Silas says funny things too!

Silas has been doing a couple different things lately that are just too cute. First of all, he claps for himself after accomplishing anything and it cracks me up every time. Put a movie in the DVD player, clap clap. Put a toy away in the toy box, clap clap. Eat a piece of a donut, clap clap. Climb up on the bed, clap clap. I have no idea why I can never get enough of it, but it always makes me smile.

One of his first words that he uses consistently is "thank you". He first learned this word from one of Joel's Thomas movies, where a tuba player with a deep sing-songy voice would say "THANK YOU" in a silly way, and Silas would imitate the intonation perfectly and say "Dank-oo". Well, the "dank-oo" has slowly evolved into "Ditta". So now every time we give Silas anything he replies "Ditta" and we say, "You're welcome, Silas!" Strangers observing us must think we are nuts.
A few weeks ago, I was watching the boys while Jorie was out doing a jewelry show. She called to chat on her way to the show and as I hung up with her I said, "Love ya, bye!" Joel then asked me, "Who was that, daddy?" I said, "Hmmm let's see. Well I said "Love ya" when I hung up the phone so who could that be?" Joel still wasn't sure. Silas was intently following this exchange. So I said, "Well, I love the people in my family. I love you guys, but you're both here. Who else from our family do I love?" Joel was still pondering, but I could see from the gleam in his eye that he knew the answer. But before he could respond, Silas gleefully shouted, "Mama!!!"

Random conversations with Joel

Tonight, I had to bring Joel to the hospital for a blood test. He was running a high fever, so our doctor wanted him to be checked for an infection. He was a very brave boy and did a good job getting his blood drawn. As we were pulling out of the driveway, we were talking about how people had come to look at our house today and how they might want to buy it. He looked up at our townhouse and said, "They will have to cut it." I said, "Huh? What do you mean, Joel?" He replied, "They will only want our house, so they will have to cut it off." I suddenly realized Joel associated buying something with taking it home, so he was picturing the buyers of our house cutting our townhouse off from the rest of the building and bringing it home with them. I tried to explain how they would come and live here instead of moving the house, but his next question was, "How will they bring it home, daddy? How will they move it?" I explained again, and this time I think he got it. Once he understood they would come to live HERE, he said, "But they will play with my trains, Daddy! I don't want them to have all my trains!"

We drove past some train tracks on the way to the hospital and Joel said, "Look, I see a port-o-potty, Daddy! Do you see it? If the people on the train have to go pee pee, the train can pull right up to it, Daddy. And then the people can go and they won't have to pee in their pants!" (that is honestly verbatim Joel-speak right there) I chuckled to myself as I imagined a train full of morning commuters and the conductor announcing, "OK everyone, we're coming up to the port-o-potty now, so who has to go pee pee? Come on now, we don't want you to pee your pants."

After Joel had his blood drawn, he was upset about the bandages on his arms. But afterwards, I gave him a "special treat" to help calm him down and make him forget the trauma. It was a Thomas toy/movie combo, and he was very excited about it. He even said, "I already like my band-aids, Daddy, at first I didn't like them, but now I like them." Here's a picture of Joel's new Thomas toy (which is actually a bulldozer named "Jack") and you can see the bandage on his arm, from where his blood was drawn.

Grandpa and Uncle Tim save the day!

This past Saturday, Jorie and I were planning to attend a friend's wedding, but we were having major problems finding a babysitter during the weeks leading up to the wedding. So we gave my dad a call and he said he could do it! This was a huge relief for us, but we also knew it would be quite a challenge for my dad, as dealing with both boys all day can be pretty crazy even when you know their routines. Dinner time and bedtime can be especially challenging, and Grandpa would have to handle both. Fortunately, my brother, Tim, agreed to come along too so that they could handle the boys with a man-on-man defense instead of Grandpa playing zone.

I am happy to report they did an AWESOME JOB with the boys. When we came home, Joel and Silas were tucked in their beds successfully, sound asleep. We called to check in after the ceremony. We knew my dad had hoped to take the boys to the park, but since it was rainy, we were curious what activities they had planned. Turns out they took Joel and Silas to McDonald's playplace - great idea, Dad, as I know I have done the same thing several times when the weather is crummy and the boys need to get out of the house for a while.
So a huge THANK YOU to my dad and Tim for driving ALL the way up to Grayslake to spend some time with the boys. Joel and Silas both loved it and we look forward to doing it again sometime.

Great Silas picture

It's almost impossible to get a really good picture of a 1 year old's face where they're actually looking at the camera and smiling, so I just had to share this awesome picture that Jorie took.

The Bean Farmers

We got a great recommendation from a friend for a cheap and easy toy that you can make at home and toddlers love playing with it: a rice and bean bin. You buy bags of dried rice and dried beans from the grocery store and dump them in a bin and throw some other sand-type toys in there too and voila - instant entertainment. Joel and Silas love the rice and bean bin.

This toy is not without it's downside, however. When the kids play with it, of course rice and beans get everywhere. We tried to solve this problem by putting a blanket down under the bin, and that helped a lot. But it was still messy, especially when Silas could not resist chucking the beans across the room. So the rice and bean bin is now an outside toy. And that's where the fun really began!

We now have a nice little bean garden growing in our yard! Here is a picture of our two proud farmers, standing in their garden. I figured if a few dried out beans got in the grass, it would provide a little more food for the chipmunks and no harm done. I had no idea it was so easy to grow bean plants. Apparently you throw a dried out bean in the grass, add rain and presto, you've got bean plants. I've actually been clearing out tons of the bean plants to try to keep the grass healthy, but when I saw this latest patch, I couldn't resist taking a picture of my farmer boys.

Faith like a child

The other night I was reading Joel a story from a great new book Jorie picked up for him called "How Dinosaurs Go to Bed" and Joel noticed that one of the dinosaurs was playing with a little wooden train. Lately Joel has come to the realization that it is within Mommy and Daddy's power to buy pretty much whatever he wants, he just has to convince us that what he wants is SOOOO important. So we hear a lot of, "I don't have a train like THAT, Daddy, can I get a train like THAT?" and "But I really want one, Daddy, I really need a train like that!" We try to talk to him about how it's important to be content with the things we have, but I think those lofty ideas go right over the head of a 3-year old.

Anyways, so Joel saw the wooden train the dinosaur had and decided he wanted a train just like THAT because he didn't have a train just like THAT and we were going through the usual rigamarole. Then the story ended and I said, "Now it's time to say our prayer." Joel's eyes lit up with an idea. "Daddy, I want to pray to God for a train like that!" I said, "OK, Joel, we can do that, but I've gotta tell you, God doesn't usually work that way. He always hears and answers our prayers, but He knows what's best for us. So sometimes the answer is 'No' and sometimes the answer is 'Yes, but not until you're ready'."

So Joel closed his eyes, made himself stiff as a board in his bed, pointed his chin up towards the heavens and shouted, "I'm ready, God! I'm ready for my train!!" as if he expected the ceiling to open up and the train to come falling down right into his bed. I had to crack up at this point, and then of course I explained how God decides when we are ready.

The Heron Song

We went to the park tonight and Joel spotted a huge Heron by the lake. This is probably the biggest bird I have ever seen in the wild. This thing was at least 3 feet tall. Joel was so inspired by the sight of the huge bird, he said, "I'm going to sing a song about the Heron." And he made up this song on the spot, which had a tune and everything:

I'm a big Heron
I'm standing quiet
Looking for fish

I'm a big Heron
I'm not a blue Heron
like the Heron at home

I'm a big Heron
Now I'm climbing up the slide
And playing at the park

That's the end of the song
About the Heron and me!

Thank you! Thank you!

After the song I asked him how he knew about saying "Thank you! Thank you!" after performing a song and he said, "From Elmo, daddy." I'm pretty impressed with his first composition. I think he got a little confused about who he was singing about during the 3rd stanza, but then he tied it all together nicely with the final line, "About the Heron and me!" OK, so it's not quite Mozart, but I enjoyed it.

First Leafblad Reunion for Joel and Silas

We just got back from the boys' first Leafblad reunion at Green Lake Conference Center in Green Lake, WI and Joel and Silas both had so much fun. The Leafblads are Jorie's paternal grandmother's family. The original family had 11 siblings and has grown explosively over 4 generations. The family is now over 400 people and continues to rapidly expand. Every five years, we get together for a huge reunion and it's always a great time. Some stats from this reunion: 6 of the original 11 siblings are still living and the youngest is 78. Jorie's grandmother, Linnea, is the eldest remaining from the first generation, at 91. Jorie's dad, Jim, has 51 first cousins. (can you imagine Christmas with that family?) At this reunion, there were 70 kids under age 5. They expect to exceed 500 people at the next reunion in 2012.

This was our first reunion at the Green Lake Conference Center. The facilities were awesome and the food was great - a big step up from previous reunions. We hope to spend many future reunions in Green Lake. Joel especially liked playing at the beach, pushing a plastic truck through the sand and out into the water. He also loved the train passenger car that you could go inside, the kiddie buffet line, the goldfish in the lobby garden, and the "rolly ball game". Silas loved running around in the big open spaces, digging in the sand, and kissing his baby cousin Annikah. Both boys loved spending time with their aunts and uncles, cousins, and Grandpa and Grandma too.

Saturday at the reunions is always group photo day, and each family wears a color to signify which Leafblad sibling they are descended from. This year, our family wore orange. When Joel saw all of us dressed alike in orange shirts, he announced, "We are the goldfish family!" When we first put his orange shirt on him, Jorie told him, "Now you're officially a Leafblad." Joel replied, "Now I can officially be-bad."

Silas and cousin Anni's kissing is incredibly cute. Whenever they see each other, they immediately move in for a kiss. Unfortunately, they are not too coordinated about it, and they usually end up bonking heads a few times before successfully landing a kiss. One of the most memorable events from this reunion was skit night, where we presented a musical rendition of the story of Jorie's grandparents, Bert and Linnea, honoring their recent 70th wedding anniversary, to the tune of "Oklahoma!". (written and choreographed by Jorie's cousin Erica and her new husband Mike Cali - married 1 month ago!) If I ever figure out how to post videos on this thing, I'll post the performance on the blog. It was a huge surprise to Grandma and Grandpa Engstrom and we could tell it was very special to them.