Francisca

Our family has adopted a Compassion International Child that is the same age and Ellie.

Francisca (GH9410008) Birthday: July 16, 2007 Age: 4 Gender: Female Region: West Africa Country: Ghana Program: Dasebre Kweibuewusi VII Child Development Centre Personal and Family Information: Francisca lives with her father and her mother. At home, duties include running errands. Her father is sometimes employed as a farmer and her mother is sometimes employed as a farmer. There are 3 children in the family. As part of Compassion's ministry, Francisca participates in church activities and Bible class. She is also in kindergarten where her performance is average. Playing house, walking and playing group games are her favorite activities. Please remember Francisca in your prayers. Your love and support will help her to receive the assistance she needs to grow and develop.

Max's run

Watching Max run around the house, especially when he's in his little tight PJ's is something that is really funny these days. It's taken me a while to figure out exactly why, but I've decided he runs a bit like Phoebe in the Friends episode where Rachel is embarrassed to run with her in the park. His arms swim wide with excitement; His little feet seem to run in place for the first second and then he takes off with gusto doing his little wobble run!

Max loves to help

Max has hit an age where he absolutely loves to make Mommy happy and to do big boy things. This makes helping a lot of fun for Max right now. For example, when he finishes a drink, he takes his cup over to the sink and shoves it up over the rim to let it fall into the sink, feeling so proud of his accomplishments. It's so adorable.

This morning when we were getting ready to go to Sarah's, he was delighted to find that someone had left a glass cup unattended and incorrectly placed in the family room. He quickly grabbed it and started trotting his way over to me at the sink pronouncing, "Cup. Cup. Cup." The grin on his face was huge as I accepted his donation to the dirty dishes and thanked him for his help.

He's adorable!

Kisses

It appears as if collecting kisses from me in large quantities has become a game with Ellie. When I drop her off at Sarah's each morning she always needs to get the last kiss. But not just one kiss, she wants as many as I will give. Sarah taught her about kissing her 10 fingers. Ellie wants the 10 fingers and also wants to name other body parts requiring kisses - arms and elbows are where I've drawn the line. It's still quite a routine.

At night time, she likes to go through this kissing game, but also requesting additional hugs and kisses. She then likes to hug me in tight and kiss me over and over again until I finally make her let me go (meanwhile laughing at the craziness of the situation.) She really does have me in stitches by the time I leave. I'm not really sure the purpose of this game, but she loves to demand more of my time and kisses. I try to remember that in a few years I will be hoping for these moments and kisses.

Prayers with Ellie

I've been doing prayers with Ellie before bed each night since she was born. Sometimes they are more interactive then others, but I will persist. I encourage Ellie to add something at the end of each night. For a long time it was a simple line of thanks or blessing for Gramma and G. Sometime over the past week this has changed. Now, after we say the basic prayers together and I ask for our blessings and guidance, Ellie launches in with a request to bless everyone she knows and can name. It always starts with Mikey, Robert and Gino, and then comes Vonita and Stanley. From there we cover everyone in the family, including Jerred and Vicki's baby in the oven. She even includes friends she can name like Ethan and Sully. It's really cute. Funny thing is that I remember going through a stage where I thought I needed to name every person for a blessing too, but I think I was a teenager at that time. She's wise beyond her years, or I was young for mine. Either way, I enjoy her very much.

French Night

David and I hope to share our love of travel and the world with the kids. We have talked about celebrated themed nights at our house for each country - with dinner, facts, and other fun ways of learning about a country. Tonight we held our first such evening. We had been talking about having crepes for a while, so that was the foundation of French night.

It started when Ellie woke up from nap. I explained to her the colors of the French flag and challenged her to find some clothes that matched those colors. She did a pretty good job. She painted a gorgeous French flag and we sang the French alphabet (thanks Ms. Jervis). We played our favorite Parisian Jazz music station and talked about the Eifel Tower. I showed Ellie where France is in relation to Scottland, since this is her reference of another country.

After Max got up we proceeded to enjoy dinner. I encouraged each child to try a couple crepes with difference fillings. Ellie didn't really enjoy much until we got to the Nutella one. She did try it though. Max wouldn't try the crepes until I covered them with whipped cream; then down the hatch they went in a hurry.

David and I enjoyed a bit of wine too. The evening was very enjoyable. We wrapped dinner up early and played for a while in the basement. It was a really nice family night. I'm not sure how much the kids will enjoy the vairety of foods David and I do, but we hope to do this again.

Good as gold

Ellie hasn't gotten her hair cut often, but she decided she wanted it cut short like Mommy's. She told me she wanted it to lie on her shoulder, just like mine. Since it's been nearly a year or more since she had it cut I went with it. Once she was called to the chair, Ellie behaved like a pro. At four years old she listened to her stylist and held very still for her haircut. I'm very proud of her. (Meanwhile, her brother was on the other side of the salon screaming bloody murder like we were tourturing him.)

Vacuums and Mops

Max has a love afair with vacuums and mops. We were in Sears last night and he caught site of the vacuum display. His face lite up light a Christmas Tree. He kept pointing to each one and excitingly yelled "Va Va" "Va Va." This could've gone on for a long time. Check out this photo; his eyes are smilng with excitement. It was hallarious!

Contrast that experience to the one this morning. I was in the store and decided to buy a long arm duster, partially becuase I'm not good at getting the cobwebs, but partially because Max fell in love with it. When we got home I let him play with it for a bit. He wouldn't stop trying to bother Ellie with it, so we finally put it away. This was the end result. David titled this photo, "don't take my mop away!"

Love my Maxers

This morning was a tough time for Max and I. He went to the doctors. He has an ear infection. When we got home, he was a mess. Nothing would make him happy and I wanted to get work done. Even when I abanded the idea of squeezing in some work, he still fussed. I could not wait to get him into bed. This is where I felt like a pretty rotten Mommy. I just couldn't pull it together enough to figure out how to make him feel better. When I sat down to rock him before nap he wasn't interested. He just asked to get into bed.

He woke up about 3 hours later crying. I tried to calm him down and after resting another 20 minutes, he was in a much better mood. We had fun, cuddled, read stories and played in his room. He was the happy little Max I know and love. After dinner he was even more adorable; I could've eatten him up. He was funny and just full of laugh, hugs, and interested in having fun. It was a completely different little boy.  I'm glad he's feeling better. And, as rough as the morning was, the evening was so pleasant with him. I can't really explain it, but I just love him so very much.

Ellie thought of something funny

Ellie was getting into her pajamas and she comes running into the bathroom. "Mommy, I thought of something funny. Imagine if I get a haircut while I am naked." She runs off laughing....

Too funny.

Window display

Sunday we couldn't find a place to enjoy our snack at Starbucks, so we ended up sharing the window. Max had a fun time sitting in the window and enjoying his cereal. He was the best looking thing on the street of Frederick. He always makes people stop and smile when we are downtown. I'm glad others love my boy too. He is adorable!

Ellie comforts Mommy

I was laying in bed this morning, which is unusual for Ellie. She gave me a kiss and I thought went off to breakfast. She comes back and lays something beside me and says, "this will make you feel better." I look down to inspect. She's brought me her picture of the Perrotta family at Christmas. Too funny!

Big boy lunch

Today at lunch Max crawled up into the seat at the table beside Ellie. So, instead of pulling in the high chair I decided to let him try it out. He did great! I can't believe how big he's getting. As long as there was food on his plate, he sat there and ate. I asked him, "Are you a big boy Max?" He got the biggest grin on his face!

Everyone likes Max's smile

During dance, Max and I get to hang out at Starbucks. Today we were on the couch by the window where the drive through line moves. Max started to catch people's eyes and they started waving to him. He thought he was the star of the show. He would smile, wave, play peekaboo and then run away. Repeat....

It was cute becuase even the grumpiest of men had to get a little smile on their face. My baby boy just makes people smile and I love it!

When I grow up....

The other night we asked Ellie if she wanted to go to college when she was bigger. She hesistated. I reminded her that Mike, Robert and Gino are in college now. So then she said, "Yes. But when I get all grown up, I'm going to be a princess." We just laughed.

Fast forward to Saturday morning. I'm laying in bed not feeling well. I'm helping Ellie get her hair done and get ready for dance. I'm not sure what triggered this but she asks in all sincerity, "Mommy, really, tell me how I will become a princess when I grow up."

She's so serious about this. I'm not quite sure the right answer. I don't want her focusing on beauty. I asked what she meant by being a princess. It seems to be focused on dresses. So I told her that when she grows up and starts buying her own clothes she can buy princess dresses and wear them all the time if she wants. That seemed to satisfy her.

At breakfast I explained this to her synical father, who is not very appreciative of this princess fascination. He laughes and says in his synical voice, "Ellie, you are going to have to find and marry a prince and there aren't many of them left in the world."

As Ellie looks at him as if she may cry, I tell David to knock it off and explain that when Ellie grows up and buys her own clothes, she can buy princess dresses if she wants.

Oh my.....

A long lost friend, Paci

Friday evening Max was fussing when Daddy left him to get a shower. Max is a Daddy's boy and by the end of the week he needs Daddy to just play with him and hold him.

I decided to mess with his mind as a distraction. I pulled out a Pacifier from the cabinet that Max hasn't seen in the last 9 months. He stopped crying instantly and looked at it. I said, "Max, what do you do with this?" He takes it from me, looks at it.... Meanwhile Ellie is in disbelief that I would offer this to him. We watch. What does he do? He picks up his drill nearby and performs the below manover. Too funny! He played with it for about 5 minutes and handed it back to me. He was done with it. He's all grown up.

Swim Lessons 2012

We decided to let the kids do some swim lessons this winter. For some reason this is the time of year it feels right to squeeze it in. Ellie has done them a few times now. This is Max's first time.

Ellie's in a big girl class with Erika. No parents are required. This is a first for Ellie. I think she's quite proud of herself. Although, the first time in the water she was a big nuts. The teacher couldn't keep her sitting on the steps. All she wanted to do was just jump into the pool. The teacher had to have a little talk about listening. I suppose it good for Ellie to hear that from someone new for a change. During the second class she did much better. She seems to be having fun, except it's real hard for her to wait her turn. There's four of them. Each one tries the trick with the teacher alone. That means most of the class they are sitting along side of the pool. I understand why this is necessary and I think learning to take turns and be patient is a great skill to be learning too. But I can see my little polar bear sitting there shivering and I understand why it's not as fun as the baby classes. The other night she asked about joining the baby class that is at the other end of the pool and has the toys.

Max is also doing a good job. David has gotten in the pool with him for both classes. He has fun playing with the balls and splashing around. His challenge comes when he's cold. He's not as much of a polar bear as Ellie. He gets cold easy. The other night I saw him standing along side of the pool. He was supposed to be jumping in to David. All the other kids did as requested. Max stood there looking at David and shaking his head vigurously NO. He was not getting back in the pool. This went on for over a minute. It was cute to watch from a distance - my little todler standing there in his green swim trunks that are nearly to his ankles, his little belly sticking out, all wet and shaking his head no at his Daddy. He didn't run away. David finally pulled him into the pool. He started fussing and pointing at me from across the pool, nearly 20 feet away. I went to check on him and he wanted out so badly. So I took him out and tried to warm him up. It was nearly the end of the class, so I figured better him know he can get out when he's done, as opposed to hate it and not want to get back in the pool.

It's a 4 week, 8 class session. We'll see how it goes. I think it's a good thing for them.