romania. Once we found them, Charlotte and her had a cracker toast to new friends. Here is a little video of Charlotte saying Miha's name and having a little more fun with her Romanian friend. Untitled from Jennifer S on Vimeo . We found out that Miha had never riden a motorcycle before so B...

The hardest thing for me to get up on my blog is video of Charlotte. The main reason is that when I put my SD card in the computer, I don't get a thumbnail of them. Therefore, I have to open each one and watch it before I know how to label it. That means it takes a while before you get to see them. Here is a random sampling of recent videos. Charlotte does the Moon Walk Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com Charlotte riding the carousel Make an on-line slideshow at www.OneTrueMedia.com Charlotte singing her own song (stick around for the big finish) Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com The next two videos are probably only cool to watch for me, since I am the momma. But since the blog is about scrapbooking Charlotte's life, I am including them. Charlotte walking up the stairs on her own Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com Charlotte climbing a ladder and coming down the slide (on her own) Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com