Long Time Gone

There's a Dixie Chicks song called "Long Time Gone".  That's been me.  I've been gone from the blog for a long time.  My explanation?  Three words: Maggie and Luke.  It's like I told my mom today, "Maggie by herself is easy.  Luke by himself is easy.  The two of them together are not easy!"  One child plus one child does not equal two children!  It feels like about 10 kids!  I thought that the second child would be easier because we were used to the parenting lifestyle and knew what we should be doing.  We knew the tricks of the trade.  Turns out those tricks don't work for Luke!  He didn't read the baby handbook.  He's an extremely cute baby, but he hasn't been the happiest baby.  Things have gotten a lot better in the last week, though!

I'm so very grateful for each and every person who has helped us over the last few months.  I didn't have to cook supper for over 6 weeks, thanks to many generous cooks I know!  The cards, gifts, and visits from near and far were very appreciated.  It's been so helpful to have people help me with one or both kids until I got my feet on the ground.  And a very thoughtful person even deep cleaned my house for me for hours and hours until it "shone like the top of the Chrysler building" (as Maggie would say).  It really does take a village to raise a child.

In the last few months, here's what Maggie's been up to:
-She started preschool two mornings per week!  I really dreaded that she might have a hard time separating from me, but once she started, she never looked back.  Maggie is a smart, confidant child, but I attribute much of her success at preschool to her amazing teacher!  So far, they've learned about friendship, grandparents, the farm, fall, and pumpkins.  Click here for pictures of her first day of preschool.  She stays so busy there.  They've had a Grandparents' Day party and a Halloween party.  This week they're singing for the parents at a spaghetti dinner, and next week they're going on a field trip to the pumpkin patch.  Here is her class singing at the Grandparents' Day party:

-Maggie also started ballet class once a week.  She wasn't as fond of that in the beginning as preschool, but now she loves it!  Click here to see pictures of her at ballet and other events in September.  Here's a video of the tiny dancers:

-Maggie can count to 29!
-Maggie has become very interested in and very good at writing!  She can independently write her first name.  She asks me how to spell a lot of words.  I tell her the letters, and she knows how to write them.  The other day she wrote "Happy Halloween" in the driveway with chalk as I spelled it for her.
-Maggie can spell "Mississippi", thanks to Granddaddy!  He thinks he can stump her, but she usually catches right on.
-She enjoys listening to us read chapter books to her at bedtime.  She is still puzzled at how adults can read to themselves without talking!
-Words that Maggie has used recently that I did not teach her: sprained, platter, and medley

Now, on to Luke . .
-Luke seemed so tiny when he was born!  He was smaller than Maggie, but now at 2 months old, he's the size she was when she was 3-4 months old.
-He started cooing and smiling socially at 5 weeks old.
-Just before he turned 2 months old, he rolled from his tummy to his back!  He also started hitting hanging objects with his hands.  He can also grasp some objects, like Maggie's hair!  Ouch!

-His smiles melt my heart, especially when he looks at Maggie and smiles!

 Although it took her a long time to get used to his crying, she is very good with him.  She does great baby talk and plays with him appropriately.  I haven't noticed any jealousy, but it's hard for her to understand why I can't help her right then if I'm feeding Luke.

For even more pictures, click here.

Now that we're getting into a groove, I hope to post more frequently.  Thanks for bearing with me!