A List for Tuesday

5 Things Dutch Has Started Saying in the Last Little Bit

• No thank you
• I said "no"
• Take that! (usually said when he's done something he thinks is funny)
• Honey's here! (said every time a car passes our house; he's obsessed with his Honey and Honey's house lately)
• I want... (we've been working on this; he's starting saying "I want" before anything he asks for now)

These may not seem that impressive for a three-and-a-half-year-old, but they are leaps and bounds ahead of what he was saying even six months ago. I'm so grateful for his Early Intervention teachers, especially Miss Allison, his Speech Language Pathologist.

A List for Tuesday

5 Things I Wish I Had Money to Waste On (Though Even if I Had the Money I Would Probably Feel Guilty Wasting It On These Things)
(in no particular order)

1. Daily massage. Lately I've been waking up with my lower back hurting. I want a masseuse to come every morning and work those kinks out!
2. Personal maid. Someone else to do the laundry and dishes would be awesome!
3. Personal cook. Though I'm trying, I'm still not a very good cook.
4. My own away-from-the-house office space.
5. Pretty much everything sold by Shabby Apple and Anthropologie. Both stores are, unfortunately, a little out of my price range, although I love nearly everything they sell!

A Woman's Place is Her Choice

I have friends who are anti-Mormon, anti-marriage, anti-motherhood, or a combination of the three. One of my mantras in life is "A woman's place is her choice." I say this all the time in response to questions about my faith and about my decisions to become a wife and mother. These were my choices and I am not ashamed of them. I don't regret them at all.

That is not to say that I don't sometimes have a crisis of self. Just last night I was telling Chris how boring I am. I'm home with two boys all day and I feel like that gives me a lot less to talk about. That I'm less interesting to a great majority of people. And Chris said the exact words that I needed to hear, "But it's important."

It is very important that my boys have me at their disposal 24 hours a day. It's important that they know that Chris and I love them. It's important that they get as much of my attention as they need. What I do is important.

And it's my choice.

Bargain Hunting at Target

Dutch has a pair of green frog boots (see above) that he loves more than anything. Given the choice between boots and shoes he always chooses his boots. He has already gone through two pairs of these in less than a year. Today I went to Target to buy him a new pair. To my immense pleasure I found that his favorite boots were on clearance for less than $4 a pair! Not even kidding! I bought him 2 pairs and then the minute I got home I wondered if I should have bought more. That's a ridiculously good deal, but there were too many what-if's. What if he doesn't like them for much longer? What if he grows out of them too fast (even though I bought them too big on purpose)? What if we put them somewhere and forget and don't find them until he's 15?

Also, for Dutch's birthday last year my sister Heather gave him a Super Dutchie outfit. There's a mask, a cape,and two arm-bands. This morning he put it on wearing nothing but his underwear. When we got dressed for the day he still wanted to wear it so I let him put his arm-bands and cape over his sweater. Then we went out in public with him dressed like that. I'm not sure if that makes me the world's most awesome mom or the world's worst!

Dane's 9-Month Stats

Age: 9 months
Weight: 17 lbs 3 oz (putting him in the 5th percentile)
Height: 27 in (putting him in the 10th percentile)
Head circumference: 43.5 cm (putting him in the 6th percentile)
Percentile for Weight/Length: 25th (meaning that for his weight his height is normal)
Number of teeth: 1 (on the upper right-hand side; I thought babies got bottom teeth first!)
First word: Dada (which was also Dutch's first word, quickly followed by Bobo)
Number of misshaped heads: ZERO! We thought we might have to put a helmet on him to even out his head, but he did it all on his own. Hooray!
Number of different crawls he has: About 5
Attempts at walking: 2 so far
Overall personality: Happy and mellow

And just to put Dane in perspective, Dutch at this same age was 24 lbs and 30 inches tall! It's so amazing how different they are and how much I love them both!