Music lessons by 6

Between the harmonica when he was little little, the piano, drums, and the recorder, not to mention the singing, Luca is a musical little fella. And Kay decided to foster it some more.

That friends, is a Mickey Mouse guitar. That is tunable. And has been in tune for about five minutes total. He strums and strums and plays up like normal, flat in his lap, and every variation in between. Very talented.

Labor of Love

I've been meaning to put up pictures of the quiet books for ages. Finally, here they are! There are three books total, but I already posted the seasons one. The other two don't have themes. Here are the pages! We didn't use patterns for any of them, but most are inspired by another page somewhere.

These two pages are an artist's pallet with a paint brush and paint blobs that velcro on. They can be put on the facing page (a frame on an easel) and then matched by color back to the pallet. Or the paint brush can be used to paint any picture the imagination decides.

This one is a monkey with a zipper for a mouth. It comes with a couple of bananas that he can eat (and are then stored in his mouth).

This one is a fish bowl with plastic sheeting over it. Then it has three fish, a star fish and a jelly fish that can go in and out of the bowl.

Here is a tool box that has a wrench, saw, screwdriver and hammer in it, along with a tool bench on the facing page for all sorts of projects. 

Of course this little guy is Jude. He's got a collar to practice buckling, and the "I love my dog" keychain has a carabiner on the end that he can use to clip onto the ring of the collar.

Mom worked really hard on this page, it's the Itsy Bitsy Spider nursery rhyme. The spider is on a long string so he can climb up the water spout. But...

Open the spout and flip up the piece with the flower and the rain comes down to wash the spider out! Put the pieces back where they belong and Itsy can climb the spout after all.

The last page in this book is a jacket with a zipper to practice on.

And now for the second book!

The first page in the second book is a rotary dial phone. The dial really spins and the phone has a magnet in the ear piece to hold it in the cradle. It's just like the one in our basement, except a pretty shade of blue instead of plain old brown. Luca gets calls all the time on it, but they never seem to be for him. He is also happy to call other people on your behalf, and then tell you about it as he's handing you the phone.

First is a mailbox with a flag that can go up and down, and a door that opens and shuts with a magnetic closure. Right now the mail in it is from his Christmas mailbox, so the letter is from Santa and tells him to be good. But since he can't read every time Luca is asked who the letter is to or what it says he comes up with a new answer. The next page is a little laundry line with one sock in each pair hanging on the line, and the matching socks in the basket at the bottom. They have magnets in them so they will connect to their mate.

On the left side is a little airplane who can hide behind the sun/cloud, the clouds, the hot air balloon, or stay in the hangar. On the next page is a six piece puzzle of a tree. Eventually I might make more pieces for a different picture.

This is one of his favorite pages. The barn has doors that open and close, and inside it are finger puppets of a chicken, pig, cow and horse. The cow has a "fluffy" tail which Luca thinks is funny. He likes to hand everyone a puppet and then ask what their names are. The facing page is a matching shape game with snaps.

This page is a shoe to practice lacing and tying a bow. At this point Luca mostly enjoys putting his foot or hand inside the shoe and laughing. The next page is his other very favorite. It's a treasure chest (with working lock and key). Inside is some gold coins and a treasure map. When mom made it she thought she was putting sharks in the middle, but the first time Luca looked at it he said they were ships (they do look like sails). So you go by the pirates (the skull and crossbones in the corner), then through the ships, under the coconut tree, over the island, and then you're there!

The first page on this spread is a tic-tac-toe board. The little drawstring bag is hooked onto a ring so it can't get lost. The second page is a flower with petals that are held on with buttons. The loose petals can be stored inside the flower pot.

Finally there is a page with beads on a string that can be slid back and forth for counting. The last page is a maze with a marble sewn in. On one side of the page you can see the path easily, on the other side the thread (and path) is harder to see. Luca pushes the marble along the path.

And that is our big project that took lots of time but has even more love! Of course, I'm already thinking up the next book. And we'll need to add some "girly" pages when Tessa gets bigger. I love never ending projects! =)

Girl Party

Mom, Luca, Tessa and I went to KC to rain bridal shower love on my cousin. To say I was anxious about the trip would be an understatement. It would be by far the longest car trip for Tessa, and the last time Luca rode that far he was about Tessa's age. Add in Tessa's inability to sleep anywhere that isn't our house, and I was expecting a rough journey. But I knew it would be worth it to see everybody in KC so we decided to go anyway =)

We made a new quiet book for the car, and had a bunch of activities for Luca to do. All things considered, the car ride went amazing. We left early in the morning so we were already a couple hours into the drive before the kids were ready to be up and eat breakfast. On the way there we were able to stop at a rest stop and have a picnic breakfast, which was very amusing to Luca. So an hour stop there, another hour for lunch and couple quick potty/snack breaks and we would have made it in about 10 hours. But mom's car kept making this loud knocking noise so we detoured to the farm so Uncle Roger could check it out. Which was just fine with Luca since it meant watching Moose do tricks and playing on their tractor power wheels. Some clever jury-rigging and a couple hours later we were on our way again.

Stinker face because he didn't want to stop and get his picture taken

When we got to Aunt Joyce's she had a home made farm fresh dinner waiting for us. So good! Played for a little bit and it was time for bed, we had a big plans for the next day! It started with a trip to the farmer's market for Luca, Oma and Aunt Joycie. Our little dog whisperer made friends with every puppy there, but was confused about where the barn and the cows were. Then Tessa, Luca and I headed to Brittany's apartment to meet up with her and Kayla. So glad to visit with them awhile! Next we were off to Great Grandma's for lunch and quality time. Luca had a blast playing on her organ. Finally we were back to Aunt Joyce's for naps and another homemade farm-fresh dinner. Having another big day ahead of us, it was time for baths and bed.

The next day was the girl party! As soon as we mentioned that we might come in, Luca's godfather Steve called dibs on him for the day. They played with Ali's dog Jake who would play fetch until your arm fell off, bounced on the big trampoline, and then Steve took him to his first movie in the theaters.

While the boys were off having fun, the girls were staying entertained at Kim's, trying to decide if Ali should buy and furnish a house or go on a lavish honeymoon (surprised to find the crowd was split right down the middle!) I very nearly won the "What's in your purse" game, if only Aunt Janie hadn't been prepared for a potentially unsavory meeting with a stranger earlier in the week. Ah well. Tessa enjoyed being passed around and admired by all, and mom and I were glad to see family that we can't seem to see often enough. All too soon we were saying good bye and headed back to Aunt Joycie's. Being the eager helpers that we are, mom, Aunt Janie and I decided that Aunt Joyce needed to hang a few things. So I climbed a ladder on a table and tried a couple times to hang some angel wings, and then when it came necessary to actually measure and use a level I passed my utility tool/hammer on to more suitable hands. Kim was able to stop by after dinner and kept Luca laughing for a long time.

More Winn girls, wish we knew Aunt Judi wasn't in a window!

We had originally planned on heading back home the next morning but Tessa was sleeping so well (!!) that we decided to stay one more day. That morning we looked for something to entertain the kids and decided on a Children's Farmstead in Kansas. (That made the 4th state of the trip!) It was so much fun and there was so much to do.

Thirsty little goat

Luca "milked" buckets with rubber udders, panned for gold, fed baby goats from a bottle, rode on a pedal car, fed ducks and goats, and played on a big playground. Everyone had a blast, and Tessa was especially thankful that Great Janie borrowed a fancy stroller so she could enjoy the place in style. Just wish it hadn't felt like 102*...

Keeping cool in the misters

After another delicious dinner at Aunt Joycie's we met Kimmer, Jo, Bai and Dot for frozen yogurt. It was great to see them again and man do I love Orange Leaf. We decided it worked so well leaving early on the way here that we should do the same on the way home. So about six the next morning we loaded up the car and said our good-byes. Uncle Roger's jury-rig held the whole way home, so we made it back home in about 10 hours. Only to realize I didn't have a way to get in the house. Drove over to Aunt Aimee's for our spare key but couldn't find the right one. So we hung out in her empty house (thanks again!) until Josh could come home and let us in.


All in all, it was a wonderful trip! Can't wait to see everyone again for the wedding!

10 months!

Double digits! Two months from a year! Whoa!

We think she's a Southern Belle, she holds out her hand flat palm down to you, and thinks it's funny when you kiss it.
She's steadily improving on sleeping. I can put her down wide awake and at most she'll cry for a couple minutes, frequently she just goes to sleep. She takes two solid naps a day, though she's able to skip one if we need to. She's still up once at night to eat and it seems she is determined not to give that one up. Maybe once a week she's up twice at night, but I feel like an end to my disjointed sleep is in sight!
I took her nine month pics, it was hard to keep her focused, but she was happy to be there!

She didn't fall, and mom is just out of frame. No worries =)

It's amazing, she loves her family so much. =) When Josh gets home she stops whatever she's doing when she hears his voice and heads his way. He's the only one that she will willingly leave my arms for.
Luca calls her "pretty girl" and she loves pestering him. Especially when we're shopping, Tessa sits in the seat of the cart and Luca sits in the basket. She turns around and plays with his hair and his face and thinks it's hysterical.
He is so sweet to her, if we're in the car and she starts crying he says to her "We're almost there pretty girl."
Meal times are pretty easy with her, she hasn't turned up her nose at anything in a while. She did have a reaction to either strawberries or mandarin oranges, but other than that, we haven't noticed any problems or allergies.
Her bottom left tooth started poking through at the very beginning of July. A couple days ago I noticed her top right side looking swollen, and then the one to the left of the top middle. If those two do come through she'll look like a jack-o-lantern. =)

You can tell she knows which toys are Luca's and that he doesn't like her to play with, because she sneaks over to it, plays for a second, and then looks at me seemingly asking "Am I in trouble?" If it's a toy that she's okay to play with--it's just Luca doesn't like sharing it--then I let her and she just laughs and laughs while she continues playing.
She turns the pages when we're reading, and is starting to enjoy books that don't have textures, though she still prefers those.
She has very nearly outgrown the infant tub, probably the next bath will be in the big tub. I can't decide if bathing her with Luca is a brilliant idea or guaranteed to be a hot mess. Only one way to find out. =)

She is exceedingly agreeable, answering most everything with either "ya" or by nodding her head. We have whole conversations like that. "Tessa are you stinky?" "Ya" "Do you want Daddy to change you?" "Ya." Can't argue with that!
She is a super speedy crawler, and very quiet. She'll be playing with toys in one room, you blink or turn away for a second and you hear toys making noise in a different room.

We are quickly approaching our big trip to Kansas City. I'm excited to see family and friends, but I'm very anxious about how it will all go. I think by the time Luca was this old he'd been in twice, the first trip took I think 17 hours and the second one 12 (it's about an 8 hour drive normally). We'll see if we can continue to improve on our time. ;)

Playing in the rain

Last week was hot, so I got out Luca's new big pool and for a couple days he basically spent all day in a swim suit. Then it got rainy. But he wasn't willing to take off his swim suit, so this happened.

What made it especially funny is that he didn't want to get in the pool, and with the umbrella he didn't really get rained on. But still the swim suit ;)

Duet

Tessa learned today how to play the recorder. And she was so amused with herself. Last week one day when she woke up from her nap Luca put the recorder in her crib with her. When she blew into it and made noise he was so excited he screamed and scared her. It must not have been too scarring though, since she was at it again this evening. She would blow into it and then laugh, and then blow and laugh again. So I recorded that. Then, as luck would have it, I remembered that a couple days ago when I was cleaning out the storage in the basement I found the recorder I used in 4th and 5th grade music class. So, knowing I was going to regret the decision in about a minute, I gave that one to Luca. And they played a duet.

As soon as they finished the song I put my old one way up on a shelf. One recorder at a time is plenty for now. ;)