The Camera is Not Broken!

Honestly, the my camera isn't broken. It is however a bit on the big side and since my hands have been pretty full these past weeks, I've not been taking it out even when there are oportune moments. I apologize for my laziness.

Let's see, what have we been up to...lots of coloring and use of the marking pens that Einar got for his birthday (thankfully they are washable). We went with Kathleen and Nathan to pick up their new adopted dog, Si Si (as in Spanish for "yes") at the pound and as Kathleen was filling out the paperwork, Einar and Nathan wrestled in the wet grass. The sun has been out lately so we've been walking to the nearby parks. And of course since it's been so long that I've written I'll get more sympathy from all of you if I mention that Einar and I are also getting over a cold.

Einar has finished his first Good Behavior Chart and I made him another this morning after breakfast. He's doing really well with the mealtimes and has shown progress when it comes time for clean-up. He loves putting up his stickers, I'm just not sure if he understands yet what the X's mean. We haven't had to clean up as much food off of the floor since the chart was posted so in my mind it's been a great success. Jared has been having fun giving out stickers after dinner.

This past weekend, we took care of Nathan and Hailey so that Kathleen and Justin could go to San Diego and celebrate their 9th wedding anniversary. We had a good time taking them to IKEA on Saturday morning and the kids were on their best behavior for me. I did realize though that the jump from one kid to three is HUGE! Thank goodness twins don't run in our family.

Einar has also been talking a lot more than ever before. He repeats most of what we say and also pulls random vocabulary words out and surprises me on a daily business. The other day I gave him a piece of dried mango for a snack and he said "Mango" before I could even tell him what it was! We hadn't had dried mangos in about a month. Last week he even had a real telephone conversation with Grandma and Grandpa.

Warm Spring Breezes

Tonight it feels like spring again here in San Clemente. We have all of the windows open and there is a sweetness in the air that is wonderful. Even though there is a big fire burning up north in Annaheim Hills, it's been very clear here and in the upper 70's all day.

We've been pretty low key this weekend. Jared has been whipping up some yummy meals for us and we've been taking advantage of Einar's afternoon nap by taking some naps of our own and reading. Last night we went to Oceanside to have dinner with some of the guys from Jared's old company and their families. We had a good time and they gave the three guys that have left (including Jared) a nice presentation of their plaques.

Einar's table manners have improved this week since the implementation of the Einar's Great Behavior Chart. The chart was created after another morning of having to clean a bowl of oatmeal off of the floor. He can earn stickers for his chart by having great behavior at meals and for cleaning up his toys every night. He has a few x's on the chart, but he's had 10 meals in a row that no food has been flung to the floor on purpose! The stickers are exciting for him and he's very proud to show off his chart, especially to Dad the first night the chart was in service.

Overcoming Fears

Yesterday, we took Einar to the Irvine Spectrum Shopping Center to do some shopping and just walk around outside in the beautiful weather. Jared wanted to look at jeans and I wanted to go to Target to get a new package of the birdseye flat fold diapers that Einar uses as his blankies or "Burpy" as he calls them. Einar was along for the ride.

This is a huge shopping center that is all outdoors and has a ferris wheel as well as a carousel. When we've been there before, Einar would point out the horses on the carousel, but have absolutely nothing to do with riding on them. Yesterday we all sat down on the bench and watched the carousel go around and all of the kids having fun riding. Then Einar wanted to ride so Jared got him a ticket and they went on and had a great time. Way to overcome your fears Einar!