From the Mouth of Mariella

Warning: the first 5 rows could get wet.

This one is basically the same, but who doesn't want to see it again? Ha ha.

Jacob and Scarlett

Jacob's first friend was Scarlett. They've known each other since they were about 8 months old. Now that they are both almost 3 years old, it feels like they've been friends forever! Scarlett came over to play one afternoon, and I got some cute pictures of them.

Here they are back in the day (Dec. 2007)...so cute!

Running trucks down the slide (the very same one as above, if you notice)

Climbing

Monkey see, monkey do

We were listening to some music, and they started doing "Ring Around the Rosie." I missed most of it, but I caught the end. Then they both needed to type on the keyboard. It was still cute!

It's nice to play nice

I just got these shots today. Jacob and Mariella are so cute when they play together. Someday they will deny it, but they just adore each other. No one makes Mariella smile and laugh as much as Jacob does (she's not doing it here, but it's because she's become wary of the camera after the past several days). He is also very encouraging to her, cheering her on whenever she rolls over. It's so fun to watch!

Lots and lots of pictures

Since I have a backlog of pictures from the past week, I'm going to just lump them all together for your viewing pleasure.

Enjoying some diaper time



Jacob having some quiet book time. For the curious, the book he is reading is called "I Love You, Stinky Face."



Mariella really likes tummy time these days, and she will roll or turn herself toward the toy she wants. Sometimes just pulling on the blanket makes the toys come to her.







Daddy is funny!

If you get too close, she'll pull your hair and try to eat it!



Doing her Pilates (working her abs by lifting her head off the floor). If you look closely, you can see her two teeth on the bottom.





Where's Jacob?

Jacob is already trying to instill his love of cars in his little sister

A night in a motel, and we all got sleep!

Lots to catch up on! Last weekend, we had two events with family in Iowa. This meant that we were going to spend a night in a motel for the first time since becoming a family of four. We were a bit worried how much sleep any of us would get, but decided to set very low expectations and hope for the best. As it turned out, it went much better than we thought it would. Both kids went to bed later than usual (especially Jacob--he didn't wind down until after 10) and were up before 7, but Jacob slept in the bed all night and Mariella only woke up a couple of times. Success!

Jacob liked the motel. There were stairs, a TRASH CAN OUTSIDE (!), a pool, and video games. There was also a fridge in our room and he was very interested in opening and closing it. He also reported how many waters and pops were in it. Several times. On Sunday morning, he and Daddy went for a little swim. I think they both had fun. Jacob also surprised us by eating nearly an entire apple for breakfast. He's eaten applesauce and apple slices, but he's never taken bites from a whole apple. Just when we think we have him figured out...

Saturday was a baby shower for my cousin Eric and his wife Abbie. They had a baby boy in May, and this was the first chance for most of the extended family to meet him. He is a very sweet little guy, and it made me realize that Mariella is mostly past the really snuggly stage. Sunday was the Kuehn family reunion. We did our best to visit with as many people as possible, though chasing Jacob around the park made it challenging.

Mariella getting some snuggle time with great-grandma Kuehn (she reserves most of her snuggles for grandparents these days)

Then it was great-grandpa's turn

Eric and Mariella

Robyn and Benjamin

Mommies and babies!

And now for a bunch of pictures of Jacob playing in the sand. I was trying out different settings on our camera, and I think some turned out better than others, but he still looks cute in them.





Making sand castles with Kyle. Jacob was Kyle's little buddy all weekend.

Big news from both kids

I can't believe I'm actually typing this, but Mariella has a tooth. I just noticed it earlier this evening when I was getting ready to feed her. I've been checking almost every day, just because she's had some bumps in her bottom gums for several weeks. I really didn't expect to see one pop through already. Now that this one is in, I think the second one is right behind it. It's white, but I can't feel it yet. UPDATE 7/15 The second tooth broke through today.

I don't know who she thinks she is, but between all this rolling/scooting, trying to sit up, and now a tooth, I have great fear that she will be a determined early walker. She's definitely trying to be a big girl. I'd settle for sleeping a little longer between feedings at night, if she wants to grow up!

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In Jacob's news, I'm not sure he wants me posting this on the internet but he wore underwear for half the day today! I decided to experiment because he just isn't bothered by a wet pull-up. I explained to him that he would get wet if he peed in the underwear, and about a half hour after putting them on, he did. He definitely didn't like it. So I cleaned up and got him a new pair, and after that he stayed dry for the next few hours! One time he told me he had to go, the rest of the time I was just setting the timer and he went when it beeped. For the afternoon, he opted for a diaper. That was OK, because he did great and I know we can try it more often at home now. Yay Jacob!

"Don't pee on Mary"

Good advice for everyone. Jacob has been working hard today on using the potty. When he wears his pull ups, we tell him to try not to pee on Diego (the character on them). He was playing this morning, and started looking around and telling me all the things we shouldn't pee on. Included in his list were the lamp, the ceiling, the window, and his baby sister. Now if we could just get him to not SIT on her.

I should add that he has not peed on any of these things, thankfully. Yet.

Playing and playing

Mariella lights up anytime Jacob is around. If she can hear him in the morning, she won't eat until she sees him.

He also makes her laugh

Catching her breath after all that laughing

Playing in the crib, and showing her newest move: lifting her head and shoulders, trying to sit up. Or maybe trying to tone her abs. She doesn't much care for being on her back anymore. She has decided to sleep on her side most of the time, and when she's on the floor she's usually on her tummy.

Chewing on her toes can only be done on her back, though.





More playing together. Mariella was taking a brief rest from pushing up.

She rolled off the blanket and found a rattle

Doing her hand clasp thing again

4th of July

Somehow over the past few years, our 4th of July plans have come to include a trip to Canterbury Park. Jacob has gone there 2 out of 3 summers. We did come home with both kids, even though it was tempting to wager them on a horse race since they had spent the last several nights keeping us awake (expected of Mariella, not so much from Jacob). We got free hot dogs, a nice hard rain shower, and saw exactly one horse race and one "weiner dog" race. Jacob wasn't very excited to stand around waiting for the race to begin, and he was usually entertained by the playground when the post times came around.

We didn't see any fireworks this year again. Both kids badly needed sleep. So did the parents.

Mariella found Grandpa S. at Canterbury. What a lucky girl! She was ready to watch the races with her big hat.

Jacob had his first pony ride! We couldn't believe he actually did it.

He went around almost 2 of the 3 laps before diving off the pony with no warning. Good thing Daddy was there to catch him!

This is what he spent most of his time doing...

Watch him slide down!





It might have been a good idea to keep the hat on, but what does Mommy know?

The next morning, we packed a picnic lunch and went to one of our favorite parks. Jacob kept coming back for one bite of sandwich or chip and then ran off to play on the slides or at the splash pad (lots of sprinklers). I was so busy keeping an eye on him that this was the only picture I took.