Makeshift Story: Videos, please!

I know. I am going crazy with the posts. But these last couple of days with Juniper being so incredibly sick resulted in the very small silver lining of letting me sit for large portions of the day in the dark, and have really nothing else to do but catch up on blog stuff that I've been meaning to do for months. Namely (and really, you have no idea how long this takes unless you've done it yourself), the following videos. They are all montages, some of which have clips from as much as 8 months ago, but I finally feel as though I am current. HURRAH!

And in that spirit of being current:

Juniper

For those who have been following the sickness posts from the last couple of days, Juniper finally (FINALLY!) seems to be coming out of it. We took her to the doctor yesterday, and as it turns out, she has a raging double ear infection. She got some antibiotics, and within a few hours, the change was miraculous. She woke up from a nap, decided to get out of bed(!), walked downstairs by herself(!), and requested some soup broth with crackers(!). Then she proceeded to sit at the table with us for supper, engaged in conversation, and even led a group song composition about mermaids. Truly, it was a miraculous change. So I have every hope that she is completely on the upswing.

When she is not sick, Juniper is busy being a 4-year old. She reminds everyone how old she is whenever she gets the chance, because clearly being four is leagues more grown-up than three. She loves setting the table, and considers it her job. She also loves "helping" out in the kitchen - when I bake bread, she always kneads and then shapes her own tiny little loaf. When I make muffins, she does most of the measuring and pouring and mixing. When I cook supper, I try really hard to find a job she can do. Clearly, however, she has her limits - the other day, she asked if she could help with supper, and I suggested she peel the carrots.

"Oh, peeling carrots. I'm always peeling. Peeling, peeling, peeling. I need a rest sometimes, you know". And that was the end of that.

Linden

As you can see from the later videos in the montages, Linden has really begun to talk, which allows him to be incredibly opinionated and choosy about most everything.

Example:

Linden: "I go get water. Thirsty."

Tara: "Oh, Linden - why don't I get that for you?"

Linden: "NO! I DO IT!"

Tara: "Ok, but not too much"

(sound of water spilling)

Linden: "Uh oh! I CLEAN IT UP!"

Tara: (sighing) "OK, Linden. Please take that water to your red table"

Linden: "No, I drink in kitchen."

In fact, he has developed some of his own catch-phrases.

For instance, if someone exclaims over something, Linden will loudly and insistently yell "WHAT?" "WHAT?" "WHAT, mama?" (or, sometimes, "What happened?" with his arms out to the sides in a stereotypical quizzical shrug) Then, you'll say "oh, I bumped my head", or "oh, that water just spilled", he'll quickly reply, "OK. You be OK". (His equivalent of "there, there." No big deal." Quit complaining").

Or if someone is going somewhere, or has something he wants, he'll exclaim, "I come too too", or "I have one too too". Always too too. It is actually incredibly endearing, and I'll sometimes catch myself repeating it by accident. "Linden, I'm getting Juniper an apple. Would you like one too too?"

Then there are the zingy one-liners that come at you multiple times a day:

"I DO IT!"

"Be RIGHT back!"

"Wait a minute!"

We are also nudging him towards potty training, though he is not nearly as enthusiastic as Juniper was at this age. I think this is mostly because he cannot bear to sit down for more than 10 seconds at a time. Also, however, he just likes pooping in his diaper sometimes - to the point where he will blatantly lie about it.

Tara: (watching Linden stop what he's doing suddenly, lean over and start grunting) "Linden, do you have to poop?"

Linden: "NO! NO POOPING!"

Tara: "I can see that you're pooping. Would you like to go to the toilet?"

Linden: "No! All done pooping! All done!"

Tara: "Clearly you're not all done. Are you sure you don't want to go to the toilet?"

Linden: (stares off in the distance and pretends not to hear me)

-a few minutes later-

"All done! Change diaper!"

Sigh.

Anyway, here are those videos! I hope you enjoy them as much as we have been!