Before the pictures, though, I thought I'd tell you some fun things that the babies are up to. Ann is just a delight. She is very social and very smiley. Smiling is always her first response, and while she still loves Mama the most, she is learning to enjoy being held and played with by others. We've put her in the nursery a few times when I've helped Aaron with the music at church, and she's done swimmingly well. As you can imagine, she LOVES Von and watches him intently when he's around. She hopes for his attention and laughs and laughs when he does something funny. I want to try to get them on video together--Von is starting to become more interested in her now that she's older and more interactive. I know it will just get more and more fun. Everyone told us we wouldn't be so lucky to have two mellow babies, but so far, Ann is just as mellow as Von. She plays and talks and coos in her crib in the morning for up to an hour before calling out, and she is content to sit quietly and play while I work around the house. She loves a particular Netflix video of children's songs, and when we are at church, she sings along at the top of her lungs. We let her stay up for praise band rehearsal last night, and Aaron finally got to see/hear her singing. The look she gave her papa as they were singing--it just melted my heart! She is chatty and loves to repeat sounds. Especially laughter. If you start laughing with her, she will laugh and laugh and laugh. This morning she slept until 10, and I finally decided to get her up. When I peered down at her in the crib, she was just hanging out, wide awake, smiling. I started laughing, and she gave me her big, juicy belly laugh.
Von thrives on order and routine. In the mornings, he comes out to the living room and makes sure everything is in proper order. If there are toys left out from the night before, he picks them up and puts them away. Then he joins me in the kitchen where he gets out a cup and gets the juice from the fridge. After I pour it, he waits patiently for his breakfast. He frequently asks for wipes to clean the floor or walls or any surface, really. He uses his lovey to wipe the window sill in his room. "Mess! Ew! Ew! Goss [gross]!" we often hear. After we brush his teeth in the mornings, he pats his bottom, gets the potty seat, and puts it on the toilet. I lift him onto it (fully clothed, but I'll take what I can get), and he sits there. He used to immediately say, "Oh wee oh wee" (his language for being finished), but I told him he needed to sit there for a minute, and I'd whistle a little tune. So now he sings a little song himself before saying "Oh wee oh wee." I lift him down and he puts the potty seat away. Then he says, "Help!" and reaches for my hand. We hold hands while he flushes, and then he very carefully puts the lid down. He is so agreeable that many people think he can't say no, but he can. He says, "Nonononononono!" Or "Uhhhhhh, no." He is very polite. He says Thank You--Da Das, and I'm Sorry--Soowee. He also says Excuse Me--Soosee. When he is pushing his prized shopping cart from Auntie Polly around and something gets in his way, he says, "SOOSEE! SOOSEE!" and then moves it out of his way. I've tried to teach him to say No, Thank You, but he's missed the meaning. Now when I tell him to do something he doesn't want to do, he says, No, Da Das, No, Da Das. As in, "Von, please pick up your books." "No, da das. Mama, no, da das." He also loves the phone and particularly loves talking to Marmee. I want to videotape him talking to her--his expressions are priceless. It's one of his favorite things to do.
We enjoyed an amazing visit from my older sister Erin in April. The babies just aDORed her, especially Von. Every morning, I would change his diaper, and then he would go looking for her. "Eeeyooo?" he would call as he wandered around the house until he found her. We pray for Aunt Eeeyooo every night, and Papa reminds Von that Aunt Eeeyooo loves Von very much. In response, he smiles and says, "Eeeeeeeeyooooooo!!!" Erin's oldest son Joshua will be visiting in July, and we can't wait. I know that Von will be head over heels.
I just remembered Mother's Day...Many of you know where Von ended up that day, but I'll post about that later...
In the meantime, enjoy these sweet, perfect, wonderful babies.
My two peas in a pod!
I have several more videos, but for some reason, blogger is not letting me upload them. I'll try another time. And I'm sorry the one I posted is sideways--Aaron updated my system and I haven't learned my new video editing program yet. You get the idea, though. :)
