What We're Doing, The Extended Version

Massive family update, mostly for my own benefit.

Aubrey:

1. Aubrey is enjoying school. She just started an art class, which I am glad for as she has wanted to take art for a while now. It has been fun so far, she even has a girl from her old Kindergarten class in it with her. They're studying the artist M.C. Escher, famous for his Hands:

They made their own version using oil pastels. Here's Aubrey's:

After the first day, when she brought home this wonderful work of art, I asked what they were studying and she said, "It's Hands drawing hands... I don't remember the name." I reminded her it was M.C. Escher, that "M.C." were his first two initials. And then she said, "will you call me A.C. Stolle from now on?"

2. She is so funny. The other day I was getting into my scrapbook paper and craft supplies and Aubrey came in, and she said, "oh no! Do you have Relief Society tonight???" I did, but I was amused that she saw me with those things and immediately connected it to the good ole RS.
She also got an "S" sticker on her behavior folder at school, and I wasn't sure what that meant because it's usually an animal sticker or something else. I wondered if it meant she hadn't been as good. When I asked her, Aubrey, ever the optimist, came back with, "well... maybe it's for 'Super'?" (it turned out to be nothing... I suppose it could have been for Stolle as well).

3. Around the time Chad and I started South Beach, Aubrey started to be a picky eater and hasn't really recovered. No matter what it is, (and it's not always a beautiful presentation, but almost always edible) she says, "yuck! What is this?" This got pretty tiring after awhile. Then I discovered a great way to get her to eat. And that was to have a color coordinated dinner, and she came up with some of what we served. Last week, we had A White Dinner: pasta with white sauce, pears, milk, and sour cream and onion chips (I let this last one go because hey, she ate almost all of her other food- a miracle). Next week we're going to have an Orange Dinner.

4. She has been so good with Andrew lately, I am so lucky to have such a great helper. She reads him stories, she holds him, she plays with him. She tried to include him in what she's playing, even though sometimes he doesn't understand and/or he destroys what she's doing. She adores Andrew when he is cute, and especially enjoys it when he crawls into her lap and puts his head on her shoulder (which he does almost every night). She always asks to wake him up in the mornings, or be the one who goes in first once he is awake. I think this is because he awards the person who comes to his rescue with a big toothy smile, and he especially loves his "Bree." She also sings to him at night, before he goes to bed. She enjoys singing Primary songs to him and when each song comes to an end, he responds with "more" which sounds more like, "mo-uh". We have personalized a lot of the Primary songs, mostly the ones we sing at Mother's Day, but we insert "Aubrey" or "Andrew" for "mother" and Andrew really likes all of those.

5. She has taken to singing songs around the house which she makes up as she goes along, to an also made up melody. She will pull the couch cushions off and make a stage and go to town. I've got to record one sometime. She sang a great one about books a while back.

6. We have been walking to school and at first, this was met with groans every morning. But now, she is excited when we walk to school. This could partly be due to the fact that she hitches a ride on the front step of the jogging stroller on the way, and so she hardly has to walk at all. I don't really mind, but I do make her walk from the point of the crosswalk on.

Andrew:

1. He loves Aubrey. Everytime we leave the house, he asks, "Bree? Bree?" like he's wondering if we're going to get her. And when we do get close to the school, and he knows when we are, he starts clapping his hands and saying "Yaaaaaaaayyy! Bree! Bree! Bree!" When Aubrey walks out of the school, he starts running toward her, he is so excited to see her. About a week ago, we went and ate lunch with Aubrey and when we got there, Andrew sat on his own seat at the table, right next to Aubrey. (He was NOT going to stay in his stroller). And they ate lunch, sitting next to each other. She would occasionally ask him if he needed something, or try to feed him something. I think he was just feeling like a big boy and happy to sit next to his sister.

2. Andrew's words are really coming along. For the past several months, his counselor/therapist from Keep Pace has told us he's going to have a language explosion any time. Well, I think that any time has come. I wrote down all the words that Andrew knows and it is over 40 now. He also knows and uses about 20 signs. Granted, a lot of the words he can say are people's names, and sound words like, "choo choo" and "Woof" but he has some really solid words too, like, "bird" "door" and "knees". And I keep adding to the list almost everyday. New words just keep tumbling out. And he is still obsessed with Signing Time and will watch it all day if I let him, but it has helped, I think, with his speech delay. So we continue to watch it. The upside is that know I know about 100 signs. :) Maybe they'll come in handy someday.

3. He is still my cuddly boy. He loves to snuggle and be held, tickled, or touched in any way. I love it. Today I asked him, "Will you be my cuddly boy forever?" And he said, "yeah." So I'm hoping he sticks to that. He has the unfortunate tendency however, to look for people's bellybuttons, regardless of who they are, or where we are.

4. He loves the park. We pass by a park every day on our walk to school, and almost every day he points and motions he wants to go there. I have taken him to the park several times and he loves the swings and slides especially. He has no fear at all climbing up high or going down. I seem to remember that Aubrey was like 3 or 4 before she wanted to climb up to the top of the slide and go down herself.

5. I have been taking him to Storytime at the library, and for the quiet life Andrew and I lead here at home, the first few times we went to loud crazy storytime, I think it was a little overwhelming for him. But he loves the songs and movements. And he loves books, especially ones that have real babies in them.

6. He is a helpful boy. It is his job to close the garage door when we come in, by pushing the button, and he also closes the door leading to the garage when we come into the house. He also unloads the dishwasher... mostly when I don't want him to, but sometimes, I can get him to put some silverware in the silverware drawer, without grabbing for the knives, which he so frequently likes to do. I have no idea why he likes knives so much. He also likes to use a rag on the kitchen table, and helps put clothes in the dryer and shut the dryer door.

7. A couple weeks ago, we were at Grammie's house and Andrew's always had a thing for Joey the dog's bowl of water. Most of the time we move it out of his reach. This time we forgot and we found Andrew on all fours, right next to Joey, with his head down about to drink the water, like Joey was doing. I don't think he drank any. But that was gross.

Chad:

1. Chad is really getting accustomed to his new job. Now that the first few weeks of school are over, he's gotten the hang of things and is a lot more comfortable day to day. The other administrators have been really welcoming to him, and he gets along with them really well. And he comes home at right around 5 every day, which is great! So far, he hasn't had any night time duties and so we get to eat dinner together and put the kids to bed together. It's awesome! I really appreciate all his help. And lest you mourn that he doesn't get any more free clothing like he did as a coach, cheer up, because he has gotten about half a dozen shirts and a jacket or two, with the Doerre logo.

(this is Chad eating icing while decorating the cake Lindsay made me for my birthday)

Me:

1. I'm really enjoying my time with Andrew, and I also have been enjoying volunteering at Aubrey's school every week. This week I get to read to her class, and I am very excited for that. I enjoy our walks to school, and may start walking home again as well, now that it is not quite so hot. I have undertaken a project to knit baby hats for the hospital and I don't have too many yet, but I think they're pretty cute. I hope they fit the baby's heads. And I am learning learning learning, all about self reliance via the Encyclopedia of Country Living. I recently found a recipe for hand soap, and another one for baking soda I think I am going to try. Sprouting will probably happen before those two, but I have to get a few supplies before I do that. Apparently seeds in seed packets and such have been sprayed with fungicide/pesticide and are not good for sprouting. And I am happy to report my bread baking, (which I haven't bought a loaf of bread in forever, except during the hurricane) is getting so much better. The taste and texture are much improved from the first time I tried. And I have begun an experiment cooking with beans. I know there are more ways to cook beans than the few ways I know of. So, we'll see how that goes.