Catching Up

We currently don’t have the internet at our apartment so there is a lot of catching up to do, hence the wave of blog posts.  So I’ll start with the big news first that most of you know anyway, but for those of you who don’t we are having another little girl the end of January.  We’re pretty excited, I can’t entirely speak for Lauren though she doesn’t really get it, but I don’t think she’s opposed to the idea…yet. When we were getting the ultrasound she started clapping when the doctor said it was a girl, I’m sure she had no idea what that meant but just felt like something excited had just been said.  I’ve tried to explain to her that there is a baby in my tummy and she just pats her tummy and says “baby.”  Whenever I even say the word baby she’ll come over lift up my shirt, pat my tummy and say “baby,” or lift up her own shirt and say “baby.”  The best part is when she climbs up on Ryan and pats his tummy and says “baby.”

Lauren is at such a fun age right now, I love it.  She understands and responds to a lot of what we say to her and is getting better at communicating in a more understandable way to us.  She has a very funny and animated personality and loves just being silly.  Going to parks is almost a daily activity and all we do is go down the slides and sometimes swing on the swings. Reading books is still one of her favorite past times and her repertoire has expanded way beyond her baby books and includes books on politics, the Supreme Court, law, geography, religion, and public finance.  It makes me laugh how she will consistently pull the same books off the shelf: the US Atlas, World Politics (mostly for the pictures of maps), Gideon’s Trumpet, Founding Brothers, etc.  She also loves to flip through the pages of our scriptures and the Gospel Principles manual, and points out all the pictures of Jesus.  I’m so amazed every day at how much she is watching and picking up on everything we do and say.  She will automatically fold her arms to pray when we sit down to eat or before we put her to bed, she likes brushing her hair after I brush mine or likes to help me brush my teeth.  Lauren is also a great helper in the kitchen and will carry things from the pantry over to the counter or from the kitchen out to the table, and loves “mixing” things.  It makes cooking take a lot longer but I love how she is so excited to help.  I love being able to be home with her every day and see all the funny things she does.

Lauren and Daddy

SLIDES!!!

The climb up the slide didn't end well