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.

Posted by sportell0 at 2:24 PM CET

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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.

Posted by sportell0 at 12:22 PM CET

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Yesterday Ava started crawling finally.  Actually, it's more of a dragging, but it's a start.  She's been sliding around for a few weeks now and it's really cute.  But yesterday she moved her hands forward and then pulled her lower body forward as well.  She does this while she's on her knees, so it's just a matter of time before she's a pro at regular crawling.  I'm so proud of her.

Actually, I teased her a number of times to get her to crawl.  I'd place a toy in front of her that she wanted.  Then she'd start to move towards me and I'd gradually keep moving the toy away from her, so she kept moving closer.  She went for a good distance.  She also got frustrated at times when it was too dificult or odd for hre to pull herself, but she was persistant and went back to work after she threw her fits.  It was wonderful and I'm very proud of her.

I'm also very proud of Paulchen's accomplishment today.  We were counting in the car, as he likes to do that when we're driving sometimes.  After counting a few times in English, he tried to do it in Latin.  About a week or two ago, he was watching Dora the Explorer and mimicking the Spanish they spoke.  I actually am not fond of him learning Spanish, as we're in Germany and he should learn German.  Also, we're working on Latin, so I turned the Spanish numbers into Latin.

Today Paulchen started counting in Latin and I worked with him a little.  Like the problem he had in English, he likes to skip 7 and jump to 9.  After a few times through, he had it down perfect.  It was so cool to hear my little son counting to 10 in Latin.  He was also eager to count to 10 in German.  However he wasn't as adept, as he counted fine to 7 and then switched Latin and jumped to 10.  it was a wonderful effort though.

Posted by sportell0 at 8:40 PM MEST

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Well, it's been a bit since I last entered observations on our children, but I've much to say and will write again.  Ava is finally sitting up on her own.  For a while she's been sitting after we've positioned her.  But now she can do it on her own.  Paul called me at work today to tell me.  I'm so proud of her.  She doesn't do it much, but it's a start.

As for Paulchen, he's progressing nicely.  He can now count to 10 without getting caught up on the number 7.  He can also count objects.  Granted, they have to be lined up and he has to concentrate, otherwise he'll count the same object a few times.  But he's much better and very eager to learn.

Posted by sportell0 at 12:01 AM MEST

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I've written before about how Paulchen has tunred off the power to the answering machne and when it's back on, there's no message recorded.  He's also recorded his own message now.  We've had a number of confused messages left on our answering machine and even Paul has fallen prey to his son's message, making him very frustrated and confused in the process.

It seems Paulchen triggered the machine to record and you hear a lot of background noise and shuffling.  After a good 20-30 seconds, Paulchen comes on and says "Hmmm..."  Then the machine clicks out.  People have told us that it sounded like our son answered or our phone was on the fritz, but everything seemed normal to us.  Also, the phone was always properly in its holder, so Paulchen couldn't have moved it.  When I finally played the machine and heard the message, I was cracking up.  I left it and played it for Paul and he got a kick out of it too.  He was one of those who said Paulchen picked up the phone.  the funny thing was, this went on for a number of weeks, with us none the wiser.  That little twit. :-)

Posted by sportell0 at 8:16 PM MEST

Updated: Tuesday, October 24, 2006 8:24 PM MEST

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