Sophia discovers her shadow, Nathan prefers insects to fruit

I love Sophie's expression with her face scrunched up.

Nathan looks mischievous as usual.

Sophia had her 18 month checkup on Tuesday. The doc said she has the best set of teeth he's seen for her age! She gets strong, healthy teeth from her Papa (not a single cavity, and he is THE candy man!). I told him that she is talking in little phrases like "this is good" and "brush my teeth." She'll even phrase things as questions; she's got the intonation down perfectly. He said she's early to talk like that, which I'm happy to hear. I told him I didn't have many questions about her, which he said is typical after you've already had one, but in addition to that, there just aren't developmental concerns. He asked about food, and I said she is a bit more picky than months ago, but he said as long as there's some variety, she should be fine. She's my easy, breezy, beautiful girl! I felt bad about the two shots -- especially because she already was fussy about stripping down for her weight measurements. At least she got a lollipop after the visit; Nathan decided he needed one too for watching her get the shots. :)

I went to a couple of parks this week as we played with their second cousins. There was a girls' soccer practice going on at the park, and Sophie kept running over there to grab a pink soccer ball on the sidelines and to try to steal their bottled water. She really likes our soccer ball too, so I'm betting she'll play soccer when she's older. She preferred the grassy field to the sand pit where the boys were getting down and dirty. She had fun at the water park in the Town Square yesterday too. She was hesitant at first, but once I placed her in the water, she went splashing through the water, waving her arms in delight. She got very wet.

#1 cutie pie moment: I caught Sophia looking behind herself in the hallway as she ran down, looking at her shadow. She went back and forth a few times. She discovered her shadow! Maybe we'll watch the animated Peter Pan with her next week!

Nathan had a blast at the sand park and the water park playing with a few cousins. He dumped sand on his head and laughed, and he loved climbing around and going down slides. I put on his Thomas the Train swimsuit from last year, and it kept falling off at the water park. He flashed everybody! (That would be a good nickname for Nathan -- Flash Rogers.) He kept on tugging at the swimsuit, and there was no workable drawstring to help the predicament. He and his cousin clambered all over the rocks and splashed around; we'll have to go there a lot this summer. Nathan's toe bled a little bit, and then he announced we had to go home and he needed a doctor. I put on disinfectant and a band-aid and that satisfied him.

We had an Individualized Educational Program (IEP) meeting on Thursday at the preschool. His teacher said we basically need to work a bit more on pronouns, answering "wh" questions, and narrating stories. I asked Paul if he would still place Nathan on the autism spectrum since he has done so well and come so far these past two years. He said he would be at the very top of the high-functioning autism spectrum. He said a specialist would have to "probe" Nathan to discover any problem areas with him. That's what I suspected. The teacher said she will meet with us and Nathan's kindergarten teacher to go over the latest IEP, and she said I could have more of a say with selecting his teacher since he has a few special needs. He won't really have to be pulled out for anything, but she just wants the teacher to be aware of the areas he should work on. When I think of where Nathan was two years ago and where he is today, I just want to celebrate! I am SO PLEASED with his progress. Nathan is such a smart kid with a remarkable memory, and he has such a fun personality. He's enthusiastic, curious, playful, funny, happy, and precocious. Now if I could just get him to be enthusiastic about eating good foods. Paul said that one area seems to be his last foothold in autism-like tendencies. It's either that or sensory processing or texture issues, but whatever it is, our goal is to work on eating this next year. I'm going to try to get him in a feeding program conducted by an occupational therapist through the hospital in which picky eaters are evaluated and have lunch together. I like food -- almost anything, and while I don't want him to overeat, I do want him to enjoy the pleasures of eating and the nutritional benefits of eating healthy foods. Spring and summer 2008: Stubborn boy faces determined Mom who won't allow video games till he's eaten a colorful fruit!

I got a small TV set from a rummage sale at a church this weekend. We hooked up Nathan's V-Smile video game system to it, and he's a happy camper. It's nice to see him playing those "old" video games since starting Lego Star Wars. Also, Nate and his Papa conquered the Return of the Jedi part of the game together. Great father and son bonding time.

#1 cutie pie moment: Nathan and I were reading two books he got from G. Drake for Easter: The Runaway Bunny and Stellaluna. I think he likes the idea behind running away from Mama (he's done it many times). In Stellaluna, the fruit bat was happy to get back to eating mango with her bat family rather than the crickets he ate with the birds. I asked Nathan if he'd like to eat a mango or a cricket, and he said, "A cricket!" Yikes!

Springtime is sublime

St. George

Happy Easter! This past week I had a couple of firsts: My first certificate from the Heritage Writers' Guild writing competition and my first European facial. I won 1st honorable mention for my poem "stockholm in st. george." Two sweet great-grandmothers took the first and second place prizes. They gave out three honorable mentions in all, and my prize consisted of manila folders for entering other contests or mailing query letters -- very useful. Dan asked me if only six people had entered the contest, and I politely informed him that others picked up their non-winning entries at the end (but no, there weren't really that many who entered). I have a nice certificate, and I plan on entering poetry and prose in the League of Utah Writers' contest later this year. Now on to the facial -- it was fabulous! Thanks to my Mom and my sister, I had an appointment at the Skin Institute, where students give facials at a fraction of spa prices. I thought it would just involve washing and scrubbing and massaging my face, so I was surprised to find it also involved massaging my arms, hands, neck and shoulders. It was so relaxing, and I loved the warmth of the hot towels pressed on my face. I'm not used to star treatment, so it was a nice change of pace. If any of you Moms out there could use some pampering, try a European facial ($38 at the Skin Institute). My skin felt so soft and smooth afterward, and I plan to make this an annual splurge. It's well worth the cost, and it would make a great Mother's Day gift. (No, they didn't pay me to write this.)

The kids got lots of candy this Easter. Grandma and Grampa Rogers sent a package with two cute bunnies and some candy and a card, and they got books from Grandma and Grampa Drake -- The Runaway Bunny for Nathan and Stellaluna for Sophia (great reads). We had an Easter egg hunt with Nathan's county preschool group on Friday at Highland Park, and the kids had an egg hunt at our house today with eggs we colored and more candy-filled eggs. They also got goods at church -- Sophia got cute bunny ears and Nathan got a big egg filled with candy, a spiky green ball, and Cars crayons (he was very excited to see Lightning McQueen on the box). I got Sophia a brown bunny and put it in a can I decorated at a Stampin' Up party. Nathan asked me a few times, "Whose birthday is it?" I told him, "It's Jesus' birthday," since He really was born around springtime. Nathan seemed satisfied with the answer, and it was a good springboard for talking about how Jesus died and lives again.

Nathan still wants me to have a baby. He asked me last night if I could give him a big baby brother he could play with on Easter. I guess children look at the existence of babies as a totally magical event, which explains why I had no problem believing my Cabbage Patch doll was born in a head of a cabbage when I was a child. Nathan's imagination leads him to believe the storm troopers on his Lego Star Wars video game invade our home, and he'll give us toy guns and instruct us to shoot the bad buys coming through the doors, hiding behind shower curtains, and even invading our toilets. He tells us that we're all various characters from the game, and when his character approaches Jabba's Palace, he'll say, "I'm going to Idaho!" I took him to the park this past week, and Nathan said he needed to go potty. We were at the playground, and I looked at the public restroom across the grassy field. I said, "It might be scary," since I'm not a fan of public bathrooms, and Nathan said, "Mommy, don't be scared. It's OK if you're scared, but there's not a monster." He said it in such a sweet, reassuring voice. I guess he's picked up on some of my nurturing skills. I took the kids to the St. George Art Festival on Saturday afternoon, and Nathan pushed Sophia in the stroller as we wandered past the booths. I liked the paintings, photography of Europe and pottery the best, and Nathan liked metal sculptures of a dog and a cowboy firing his pistols. However, Nathan's favorite part was the water park in the Town Square. He saw other kids climbing on the rocks and playing in the cool water, and his face lit up with excitement. I decided, all right, it's a beautiful spring day, have your fun, and I rolled up his pants and took off his socks and shoes so he could frolic in the water. He got very wet and enjoyed every minute of it.
#1 cutie pie moment: Nathan told me to add to my prayer, "And bless Nathan to play in the water a lot of times." Close second: He wanted to play his video game after church, and Dan told him we had to go soon. Nathan pointed at his Dad and said, "If you say no one more time, you're going in timeout again!"

Sophia is now officially 18 months old. She had fun making a little pile of eggs on the carpet during the egg hunt in our home. She likes to play peek-a-boo and thinks it's funny to try to feed me some of her food or to try to get me to drink from her sippy cup. She likes to throw her head back and make joyful shouts. She loves playing with her Papa (it sounds like she says "Bapa") as they chase each other around the house and "rassle." She likes to watch her big brother and take out a controller, pretending she's playing a video game with him. I felt some guilt this past week when she fell off Clifford the Red Dog at Highland Park (after I took a picture). Then I hurt her accidentally when she almost threw her head back onto the sidewalk; I reached down to grab her, and my wedding ring scratched her pretty bad. Pobrecita! Luckily, children are more resilient than we parents think. She's so excited to explore now that I have to keep close tabs on her. She's found her wings, and she wants to soar.
#1 cutie pie moment: Sophia said, "Go to beddy?" when we got back from my parents' house last night.

Reeled into Reality TV

My interest in reality TV all started with "Survivor." I didn't even watch it until the end of the season, but my husband was a fan from the beginning. He likes to try out new shows and gets excited for each TV season, testing out shows and showing loyalty to some while others drop by the wayside. I considered myself more of a movie girl, so I wasn't sure about all this "reality" stuff. However, once I started watching "Survivor" in the second season, I really got into it. I started to root for certain people and found the challenges entertaining. It was satisfying to watch these people struggle to make fire and stress about alliances while I sat back and ate my chips and salsa. I would get so mad when they'd vote out someone I liked, yelling out to the other contestants as if they could hear me. I even sent in a tape to try to get on the show, but they didn't choose me (this was before I had kids, and I'm kind of glad I didn't get the chance to starve myself in front of tons of viewers). I thought the All-Stars season was the best ever, and I haven't really paid attention to it since then (nothing could top that one!).

Next came "The Amazing Race." At first I told Dan it just seemed everyone was running around. I decided it was an easy way to travel, though, and to see the cultural diversity the contestants witnessed in each country. The challenges looked like tons of fun, and once again I HAD to watch to root my favorite duo on to victory. I really liked the season when they went to Buenos Aires and had to walk several dogs and spot the right couple dancing a tango in a ballroom. I always think I'm not into these shows, but then I start to watch and get sucked right in. I think the competitive nature of the gaming reality shows is what snags my interest.

My latest reality show is "American Idol." My fab five have made it to the top 10: David Archuleta, Brooke, Ramiele, Michael Johns, and David Cook. I really like the Irish singer Carly too. There are so many great contestants this year! Archadorable is my favorite; he has the voice, the charisma, and the sweet humility that just make him so likable. He did a great job with "Heaven" in Hollywood and "Imagine" and "The Long and Winding Road." I also love Brooke's style -- playing acoustic guitar while she croons "You're So Vain" in Simon's direction? Who wouldn't love that?! She did a great rendition of "Let it Be" on the piano too. Yes, I vote for my favorites, but only a couple of times. I'm a fan, but not an extreme fan. It's a good, clean show with some friendly competition, and what's more, everyone gets to be a judge as they watch -- not just the mighty three on the show. That's what brings people to it as well -- everyone's a critic. Who knows, this year I may be inspired enough to go to the Top 10 Idols' concert tour. I'll be surrounded by tweens swooning for David, but it would still be fun.

Kids will be kids

It's funny how kids can be so endearing and exasperating at the same time. I had quite a week with Nathan -- funny and frustrating moments. Today he and Sophia had a blast playing on my bed, kicking their legs and laughing, and then I grabbed them and spun them around. It seems Nathan watches Sophia's lead and follows her; you'd think it would be the other way around. Nathan has been extra affectionate lately, bestowing kisses on Sophie when she cries, upon me, and even bronze statues of children near the library. He's also taken on the role of Sophia's advocate, telling me to let her walk or run or eat -- basically to let her do whatever she wants to do. He really cheers her on, and they make a great team. I hope that will continue as they get older and stay pals.

Nathan can't get enough of Lego Star Wars. He wants to play it all day. He'll attack me when I turn it off, so lately when he wants to play, he'll say, "I won't hit you, Mommy." He forgets the promise and hits me anyway most of the time. One day this past week he turned it off himself, willingly and calmly. I piled on a ton of praise for that surprise! I'm getting really sick of his response whenever I say the word you: "I'm not YOU, you're YOU, I'M ME!" Since it's impossible not to use that word when speaking to a child, this line gets really old. It is also not fun when Nathan tantrums, because dragging a 45-pound boy into his room for timeout is not easy. It's even worse when we're in public and I can't take him to a locked room. Nathan decided to lie down in front of the cart at a grocery store a few days ago. I told him to get in the cart or push it, and he got on his knees and started scooting along. I was NOT about to let him look like a loony and wear out another pair of pants, so I hefted him up and tried to shove him back into the cart in the meat department, and he yelled and flailed around. That was not my best shopping trip. However, Nathan makes up for those episodes with his cute comments. While playing his Finding Nemo video game, I told him dolphins are my favorite animal. Then he said, "I like big, scary sharks!" He encountered a chihuahua and said, "She won't eat me because she doesn't have teeth!" It's like he was voicing his deepest wish. It's cute to watch him "fly" around the house when he puts on his Batman pajamas (it includes a cape).
#1 cutie pie moment: I could tell Nathan thinks his sister's great when he said, "I think Sophia is Princess Leia." That's a huge compliment coming from this Star Wars fan.

Speaking of our little princess . . . there's not as much to write about. She's mellow yellow, low maintenance and avoids the drama that surrounds Nathan. She'll make messes, but she also helps clean them up. Sophia had fun outside of the library when I let her and Nathan run around. She enjoyed this freedom and ran across a grassy field. She went along the sidewalk and didn't want to hold my hand; it's like she just got her wings. She's more cautious than her big brother, which makes it easier to watch her go; she is more aware of danger. Sophie likes animals but holds back at the same time for safety. She's already living up to her name, using wisdom in her little world.
#1 cutie pie moment: Sophia plays "peek-a-boo" with me when she's in the highchair. It's fun to see her hide behind her small hands as I say, "Where's Sophia?" and smile exultantly as I say, "Peek-a-boo!"

P is for parks, T is for toddler

Nathan made another request for a baby. He again asked, "Mommy, can you have a big tummy tomorrow?" He told me he wanted a baby boy AND a girl. I wonder if this recent fascination has come from noticing a few babies at church. Maybe it's from watching the home videos when he and Sophia were newborns. Whatever it is, he better not hold his breath. Pregnancies are not made in a single day, and twins are out of the question.
Nathan is really into letters now. He'll say it backwards, but it's so cute: "Pillow is for P." He'll ask me, "What letter does soup start with?" Thanks to starfall.com, he has taken such an interest in letters and words. He used to prefer numbers, but he's starting to discover the magical power of words to create stories.
Nathan refers to places by color. I've taken him to two parks this week, a "red one" and a "green one." The kids love the swings at the green park. While we were there, some kids were flying kites. Nathan and I counted eight. There is something so carefree and fun about kite flying in the springtime. Nathan picked a Spider-Man kite out later that day at the store. It almost makes me want to sing "Let's Go Fly a Kite" from Mary Poppins; a chipper song for a cheerful activity.

#1 cutie pie moment: Nathan sat down on the chair by the computer with his blanket and said, "My blanket wants to sit down with me." I wouldn't be surprised if he named that blanket soon.

Sophia is my little tornado. I found her on the bathroom floor with a box of tissues, which were all out of the box and littered upon the floor. She enjoys throwing crayons around the house and wants to draw in Nathan's books. Her favorite places to prowl around are the trash cans and laundry baskets. I'll find toys and other objects in our kitchen trash and clean clothes from the drawers end up in the hamper. She cannot sit still for more than a few minutes (unless she's watching a Curious George episode). Drum roll, please ... ta-da! Sophia Belle's an official toddler!

#1 cutie pie moment: Sophia talks to me when she gets up in the morning before I take her out of the crib. It's gibberish, but she takes it seriously, so I do too and we have a good chat.

Happy talk and blanket fever

Sophia has picked up so many new words this week. She even answered a question by responding with a new word, and I was so proud of her! I guess language is a big deal to me since it was such a source of worry with Nathan. He's a great talker now, though. He's always asking, "Why?" So here's what our Sophie did at lunchtime. I asked her, "Do you want cheese or applesauce?" She replied, "Applesauce!" It sounded a little more jumbled than that, but I knew she was saying that word. She also said bottle, bowl (bow) and spoon (spoo). She has requested cheese for a while, and she says "cheese!" when I bring the camera out for a picture.
So those are the wonderful moments I've enjoyed with her this week. The not-so-great moment happened at church today when I was wiping her runny nose and she poked my upper lip with a pen. It's hard to feel spiritual at church when you've been punctured and you're bleeding. I just had to write this to balance out the good things -- and because it will seem funny to me tomorrow.
#1 cutie pie moment: When Sophia said, "Applesauce!" Ella es re linda.

Nathan adores his blanket. He refers to it as his blue blanket. He likes to take it with him in the car. He sleeps with it over his head and says he's a "blue ghostie." This morning I heard Nathan say, "Hello, blue blanket." He was still in bed cuddling with his blankie. He'll even kiss it and tell it, "I love you blue blanket." He's like a little Linus. Catherine, my friend and former co-worker from Boston, made the blanket and gave it to me at a baby shower. I'm so glad she did because Nathan fell in love with it.
I read to Nathan every night. Usually he picks out a book and I pick one out too. He'll usually repeat a favorite one for a while. His latest fave is "My First Book of Mormon," which is a kid's board book that tells simplified stories of the Book of Mormon with pictures. I'm so glad he likes it! He always wants to know who the good and bad guys are and wants to make sure the bad guys don't win. He's all about beating the bad guys right now thanks to video games and his vivid imagination. :)
#1 cutie pie moment: Nathan told me I have a small tummy now. I told him I had a big tummy when I was pregnant with Sophia. Then he told me he wanted another little sister. He asked me, "Mommy, can you have a big tummy tomorrow?"