Well, a day or two after the last post, Fred left this life.  Poor Fred. I was glad it happened at night so the kids didn't have to see me flush him.  They didn't even seem to mind the next day. I think it was a few days after that Cole asked where Fred was.  I told him he got sick and died and he was fine with it.

We have had lots of visitors over the past month.  Too bad I was not a very good photographer this month either. We had Lyla's birthday celebration while Papa and Grandma Solotes were here.  The cake was amazing!  It was the Pioneer Woman's Strawberry Shortcake Cake.  Literally to die for.  The kids even enjoyed the cake and they are more icing fans.  I didn't make the cake but bought it at a fundraiser at church.  I froze it and thawed it a day before.  Great even thawed. Amazing.  I let the kids pick a sprinkle at the store and they could decorate how they liked.  Lyla chose chocolate sprinkles and dumped the entire bottle onto the top of the cake.  Cole was more delicate with his addition of sprinkles, gently placing them here and there.  He chose the colored variety.

See video for cake and bday song.

Papa and Grandma Poling came for a few days prior to her birthday. We had so much fun with them. Cole and Lyla love to play in the back of Papa's truck.  They go for walks, eat at Chick-fil-a, and just generally play well together.  It was awesome to have Grandma Poling take care of them in the morning. My kids are my alarm clock and she would grab them and bring them downstairs so fast, I didn't even know they were awake and slept in almost every day. Heaven!

We have been to the Blue Bell Ice Cream Factory in Brenham twice this month. We went with the Poling Grandparents and then again with Papa and Grandma Solotes.  The kids don't even mind the hour drive because they know there is ice cream at the end and a cool cow to ride.  It was rainy both times we went.  Natalie introduced me to Instagram on my phone which takes really fun pictures, so I actually started taking pictures with my phone again and have a few to share.

In between visits of grandparents, Lyla injured her arm or wrist (we really aren't sure which).  There wasn't anything on the x-ray so either she sprained her wrist or dislocated her elbow.   It happened in the evening so we went to the urgent care clinic since our doctor's office was closed. Cole was trying to pull her up onto the ottoman when it happened. I didn't see it so I was confused as to what actually occurred but while sitting at the doctor Cole turned to me and asked, "Did I break Lyla's arm?"  Hmm...so Cole was involved! She wouldn't move her arm for about 2 days, not even to suck her fingers (she asked for a pacifier) and started to use it and at least move it away from her chest on day 3.  She was normal by day 5.  Although I hated to see her in pain, it was fun that she wanted to cuddle and snuggle so much!

She had her two year check-up this week and I spoke to him about the injury.  He was 90% sure it was a dislocated elbow (nursemaid elbow is what he called it) which shoots pain in the wrist, which is where she wouldn't let us touch or move it.  I know this happened to me frequently but I couldn't remember how to fix it or where it hurts.  He showed me how to adjust the arm to move it back in should this happen again. He did say it is a genetic thing that the propensity to dislocate your elbow is passed on.  He thinks it somehow got put back into place probably on day 3, although he said her elbow should have swelled and she definitely had a swollen wrist.  Which he then shrugged his shoulders and said, "Could have been a sprain and a dislocation, but still sprains are very rare in children."

Lyla is still a little tot.  She is 8th percentile for height at 32 inches and 21st percentile for weight at 24lbs 9oz.  But she jabbers constantly and has excellent large and fine motor skills. Seriously, the things she says and comprehends astounds me constantly but so do her abilities such as climbing and holding a pencil properly (which Cole still doesn't do). Just FYI, Cole is 78th percentile for height at 39.75inches and 40th for weight at 32lbs 3oz.  Here are a few thoughts on the kids I thought I would share.

**Lyla continues in her independent and strong willed nature. She still insisted on feeding herself even without the use of her right arm.  She ate yogurt with her left hand.  She started with a spoon and then switched to scooping it out with her left hand. Much faster that way. Oh yea, it was everywhere, but she wasn't having it any other way.

**Lyla makes Cole use his manners.  If she has something he wants, she will only relent and give it to him if he is calm and asks nicely.  I don't know where she got this trait, but it is the way she has always been.

**Cole is playing Hot Shot Soccer again.  He enjoys it. I think it's fun to watch.

**Lyla and Cole have decided it is lots of fun to scream in the house for no reason except it's fun to hear how loud you can get.  Love that one.

**Lyla is a play-doh fanatic. She could play with it all day.  Besides that she would probably be content beside a stack of books.  She got new ones from Papa and Grandma Poling and she read a lot while they were here.  I have noticed she reads more when I have lots of books downstairs as opposed to upstairs.

**Lyla and Cole both love gum, but Cole has learned to spit it out. Not so much for Lyla.  She got LOTS of gum while grandparents were here. So much so that yesterday she threw it all up.  Yuck.  Glad she got it out of her though.  She hasn't asked for gum since then either.

**If you haven't heard Lyla talk, you are seriously missing out.  She says the cutest little things.  I love her "Lipszzzz" when she wants chapstick or lipstick.  She wants it on over and over and over again.  Oh, and she doesn't just say phrases or words.  This girl speaks entire sentences comparable to Cole.  I've become so accustomed to it that I forget that not all two year old's speak like this!  Cole certainly did NOT!

**Cole is really trying to break free from doing whatever Mom is asking him to do.  He is trying my patience with the "NO, NO, NO!" and the "NEVER!" and "I'm NOT going to do that!"  Wow.  But I'm learning new ways to work around it.  He cracks me up though because he is saying "NO!" before he even knows what I'm saying.  Sometimes I have to get him to calm down to realize that what I'm saying is something he will LIKE!  But at the same time, Cole is really such a good little boy.  He is tender-hearted and loving.  I just know this is his way of trying to gain some independence and decision power. I'm sure this time will come around again, oh, around age 15.

**Cole's favorite songs are still "I Am A Child Of God" and "Elmo's Song".  Lyla's favorite is now "I Love To See The Temple".

**I tried Potty Training with Cole for 9 days.  Papa and Grandma Poling helped out SO much.  But in the end, Cole turned to me and said, "I don't want to be a big boy!  I want to wear diapers!"  Even when I explained that meant I had to take away the Cars 2 Airplane.  This is a very cool toy, but he knew he could only get it by wearing underwear and going potty.  He was very calm about it really.  The next day while we were riding in the car we had a conversation like this.

Cole: "Mom, you make me mad!"

Mom: "Really, why Cole?"

"You took my airplane away!"

"Cole, I didn't take it away. You chose to put it away when you chose to wear diapers.  When you decide to wear underwear and go potty you can have it again.  It's your choice really."

Silence.

"Okay Mom. I'm not mad."

See?  What a great boy!

**Last week while Papa and Grandma Solotes were here, they would throw stones into the creek across from our house to the tiny fish.  Rick joined them and teased Cole saying he would throw Lyla down to the fish.  Cole immediately told him not to and asked Grandma to hold Lyla so dad wouldn't throw her down there.  He recounted the story to me and Cole started in on it again, "Don't Dad! That's my sister!"  Love that protective little lovable boy! Mean daddy! (But I love him too! :-)

**I'm pretty sure Lyla is determined to ride a bike before Cole. She is constantly trying to ride Cole's bike and is actually steady on it now and can reach the pedals.  Won't be long now...

**Cole is determined not to grow up. "I don't want to feed myself." "I don't want to wear underwear." "I'm NOT a big boy!"  Last night I asked him how old you have to be to serve a mission.  His response. "NO! I'm not going to be 19!"  Okay, so how about baptism? How old do you have to be?  "NO!  I'm not getting baptized.  I'm a baby!"  hahahhhaaaa!  It really doesn't explain so many of his choices. He wants to stay my baby forever.  So tonight, after a long day, I rocked and sang him to sleep.  I'm glad he's still my baby...for now.