Building Muscle

Brad working in the basement

Looking at Brad over the cement-mixing wheelbarrow

Brad smoothing the wet concrete

Brad examining his work

Brad has been busy in the basement, digging trenches in the concrete, putting in black pipe, filling with stone, and today, his project has been to fill in the trenches with concrete. He's gotten 7 eighty-pound bags of dry concrete so far, and he just left for the hardware store to get three more. He's been doing a great job! Boy, mixing concrete builds muscles! I was just down in the basement with Brad, helping him while December napped. Brad's going to look like Spiderman by the time this is all finished! Then, none of his brothers will be able to beat him at arm wrestles or tease him about his weak wrists anymore. Well, maybe Brad will look like Superman. Spiderman is kinda wimpy-looking.


Today is such an exciting day! December has a new word -- and it's my favorite word of all. She said "Mama" this morning. The joy is indescribable! I have been waiting fifteen months for December to say my name. I was in the kitchen, and Brad was talking to December in the bedroom, and he said, "Where's Mommy?" December replied, "Ma-na...Ma-na...Ma-na," and walked over to find me. Woohoo! This is definitely an event for the baby book records.

Waking up on the wrong side of the crib

December showing the camera something (I'm not sure what)

December trying to dig through the floor

She loves spoons!

Some days, the things December does just awe me, like a couple of days ago...but other days, like today, she wakes up on the wrong side of the crib. She woke up grumpy this morning. It's just like you or I would be if we didn't get enough sleep -- but that's the strange thing because she got plenty of sleep!

This is how it goes. If she has to wait for a diaper change before she goes outside, she throws a fit. She eats next to nothing at breakfast and lunch, wailing to be let out of her high chair. Once she is out, she heads right for the chocolate-chip cookies. Then she goes and does all the things she knows are wrong -- playing with the laptop, swinging her arms and hitting me (this is her latest trick...but it's not going to last very long), etc. Then it's back to more cookie-seeking.

The day goes on in a similar fashion. Today, what I am amazed at is how mothers with more than one child stay sane! Can you imagine if two or three children woke up grumpy? But I guess you get through it...it's like Anne Shirley said in Anne of Green Gables, "Tomorrow is always fresh with no mistakes [...or grumpiness] in it."

December the Math Genius

December is helping Brad calculate our house costs

December crawled into her baby bouncy seat all by herself, as if she wanted to pretend to be a baby again

Brad has been doing extensive work in the basement, cleaning up that water problem I was telling you about earlier. He's dug trenches with the help of my Dad and a friend from church, and today, he filled the trenches with big black pipe and stones. Soon he will concrete over the trenches. Ahh -- the joys of home owning (or rather, the joys of owning an old home). I have been working outside, sprucing the yard up. I planted flowers, and yesterday I ripped down those huge red wooden address numbers that I have really really disliked ever since I laid eyes on the house. I was thrilled about tearing those down! I nailed up normal address numbers this morning. We got an offer on our house, but the amount they offered is alot lower than what we can accept. We'll see what happens with negotiations. As you can see above, with the help of December the Math Genius, we'll soon figure out a good price for everybody!

Hearing and Understanding

Lately I have been so amazed by how much December understands. Sometimes it's hard to know exactly what she understands because if she is given a command, I can't tell if she doesn't understand what I'm telling her to do...or if she is simply choosing not to do what I'm telling her to do. But most of the time, she is very responsive, and I can't believe how much she knows!

They say you're always supposed to talk to babies, telling them what is happening around them, even if the baby doesn't understand you, because one day, they will understand what's going on! Well, that day has come for December. I say to her, "December, do you want to read a book with Mommy?" and she will walk over to the bookshelf, pick out a book, and then come sit in my lap and hand me the book she chose. OR I will say, "December, are you hungry? It's lunch time." She will stop what she's doing and walk over to her high chair, waiting for me to lift her in. OR I will say, "December, let's go outside. Where are your shoes?" She will search around until she's found them and then bring them to me. She'll hand one to me, then turn around and plop in my lap so I can put them on her feet. If she decides she wants to go outside, she'll bring me one of her shoes so that I will put it on her. When we're outside, I'll tell her, "December, hold my hand." She will lift up her little hand so she can grasp one of my fingers.

All of this amazes me. Her transition from baby to toddler is incredible. She has gone from a newborn, not knowing how to instruct her arms to move, to a toddler who is extremely mobile and spirited. I love watching this transition unfold daily.