15 Months

Sienna had her 15-month check up recently.  She is almost at the 10th percentile for body weight (meaning that 90% of other girls her age weigh more than she does).  She still eats a lot, so this puzzles us.  The pediatrician is not concerned, and it’s better than the 5th percentile that she was at during her 12-month check-up.Sienna loves to have her teeth brushed (though, as you can see above, she still only has 4!).  Every time she is taken in the bathroom to wash her hands or face she points to the cabinet wanting her toothbrush.

When she gets excited she starts shaking all over and often kicks her legs and feet. The nursery workers at church laugh at how she does this. Some of the things that get her excited are seeing a banana (which she loves to eat), getting ready to brush her teeth, going outside, the swing, bouncing up and down on the bed, seeing Mommy or Daddy after they’ve been gone.Ethan makes her laugh a lot (much more so than Mommy or Daddy do).  Course, he makes her cry more than we do too. :-)  One of the ways that he makes her laugh is when he makes a lot of noise (typically pounding something or dumping all of the kitchen toys out in the floor).  Sienna has definitely picked up things from Ethan such as pounding the kitchen with a hammer.This is her “push toy.”  We don’t have any, but this little chair works great.Sienna loves to look at books, play with balls, and play peek-a-boo.  She especially enjoys to put the basketball in the hoop.  She also enjoys stuffed animals, which Ethan never really got into (though, he is starting to get into it now, at age 3).

Random Things with Ethan

Ethan has been singing Jesus Loves Me sometimes.  Recently he started singing “Yes, Jesus is God, Yes, Jesus is God.” to the tune of Jesus Love Me.  Gary was very proud of his theological correctness.  He asked Ethan if he wanted to be a theologian when he grows up, and Ethan responded, “No, I want to be a cowboy.”Ethan has gotten more into the building phase in the last few months.  He used all of the soft blocks to make this creation.  He usually tears things down pretty quickly after building them, so I took a picture first. However, I was able to persuade him to leave it up until Daddy got home from the office so he could see it too.Ethan has been able to get the keys, put them in the door, and unlock it for several months. He is still working on getting the door completely shut. It’s a quirky door and needs the handle moved several different directions just to shut it. Notice him sporting my boots. He likes wearing Mommy’s and Daddy’s shoes.We bought a bag full of cars from someone moving (the same people we got the train table from). The funny thing is when we were getting the cars, Julie kept putting cars in the bag, and I asked her and Gary if Ethan really needed that many cars. Julie, having 2 boys, quickly said, “Yes!” We are gradually giving Ethan cars, and it seems like the more cars he has the more he is playing with them.  My mom made this quilt and gave it to Ethan this past fall.  He is getting more into using it now too.

Late Birthday Present

My mom bought Ethan a bunch of Thomas the Train stuff and has gradually gotten it over here.  We noticed several train tables when we were in the States last fall and thought that would be nice to have for Ethan.  We even took a picture of one that some friends made.  We thought it would be nice for that to be the gift from Gary’s family, who gave us money for Ethan’s birthday.  However, we went to a variety of stores and could not find one, nor did the workers know where to get one.  We had a carpenter give an estimate about building one, but it was way too expensive.  Then, a friend of mine who is moving sent out a list of things they are selling, and guess what was on the list?!  Yes, a train table!  Once we found out that we could get it I was thrilled!Ethan does play with trains on the table, but he probably plays with cars on it more than with trains.  The wheels of the cars actually fit perfectly on the tracks too.  He also likes the tracks to be changed around fairly often.Here, Ethan has put most of his modes of transportation on the table.

Sienna’s 1st Bike Ride

We borrowed a bike seat from some friends and were able to take Sienna out for her first bike ride a couple of weeks ago.  Last summer, she was still too small to fit in the bike seat.  I’m so glad that we can all go biking as a family now.  Getting ready to go.Unfortunately, we had the same problem with Sienna’s first bike ride that we did with Ethan’s—the helmet was too big.  It kept falling down completely in front of her face.  We stopped in front of a friend’s house to work on fixing the helmet, and the dad and daughter were actually returning from a bike ride when we stopped.  So they let us borrow her bike helmet.  She is 2.5, but for some reason it fit Sienna much better than the helmet we have (which is a small).  I did have to reach back periodically while biking to push it up a little, but that wasn’t such a big deal.  I’m glad we were able to still ride for a decent amount of time.

Cruising and Cars

I realized that I haven’t given any kind of update on how the kids are doing since their birthday (almost 3 months ago).

Sienna now has 4 teeth (yes, only 4 at 15 months!).  She still manages to chew all kinds of meat, etc.  I’m sooo thankful to be past the steaming, pureeing, and grinding stage with food!

She has learned to crawl down the 3 stairs between the living room and dining room, so that is nice and helpful.  We’re still working on training her not to go up the “big” stairs.  It was easier to train Ethan since he was the only child.  I tend to think that I can run upstairs to change Ethan’s diaper or do something with/for him real quick and leave her playing downstairs, but before I know it, she has crawled up all of the big stairs.She is cruising around, but tends to prefer to use little chairs to push and walk rather than hold onto a couch and walk along it.  We don’t have any push toys, but she does just fine with the little chairs we have.  I assume she will begin walking on her own before too long.  She has started everything later than Ethan did, and he was walking by this age.Enjoying the rays.

At the beginning of April Ethan started getting into the makes of cars.  Everywhere we went he asked what kind of car it was.  By the middle of April he learned the emblems for  Volkswagen, BMW, Mercedes, Skoda, Ford, Toyota, Opel, Peugeot, Audi, Renault, and Suzuki.  Now, he recognizes most of the cars by their emblem.  Since we have a Toyota, if he sees a Toyota he asks what kind of Toyota it is.  He has commented about how there are a lot of Opels and Skodas in Hungary.  He’s also pointed out certain cars (mostly American brands) that there are not a lot of in Hungary.  Gary and I have definitely brushed up on our knowledge of car emblems and makes.Shelf milk is less expensive and more common over here, so we typically buy a case at a time.  Gary had just bought a case of orange juice that was on sale, so Ethan made a “tower” out of it along with some milk and other juices that we already had.

Church Retreat

This was the 2nd retreat that our church in Budapest had, and once again we were over it.  Last time Ethan was 2 months old, and I didn’t have responsibilities once we arrived at the hotel.  It was more difficult this time with Gary and me both needing to be in different places at the same time to deal with things and us having a one-year old and a very mobile and active three-year old.

Gary and I would both describe the weekend as “work,” but thankfully we were able to do a few “fun” things Saturday afternoon before and after the kids took their naps.   Sienna’s first time in the pool. She doesn’t look happy in this picture, but I think another kid was splashing or something to cause her and Gary to squint/close their eyes.Sienna loved splashing and kicking around in the pool. She had a blast!  Ethan enjoyed it, but was much less comfortable. At one point he slipped, and his head and legs were all under water with his bottom in the air above water. That really scared him. I realized that we’ve got to get the kids to the pool this summer so they won’t be afraid of the water. We only took Ethan a few times last year, and he played in a kiddy pool that was pretty shallow.Ethan having a ball on the trampoline with the middle school girls.Sienna wanting to go play with the “big” kids.The hotel had a great little play room for younger kids.  This is where the 0-3 year olds stayed while the adults were in meetings.      In addition to being in charge Gary gave 2 of the 4 talks.  People seemed to enjoy it, and the evaluations about the weekend were very positive, so that was good.