What Was I Like - Delaney at Dinner

Delaney: What was I like when we would sit down to dinner.

Mom: Well, just like all other times of the day, you LOVE to talk, even if you don't have all the words. This video shows off your conversational skills. We think you are using mannerisms, songs, and topics of conversation you learn at school. We get a chance to see what your school day is like with displays like this.

Fall is Here

Noviembre, Noviembre
Time to spend with family
Calabazas, pastel y pavo
Pumpkins, pie and turkey
Gobble, Gobble, Gobble

This is one of the songs in Delaney's Spanish Class. She loves the last part which includes tickling someone while saying Gobble, Gobble, Gobble.

The end of October, early November brought us lot of family visits and fun. The girls got to see their Grandma Mary, Grandpa Keith, Grandma Joan and Great Aunt and Uncle: Sue and Bob. They both got to visit Eckerts Fun Farm for mom's birthday and they played with their cousins too. This is a busy time of year for our family. Here are some November pictures of the girls.

What was I like - Delaney's car rides

Delaney: What was I like when we would ride in the car?

Mom: Starting at about the age of 2, you made short rides in the car very fun. You could see out the window much better and noticed everything around you. You started at about 18 months to be able to distinguish types of vehicles - cars, trucks (including pick up trucks), vans and buses. So when we would ride in the car you would point these out. You loved buses - especially school buses. If we were out in the morning you would see so many buses that you would start to count them or want to sing Wheels on the Bus. You weren fascinated with letters and look for STOP signs so you can point them out and spell them.

Today you surprised me a couple of times. As we got on the highway and started to go faster, you started to chant Go Car Go, Go Car Go. We saw one of the dancing balloons many car dealerships use to capture drivers attention and you pointed it out calling it a Wiggle Head.

What was I like? - Introduction

I have often asked my mom what I was like when I was young. She could never give me the specifics I was looking for so I figured she must just have a bad memory. Now that a few years have passed and we are experiencing baby moments again with Adele, we realize that we don't remember everything we would like about when Delaney was younger. We think this will only get worse and want to be prepared for when she asks us "what was I like?"

So, I decided to start documenting moments worth noting here. They may not all be of interest to our visitors but I think that one day Delaney and Adele will enjoy looking back on them and "thumbing through the pages."

The Plank Girls' Bedrooms

The girls' bedrooms are painted but not done yet. The first two pictures are of Delaney's room. The inspiration is from the book Zin Zin Zin Violin. This book is great teaching instruments and counting. Delaney loves the book and so do we. It features 10 instruments but we picked three: Clarinet, Violin and Trumpet. All the walls are painted in a similar pink color with faux painting swirls a bit darker on top. Ideally, I want to hang instruments on the other walls.

Adele's room is orange and yellow with colorful animals and letters. The inspiration for this room is a painting we used to have in Delaney's room at the old house. It isn't hung yet but it is very colorful and features a dog and goldfish. The artist, Charles Houska, has done a lot of work locally.

The mural artist is Christina Hummer: http://www.sweetdreammurals.com/

Adele Telling it Like it Is!

Adele loves the sound of her own voice.

ABC's

Delaney is fascinated with letters these days. We will be walking or driving and all of a sudden she will start spelling out words she sees. She is putting together that the letters on an object spell an object like a stop sign but this isn't always true. She has a fork with the brand name Nuk. The letters NUK are on the fork. She spelled out N, U, K, and then said Fork. Makes me want to have items with the actual word on it everywhere like the cartoon Word World on PBS.

The other day we were in the car and she was sitting in a way that she could see the dashboard. I had the car on so the console had a bright D for Drive. I turned it off and she said, "No, I want D for Delaney back." Took me a minute but figured it out. Won't be long now before she is reading.

Adele Videos and Pictures

Smiles smiles and smiles

Adele is smiling a lot these days. Tonight at dinner, a big smile was on her face as she watched her sister sing and chat. The smiles and giggles have been hard to capture on video. I tried tonight but she saw a camera instead of me so stopped all the cute faces. We have a few cute shots that we hope to get online soon but in the meantime, here are more pictures of Adele from our friend Kate.

The Tall X

Delaney has really enjoyed learning letters and numbers. Currently, we are working on our new address. Our house number starts with a 3 and she always skips it. Seems to skip 13 a lot too...hmmm, what does she have against three? She likes numbers though, we use them to motivate her all around the house. She likes letters too. One of her favorite songs is "Now I know My ABCs". In our many trips between the new house and old, we pass the Bevo Mill on Gravois. The other day she pointed it out to me as a "Tall X." It sure is fun to see the world through the eyes of a 2 year old.

New Baby, check! New House, check! What's next?

On one of the hottest days of the year (100+), Greg and I moved from our humble 2 bedroom house on Lavern Place to a house twice it's size in Tower Grove South, a friendly neighborhood in the city of St. Louis. Thank goodness for movers. We were just shocked by how much stuff we have accumulated. The move was smooth but now, over two weeks later, we are still unpacking and organizing. Our dining room is empty waiting for new furniture and our family room still needs a couch. All in good time I guess.

Delaney loves all the extra space. She runs from room to room claiming "I'M RUNNING!" Her room is nice and big and has a big wall that will soon have a musically themed mural painted on it. Adele's room, although smaller, is still very nice and will will soon be filled with an animal theme.

Our neighborhood is called Tower Grove South. It is south of Tower Grove Park (imagine that!) This is where Greg and I were married. www.towergrovepark.org
There are two playgrounds, lots of green space, and a number of festivals and events through out the year. May through October there is also a great Farmers Market. They sell locally grown/raised fruit, vegetables, and meat. There is entertainment and a fountain that acts as a water park for the little ones. Wonderful way to spend a Saturday morning.

Our list of to do's for the house is long but we are eager to have it ready to show off. We will be ready for a housewarming party soon. In the meantime, check out these pictures of our beautiful girls.

What did you say?

We are at the point with Delaney that we have to be very careful with what we say around her. She has an amazing ability to mimic us exactly. Greg had her saying "contradiction" the other day. She is so entertaining though with things that come out of her mouth. One of our favorites is strawberries. While she call blueberries "blueberries", strawberries are "strawbabies." We can't help but call them that as well.

While taking a bath the other day, she was fascinated with the water dripping out of the faucet after I shut it off. I told her they were drops. A few minutes later she said the faucet was "dropping." She then corrected herself and said, "no, not dropping, dripping." Huh? When did she learn dripping let alone how to change from dropping to dripping. Very cool.

Just like in the Movies

Introducing Adele Therese Plank

Born Saturday, June 4 at 9:37 pm

Weight: 7 pounds, 10 ounces

Height: 20.5 inches
















The baby "Boppy" was due May 29. Just like with Delaney, the due date came and went. It was no secret I was eager to have the baby, I just didn't think I would have it like I did. Mild contractions that I have been having the past two weeks started in the afternoon about 1:00. Nothing to get too excited about. Then, at dinner, stronger contractions were about 20 minutes apart. Again, nothing to get too excited about. Then about 7:15, they were all-of-a-sudden strong and 5 minutes apart. Dr. said to wait until this goes on for about an hour and then call. But only after about a half hour, they were stronger and 4 to 3 minutes apart so we headed for the hospital. This is when all you have to do is imagine all those cliche scenes in movies and TV shows of the wife screaming and panting, the husband speeding down the highway and running for the wheelchair, the water breaking in a most inconvenient place and the doctors/nurses saying, "I am sorry but it is too late for an epidural" ..... and you know what happened to us. It was seriously just like in the movies.

Later we learned that had it not been for the crooked positioning of her head, she would have been delivered in three pushes, less than 10 minutes but instead she was "vacuumed" out after 30 minutes of pain-filled labor. I like to think that those 30 minutes of pain were better than possibly delivering in the car. Madness all over, we had a beautiful baby girl and were looking to settle in for the night when the adventure continued. Shortly after going to the postpartum room, I began hemorrhaging blood without any explanation... so my pain-filled saga continued as doctors and nurses tried to determine the cause. In the process there were 3 failed IV attempts and 1 failed catheter attempt, a little swearing and A LOT of hand squeezing. Bleeding wasn't bad enough for major concern, just extra monitoring through the night until the doctor could explore in the morning. Finally.... sedation and pain relief. They discovered a laceration in the birth canal caused when delivering. A few extra stitches and finally a normal recovery could begin.

It appears the Plank girls enter the world in dramatic fashion. (See the post from July 5, 2009 "Delaney Clare Arrives June 23"). We are so blessed to have them both and wouldn't trade the Drama Queens for anything. May the adventure continue.

Delaney's Farm Dance

Delaney has a toy on the fridge that is farm themed. She can match pieces to make animals but she prefers to play the music and dance instead. This video shows off her moves AND if you look close, you can also see wax stuck in her hair that resulted in her first (non-official) hair cut. How did she get wax in her hair? You will have to ask Dad.

Wheels on the Bus

Here is Delaney and Daddy singing Wheels on the Bus a while back. It is still her favorite song.