Just reporting what's new...

Clayton has begun repeating more words this week - each day he seems to have 1 or 2 more. He's found the power of "more" when eating as well as that the word "juice" in conjuction with pointing at the cabinet does in fact get him a drink. Besides that he'll say the following when asked to, "all done", some version of "thank you", "light", "shoes", "amen", and "Bible". And I love to watch him obey simple instructions. I am just amazed at how a child (and not just mine) can seemingly go from one day not understanding, to understanding the next. For example, "go get your shoes". Clayton can identify which shoes are his, he'll bring them to you, sit down and attempt to "help" you put them on. He can understand "take off your jacket" and his favorite that he'll come running to his chair in the kitchen for "it's time to eat." When looking at picture books he'll point to familiar objects...WOW. I just am continually amazed at how God has designed children to have such amazing little minds!

Brooke I'm sure had many stories this week...but I've found that they are so numerous that unless I write them down, I forget...because that's just who she is. We went swimming tonight at the Y. Brooke was very well behaved and incredibly patient with the number of lines we waited in while shopping today, so I told her she could have a special treat. Turns out the treat was being able to have a night of daddy and mommy all to herself at the Y. She is doing a great job jumping in on her own and after watching her daddy swim, she decided to put her whole face in and start kicking and paddling too. She's really gaining a lot of confidence in the water - I'm excited for what the summer will bring.

Brooke and I went to see Horton Hears a Who with our friends Tommy and Miss Karen on Friday night. (It was a cute movie for those wondering.) Anyhow, through many parts of the movie Brooke alternated between telling me "It's a scary part!" ( I don't think there actually were too many "scary" parts) and asking "Did Horton hear a Who?" She told me her favorite part was when Horton climbed the mountain - because that's silly, elephants can't climb a mountain.

Caught him!

I managed to capture Clayton in action with the laundry shoot and he also somewhat cooperated in talking to the camera. He has about 4 words that he uses all the time - up, ball, mama, and dada.

First Movie and LOTS of stories

Brooke and Mike went on their first official "date" to the movies on Saturday morning. They went to see The Bee Movie. Brooke did well and had a good time.

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Clayton's favorite thing to do recently is put things down the laundry shoot. Yesterday I found, 4 shoes, a toy horse, pacifier and an empty can he pulled out of the recycler. Who knew laundry would become such a treasure hunt for me! He has also become very difficult to go grocery shopping with because anything that I put into the cart he instantly tries to get ahold of and eat. Maybe I'll start taking snack to the store with me...The kid is a bottomless pit!

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Brooke is really taking notice to words that are "new" to her and asking questions about them. Here are some recent examples...

Mike prayed at dinner. "Thank you Jesus that Grandpa Kippert is recovering." After we were done, Brooke asked Mike why we covered him up...We asked who...she says, "Grandpa Kippert - why did you cover him up?"

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Again, Mike and Brooke were praying at bedtime. Brooke usually leads the "thank you" portion and you never quite know what you are going to get. She says, "Thank you Jesus for sins." Mike stopped her and tried to figure out why she had said that....turns out "Jesus forgiving sins" turned into "Jesus for giving sins" (as though they were a gift from him)...I think we got that all straightened out.

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I was singing and dancing with Brooke when we finished she asks "Why was he sad?" I had no idea what she was talking about and asked who. She says, "Jesus, why was he sad?" I asked what she meant, that I didn't think Jesus was sad. She told me the song said "Jesus Cries"...the song actually said "Jesus Christ" So in my best effort to explain that to a three year old we finally reached the explanation that it's Jesus Christ - two names...kind of like Brooke Stanley. She seemed okay with that answer.

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Last Brooke story for now - we were baking together yesterday and I let her dump the ingredients in and then push the mixture down in the pan to form the crust. When she finished I told her to brush her hands over the top of the bowl to remove all the oatmeal, flour, sugar, etc. that was now stuck to it. Instead she decided to shake her hands and then brush them together all over the floor. I let her know that wasn't the way I asked her to do it. She very proudly says, "I know - I'm doing it a different way!" I suppose - it also reached the objective of cleaning of her hands. Ughhh...