In an effort to break her of her attachment to M-O-M, Leah will be spending Saturday and Sunday at Grandpa and Grandma Robran's farm. Will she warm up to Grandpa? Will she come home unscathed? Will she eat more than just ice cream and Cheerios? God only knows. We can just pray that she gets along with Grandpa, otherwise it could be a long weekend.
Grandparents are a funny creature. They know full well what is good for the kid, but they go against better judgement and do something just the opposite. Like naps. 'Ah, the kid doesn't need a nap, back in my day..' Blah Blah Blah. Back in their day they told us to nap every hour on the hour. Their craziness either comes from one of two places - either they could care less how crabby the child is when they send them home because she's not THEIR kid, or...they truly ARE crazy. My money is on the latter.
Now before any of you grandparents get all pissed off and scratch me off your Christmas list(by the way a new St. Croix rod would be nice), keep in mind I'm just making generalizations here (I was actually talking about the OTHER grandparents *wink* *wink*). When they become 'grand' parents, they seem to graduate to a level above the lowly 'parent' and are now considered 'EXPERTS' in the field of child rearing. Had you or your siblings not had a child, they would have no one to exert their vast amount of parenting knowledge on, making them just 'parents' and subject to the ridicule of THEIR parents. Therefore, by you having a kid, the monkey is now off their back since they have proven they can produce offspring that are capable of procreating. The torch has been passed, and a tradition continues. I've already determined that when I'm a grandparent, I'm going to be the nuttiest SOB on this side of the Mississippi..."Hey kids, ever have a whiskey sour?" "Let me show you how to make napalm out of a marshmallow..." and so forth.
Regardless of the craziness that will ensue on the Robran farm, Leah will undoubtedly have a blast. She's looking forward to playing with cousin Allie and getting dirty in Grandma's flower garden. Maybe Grandpa can con her into going for a ride on the tractor - who knows what's in store. All I know is the Kimmer and I get a weekend of peace and quite, which will probably be filled with conversation about how much Kim misses Leah. So my hope is that Kim makes it through the weekend, Leah comes home alive, and we all get along in the end.
Thursday, July 24, 2008
Thursday, July 17, 2008
19 Months of Terror!
Well it's been 2 months since our last post, which is probably indicative of how busy Leah has been keeping us.
At the end of June, Leah completed her Water Babies class and is now as comfortable as a sea otter in the water. Baths are a lot easier now that she's not afraid to get her head wet. She'll be taking her 2nd Water Babies class the end of this month.
The past 6 weeks were filled with fun, tears, and mud as Leah kept busy with our neighbors' twin great-grandchildren. Check out the pictures on Picasa for pics of the pizza party and pool pictures (http://picasaweb.google.com/jkrobran). She had a lot of fun with Alex as they exchanged girl talk and played with their dolls. It was sad to see them go but our neighbors' can now sleep easy.
July 4th weekend was filled with tears and laughter. Our cousin Jason died in a motorcycle accident on July 3rd, so the Robran family was together for yet another funeral. However, as Jason would have had it, we had fun on July 4th by firing off fireworks at uncle Kevin's farm. Leah was glued to the display of fireworks as Kevin avoided injury.
As far as terror goes, she is getting slightly better. In the most recent weeks she has been extremely attached to Mommy, screaming bloody murder if Kim is not within arm's reach. However, being the strong parents we are, we have laid down the law and are not picking her up whenever she raises a fuss. So we have to put up with a bit more screaming, but it is starting to subside. Someday, maybe someday, she'll be a well behaved, productive member of society. Someday...
On a more positive note, she is getting smarter by the day. She's putting together many two-word phrases (i.e. Daddy Work, Mommy Work, Kacie Poop). It isn't even worth listing all the words she knows because she's picking up more and more every day. We can go through a book and she'll label just about everything in it. You say it, she'll say it too. Which tends to be a problem in some situations (who would have thought 'Ass' would be such a popular word among 19 month olds?).
At the end of June, Leah completed her Water Babies class and is now as comfortable as a sea otter in the water. Baths are a lot easier now that she's not afraid to get her head wet. She'll be taking her 2nd Water Babies class the end of this month.
The past 6 weeks were filled with fun, tears, and mud as Leah kept busy with our neighbors' twin great-grandchildren. Check out the pictures on Picasa for pics of the pizza party and pool pictures (http://picasaweb.google.com/jkrobran). She had a lot of fun with Alex as they exchanged girl talk and played with their dolls. It was sad to see them go but our neighbors' can now sleep easy.
July 4th weekend was filled with tears and laughter. Our cousin Jason died in a motorcycle accident on July 3rd, so the Robran family was together for yet another funeral. However, as Jason would have had it, we had fun on July 4th by firing off fireworks at uncle Kevin's farm. Leah was glued to the display of fireworks as Kevin avoided injury.
As far as terror goes, she is getting slightly better. In the most recent weeks she has been extremely attached to Mommy, screaming bloody murder if Kim is not within arm's reach. However, being the strong parents we are, we have laid down the law and are not picking her up whenever she raises a fuss. So we have to put up with a bit more screaming, but it is starting to subside. Someday, maybe someday, she'll be a well behaved, productive member of society. Someday...
On a more positive note, she is getting smarter by the day. She's putting together many two-word phrases (i.e. Daddy Work, Mommy Work, Kacie Poop). It isn't even worth listing all the words she knows because she's picking up more and more every day. We can go through a book and she'll label just about everything in it. You say it, she'll say it too. Which tends to be a problem in some situations (who would have thought 'Ass' would be such a popular word among 19 month olds?).
Saturday, May 31, 2008
Little Miss Attitude
Well, it has been a long time since the blog has been updated, and for good reason. If you were the parents of Miss Leah Gwen, you wouldn't have time to update a blog either. As she approaches the 18 month mark, she also approaches a new milestone - getting her own attitude. Yes, it's true, our sweet little girl has a naughty side. She whines, she cries, she throws things, she hits the dogs...she's ready to be a major league baseball player. We're hoping it's just a phase, but if her mother is any indicator - this will be a lifelong trait. Just kidding Dear!
As far as accomplishments go, she's beginning to say thank you and please appropriately (after the tantrum, that is), pray at supper and bed time, and learning new words every day. Some more recent occurrences are being able to put two-word phrases together such as 'one more', 'hi mom', 'come on', and 'where'ditgo'. She has become more daring at the park and is no longer the big pansie we always thought she was. She'll go down the slides and go up the stairs to get to those coveted slides. She has also overcome her fear of the merry-go-round. Swings are still a work in progress.
To keep her entertained at home, Leah got a new Turtle sandbox (thanks Wal-Mart) and a new bike trailer (thanks Target) so mom can tow her around town. She loves going for rides around scenic Le Sueur, Minnesota. It's always a great day in the Valley.
Some fun upcoming events are our trip to Jellystone park in Wisconsin (which is NOT Wisconsin Dells I've been told) on June 6th - 8th. Be prepared water parks!!! Then as soon as we get back from the cheddar state, Leah starts Water Babies three times a week, so dad and her will be in the tank two days out of the week and mommy gets to splish and splash one day of the week. Within a month she'll be doing laps!
That's about it for the world of Leah Gwen. We'll try to keep things a little more up-to-date with pics and happenings in the upcoming weeks and months.
As far as accomplishments go, she's beginning to say thank you and please appropriately (after the tantrum, that is), pray at supper and bed time, and learning new words every day. Some more recent occurrences are being able to put two-word phrases together such as 'one more', 'hi mom', 'come on', and 'where'ditgo'. She has become more daring at the park and is no longer the big pansie we always thought she was. She'll go down the slides and go up the stairs to get to those coveted slides. She has also overcome her fear of the merry-go-round. Swings are still a work in progress.
To keep her entertained at home, Leah got a new Turtle sandbox (thanks Wal-Mart) and a new bike trailer (thanks Target) so mom can tow her around town. She loves going for rides around scenic Le Sueur, Minnesota. It's always a great day in the Valley.
Some fun upcoming events are our trip to Jellystone park in Wisconsin (which is NOT Wisconsin Dells I've been told) on June 6th - 8th. Be prepared water parks!!! Then as soon as we get back from the cheddar state, Leah starts Water Babies three times a week, so dad and her will be in the tank two days out of the week and mommy gets to splish and splash one day of the week. Within a month she'll be doing laps!
That's about it for the world of Leah Gwen. We'll try to keep things a little more up-to-date with pics and happenings in the upcoming weeks and months.
Saturday, April 19, 2008
A Baby No More...
Leah is now 16 months old and growing more and more into a little girl and out of the 'baby' stage. She now has more teeth than most elderly people, and is learning almost a new word a day. While she doesn't necessarily have a flowing head of blonde locks, she does have enough so mommy can play around with it either with barettes or pig tails.
I've also noticed it now takes a lot more to keep her entertained. We used to be able to just put her in the middle of the floor and look at her and she'd be happy. Nowadays she wants to go outside and run across the street to the park. Toys get played with half as much as the stuff in cupboards or drawers, and the dogs have no escape from her undying affection for them.
The baby stages will be missed, but there is so much to enjoy right now that we hardly have time to reflect on the way things were a year ago. Someday when we're old and talking about how we survived without a tele-portal, we'll look back at the messes, the stress, the bumps and bruises, and the occassional tantrums and want those times back. Funny how we always want things the way they were but are always looking forward to the next milestone. Sometimes we just need to enjoy the now, and the moments spent with Leah at the top of a slide, building a chair, or having her help me pick up sticks in the yard make me realize how special the time I spend with her really is.
For all the skeptics who thought teaching your kids sign language will slow down their speech development, here's a list of all the words that Leah can say. This puts her in the top 25% for speech at her age. Can someone say Dr. Leah Gwen Robran M.D.?
1. Dada
2. Mama
3. Kace (Kacie)
4. Book
5. Milk
6. Baby
7. Puppy
8. Peek-a-boo
9. Eyes
10. Shoes
11. Pants
12. Socks
13. Cheese
14. Car
15. Cat
16. Hippo
17. More
18. Bear
19. Bumpa (grandpa)
20. Girl
21. Duck
22. Please
23. Bee-bo (belly button)
24. Dance
25. Rock
26. Raffe (Giraffe)
27. Hot
28. Cold
29. Coat
I've also noticed it now takes a lot more to keep her entertained. We used to be able to just put her in the middle of the floor and look at her and she'd be happy. Nowadays she wants to go outside and run across the street to the park. Toys get played with half as much as the stuff in cupboards or drawers, and the dogs have no escape from her undying affection for them.
The baby stages will be missed, but there is so much to enjoy right now that we hardly have time to reflect on the way things were a year ago. Someday when we're old and talking about how we survived without a tele-portal, we'll look back at the messes, the stress, the bumps and bruises, and the occassional tantrums and want those times back. Funny how we always want things the way they were but are always looking forward to the next milestone. Sometimes we just need to enjoy the now, and the moments spent with Leah at the top of a slide, building a chair, or having her help me pick up sticks in the yard make me realize how special the time I spend with her really is.
For all the skeptics who thought teaching your kids sign language will slow down their speech development, here's a list of all the words that Leah can say. This puts her in the top 25% for speech at her age. Can someone say Dr. Leah Gwen Robran M.D.?
1. Dada
2. Mama
3. Kace (Kacie)
4. Book
5. Milk
6. Baby
7. Puppy
8. Peek-a-boo
9. Eyes
10. Shoes
11. Pants
12. Socks
13. Cheese
14. Car
15. Cat
16. Hippo
17. More
18. Bear
19. Bumpa (grandpa)
20. Girl
21. Duck
22. Please
23. Bee-bo (belly button)
24. Dance
25. Rock
26. Raffe (Giraffe)
27. Hot
28. Cold
29. Coat
Sunday, March 23, 2008
Happy Easter!
Another Easter has come and gone. In looking back at our pictures, it's amazing the difference one year can make. Here's a picture of Leah on Easter 2007 one from Easter 2008: 
Today we had a revolution that never would have happened a year ago - we made it through one whole church service without an 'incident'! She was a perfect angel through the entire service, perhaps thanks to the little girl sitting behind us - but we'll take it whenever we can. She loved showing off the dress that Grandma Thoms made for her (the pink dress show above). Thanks Grandma!
After church we went to the big city of Albert Lea to have lunch with Grandpa Loverink, uncles Josh and Brandon, and auntie Chelsea at the Green Mill. Grandma Loverink had to work, sure sucks to be her. We then went back to Grandpa Loverink's house where Grandpa Tom inundated Leah with M&Ms. Great Grandpa and Grandma Peterson also made an appearance, which always spurs a spirited debate between Gaylord "the Crazy Liberal" Peterson, Josh "Everyone's Out to Get Me" Loverink, and Jarrod "Mr. Right" Robran. As always, Mr. Right was the voice of reason. By the time Leah finally warmed up to everyone, it was time to make the trek home.
Hope everyone else had a great Easter. Here are all the pics of Leah's Easter get-togethers.
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