The wisdom of two-year-olds and other updates

"You are just like Mommy", Benjamin Meyer stated to his Aunt Kaethe.

We're not exactly sure what he meant by that (the hair color? the age? the fact that they have been friends since first grade?), but it was very true and even more adorable!


Of course, this is also the kid that was recently quoted with saying "What's that noise? I don't hear anything".

Anyway, we had a wonderful visit a few weekends ago with the Meyer family of Kilmanagh, MI. Amalia finally had a chance to meet them and both families relaxed over good food, coffee, and wine.



Amalia LOVED playing with Ben and Timmy and also had the opportunity to hear Uncle Jonathan preach a sermon and Aunt Ruth play the organ.


THEN...last weekend, Aunt Kara came for a much-anticipated visit.


Mali enjoyed modeling a Chicago Bears cheerleading outfit (she's such a bandwagon fan!), going to a Halloween party at her friend Brendan's, and being generally spoiled by her aunt. She did, however, miss out on dinner celebrating her Mommy and Daddy's fifth anniversary, due to her bedtime. We definitely recommend Nakama Japanese steakhouse for such events--and a certain surprise made this one even better. (More on that in the future...)

Click here for pictures from these weekends.

Countdown!

One
week
until
Halloween!

Surprise pictures

In the process of de-cluttering the other day, we found a disposable camera that was so old we had no idea what was on it. Our best guess was from our friends' JR and Amanda Yingst's wedding, two years ago. Well, that was wrong and here are some of the pictures. Any guesses on what event this was? One clue--it was 5+ years ago!

Grandparents are fun!

But now it's back to just boring Mommy and Daddy at home.

Here are pictures from the past two weekends of spoiling!

Book recommendations...

Here are a few of our current favorites:

I first read this when I was pregnant, and it moved me to tears (then again, so did many things those days). The basic premise of "attachment parenting" is that infants are learning to trust or mistrust and a parent's role is to watch their cues and respond appropriately. Dr. Sears, the primary author (along with his wife) believe that creating this environment for children allows them to be appropriately prepared for independence later in life. We both feel that we were parented this way and are grateful for it. We followed the chapters on breast-feeding and after-birth bonding to the letter and Mali did great with both of them. "Baby-wearing", aka the use of a sling, has not been nearly as helpful, however.
If "attachment parenting" is one camp, then Dr. Ferber is definitely in the other, or at least that it was what extreme followers on either side will tell you. However, I think they actually have much in common, and I thank Dr. Ferber every time Mali goes down for her nap (which is currently three times a day, on least somewhat of a schedule!!!)
I received this as a shower gift and finally got around to reading it last weekend when we were all sick. Everyone knows that it's important to read to children, but this book explains questions like what books, what ages, and why exactly it is so important. Did you know that "Goodnight Moon" contains every sound in the English language?" This almost made me want to wake Mali up and read to her. But that would have interfered with her nap schedule.

The same woman who gave us the Read-Aloud Handbook also recommended "Milk, Money, Madness". Full disclosure--I was a formula-fed baby and think I turned out pretty well (maybe as result of attachment parenting?). However, all three of us are really happy with the decision to breast-feed Mali. This book describes itself as a "why-to" as opposed to a "how-to". I read it during nursing and it is a great combination of being easy-to-read but very thought-provoking. I would definitely recommend it to anyone considering breast-feeding. It would be wonderful for the first few days when everything seems overwhelming at first.

Mali's personal bedtime recommendation. The line "Time for bed little snake, little snake. Good gracious me, you're still awake!" is read numerous times in our house. We hope both Dr. Sears and Dr. Ferber would approve.