Fun with Bethany and Charlie

This weekend our nephew Charlie had his 1st birthday party! It was fun to see him dig into his cake especially since Bethany was so careful with hers. Is that a boy vs. girl thing? It was fun to celebrate with family and eat yummy food and watch Charlie open so many fun gifts. Bethany acted like an old pro and wanted to show Charlie how to open everything first. My Aunt Lynette was so thoughtful and brought Bethany a book so she'd have a present too, isn't that sweet?

Bethany and Charlie had so much fun - especially with the balls in the inflatable pool that my sister got! They were so excited to play in them but Bethany wanted to keep all the balls in the pool while Charlie was trying his best to throw them every which way. I think both of them slept well that night after Charlie's fun day!

Yay, balls!

We went to the Children's Museum awhile ago together and I wished we lived closer because I would get an annual pass. They had some really neat toddler areas and this water area below was fascinating for both of them.

Exploring a tunnel

This concludes another episode of "Fun with Bethany and Charlie", tune in next week for "Adventures with Chicago-land cousins"!

E-I-E-I (O)

Bethany loves the song Old McDonald. At her early childhood center whenever they start singing that song she runs from where ever she is to sing along. At home we sing together and she'll sing the E-I-E-I part over and over and usually never gets to the O. This isn't her best singing since she was distracted by the camera but at the end you can hear her saying the E-I-E-I part.

Words Bethany says at almost 15 months

Bethany is my little cling-on these days. Today I had the day off for MLK Jr day and she wanted to be with me at all times. There is something very sweet, and flattering about someone wanting to be with you every second they are awake, but sometimes it can be a little bit frusterating as well. But then I stop what I'm doing and look down at the pleading little face saying up! and swoop her up into the air and smother her with kisses. The smiles and giggles that follow are absolutely priceless.

When I was cooking dinner tonight Bethany wanted to watch me and after I took the salisbury steaks out to cool, she started smacking her lips. I took a piece off the edge and started blowing on it so I could give her a taste and she leaned in and starting blowing too! Everytime I gave her a new bite she did the same thing.

I love that Bethany understands what we ask of her now and "usually" obeys us. She does her best to leave things alone, but I can tell we are getting to a point where she doesn't have all of the words to tell us what she wants and that frusterates her. If we take something away from her she sometimes throws little temper tantrums, but thankfully those are few and far between. We also are dealing with fake biting where she gets really close to biting us, but stops and either calms down or if she is really upset bites her own hand. She was bit a few times at her early childhood center awhile ago and now she has bit a few kids too. I know it is just a phase, but just like her wanting to be more mobile I hope for her sake she starts talking more soon so we can talk about what she wants.

She is adding more words to her vocabulary all the time. Her favorites are uh oh, bye, hi, dada, cheese, ba-ba (bottle), bebe (baby and blankie), please (sounds like cheese), mama, socks, ah done, ba (ball and bath), na na (good night), book, no (no and nose), eye, and ma (milk). We have a ways to go where all of these are words are understood by everyone, but it is a great feeling to hear her say something and know what she wants. I'm sure her language will explode even further over the next few months which will be so fun to see!

Christmas pictures

stealing all the bows

ready to go in

ooooh, snow

Hi

cozy cousins

Charlie all snug in his new hat and scarf

Make shift sled... or the luge!

Bethany and mommy

Bethany and Daddy

Time with Morfar

little folded hands

Ever since we brought Bethany home from the hospital, Dan and I would read her a Bible story before bed. The books all said to develop a routine so that your baby would know what to expect at nighttime which would eventually lead to an easy, cry-free bedtime. We decided that most nights we'd do a pretty basic schedule of bath, milk, Bible story and then bed. It worked like a charm. Bethany has always loved her baths and now we just have to say the word and she runs to bang on the bathroom door trying to take off her clothes along the way. Playing with toys, washing her hair, practicing blowing bubbles, and Rub-a-dub-dub three pigs in a tub story and we're done. The trick is to get a diaper on her before she escapes and in one case pees on cousin Charlie's clothes (but that is another story!). I treasured feeding Bethany until she turned one, and now she takes a bottle like a champ. We've moved to a sippy cup during the day for milk, but at night we get some cuddle time with Bethany all snug in her sleep-sack rubbing or pinching our arms or necks for comfort (she is a sensory little girl). Once she's done eating we go find daddy and head to her room to sit in the rocking chair my mom used when my sister and I were babies. Bethany gets so excited when she see Dan walking with us into her room. She leans towards him and sits on his lap while I sit on the stool in front of them and open the Bible Story book my Morfarmor and Morfarfar (great-grandparents in Swedish on my mother's side) gave to me when I was a little girl. We are nearing the end of the book (and are so thankful Dan's parents gave us a new one to start when this one is finished complete with a daily Bible song if we so desire) and tonight learned of the stoning of Stephen and how he didn't even run away but trusted God. Bethany loves books and likes to look at the pictures as I read. After the story Dan holds Bethany and I fold my hands near Bethany's as he prays. She knows this routine and tonight folded her little hands with me! We have prayed that Bethany will love God and choose to follow Him with her life, and while I know that she is too young to understand I know that she is watching us. She is growing everyday, but how confusing the world must be to a little baby. All she knows is the routine and consistency that she sees each day through her activities, and through us, her parents. It made my heart hopeful that one day she will connect the dots and remember the Bible stories, prayer time, the love that she sees displayed through us and the rest of her family to make a conscious decision to follow Christ. In the meantime, we will pray, and continue to ask God to guide our paths as we raise our precious little girl.

something is a little fishy around here...

Here is one of Bethany's humorous faces caught on camera! She is 14 months now and seems to be growing up so fast. My parents got her a doll stroller for Christmas and she really enjoys pushing it around with her doll in it. She is becoming so smiley and loves to interact with friends and family by laughing along with them (even though she doesn't realize it is usually at her!) Anytime she sees something new and exciting she runs over to it with her mouth wide open and looks at us and then back at the item saying oooh, ahhhh. She also received a play kitchen from Dan's parents which we just put together and she is actually learning how to pretend with it. We drink out of cups and eat the play food and she even makes exaggerated sipping noises complete with "ahhh" at the end.

I can't wait to get pictures of Christmas (we left the camera at the cabin) so I can see how they turned out and post a few on here. We had a great time!