Papa come home...

...because at about 6:30 pm, mama starts getting grumpy.

Tonight I was helping mama clean out the dishwasher and found a dull cheese spreader. I declared it "my knife" and insisted on cutting all my food. Luckily mama has a special kid knife that she let me use. I cut my hot dog but it was a little wiggly.

When mama helped it was a little easier. Then she let me cut up my pear all by myself.

After supper, we put puzzles together while Juner played with her toys. It was fun except mama got upset every time I screamed and threw my puzzle pieces in the air.

When June got tired of her baby toys, she headed top the best toy in the house- the light sensor night light. She's been warned about a half million times by everyone in the house that it is not a toy. Then she figured out how she could turn the light on by covering up the sensor in the front. She'll usually play with that for about 4 minutes before she goes back to trying to yank it out of the wall.

Bounce U- Juner.

This morning papa left for work very early because he was driving to Georgia to get a guest lecture at a colloquium at the University of Georgia (which is only 4.5 hours away). While papa's gone, we decided to live it up a bit.

Mama took us to a place called Bounce U. It's just a big room with a ton of inflatable slides, obstacle courses, and bounce rooms. (Think Fairview after-prom for kids.) Excuse the pictures. The light was bad, the kids were moving fast, and I kept grabbing the camera.

Henry spent most of the morning trying to get mama to go into the bounce rooms with him. Most of the slides were still a little too big for him to climb on his own. So since mama went in that meant I had to go in too. And I was not so pleased about that. I was tired and my nose was runny and I did not like bouncing or dodging balls that were being thrown by other kids. I think mama thought she would just send Henry in and sit on the sideline with me chatting up the other moms. If we go again, she said she would bring a stroller for me to sit in while she chases Henry.

Finally, Henry figured out that he could go up the big slide without any help, so he climbed it and went down it about 50 times.

We even got a video of him coming down. I can't wait until I'm big enough to slide myself.

Bounce U was such a big hit that Henry took a 3 hour nap and I'm still asleep after 3.5 hours. Mama was going to take a nap too, but she decided to be a little more productive. She said when papa left we'd live it up and eat starchy food all weekend. So she made chocolate cookies with a peanut butter center (like a buckeye cookie!). And we're having beef stroganoff with mushrooms for supper (woo hoo). And to make up for that, she said we can have pizza tomorrow.

She also made this funny wallet out of a orange juice carton.

She saw the pattern for this in FamilyFun magazine, and thought it was so cute that she even went out and bought rich people orange juice in a carton so she could make one.

Now we just have to figure out what we're going to do with a wallet made out of a juice carton! Thanks for the magazine subscription Aunt Elizabeth!

Thursday- Juner.

Today while Henry was at school. Mama and I went to the grocery store. Mama has decided to move on from the normal cans of fruit and has now stepped up to buying the 7 pound can of peaches. It's much cheaper this way and we can go through a can in less than a week between the 4 of us. While mama was unpacking the groceries, I spent some time going through my favorite drawer.

Yes! Elton John is my favorite!

Henry has been worried about me getting to his toys, so mama set him up behind the chair. Then they set up things so I couldn't get through. So far, the play table keeps me occupied enough that I don't whine too much about not getting to Henry's train. Little does Bubba know that when he was still asleep this afternoon, I snuck in and caused a huge train accident.

Tonight we lured Henry into the bathtub with the promise of opening up the new soap paint. He had a good time lathering himself up.

He even painted me a bi until he decided to put makeup on me and painted my eye blue. I was not very happy.

He and mama had a great time mixing colors. By the time mama put the paints away the bathwater was a lovely shade of gray, but there were lots of bubbles.

Mama thinks it's very funny that I refuse to hold a bottle, but I have no problem whatsoever filling up a cup and guzzling as much bathwater as possible before she takes it away.

That's the good stuff.

Mama told Henry that he had 2 minutes to play before it was time to wash up, but he told her he was too busy with his work. Tonight his work involved trickling water into a larger cup in the hopes of collecting all the bubbles.

This afternoon we were very pleased to hear the loudspeaker over at the soccer field across the street. Mama took us over and we were introduced to our very first winter track meet. We're not quite sure the difference between winter and spring track, but we think the races are shorter, as we watch many 55 yard sprints. As a former distance runner, mama tried to explain to Henry the nuances of long distance relays, but he was more interested in the hurdlers and high jumpers. He was worried that the high jumpers were hurting themselves when they fell down on the big blue pillow. He was speechless when he saw the pole vaulters. We thought it was funny how you could immediately tell how good a runner was based on their uniform. The Tabor girls relays wore long tights and slick little tops and easily beat a few boys teams in the 4x800 (they ran boys and girls together-genius). The Tabor boys team, on the other hand, wore long baggy shorts and loose tops and looked oddly like like how we pictured Grandpa Seibert when he ran track (about 6'2" and 130 pounds). They didn't do so well in the race. Mama cheered most for them because she remembers how awful it was to run the 2 mile race at a track meet and not be very good at it. The best runner we saw, though, wore a shorts singlet and he won the 55 meter dash easily by 3 seconds. We were really impressed and think he's probably part of a state winning team.

The track meet was fun but both Henry and I agreed it was not as exciting as a football or soccer game. Plus, they don't open the concession stand at track meets. When we said that, mama got huffy and said that it was because everyone loves the football team and no one recognized the track or cross country team for all the hard work. She then spent the rest of the afternoon grumbling about football players and how we'll learn when we realize we've inherited her athletic prowess and get cut from the volleyball team in 7th grade.

Pancake night- Henro.

Tonight, we decided to take it easy and make eggs and pancakes for supper (plus mama fell asleep during WordGirl, so she needed something quick).

I pulled out my apron and helped whip up the batter. Mama was very pleased she decided to drop the $1.40 on real pancake batter instead of trying to make her own pancakes from scratch. They turned out much better and extra fluffier. I take after my mother and had to sample the batter before we cooked the pancakes.

Then it was my job to time the eggs. Mama said I had to watch my timer very carefully so she knew when to flip them.

Since we took down the Christmas decorations, we were able to put up our new lamp. Like Grandpa Seibert, mama likes to see her food and thinks the new lamp really lights up the room. There's so much light that a few cars decided to park on the table runner.

11 months old-mama.

Today June is 11 months old.

She's recently come down with another cold, which although not as severe as the last, has left us all with the lasting impression of snot on our shoulders.

A couple notable accomplishments to note: I noticed today that June has mastered the "pincer," or can pick up things with her forefinger and thumb instead of shoveling food into her mouth as fast as she can. She's also enjoys putting things in and taking things out of boxes. It keeps her occupied for a good time and is especially useful when I'm trying to get supper ready and June is soooo hungry right now.

Finally, June can crawl and climb very quickly. We've had to become vigilant with the baby gates to prevent any accidents, because once June takes off, you got to move fast to stop her. Tonight we practiced sliding back down the stairs. Not as fun as crawling up.

And a few things that June doesn't do. First, she won't grow any teeth. June had 2 teeth when she was 5 and a half months old. And she still only has 2 teeth. She also refuses to walk with her walker. She won't even stand behind it. So we're going to have to get the cattle prod out and turn it up high if she's going to walk before her birthday.

On the subject of birthdays, Henry decided yesterday that since he shared a birthday with Natalie and Oliver, he would also like to share a birthday with June. How generous. When I told him that June already shares a birthday with Uncle Jim, he was not so pleased.

North Carolina Transportation Museum-Henry.

Yesterday when I woke up, mama and papa had a big surprise! We were going to visit the train museum!

We packed our lunch and loaded up the van to head to Spencer, the home of the North Carolina Transportation Museum. The first item on the agenda- ride an old passenger train.

Mama and Juner were very exited for the big train ride. Maybe it's because scenes from the movie Leatherheads were filmed on this train. George Clooney and Jim from the Office? That's enough to make anyone smile.

Of course we think June is beautiful, but we're also aware that kids go trough awkward stages (mama's started at 7 and hasn't let up yet). We tried to figure out what was going on with June and we realized her hair is pretty much a disaster. But in an effort to encourage certain feminine aspects, mama and papa decided to let it grow for a while. So now they pull it back with hair clips. Mama thinks these are kind of fussy, but they get the job done.

We boarded the train and were pleased to see that we weren't the only kids dressed in costume. Juner wore my old conductor overalls and mama told me I could only ride the train if I wore my conductor hat.

As werode the train through the grounds, mama and Juner were very interested to hear about the historic buildings. Some were always here, others were purchased and moved to the site.

I was happy looking out the window at the little town of Spencer.

Soon, June got tired of paying attention and decided to play with papa for a while.

Mama waited until after she got this shot to remind me to keep my mouth off of things.

The town of Spencer was lucky enough to become a repair hub for the railroad because it lays exactly halfway between Atlanta and Washington DC.

Mama's favorite part of the whole complex was the motto on the workshop. An admirable logo for anyone, she says. She wants to get this picture blown up and hang it by the front door.

Another remarkable landmark is the largest operating roundtable in the United States. It turns train engines so that they can park in any of the 37 stalls in the Round house. It's like a big parking garage for trains.

We got to ride the turntable then head into the Round House. About 10 of the bays are still used to restore trains. The rest of the building houses some great exhibits. We didn't get see all of them in detail because by that time we were all overdue for naps.

But we did make it a point to spend time at this great model train exhibit. It's got everything, including a tunnel and a bridge.

We had a great time and papa says we can come back again.

Finally- Junebug.

It's been a quiet week here in Winston Salem.

My appetite has returned to normal- ravenous. And I continue to eat anything I can get my hands on. I got my first shot at pasta (remember we're starch-free here) and she was impressed at my ability to make a mess of it, and even love the canned tomatoes and broccoli that were part of the dish. Of course, Henry refused to eat anything that had different food touching.

We've always turned our noses up at magazines that have cute clever ways to make kids' food look like animals or smiley faces. Kids should eat food because they're lucky to have parents who feed them good food. (And then they usually launch into some long story about in their day and how rough they had it.) But tonight, mama was making bruschetta and offered Henry an onion with under the guise that it was a dinosaur tooth. And believe it or not, he actually ate it. That's about all he ate, but we still count it as a victory. He is getting better about trying one bite of food before declaring that he doesn't like it, which is also a small victory. Normally he announces 10 minutes before supper is served that he does not like what mama is making, even though he has no idea what it is. So it looks like mama may now have to take on the task of trying to make every meal cute and clever and somehow convince Henry that it is somehow made out of dinosaurs.

Since we cleaned out the toys, I've had to go searching for new ways to amuse myself (the remaining 97,000 toys just aren't enough). So I head to my favorite place, the kitchen drawers. I'm finally getting enough control of myself that I don't accidentally slam my fingers in the drawer every time I got it open.

I kept myself occupied for a good 40 minutes pulling out old CDs and clothes pins.

Mama felt like she'd been dressing my sensibly for far too long and deserved a little liberty. In celebration of the 60 degree day we had, she pulled out a summer dress to layer over my jeans. This one is courtesy of the vintage Becky Seibert collection and mama declard the look to be too cute.

Since I'm always wearing hair barrettes now, Henry wanted in on the action. So mama let him wear mine. Sure looks good.

On this particular night, mama let Henry stay up late and play Candy Land. Henry caught on pretty quickly although his main concern was sorting and perfectly stacking the cards in the discard pile. Mama didn't think he cared for it much until she overheard him explaining the rules in great detail to Mister Paul when he and Miss Susan came to visit.

Sowhen Henry stays up late to play games, so you think I just go to bed like a good girl? Absolutely not. At night, I don't want to go to sleep unless my Bubba is in the room with me. Mama and Papa have been trying to keep henry up a little later to play a game with little pieces or work on letters, but I have not been very cooperative. Normally, I just sit in my bed and cry until they bring him in. Then we both sit up for about an hour until we go to sleep. Henry reads his books (his new favorites are the little catalogs that come inside toys and show all the different wasys lincoln logs can be used). And while henry reads I stand in my bed and try my hardest to get his attention. He normally ignores me, but sometimes plays with my and shines his flashlight in my direction. Mama didn't realize how helpful our relationship was until this morning she found the step stool pulled up next to my bed. She didn't know that Henry retrieves my nuk an blankie when I drop them on the floor and turns on my music box when I can't sleep. That explains why there's never any crying when we're up so long.

I love being around my brother so much that I woke up at 4 am last night and spent 10 minutes yelling "Bub-bub-bub-a" to try to get him to wake up and play with me. when that didn't work, I switched to "Da-da-da-da." Papa didn't wake up either. No use in calling for mama. I already got what I wanted from her (my very early morning nursing) and she would only have come in and told me to go back to lseep if I had called for her. All business all the time.

Here's another video of my mad dancing skills. I really love my Intellitainer.

Henry also got into the music and his train showed off its best dance moves.

One more story from this week. One of the favorite thrifty things in the Turner house is to buy the dollar frosty coupon book from Wendy's at Halloween. That gives us at least three visits of mini frosties at than ten cents a pop. We used up our last coupons this week and when I was done mooching off papa's ice cream, I was still hungry for more. And unprompted, my wonderful big brother fed me the rest of his frosty. Now I don't know about you, but in our family, sharing your own ice cream is about the highest act of love you can bestow upon someone. (Mama actually saved hers until after bedtime so she didn't have to share it with anyone. That's how big a deal it is.) Mama and papa were pretty pleased with Buster for being so nice to his little sister.

Barack and Roll- Juner.

Despite the fact that we think the whole inauguration is a bit much (especially considering we're in a recession), we couldn't resist turning on the TV to see how it was going. Mama and papa couldn't watch much because as soon as things got started Henry knocked over a big cup of tv (behind the couch!) and I pulled all the DVDs out from under the tv and pooped. Once everything calmed down, we did watch a little and Henry surprised everyone by recognizing many landmarks from around Washington DC.

But the big news in the Triad was the huge snow storm. We got almost an inch, which was enough to close down town. Seriously, everything was canceled, included all schools, most businesses and even Wake Forest.

We were excited to get outside and enjoy the winter before it melted. When we got outside, we found some boys sledding on the side of our building. They were really nice to Henry and even formed a "Thomas the Tank Engine" line down the hill. Luckily there were leaves under the dusting of snow to keep the boys going fast.

Mama and Henry headed down the street to see if the swimming cool had any snow (it did). Then they went down to check out the soccer field (also covered).

We give North Carolina a hard time for overreacting to the snow, but it does stay pretty warm here so when it does snow, it gets really icy. And mama discovered that when they crossed the street and Henry hit the pavement hard and she almost did too.

Henry must have remembered how much he misses Wisconsin, because when they got back home after almost an hour outside, Henry chose to stay outside and shovel snow with his bulldozer. He stayed outside for another half hour before he asked to come in.

An update on the potty training: Tonight papa loaded Henry up with water and juice and sat him on the potty for an hour and a half. Eventually, he accidentally peed in the potty. So mama and papa gave him new tattoos! and a new matchbox car! and he even got to wear his new Thomas underpants. Unfortunately, before mama could get the camera to take a picture of the great success, Henry peed all over the floor. Sigh. Based on this, mama and papa have decided to give potty training a rest for a while. Not only is Henry not buying into it, mama is really losing hope too. Maybe next week will be better.

Happenings-mama.

Things are really changing around here. Henry is every day becoming more animated and clever.

While papa was working late, we decided to have a big starchy supper of blueberry pancakes. Henry was thrilled to help out with his new kids sized cooking tools from Aunt Molly and Uncle Michael.

We've also decided to give potty training a shot. Henry hasn't been averse to sitting on his potty, but let's just say nothing has happened. I actually think he's going to make himself sick because he's holding so much in, so to speak. I don't think he wants to do it except for we work on sticker books while he sits on the potty and he gets a new tattoo when he sits. I think we might give it a rest for a couple weeks since he doesn't seem to be too interested. Even though we have multiple packs of matchbox cars sitting around the bathroom, promised to be open if he just pees once. We even have an elaborate sticker chart with an awesome grand reward of his new GeoTrax plane set and the new Loopy Loco plane we bought at the store.

June is also changing at a rapid pace. Although good-natured and eager to please, she is proving to be a much bigger hassle than Henry ever was. Henry was a very task oriented baby and toddler who would spend long periods of time playing with toys and generally keeping out of trouble. June is a little more mischievous. She appears to know the rules because she always looks over her shoulder with a grin as she prepares to knock over a trash can or try to yank a cord out of a socket. Even as a toddler, Henry could be left alone in our room while one of us took a shower and you could trust that he wouldn't get into trouble in the while. June, on the other hand, can't be trusted. You can bet she will first rip apart any piece of paper she can find and stuff it in her mouth. When she realizes that you're in the bathroom, she'll spend some time trying to get the toilet bowl open and reach inside (we may actually have to invest in toilet locks for this one). Eventually she'll scoot behind the shower curtain and spend the rest of your shower laughing at you (works wonders for your self esteem) and trying to knock things into the water. Our tubs are much lower than standard tubs, so already June is tall enough lunge over the edge in pursuit of any bottle she can reach. So you spend about 10 percent of your time actually washing up and the rest of your time trying to catch June before she cracks her skull diving head first into the tub.


But despite the health hazards, we're really enjoying the differences in raising a girl. Whoever tells you there's not a difference between boys and girls is lying. Henry could really care less about people pleasing and would rather spend all his time parking cars. June spends all her time seeking attention and approval. You already know she's going to be a huge show-off, as you can see in the video of her dancing to the music from Henry's racecar. At this age, Henry was deathly afraid of strangers and even the parents of the kids at Miss Dina's house (whom he saw every single day). Because it was the dead of a Wisconsin winter, we realized that Henry probably wen weeks without being out in public, so we would actually go to the mall to watch people walk around to try to desensitize him. June, while she prefers her mama, will pretty much take anyone else who is willing to give her attention.

So much for being prepared for the second kid...