More of the kids

Just wanted to give some quick video updates of the kids. William is 9 months old now and has completed mastered the art of crawling, getting into his sister's things and generally just getting under his sister's skin. Maria, on the other hand, has not yet mastered the art of sharing toys with her brother. For the most part she plays well with William, but there are certain activities that are just harder to do with a baby brother hanging around. Building with blocks seems to be a particularly aggravating task for both Maria and William alike. Maria doesn't want William taking blocks from her and vice versa, and they always seem to want the exact block the other one has. AHHH...the joys of having two.



Of course there are times when the two kids together is an absolute joy to watch and with Aaron away so much these times are often the highlights of my day.

Greetings for 2010

The holiday season flew by in this house. Aaron managed five days off at Christmas which were spent working on the bathroom in the basement and celebrating with my side of the family...including hosting the extended family gathering at our place this year. It was a lot of fun and it was nice for Maria to see her cousin Reese again. The kids were spoiled again this year, although gift opening was actually quite traumatic for Maria. As some of you may know Maria is afraid, no terrified, of toys that move on their own. For some reason she was certain that every toy she opened this year had to potential to move and was therefore scary. She also extended her fear to include toys that talked making the range of "scary" toys even greater. Thankfully, after some battery removal and time she has now decided that her "My Little Pony", "Mrs. Potato Head", and William's "Thomas the Train" are no longer scary. "Thomas" is even allowed to make noise once again. I sure hope she gets over this fear before William gets his first remote controlled car, otherwise I forsee hours of sibling torment on the horizon.

Other developments: William has achieved forward movement! He has been trying to crawl since the new year began, but was getting increasingly frustrated with his ability to move in reverse only. Last week he finally put it all together and moved forward. He is a much happier little man today! Of course, with this forward movement he has discovered his new favorite pasttime - taking every toy Maria is currently playing with. The sibling rivalry and "fighting" has commenced. Maria doesn't want William playing with "her" toys (being whatever toy she currently has - even if it was one of William's gifts), and William gets quite angry if Maria takes a toy from him. I knew the "loving" stage could only last so long....oh well.

Maria got new skates for Christmas and has been able to get out twice now to try them out. It seems she is a bit of a natural on skates and was able to "walk" on the ice within the first few minutes out. By the end of the first time out she was "gliding" with adult assistance from one end of the ice to the other. It is great to have a frozen storm pond just a little ways from the house, so we don't have to pack her too far. With the weather warming up I'm hoping she can get out a bit more often. Of course this is dependent on my brother at the moment, as Aaron and I have not yet located our skates so Uncle DJ has taken up the role of skating "instructor". I have a feeling he enjoys it as much as Maria does.

The warm weather has also allowed us to get out and finally play in the snow too. Maria and I had a great morning earlier this week creating the "Betke snow family" for 2010. She was a great help, and was very excited to make the "Maria" and "William" snowmen as they were small enough for her to actually push and lift the snowballs. The house needed to be cleaned, and still does, but I wouldn't have traded that time with her for anything.

Aaron continues to work away from home and we miss him terribly. I know he misses being here too, especially with William reaching these milestones when he is not here to see it. Hopefully the new year has him home more often.

I hope the new year brings you all happiness, adventure and wonderment. If you have the opportunity try to experience life through a child's eyes this year. It is amazing how different the perspective is.