You say tomato.....

"Ah bee ah beez!" This is Tanner speak for just about everything. Usually it means, "What's that?" but sometimes, if accompanied by a delighted shrieking sound and a finger pointing at food you are currently eating it can mean, "I want some of that!". Actually, ever since he discovered how to say "bird poop" his vocabulary has increased by leaps and bounds. He repeats everything we say and even though only a trained ear could understand it, he says "fist bump", "high five", and "hug" (our routine at bedtime). The other morning I got Faith up- which always causes a loud and excited rendition of " BABY!! BABY!! BABY!!" from Tanner. I laid her down to change her diaper and said casually that she was poopy. He literally ran over, grabbed a diaper, wipes, and cream, sat down beside me and began to wipe her bottom and spread on cream (no matter that it wasn't open). He is infatuated with a book that we have that has pictures of a dog in it and a grandma. He points to each page and says "doggy" and "nana" incessantly. He can do this over and over and over and over. We may need to hide that book soon to keep our sanity! He loves to push his lawnmower around and tonight on our evening walk/bike ride he insisted on pushing it. We didn't get very far as he was trying to eat a candy cane, push the lawnmower, and pick up every fallen leaf he saw. We are concerned about evening walks once the leaves really start to cover the ground :)

Faith had her six month check up this week and was declared to be "perfect" by her doctor. She is tall (27 inches) and weighs 14 pounds. She smiled for everyone and only cried when they did her shots. She is trying so hard to crawl- she gets up on all fours and rocks, then gingerly tries to move one knee forward before collapsing onto her belly or head and starting over again. She babbles, loves Baby Mmm Mmm's (an Idaho baby treat that we discovered with Tanner last year), and is getting a little more fuzzy hair on her head. Her daddy calls her "fuzzcicle".

Jake is settling in really well at Foothills. He has become very comfortable there and has made lots of friends. Yesterday he went on his first "lunch out" (each class goes out to eat once a week at our school) and tomorrow has his first library visit (the Boise library is across the street). He has yoga, art, spanish, and music weekly. It's pretty cool. I love having him there and getting to have a little one-on-one time each morning. Knock on wood and everything else, Jake has been going to sleep a little easier the last few nights, although a complete nights sleep is still not on the mommy and daddy menu. He still comes in to our room at some point each night for one thing or another. It has been: 1. a drink the first night, 2. to be re-covered up the second night, 3. and last night because he wanted to give daddy a kiss on the arm. Normally, you can hear his footsteps when he comes padding down the hall, but sometimes he sneaks in like a midget ninja and is just standing next to the bed when you open your eyes. As Brian sleeps on the side of the bed by the door, I am a little afraid that Jake will give him a heart attack some night (it's just like The Shining...)

As for me, I am adjusting well to the school year. Working 85% is heavenly- I drop Jake off M-TH at 8:30 then drive to the gym (3 minutes away) to work out and shower. Sometimes I stop for a cup of coffee. It's great because it allows me some alone time and also makes my mornings easier since I don't have to get myself ready in the AM- I just throw on some workout clothes and can concentrate on feeding, dressing, and playing with the kids. My students are much more normal this year. No one is in equine therapy yet. I am enjoying the school so much more this year. The new leadership has made a huge difference in morale and being able to call most of my colleagues "friends" again is huge. Riding out the bumps last year was hard, but worth it.