Sentences
I was asked the other day how Paulchen is doing with sentences.  Well, he just did a perfect one today.  Ava has an awful habit of eatin paper and Paulchen knows it's wrong.  As we were walking by her, he pointed to her and said, "Ava, paper in her mouth".  He used exactly those words.  I was so impressed that he even understood the useage of "her".  What a bright boy.

TURTLES!!!

Paulchen is obsessed with turtles.  They're his favorite animal and he loves anything with turtles.  I cross-stitched a little turtle on one of his t-shirts and he loves it.

Well, yesterday our family made a run to another base and we walked through the toy store there.  Paul poked through an animal bin and found a realistic looking turtle.  He bought it for Paulchen right away.  Even though Christmas is next month, we weren't to wait, he wanted his son to have the turtle right away.

Paulchen loves the little turtle.  It's smaller than his best bud Cruiser, his first stuffed turtle.  He hald it on the palm of his hand and walked all over with it.  He also had it walking across the car window on the way home.

Today was even crazier.  Again as a family we went to the Toys R Us just outside of Darmstadt.  As we were finishing wandering around, I caught sight of a large stuffed turtle.  I pulled Paul over and showed him.  He immediately asked how much and when I told him 20 Euros, he told me to get it.  He showed it to Paulchen and at first, Paulchen couldn't figure out what it was, he had never seen a turtle so large.  I pulled back so he could see the whole toy better and Paulchen's whole face lit up.  He was so excited by the biggest turtle he had even seen.  So now that turtle has joined the ranks and Paulchen enjoys playing with them all.  I'm not kidding when I say the newest turtle is about the same size as Paulchen.

As for Ava, Paul asked me if there was a stuffed frog for her.  I found a cute, large one and she enjoys biting on it.

Formula Party

I was sitting at the computer today when I heard a bunch of giggling from the kitchen.  Both Paulchen and Ava were at it.  The problem was, they were giggling just a bit too much.  So much in fact, it began to sound suspicious.  I glanced over the kitchen counter and nearly fell over.  Just as I looked, Paulchen grabbed a handful of formula powder off the floor and threw it on Ava.  The two of them and the whole kitchen, were covered in formula powder.

It seems the large canister of formula powder I had, was left in Paulchen's reach and the half full canister became a play toy.  At least Ava was okay with it.  Last time something like this happened with the oatmeal, she was crying.

I sent Paulchen to his room, but then thought about how cute it all was.  I didn't call him back out, as I don't want to encourage this behavior, but I took Ava's photo.

Standing Tall and Happy Reunion

I just got home from Kingdom University.  It's an SCA event where we can take classes on different aspects of the Middle Ages.  It was a blast.  I took Ava with me and left the man at home.  She looked so adorable in her little outfit.  It was actually her brother's tunic, but since he doesn't get much chance to wear it, she might as well get some use out of it.  It was large on her, but very cute.  I also finished her little coif, a Medieval bonnet, for her.  She looked so sweet with her big brown eyes and cherub face surrounded by the bonnet.

True to such events with Ava, she was the center of attention.  Adults and children alike cooed over her and played with her.  It was really cute, as we slept on the top bunk of a bunk bed together.  Ava would grab hold of the edge and look over the side at the room, while bouncing around.  She loved being up so high on the bunk bed.

The big surprise was today, when I returned home.  All weekend she had grabbed onto objects and tried to stand.  She didn't quite make it, but would be on one knee and one foot.  Today however, she held onto her brother's walking/riding toy and pulled herself up completely.  SHE STOOD!!!  YAY!!!  I even caught a photo of it.  We are so impressed.  Actually, Paulchen didn't stand until he was about 10.5 months old.  Ava has now done it at only 8.25 months old.  A little over two months earlier.  We're certain it's because she wants to keep up with her big brother, but we're still very impressed.  We're expecting her to start walking soon, as Paulchen began not too long after he first stood.

It was also really cute coming home today.  The children had been apart all weekend, since I took only Ava to the event.  Once we came in the door, Paulchen was running around like a madman.  He acknowledged me for a minute and then focused all his attention on his sister.  Paul said our son had been asking about his sister all weekend.  It was so sweet and heart-warming to see how much he loves and missed his sister.

Quaker Oats and Stubble

Today I was absolutely stunned.  Granted, something like this has happened before, but on a much smaller scale.  One day, when I came out of the bathroom, Paulchen was eating shredded cheese.  Some of it was scattered on the floor and some of it was all over his sister.  So I wasn't sure if he tried to feed or just decorate his sister with the cheese.

Today was ten times worse.  I went to the bathroom and heard Ava crying.  I finished my business and came out to take care of her before I showered.  I found her on her back, in the kitchen.  Okay, that wasn't so bad.  But the kitchen was.  We had a 2/3 full container of Quaker oats in our pantry, which was now all over the floor.  AND HIS SISTER!!!  I don't think Ava ate any of the oats, so I shook her off and set her up with a bottle.  Then I spent about 15 minutes vaccuming the kitchen.

Now if that wasn't all for today, just as I was writing this passage, I looked over at Ava.  SHE HAD STUBBLE!!!  Now I may be crazy, but I'm pretty sure 8 month old girls cannot have 5 o'clock shadow.  It turns out she was gnawing on the small pumpkin Paulchen painted at playgroup and the water soluable paint (fortunately non-toxic) wiped all over her mouth.  I just wiped it all off, but at least that I got a photo of first.