Stories by Staley

Today Staley was making pictures with stickers on paper.  After she had finished, she told me that the stickers made a story and asked me to write the stories for her.  She dictated and I transcribed (word for word) her stories for her.  I loved them!  The flow of the story, her use of language, her descriptions...  I didn't want to forget them or lose them over time, so I'm documenting them here.

Friends are the Name of Friendship
by Staley

"Hooray!"  said Anna one winter morning.  "Today we are going to meet the big animals of Palace Pets."

Elsa chimed in, "Of course.  We would always do that."

Music hit Anna and Elsa's ears.  They knew the animals were coming.

When the big animals came, Lilac said, "I think there might be more animals coming."

There were more animals coming.  But the animal was small.  And Nora said, "It's just a small cat."

Kyli said, "Get it out of here."

And Anna and Elsa said, "No!  Don't shoo her away.  This is the home."

"Yes, this is the home, " thought Kyli.  "She can stay."

The End

The Story of Love
by Staley Sancken

Once upon a time there lived a mean witch, and she had an evil plan to do that morning, to capture the older of the two uni-brothers.  It was hard to find it because it was foggy.  But she finally caught it with her wand.  And when she did, she sang a happy song.  And it went like this:  "You're coming with me.  You're coming with me."  As she cackled it, the dancing fairy, Una, heard it and wanted to help.  She grabbed the witches leg with her arm up, and she bent her leg and her arm and slowly pulled the witch away from the older uni-brother. 

The End

Notice the 2 uni-brothers (unicorns), the witch, and the fairy.  Staley had also colored in the fog.

Valid Concerns

Today the girls and I were doing arts and crafts at the dining room table while Briggs took his morning nap.  Staley was working on a craft project involving small jewels and dropped several on the floor.  I said, "Oh!  Why do you think we'll need to be careful not to drop those little jewels on the floor?"  Staley responded, "Because Briggs might find them and put them in his mouth, and then I wouldn't have the jewels I need to finish my project."

Maybe not my first concern, but valid nonetheless.

Adelie Quote of the Day

The other night at dinner, we were discussing the treats that we were planning to make for Staley's birthday party.  Adelie said, "I will put on my baking hat.  And then I will put on my cupcake eating hat."

Generosity?

About a week after Christmas we acquired two big Barbie houses that our neighbors were getting rid of.  The girls were so excited!!  But I told the girls that we would only keep one and would give the other one away.

After a day of playing, I asked the girls which house they would like to keep.  Adelie replied, "I like them both."  I answered, "I know that they are both fun, but we are only going to keep one.  Which one do you want to keep and which one should we give away?"  Adelie thought for a second and then offered this suggestion:  "I like them both.  We could give away some other toys...like Briggy's cars."

I'm not sure being generous with other people's stuff is exactly the spirit of giving I was hoping for.

Ten Months

My Briggs is now 10 months old.  He's growing and changing and amazing me daily.  He now weighs around 17 lbs.  He's outgrowing his 6-9 month clothes, now mostly wearing his 6-12 and 12 month clothes and his size 3 diapers.  Briggs eats 3 meals a day, nurses 3 times, and takes 2 naps.  He sleeps for 11-12 hours at night.  He now has 4 teeth that we see often with his big smiles.

Love that smile!

Likes:  Briggs is still a happy little guy.  He loves being mobile and exploring his world.  Current favorite activities include emptying the Christmas card basket, opening and closing doors, removing books from the book shelf, digging through my purse, taking the DVDs off the shelf, and taking everything out of his toy box.  He also likes anything with wheels.  Briggs loves watching his sisters play, and likes to try to join in .  (Luckily, his sisters love to play with him too.)  He is still a bit of a Mama's boy, but will happily hang out with other people when I'm not in the same room.  Briggs enjoys reading books, especially ones with textures, sounds, and flaps.  He also likes music, baths, peek-a-boo, mirrors, and paper.  He's a great eater and eats almost everything we give him, but loves fruit, bread/rolls, waffles, pancakes, Puffs, and crackers.  (He would do well on an all-carb diet.  :))  He still loves that right thumb.

Emptying Mommy's purse is great fun.

Vroom, vroom, vroom

 

Dislikes:  Briggs will get fussy or clingy when he's tired.  He can be vocal when he's in his high chair without food on his tray.  Now that he's fully mobile, he doesn't get upset when people leave the room or when he's tired of his current play activity because he now is free to find something else to do.  So far, Briggs hasn't been a big fan of eggs.  He will eat pasta and vegetables, but they are not his favorites.

Skills:  Briggs is now fully mobile.  He crawls (quickly), kneels, and pulls to stand.  He's still not super-stable when standing holding onto things.  Briggs can press buttons, open and close doors, push his cars, roll a ball back and forth, turn pages, bang toys together, and pick up little things with his thumb and index finger (and then put those little things directly into his mouth.)  Briggs is now primarily eating table foods.  He finger feeds and holds his own cup.  He always takes off his hat and socks.  Briggs now consistently says 'mama' and 'dada', but is imitating a variety of other words including grandpa, uh-oh, amen, book, and no-no.  He signs 'more' and 'drink' and just started signing 'book' tonight.  He imitates 'moo' and will make the vroom-vroom sound when playing with his cars.  Briggs is understanding so much more.  He will shake his head 'no' when told 'no' or when he's about to do something he's not supposed to.  He plays peek-a-boo, waves, dances to music, kisses, plays 'so big', and has the best laugh.  Briggs just lights up my life!!

Playing peek-a-boo with the bathroom door

 

My big 10 month old!!

 

Honesty Isn't Always the Best Policy

The other day, Adelie and I were both washing our hands and we had this conversation:

Adelie:  "You have big hands."
Me:  "Yep.  My hands are bigger than yours."
Adelie:  (knowingly) "Because you're a grown up."
Me:  "That's right.  My hands are bigger because I'm a grown up and you're a kid."

(a few moments later)

Adelie:  "You have a big belly too."
Me:  "Do you think that's because I'm a grown up?"
Adelie:  "No.  I think it's because you eat too much and have a tummy ache."

New Year's Resolution #1:  Have a smaller belly
New Year's Resolution #2:  Teach my daughter when honesty might not be the best policy

Leaps and Bounds

Briggs will turn 10 months tomorrow.  CRAZY!!!  I always write a 10 month post, but Briggs has made so many changes just in the past week or two that I felt those changes needed their own post to highlight how my baby is currently growing and changing in leaps and bounds.

He's crawling.  Everywhere.  Fast.  And kneeling.  And pulling to stand.  And finding lots of little things on the floor to eat (like food under the dining room table, carpet fuzz, and even a dead ladybug.)  And getting into everything.  All with a big smile on his face.

He's super into anything with wheels.  It's amazing how crawling around while pushing a car is innate to little boys.  And he's even starting to make the 'vroom, vroom' sound while doing it.

He's starting to understand so much more.  He follows some simple commands, like 'come here.'  He will sign "more" and "drink".  He will shake his head 'no' when he is told 'no', or when he's about to do something he knows he's not supposed to.  He consistently says 'mama' and 'dada'.  He is imitating lots of sounds, and has imitated saying "grandpa", "uh-oh", "moo", and "amen" on multiple occasions.

It's crazy how much has changed over the past 10 months, and it's crazy how Briggs is still changing on a daily basis.  And not just little changes.  Leaps and bounds. 

Growing up so fast