Five reasons why we love Magnus...

Magnus turned "1" a few weeks ago. We didn't have a party but did celebrate by getting him a new bed as well as a bunch of new toys. He loves them and has demolished a few already. I'm a little late but thought I'd blog on what we love about Magnus as a celebration of his first year of life.

1. Magnus LOVES Braden and Olivia. He looks for them right away in the morning and can't wait until they are up from naps. He plays with them constantly!

2. Magnus is very, very tolerant. Braden and Olivia chase him around the house, put necklaces on him, play steam roller with him and I'm sure other things I am not even aware of. :) He give them kisses and almost says thank you ... he'll take any attention he can get!

3. Magnus is a good listener... most of the time. He sits on the kitchen carpet while we eat, comes when we call him, goes into his kennel whenever we ask, and is getting really good at waiting when we open the door to go outside. Now if we could only get him to stop jumping!

4. Magnus is always happy!! If I didn't know better I'd think he took happy pills every day. He is never crabby, always wants to give kisses and snuggles and loves every person and other animal he meets.

5. Magnus is smart and polite! When Magnus has to go outside to go to the bathroom he sits by the backdoor and waits quietly for us to see him. If we don't see him quickly enough he will give a quiet bark to let us know he's there. It's really sweet. He also gives a little bark to come back inside. If we don't hear him (we're often in the kitchen), he comes and jumps up by the window so we see him! He's such a good boy!

Happy Birthday Magnus!!

Picnic Anyone?

My grandma gave Olivia a picnic set for her 1st birthday and I put it away since she was too young to really play with it. We got it out this week and had the most wonderful picnic in the living room. I'm sure it's the first of many! Joining us were two dolls and of course, Magnus.

Bundled Up

WOW was it cold this week. Steve happened to be out of town Thurs and Fri so I had to take Braden to school in the morning. I started the car and let it warm up but it was still chilly so decided to pull out the snowsuit that my aunt Nancy gave Norah. She looked sooo cute all bundled up and stayed quite warm. Thanks Nanc!!

Look Alike?

Norah


Olivia


Braden

Do they look alike? I continue to try to decide who Norah looks more like - Braden or Olivia. These pictures are from all three in the same bouncy :) around 8 weeks of age. I can see some similarities from both but it's still hard to tell at this age what they'll look like when they're older. Only time will tell!!

To really listen...

I've been thinking a lot lately about whether Braden and Olivia would come to me if they had a problem and feel safe. Not that they hurt their finger or that they couldn't get the TV on the right station but really confide in me about feeling inadequate at school, struggling with a particular friendship, forgetting to study for a test or something that might come up in later years. I'm afraid the answer would be no. I am afraid that they would feel judged or that they had to meet my expectations which I know at times are set too high. It's something I think I still have time to change and I really want to work on.

I get emails about how to be a better mom and family and today's really struck me. It was on listening...

Would my children call me a good listener?

A good listener? Hardly. But maybe a good lecturer. So what does it mean to be a good listener? Well, I'll give you a couple of hints... it's more than the absence of talking... and it doesn't involve multitasking when your child is speaking to you. Listening is the active process of hearing what our child is saying, looking at their eyes and body language for clues, processing it all to determine what's really going on on the inside, and then asking follow-up questions. When we really listen, our child will feel, at least for that moment, like they're the most important person in the world.

It's a good place to start and really made me think. :)

The Domes

Braden had off of school on Monday so we headed to the Domes with the Olsons. The annual train exhibit was packed but we enjoyed the beautiful flowers, the moist, warm air and just being with our good friends. :)

All Smiles!

Norah continues to bless us with her easy going nature. She is smiling daily and is starting to coo. Her favorite thing to do is watch Braden and Olivia. Braden is absolutely smitten with her and looks and talks with her a lot during the day. I'm so blessed.