One of the Tribe

We're happy to report that Daniel is integrating into Hendrickson culture.

He's starting to wear denim.

When I change Joy's diaper, she often hands a clean one to Daniel in addition to getting one out for her and me.

Daniel sleeps unswaddled now (good thing - it's starting to get pretty warm around here), . . .

. . . and he's figuring out that his sister can be just a little bit kooky.

Out Visiting

Phillip was out of town this weekend at a seminar in San Diego, so the kids and I headed out to visit my family for a few days.

Dad washed our car (note to self: must visit on Saturdays more often) . . .

. . . while Daniel honed his rolling skills ("almost . . . there . . .")

. . . and played with Grandma.

We also joined the clan for a Father's Day celebration.

After dinner, Joy and her cousins had fun playing "Beauty Pirates"* with Uncle Nile. Fun times. :)

*Beauty Pirates was a term my cousins and I coined when we were little. We would often play with our grandma's costume jewelry, and the idea of being pirates added a little adventure and romance to the game. However, since your average pirate tends to be surly, uncouth, and decidedly underwashed, we clarified that we were Beauty Pirates (as opposed to, say, Grimy Pirates). An important distinction.

Memorial Weekend in the Mountains

It's been a little while since Memorial Day, but I wanted to post a few pictures from that weekend in the mountains.

We played hopscotch . . .

. . . and made cupcakes.

Joy climbed on every stump she could find (and thanks to the bark beetles there are a lot of them).

We also rode the merry-go-round . . .

. . . and the go-karts (it's hard to know whether Joy's expression says, "Slow down!" or "Go for it Dad! You can pass that kid!").

Is this girl photogenic or what?

Celebrating with Pink Grandma

It's Grandma H's birthday this week, and we had a lot of fun celebrating with her.

Joy helped decorate the piano.

The kids enjoyed a little light reading with Grandma.

We enjoyed a tasty dinner (FYI, mixing blackberry Yoplait yogurt with blueberries, strawberries, and bananas makes for an awesome fruit salad).

After dinner we relaxed a while . . .

. . . and Grandma helped Joy hone her Golf skills.

Incidentally, I love the birthday tiara Emily and Laura got for Mom. It's particularly fitting because Joy calls her "Kink Amah" ("Pink Grandma"), since she's wearing pink in one of our favorite pictures. Now Joy has another good reason to call her the Pink Grandma.

Blocks with Papa

Every now and then, when Grandpa is in our area and has a free minute or two, he stops by to play with any grandkids who happen to be awake.

During one of his recent visits, he and Joy decided to try a little construction project.

It ended up looking a little like the L.A. Temple, so they decided it wouldn't be complete without "Angel Moroni" on top.

I'm so glad we live close to grandparents on both sides of our family, so our kids can play with them and feel how much they're loved.

Who Won the Hippies?

Here's the post you've all been waiting for: the translation of Joy's latest greatest phrases.

Free Hippies = Three Clippies

Hippie Cake = Clippie Cake

Joy likes to call her little plastic shapes "cakes," and fill them with "hippies," bouncy balls, bracelets, you name it.

Jew A = Juice Egg

Joy can say the names of most standard colors, but "orange" still eludes her. She compensates by calling orange things "juice" because they look like orange juice. Ironically, she calls orange juice "yellow juice." I know - it kind of makes sense, in an irrational sort of way.

Go Hee = Go Slow

When Joy says "hee" she usually means "little" (don't ask me why), but sometimes it can mean "slow" (or "little speed"). The other day when Joy urged me to go fast in the car, I told her we couldn't because we were on a slow street. With resignation in her voice, Joy said, "Go hee," as if to say, "Oh very well, go the speed limit if you must."

Red Geek = Red Bear is Stuck

And, last but not least, Dude = George, our George Foreman grill

I think Natalie came the closest to translating Joy's phrases, with Aunt Connie a close second. So Natalie, which prize would you prefer? Fame and glory, or free hippies? :)

Free Hippies

For the past year or so, Joy has been quite content to communicate with single words (occasionally repeated dozens of times for emphasis). For example, she might say "white, white, white! White! WHITE!" and leave it to us to guess whether she wanted white milk, her white bear, her white blanket, or whether she was just talking about the white bubbles in the wake behind Papa's boat.

In the last few weeks, Joy has finally started stringing two and even three words together. In celebration of this momentous developmental step, I've decided to hold a friendly competition. Below are five phrases Joy has said lately. In the comment section, try to translate some or all of them into standard English.

Without further ado, here are the samples of Joyspeak:

1) Free Hippies

2) Hippie Cake

3) Jew A

4) Go Hee

5) Red Geek

Extra Credit: What is Joy referring to when she says, "Dude"?

The commenter who successfully translates the most Joy phrases will receive free hippies. Or fame and glory, whichever you prefer. We'll announce the winner on Monday. If no one can interpret ANYTHING Joy says (not uncommon when the toddler isn't your own), the winning translation will be the one that we think is funniest. Good luck!

Toddler Trends

Here's Joy modeling this season's hottest fashions:

Eyewear

Footwear

Headgear

(Yes, that really is one of those unisex hats Daniel received as a newborn at the hospital. Joy somehow managed to make it look kinda cool.)

I Like Flowers, But . . .

Someday, I want to have a garden . . .

. . . that looks like this (I simply must find out what these people put in their dirt) . . .

. . . not this.

Apparently there was a miscommunication among the owners about my veggie garden, and one of them recently decided to yank it out and replace it with pretty pink flowers. They were kind enough to reimburse me for my gardening expenses, but money can't heal the hole in my heart. [sniff]

One Step Forward, One Step Back

I'm pleased to report that Operation Quit Swaddling is going pretty well.

Daniel adapted well to having one arm free, so we've moved on to two arms free. He woke up a little early from his naps today, but other than that things went fine.

Ironically, while Daniel is progressing toward a more grown-up style of sleeping, Joy thought it would be fun to climb into his bassinet this afternoon. I guess she was getting in touch with her inner baby.

Still Swaddling

Some members of our family are more into swaddling than others.

Since warm weather is approaching and Daniel is getting strong enough to bust out of his blanket anyway, we decided it's time to get him out of the habit of going to sleep swaddled. We're leaving one arm out of the swaddle for a few days, then we'll leave both arms out, then we'll remove the blanket entirely.

Daniel actually seems to prefer having an arm loose. At any rate, he seems less driven to kick and squirm out of the blanket now that he can move at least one limb freely. Joy, on the other hand, still thinks swaddling is pretty cool. Sometimes she even asks us to swaddle her at bedtime, . . .

. . . and she recently had me wrap up every stuffed bear she owns. They looked like a big order of bear taquitos.

And heaven forbid we should leave Elmo out of all this fun.