Look who started walking on Halloween!

This morning Anna Kate had her 15-month checkup where I told the doctor that AK doesn't even seem close to walking... this afternoon she decided to give it a try! She has been "cruising" along furniture and has taken 2-4 steps between objects, but today is the first time she has independently moved from point A to point B... and honestly the first time she has shown any interest in trying. It's not like Wesley where he figured it out and took off running - I think Anna Kate will still mostly rely on crawling for a bit longer. But this afternoon and tonight after trick-or-treating when we could get her in the mood to try it, she worked hard and consistently walked small distances to reach us.

And by the way, this was right after trick-or-treating, and we didn't realize that Anna Kate had wrangled wrappers off of several suckers until we got home. Every time we tried to take a sucker away, she'd fuss and we knew she wouldn't try to walk, so we let her take her first steps clinching suckers in both hands! I know, I know... we're horrible parents! (below) Really getting the hang of it! Wesley started walking just several days after Halloween when he was a baby, and Anna Kate rolled over for the first time last Halloween. Exciting things happen on Halloween around here!





I finally decided I couldn't take anymore of the walking with suckers, so we took a break for bathtime and then resumed walking practice. She gets that tongue going when she's really getting into it! I'm interested to see how quickly she'll adopt walking as her primary mode of transportation. For Wesley it was immediate, but Anna Kate still crawled most of the night and would only walk when she knew we wanted her to show off.

Another gradual milestone in the house... Wesley is slowly making the transition from his crib to his bed. Previously he hasn't shown much interest in sleeping in his big bed and has preferred his crib. But he slept in big boy beds the entire time we were in Nashville and Kentucky, so I think he may be ready to embrace the big boy bed at home. The first night we were home he wanted his crib. The next night he wanted to try the bed, but he fell out... and didn't bother to even come and tell us! I checked on him before going to bed like I always do, and he was just curled up there on the cold floor with no blankets or anything! I felt horrible! Since he was in his big bed, I had turned down the baby monitor while we watched Survivor. He is a heavy sleeper, so I thought maybe he just didn't remember falling out, but when I asked him about it the next morning, he leaned over his crib (where I moved him after finding him on the floor) and pointed to the spot where we had found him. He then re-enacted how he called for me, which made me feel like the worst mom. I asked him why he didn't come and get us or crawl back into bed, and he just shrugged. I guess he was still half asleep, but he does remember it. The bed is not exactly low to the ground! Anywho, all that to say that yesterday I bought a bed guard, and Michael put it together tonight while Anna Kate waddled back and forth. Wesley was excited to go to bed with his new bed guard and went down without any hesitation, so we may finally be saying good-bye to his crib soon!

Oh, and we found out that Anna Kate has an ear infection while at the doctor's office today. I figured, but there was nothing I could do about it until we got home. She's been waking up at night approximately every 1.5 hours for over two weeks now. At first I thought it was the traveling, but now that we're home, I was kinda hoping there was a reason for it. I'm extremely sleep-deprived!!! Anna Kate is holding her medicine dispenser... both times that I gave her medicine today she waved the dropper around and exclaimed, "Bubble! Bubble!" like she was making bubbles with a bubble wand. Such an imagination! That's what she's doing in the above photo.

I'm already super-behind in blogging, so I'm going to attempt to cover all of our Halloween festivities in one post. Wednesday night was truck-or-treat at church. Wesley got to stand up in front of the congregation with all the other kids to show off his costume before going to class.

Anna Kate is usually a pro at going to Bible class, but I guess between the ear infection and having been gone for so long, she was feeling clingy Wednesday night. I love the way Maison is looking over at her mom like, "What's up with this chic??" Ha! AK settled down as soon as I left.

Trunk or Treat! Four best buds all enjoying their 2nd Halloween! Makinna, Anna Kate, Jonah, and Claire. (below) Thursday Wesley & Emory got to go trick-or-treating in the library after Toddler Time. Wesley enjoyed it last year so much that he still remembers it... for a couple of months last year Wes thought he was going to get candy every time he went to the library! I kept telling him that Halloween was over, so then for many months every time I mentioned the library, Wesley said, "Halloween's over."

Getting ready to head out for trick-or-treating earlier this evening. (below) Wesley posing with the pumpkin brownie he helped me make (he licked all the spoons!)

Heading out! Can you tell they're excited??? I thought we'd just leave Anna Kate in the wagon during stops, but she insisted on accompanying Wesley to each and every door. And she always said thank you, to each and every treater!

It was so dark outside that I didn't realize until we were almost home that Anna Kate was working 3 suckers at once!

Happy Halloween!

What Happens at Mimi's...

...would stay at Mimi's - if Mommy didn't post everything on her blog! We got to spend a couple of days at Mimi and Grandpa's house after Michael's trip to India. Mimi has been accumulating every little girl's dream trove of items for dress-up since Anna Kate was still in my tummy. I slept late this particular morning (my personal favorite thing about life at Mimi's!), and I awoke to my son in a tutu. Mimi decided to see if Anna Kate was old enough to appreciate playing dress-up yet. What we discovered was that Wesley is actually quite adept at walking in heels. Anna Kate was all about the glam.







We met up with Aunt Connie (Mimi's sister) while driving through Tennessee on our way home to Florida from Kentucky (via Georgia). Anna Kate took to Aunt Connie immediately. Wesley was completely absorbed by the video arcade. I decided not to post photos of Wes struggling to lift giant rifles attached to the hunting game...





Mimi took the kids to a massive indoor play complex... since it was a school day, we were the only ones there. The attendant walked with us from ride to ride. Anna Kate held a repeat performance of her Sea World carousel-is-coming-to-a-stop meltdown. Somehow it's not as cute the 2nd time around. (below) Anna Kate trying to recover from post-carousel-exit-traumatic-stress-syndrome.





We tried to put AK on the train while she was still screaming bloody murder about having to exit the carousel ride - she arched her back and would not let me put her down. So I held her while she watched Wesley ride by himself. As soon as she saw that the train moved, she wanted ON. But she had to watch her brother ride two whole laps before it stopped so she could join him. I wonder if this experience taught her something about the fruitlessness of tantrums... doubt it.





How long could YOU remain stern with this face??? (below) Family bonding time, 2008-style.





Wesley riding the swings all by himself. He yelled a happy "Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhh!" the entire time. I took video of it with my camera and Wes loves to watch it on the computer.

Fall Highlights

Hitting the highlights of our trip up north (to those arctic tundras of Nashville and Lexington)... I wanted to post a picture of Anna Kate sitting in this high chair, because it's the only thing that either of my kids have ever used that I used as a baby. It used to be at my grandmother's (I think my dad even used to use it), and she gave it to my sister. Anna Kate got to use it at Erin's house. It was really special for me to see my daughter sitting in a high chair that I remember sitting in myself!





One highlight of our trip to Nashville was the evening we got to spend with Melanie and her family (Oct. 17). Melanie was Erin's college roommate at WKU before they both transferred to Harding. They have been close friends for a long time, but I have just gotten to know Melanie well this year through our blogs. Melanie has really become a spiritual role model for me... such an amazing heart for the Lord! I really enjoyed getting to spend some time together. (below) Melanie's sweet baby Luke. He is HUGE. He's been huge since the day he was born. And Melanie gave birth to him naturally... by choice. Amazing! I didn't get any pictures of Melanie's other kids because they were a blur running around with Wesley and Erin's kids. They all had a big time!





I didn't have my car in Nashville (my parents dropped us off at Erin's on their way to Mobile to visit my brother), so while we were there Wesley used Gabe's carseat. Anna Kate loved being within reach of her brother and always put her hand out for Wes to hold. I would frequently look back and see Wesley holding hands with both Abby and Anna Kate. Too sweet for words!

(below) One afternoon I found Wesley sitting in this chair preaching to Abby. Wes had found my travel Bible in my diaper bag and decided to share the Word with Abby, who listened attentively.





Once back in Lexington, we got to join my mom's preschool on their annual field trip to the pumpkin patch (Oct. 21). Mom took a small group this year, which was nice. Usually she takes a much larger group, but it was predicted to be very cold the day of the field trip... it was cold, but clear and very pretty. Wesley's favorite thing at the pumpkin patch was the "Spooky House," which really wasn't spooky at all. It had happy skeletons wearing neon colors dancing under black lights to "Rock around the House."





Taking a hayride out to the pumpkin patch to pick our pumpkins





Wesley picking his pumpkin. We had to cut our time in the pumpkin patch short because Wes had a potty emergency. I took him to the bathroom right before we got on the hayride, but by the time we got to the pumpkin patch, he was doing the "potty dance" again. Both Mom and I walked him to the corn field and tried to get him to go pee-pee in the corn. But he looked at us like we were barbarians and kept crying, "I CAN'T go potty in the corn... I NEED a toilet!!" I suddenly regretted not letting Michael train Wes to go outside when necessary... he has wanted to take him outside before, but I've always said no because I don't want to deal with a kid dropping his drawers everything we venture outdoors. Before we got married I baby-sat a little boy named Luke. His dad taught him to "tee-tee in the tall grass," and from then on whenever Luke had to go potty, he would ask to tee-tee in the tall grass... even if we were inside. But a kid that will tee-tee in the tall grass comes in very handy at the pumpkin patch! Wes would have NONE of it, even though he was clearly in pain. I ended up leaving Anna Kate with Mom and hopping on another school's ride back to the parking lot. I must say that my kid can hold it like nobody's business!!





Anna Kate in the pumpkin patch... all the big kids were crying and whining because they were cold, and Anna Kate was just crawling around having the time of her life! (below) The day after our trip to the pumpkin patch, I got to visit Katie and her triplets! Here's Katie with Jude, Penny, and Cade. I got to feed Cade and rock Penny and change Jude's diaper. Such sweet babies! Katie is surviving on less than 3 hours of sleep a night and never leaves the house... she is in the trenches of the newborn multiples phase! I keep telling her that all of my (many!) friends with multiples say that it will get much easier and much more fun as they get bigger. Katie's a trooper, but pray that the babies start sleeping better soon!





Friday Oct. 24 we got to visit the great-grandparents! First we had lunch with Granny and visited at her house for a couple of hours, and then we headed to Grandmother and Granddaddy's. Anna Kate fell asleep on the drive over, and miraculously stayed asleep after we brought her inside! She is the world's lightest sleeper and I can count on one hand the number of times she has transferred from car to house without waking up!





I think she did it just to tickle her Great-Granddaddy... he was so entertained by her vegetative state! He held her for a long time and never stopped marveling at how heavy she was sleeping! Granddaddy would lift and drop her limp arms and laugh. I seriously don't know what was up with the chic, but it made for a good memory! Granddaddy remarked several times that he would always remember it.

"My Daddy's a Indian"

Okay, so Michael gets his own post for surviving a two-week trip to India and only getting sick once (quite an accomplishment, we're told). I really don't know much about these pics, but I'm funnier than Michael, so I get to do all the blogging. Plus, he's asleep on the couch and will only rouse to be told I'm ready to go to bed. Above is a pic of Michael in a rickshaw with Dr. Singh, co-faculty at UF and a native of India. As for the title, Wesley kept asking where Michael was and we would tell him he was in India. Wes passed this information on to every stranger we encountered during Michael's absence, but sometimes instead of saying "Daddy's in India," Wesley would state very matter-of-factly, "Daddy's a Indian." Can't help but wonder if he was picturing Michael with a giant feather headdress doing a rain dance.





Monkeys. In India. Michael said they were everywhere. (below) Michael took this picture while riding a painted elephant to the top of a some sort of fortress.





Michael and Dr. Ron Brlansky (another co-faculty) traveling by elephant... Ron put in a request for travel reimbursement in the Business Office back at UF. Gainesville got a kick out of that one! (below) The fortress or castle or temple or whatever that the elephant delivered them to. Pretty mountains. I didn't know that India had mountains.





Michael speaking to citrus growers and researchers at an agriculture meeting in Abohar. Dr. Singh translated Michael's talk into Hindi. (below) Michael sitting on stage with various important people.... he could tell you; I have no clue. He was presented with one of those big bouquets of flowers (he gave them to his driver to take home to his wife). This picture makes me hum, "One of these things is not like the other..."





Michael calls this the Wind Palace, and says all the windows create natural air-conditioning. I betcha it doesn't work as well as a honk'n AC unit pumped with freon!! (below) One of the many snake-charmers Michael encountered on the streets. Note how close Michael had to get to the Cobra to take this picture. Further note than I'm never letting him go to India again!!





They got to visit a school... I thought the kids were cute and seeing as this blog is supposed to be all about Wesley and Anna Kate, I thought their cuteness could compensate for the absence of Rogers children cuteness in this post. (below) I think Michael said this building was built to be some sort of hunting lodge. I'm not sure what they're hunting that they wanted to put a building smack in the middle of water... I thought you called that fishing.





Apparently this is the dorky tourist pose of choice at the Taj Mahal. Before we came to this photo, I kept noticing lots of people seemingly mid-verse in a rousing rendition of "I'm a little teapot" in the background of Michael's Taj Mahal pics. Now it all makes sense. I think it's cute... I'm a big fan of dorky tourist poses (yes, I have pics of me holding up the Leaning Tower of Pisa and Squishing the Eiffel Tower). We're grateful to God for Michael's safe travel and safe return to us here in the land of drinkable water. Michael also has many photos of the extreme poverty and wretched conditions... we really are so very blessed.