Recently

Recently, Gretchen enjoys clapping and hissing through her teeth:

Recently, Rooke has enjoyed playing with his trains in his room.  He doesn't want to use the tracks, but prefers to wheel his trains around on his bed.  The trains have conversations which move between normal dialouge to that straight from any number of the Thomas the Train books we frequently read. 

Walking

We've enjoyed some amazing weather this week by putting our legs (and stroller) to good use on several lovely walks.  After moving to Seattle, my mom gave me a book called "Take a Walk" that maps out 100 walks through Seattle and the surrounding areas.  After doing this trail, there is only one walk left for us to check out within city limits.  Ryan ran there and I drove with the kids to meet him.  Rooke kept saying "We're in the jungle!" 

 

Giving the trees a little "water" - his first nature potty experience!

On another day, we ventured out to walk a few errands, but got a bit distracted at the Faire Gallery Cafe where I was told they sell Nutella Hot Chocolate.  We bought one to share and it so delicious we should have gone back for more!

We made a stop at the Digger Park, so named by my son for its sand pit full of diggers and such.  

"No hands!"

"What, Dad?  White pants?  New shoes?  What did you say?"

 

She loved feeling the sand in her fingers

  

And speaking of walking, Gretchen wishes she could!

 

Nine Months

Our Baby Girl is nine months old today! We haven't had her nine-month checkup yet, so I don't have her "stats", but who she is is more important than how much she weighs. Gretchen Ruth is our happy girl. She's active, curious, clings to Mommy, easily excited, not afraid or cautious and just plain happy. She loves her big brother, but has learned that a dramatic response to his rough play will get her some quick cuddles! She has lots of great expressions and little babbles and really likes walking while holding onto fingers. She's starting to enjoy reading and cracks up most while playing with her daddy. Her top teeth have almost poked through and the baldness is fading a bit. And, yes, it's red! We love little Gretch and love God more for allowing her be a part of our family!

The Girl's Trip

Gretchen and I were so thankful to have our first girl's trip! It was a doubly delightful girl's trip because my parents had enough miles to get a ticket for both my sister and I to fly with both our girls and visit them while they were briefly in the states. We definitely missed the boys, but stayed busy with family and fun. We decided on the way home that a girl's trip would be an annual thing for us. Aubyn & Evelynn, you are always invited to join us. I love girl time!

Gretchen did great on the flights, but didn't sleep much and crashed in the car after we were picked up at the airport. She cuddled with her new blanket from KayeK.

Gretchen hasn't been as much of a reader as Rooke was by this point, but she was certainly interested in books during our trip. I think it had something to do with missing a little distraction named Rooke!

There are four generations in this picture! Cuppies & Joe is a must if you are in the OKC area.

I was thrilled to visit with a dear college friend, Elizabeth. She is responsible for the amazing cupcake I devoured.

Gretchen was super excited to see Rooke and Daddy on Skype! As soon as Rooke and Gretchen saw each other, they both lit up! Rooke started talking in a high-pitched "baby" voice saying hi to his sister. And Gretchen, as you can see, was totally entertained.

Lots of snuggle time with KayeK and Big Daddy

One of my efforts to be a fun auntie . . . painting nails with my adorable niece!

We even got to enjoy the hotel pool a bit. A girl's trip isn't complete without a little sunning!

Grammy Deb even drove down to visit one day!

We had a fantastic week and were looking forward to returning to the boys after the fun was over. Thank you, Mom and Dad, for the ticket!

Mr. Wonderful

I have some good news to share. I try not to write too much on my posts and stick to sharing pictures, but this one deserves a bit more verbiage . . .

Rooke is potty trained!!
It gets better . . .

RYAN potty trained him without any help!!!!!
It gets better . . .

Ryan potty trained Rooke while Gretchen and I were out of town!!!!!!!!!

Back off, ladies. He's mine. Although, now that you mention it - for a minimal fee I'd be willing to hire out my amazing potty-training-husband (solely for potty training purposes, of course). Did I mention he's irresistibly good looking?! Hmmm . . . Back to the good news:

Gretchen and I enjoyed our first (of many) girl's trip last week. Several weeks prior to our trip, Ryan offered to potty train Rooke while we were gone. I was shocked, to say the least, and also a bit amused. Not completely convinced that he was serious, I said, "great!" and moved on. The weekend before we left, he said I needed to give him some tips and pointers about how to potty train.
"Seriously? You're seriously going to potty train him while we're gone?"
"It's time. Just think about the last dirty diaper you changed. We're throwing away his diapers the day after you leave. It has to happen"
So off the girls went for a week of fun while the boys stayed home to bond over bodily functions.

Ryan waited one day so he and Rooke could freely play together and then went all out. They "threw" the diapers away and Rooke learned how to use the potty. He'd never successfully used the toilet up to that point, but that didn't stop Ryan. We're on day 8 of no diapers and he's only had 3 accidents. That's right. I'm bragging about my son's ability to use the toilet, but only because I had NOTHING to do with it. I take that back. I made the "potty chart". Markers and a ruler. That was the extent of my contribution.

Rooke is so proud of himself. And since you've read this far and we've somewhat broken the ice on talking about potty stuff, here are a few funnies from the past week:

Rooke walked in on Ryan going to the bathroom:
"Daddy, what are you doing?"
"Going poo poo in the potty."
"Oh - that's GrrrEAT!!"
"Do you want to help me flush?"
"Sure! Oh, Daddy. I'm so proud of you."

Rooke walked in on me going to the bathroom:
"Mommy, do you have a pee pee?"
"Nope. Boys have pee pees. I'm a girl."
"You're not a girl. You're a mommy!"

A TWO-year-old gets TWO stickers on his SECOND potty chart for going number TWO!! He was pretty excited!

Happenings

This bunch of Paynes had quite the week, but more on that later. Here's a few random pictures I've been wanting to post . . .

Visions of pink cupckaes were enough to make this guy lick his lips at our friend's first birthday party.

Happy Birthday, Saisha! Hugs (or grabs) for the birthday girl:

She's still into her brother's cars and trucks

Rooke wants to be just like his dad. I'm ok with that. (the lid is on!)

He can be sweet

Rooke decided that Gretchen needed ALL the toys to play with. He literally piled every toy in the living room in front of her.

Maybe it was so he could climb into the toy box.

On a separate occasion, he thought she would enjoy all of his cars and trucks for dessert.

He's not always so thoughtful towards his sister, but these pictures help me remember that even on days like today - one of those days - Rooke can be sweet. On Sunday, I picked up Gretchen from the nursery before getting Rooke and learned how sweet he really is. The baby and toddler rooms are connected by a single door. At one point, Gretchen was crying. Hearing her, Rooke walked into the baby room and announced, "I need to give Gretchen a kiss." Upon seeing him, she immediately stopped crying and smiled at his kiss, only to resume her screaming when he walked away. He did this two more times, trying to help her calm down, which she eventually did. I'm grateful for my little man who is learning how to love his sister well.

Blackberries

We spent yesterday morning walking through the peaceful Washington Park Arboretum. The weather was perfect, the blackberries were ripe, and the kids did great.


I rarely leave the house without Cheerios so, although we were (again) without bread to feed the crazy amount of ducks in this pond, they didn't seem to mind snacking on the cereal.

Taking a little break on the walk.

Mmmmm . . . blackberries

Rooke did a great job picking berries until a bush jumped out, attacked him, and pulled him down to the ground on top of a thick branch of thorns. Ouch! Daddy was checking to make sure there weren't any thorns left in his pants.

Showing off the battle wound on his hand.

But eating a few more berries made everything ok and we were back on our walk.

The trail opens up to the water, and just at the right time for a picnic.

Mid-clap . . . she's really into clapping these days.

My husband was the best blackberry picker. He was motivated by thoughts of baked berry goods! To see what we did with some of our yummy berries, go here.