My Favorite Activity

This is what I like to do anytime I can run into the bathroom when it's open. I see everyone else doing it and it feels good on my teeth.

Just talking to my toothbrush.

Here I'm brushing my teeth...a few times.

Adelyn Sophia's 17th Month

Am I cute or what? Mommy says I am. She might be a little biased but she doesn't think so.

Daddy really likes this picture.

Morning is a great time to be outside!

I really like these bead things. They say I will probably like Madi Gras.

Bedtime Routine

My children have both gotten into the habbit of reading books before falling asleep. I'm loving it of course. Zachary takes about 25 books to bed well....give or take a few. Adelyn selects about 5. I kind of have to monitor to make sure she doesn't rip the pages of the soft page ones. Some of those are her favorites. She's in the phase right now where she doesn't want me to leave the room until she falls asleep (but not for nap time...who knows why....) so I sit in the rocking chair until she does. I've learned over time to let go of things I need to do and just enjoy the moments watching them read their books. In addition to reading, Adelyn also likes to rearrange her stuffed animals over and over. I don't remember Zachary doing that at her age but she sure enjoys it :) Maybe some night I'll get a picture to add to the post.

A Boy Version of Doll House

Dollhouse is a favorite game at our house. Of course each kid has their own version. Here is the Zachary version.

Kids Favorites

Just for us to remember years down the road, I thought I would include a favorites post of our children's favorite things at this time.

Zachary's Favorite:

• Color- blue, second favorite is pink
• Food- Pizza, berries, celery, carrots, popcorn and PBJ
• Pretend game- House, doll house, camping, acting out disney movies
• Books- Berenstain Bears
• Show- Busytown, Caillou, Curious George
• Songs- Here Comes Science by They Might Be Giants, Here Come the 123s, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, Veggie Tales, Polar Express
• Songs to sing to Adelyn- Itsy Bitsy Spider, Do You Know the Colors of the Rainbow (because he knows she likes these, ah so sweet)
• Toys- Cars, dollhouse stuff, duplos

Adelyn's Favorite

• Color-unsure
• Food- it changes often but currently blueberries, pizza, peanut butter, yogurt chicken nuggets, brocolli
• Books- Sesame Street, I'm a Helper, My First Signs, The Wheels on the Bus, Is Your Mama a Llama. Used to be Blue Hat Green Hat and Itsy Bitsy Spider
• Toy- slide, ball, dolls, books
• Activity- brushing teeth, sliding, unloading the dishwasher, helping with laundry by bringing me anything she sees.
• Songs- Old MacDonald, Itsy Bitsy Spider, Do You Know the Colors of the Rainbow, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse CD, Pat-a-cake Songs CD, Greg and Steve

The kids have grown so much inside and out this summer. It's amazing to think that their development has improved in the few months of summer.

At the beginning of the summer Zachary was telling me things like, when I asked him how the movie was, he said "It was fantastic!". He told my aunt the something was mysterical and he uses the word rediculous a lot.

While visiting my family in Louisiana he asked my grandmother why she had a hole in her neck.....uh, yeah...While driving back from Louisiana he told me to drive on the grass because we were in bumper to bumper traffic going down to one lane. Well he didn't know all the rules so it's a good idea if you're in a hurry! When we arrived at home both kids were ecstatic to see their daddy. I hadn't seen Adelyn ever smile so big. And when we walked in the house Zachary said, "I remember this place Mom!" Well I guess three weeks is a long time to be away :) He also told me that night that I smelled like baking soda. Kind of ironic.

We have been playing a lot of dollhouse, camping, and house this summer. He loves it. I've been using stuffed animals to get him to do things and teach him things like piano. It's amazing how differently he responds to an animal talking to him. A funny story about dollhouse is that one day we were playing and Zachary made his character play hockey on the roof. And then the mom, me, was suppose to go play with him. I then said, after they were done playing, let's go jump on the bed and Zachary made his character say, that's too dangerous". Ha.

He's also been practicing three letter words this past couple of months and he's learning to figure out putting the sounds together on his own. I'm so excited!! He's also in love with the Berenstain Bears now. He saved his money for 4 weeks and bought himself The Berenstain Bears Visit the Dentist.

Adelyn of course has changed a lot this summer. She has been saying Moo and oof oof (woof) since June. She pants like a dog whenever she sees one also. She has frequenly changed her mind about which foods are her favorites. She may have devoured grapes one day but the next she refuses them. At 16 months she figured out how to slide down the stairs on her tummy. Now at almost 18 months she tries to hold on to the posts and step down. She definitely needs some help though.

When Scott comes home there are now two little runners who dash for the garage door. "Dada, Dada, Dada" Adelyn repeats over and over. We've also been flying her to bed just like Zachary. Sometimes she puts her arms out in front of her. She tries to do gymnastics by herself. The other day when we stopped at Brenda's house on the way to the woodlands (Aug 22) she tried to jump off the arm of her couch. She also does the down dog but with her head too. And she loves it when I flip her around.

Adelyn loves to bring us stuff. Anything on the ground. She loves to help me with laundry so when she sees me in the laundry room she brings me any piece of clothing she can find. ah, melts my heart. She also is fascinated with the dishwasher and helps me with that also. I frantically try to grab all of the glass stuff before she does. Makes things go quicker :)

The other day I dropped something I was carrying and knew it but didn' stop to pick it up. Adelyn was reading herself a book in the rocker in their room. She put the book down, got off of it and brought me the object. So sweet! And then returned to her spot. It was sometime before Aug 15.

This week she has been carrying baby dolls around a lot more. In June we got her a tiny one from Target which she loved probably b/c it was perfect for her size. She now carries more of the other ones in the house, feeds them a bottle, and brushes their hair. They grow so fast!

This morning Zachary told Sandy he couldn't come watch a show with him because he didn't have a butt to sit on.

That's it for the Miller children update :)