Vanessa's first bath in the big kid's tub

Daddy was getting the kiddos ready for a bath last night and started filling the bath water.  I decided to strip down Vanessa and give her a bath in the big tub.  She hated it, however, and screamed the whole time.  I can't wait til she is big enough to sit up on her own in the tub.  It made for a quick bath though.  The older two got a big kick out of seeing their baby sister in THEIR tub! :)

Violet learned how to tie her shoe laces

I sat down and taught Violet how to tie shoe laces last night.  She was eager and ready to learn, focusing very intently and practicing with much diligence.  She got frustrated a little bit with her initial attempts but after her first successful tie she was beaming.  She found it easier to work with my shoe which had longer strings.  She was so proud of herself!  She has been tying the strings on my pants and every shoe she can find in the house.

A full night's sleep does wonders for mom

Well, Vanessa got the boot.  She is almost 6 months old, and time to stop eating from mama at night.  I was getting pretty tired and exhausted from waking up with her 3 times each night to feed her and get her back to sleep.  I set up the crib that we are borrowing from a friend in the guest room - put dark towels and sheets over the windows so it is nice and dark in there, turned on a fan, and put Vanessa in bed in a comfortable crib (with a cozy flannet sheet! using Calvin's bedding. :D ) two nights ago.  I KNEW she was going to wake up but also knew she did NOT need to eat at night.  She eats plenty during the day and needs to learn to get herself back to sleep.  Dave did wake up in the middle of the night to put Violet back in her bed and let the dog out, and he told me he did hear her crying, but we both agreed it was time to let her cry-it-out.  I slept a solid 7 hours and it was amazing.  I was in complete dreamland for the entire time...I dreampt about so many things, and now 2 days later I couldn't even name 1/3 of what went through my brain but I know it involved diving, shopping, and flying in an airplane.  My milk supply was good and ready by the time 7 am rolled around so I got her out of bed and fed her.  Last night she slept in the crib also, I know she woke up a few times, but it didn't wake me up.  I was in dreamland again for the 2nd time in who knows how long.  I honestly don't think I have had a dream since before she was born.  I like to think she is much more comfortable in the crib too, because before she was in a pack and play in my closet, not the most comfortable thing compared to a softer crib mattress.  She's also able to roll around every direction and scoot herself to a comfy position.  Before she would flip over to her back and get stuck there but now she can roll back over and sleep comfortably on her tummy.
Anyway...I don't know if this will end her night wakings, but either way...its not affecting me so that is O.K. with me!

Calvin and his faces

Calvin has learned how to cross his eyes.  Yeah...he thinks its hilarious....and proudly shows us each time he figures it out.

And his monster face:

He drew a banana on the board:

He also can draw the letter C...I don't have a pic of it, but he says, "the C says 'kuh'!"



Train track making obsession

Violet's toy of choice lately is the wooden train tracks.  We bought a wooden train set from our dog trainer, Karen.  Since we bought a few additional switch tracks and a mountain piece (and some male/female adapter pieces), she has discovered how fun it is to make new train tracks.  She will barely play with one before ripping it apart and making a new one.  I am constantly amazed how she creates the most interesting and creative tracks.  She creates quite a few each day.  I think she plays with it more than Calvin does!

A sample of her work:

The most delicious fish I think I've ever had

Yep, you read that right.  FISH.  I loved it.  Generally I'm not the biggest seafood fan, but tonight something went right at dinner time.  The Smith family gave us some fresh caught walleye and since it hadn't been frozen, we decided to cook some up for supper tonight.  I looked up a few recipes not really knowing what to do with it....I even started cooking rice with no plan for the fish.  I soaked it in milk for about an hour, made sure all the pinbones were out, and came across a recipe that looked good.  It was a simple seasoned bread crumb coating with a few other spices thrown in there...onion powder, parsley, salt and pepper.  I pan-fried it with a little bit of vegetable oil and steamed a bunch of broccoli in the microwave while it cooked. 
Violet asked me as I was bustling around the kitchen, "What are you making for supper?"  I told her, "Rice, broccoli, and fish."  She wrinkled up her nose and waved her hand in front of her face and said "Yuck, I don't like fish."  I said, "how do you know that?  You've probably never had it like this."   She shrugged and just went off to play.  Calvin then came up to me a few minutes later and asked what I was making.  I gave him the same answer.  He said "Oh! Is dat the fish right dere?" pointing to the dish with the raw fish on it.  I said "yep!" and he said "oh!" and ran off.  Apparently he hadn't associated fish with yucky yet.
When supper was ready, I put the fish on the table, and we served it up on their plates.  Calvin immediately started scooping up bites and shoveling them in his mouth, and in 30 seconds his section of the plate with the fish on it was cleared.  I offered him more and I got an enthusiastic nod.  He ate even more than his first serving.  Violet was observing his behavior so she started eating hers, and with in seconds, the soft tender fish was gone from her plate too.  She said to me "Mom, can I have more chicken please?" I said, "Sure! But its fish, remember?" She got a very puzzled look on her face, and said "I'm relieved because I thought you were making REAL fish!" Which made us all laugh.  I told her "Violet, this IS real fish!"  And I had to explain that we didn't eat the whole fish with the eyes, fins and tail, but everything else was cut off and we ate the meat, just like other animals.  She lost interest in my explanation and thoroughly enjoyed her fish.  Dave and I liked it too.  I don't think I have ever eaten freshly caught fish like that before, it has always been frozen and thawed.  Either way...it had been a LONG time since we served seafood for a family meal and tonight's result made me want to include it weekly!

Back to normal

Our house seems to be getting back to normal now that daddy is back.  I appreciate him so much more because when he's gone for so long I realize how much he does around here to help.  Tonight he put the kids to bed by himself with out me asking, he just decided it was bed time, and got everything done.  I stayed on the couch, folded laundry, and kept Vanessa happy.  I can definitely tell the older kids are SO much happier having him home.  They are more cheerful and respond to him so well, they love their daddy so much.  The dog is even back (he needs a bath something terrible) and loudly snoring happily on the floor.

Long stretch with out daddy

Its been a very different and busy stretch of days with out daddy around.  Last week (Sun through Fri) he was in Chicago taking his PMP certification (project management professional).  It was a tough and intense week for him.  He studied hard each night and took the test on Friday, and passed.  I am so proud of him!  He is glad it is over too, and it is a big step in the right direction for his professional career.  Calix also has an annual User Group Conference that his company hosts for all their customers (there are hundreds of customers, over 1000 people attending)...and the conference was scheduled for this past Saturday and all through this week in Las Vegas.  He decided not to attend the entire conference, but just be there for the time he was required to be part of the project management team representing their services to the customers for a few days.  He came home on Friday night, and left Saturday at noon.  He will return Wednesday afternoon. 

Violet and I created a paper chain to represent how long he was going to be gone, using orange for the days he would be gone, and blue for the days he would be here.  She really enjoys ripping off one chain each night before bed and counting how many more days until daddy comes home.  She talks to him when she can on the phone, and we try connect before bed so they can talk about their days together.  She says she CAN'T go to bed with out daddy praying.  Once we weren't able to get a hold of him but for the most part, she has done great.  Calvin knows daddy isn't here, but his only question is "Daddy, are you coming back?" and isn't into counting days like Violet. 

Friday night when he got home, we ordered pizza and had a nice night together as a family.  The kids enjoyed every minute with him.  Saturday morning I was tied up hosting a baby shower at the chapel, so I had a babysitter come and watch the kids there while the shower was going on ~ as Dave had to take off again before noon. 

I have had some amazing help while Dave has been gone.  My mom came to stay with me for 2 1/2 days last week, and my brother Jay came up to stay with me on Saturday night.  He is a fantastic uncle!!  He went right along with the kids' imaginary role play games, and entertained them for me Saturday night and helped me keep them in line while sitting in meeting Sunday morning.  I wouldn't have gone with the 3 kids myself, so I'm so glad he was there.

Funnies

Calvin tonight on the toilet: "Mom, I wub pooping." 

I had an exchange with Violet that made me laugh.  I don't even remember the context of the conversation or what we were talking about because it was last week but I wrote it down so I could blog it later.  I told her "That's girly stuff" referring to some toys or something, and she said, "Yeah, its not boy-ly stuff."