Mischief and Creativity

Donovan and Lillian are starting to plot mischief together.

Donovan got the camera took 3 of these first 4 photos as the plot unfolded:

Lillian: Donovan, listen, I have an evil plan.

Donovan: I surrender to your great wisdom, oh Buddah Baby. What is your plan?

Lillian: Come look close in my eyes and I will tell you.

Donovan: Oh yes, I see. We must make pizza.

Donovan: I can not work with this woman photographing my secret process.

Lillian: Work faster big brother or I will sic the red doggy rattle on you.


Donovan: Here is the finished product. How is it?

Lillian: Quite tasty. Red doggy rattle is pleased.

In the meantime:
Mommy was knitting a cute little hat to send to a needy newborn. http://www.savethechildren.org/programs/health/child-survival/survive-to-5/knit-one-save-one.html

What a profound blessing that our little co-conspirators have the comforts they do.
And what a joy it is to teach them to be comforts to one another.

Lily's New Trick

The other day Lily was in tummy time and wouldn't stay on her tummy! She rolled over 4 times!

So mama went for the camera, but Lily didn't have it in her to do it again. So Donovan helped her.

Once we catch her newfound skill on film, we'll share it here.

Fairy House

Today Grandma Judy came over & babysat Donovan and Lillian while Mommy went to an interview.

Then when she got back, Donovan and Lillian and Mommy went on a nature walk together. They brought a bag to collect a bunch of great things like twigs & leaves.

Mommy taught Donovan why some leaves turn more red than others and Donovan found an earthworm and carried it around for half the walk, keeping an eye out for the worm's mommy & daddy.
Then when they got home, they started building a fairy house.

It turned out really nice -A perfect place for a little fairy to lay his or her head.

Tonight We Made Applesauce

This evening, Donovan and I made home-made applesauce from some of the apples we picked the other day.


We found a rough recipe in his book Apples Apples Apples by Nancy Elizabeth Wallace.


Donovan washed the apples & I sliced & peeled them. Then they went into a pot with the appropriate sweeteners & a little water & cooked for about 30 minutes.

Then I took out the softened apples & we used the Pampered Chef Chopper to make them a little more saucy. Donovan really enjoyed that part.

We put the chopped sauce back into the pan to mix it with the juices & then served it warm.

Of course, Donovan, being the creative cook he is, decided to eat his applesauce between two pieces of bread - a la applesauce sandwich.


(That's nothing. Here he is a few weeks ago eating mustard on pancakes.)

Lily was patient with us while we concocted - but did call me to her needs at various times throughout the cooking process - so I found some Go Diego Go games for Donovan to play online while I tended to the baby or did things that wouldn't be fun or safe for him to do.

Here's Lily a few weeks ago, too.

Sorry we don't have any shots from today. I need to buy some more batteries for our camera.

Apple Picking With Grandpa

Yesterday, Donovan and his grandpa went apple picking.

They found a big bucket and Donovan helped Grandpa carry it to the neighbor's house.

Grandpa's neighbor has four apple trees that he allowed Donovan and Grandpa to pick from.

Grandpa held Donovan up high to help him reach the apples on the branches.

Then Donovan handed the apples to Mommy so she could put them in the bucket.

Donovan learned how to pick the apples without breaking the branches. He lifted and twisted the apple gently so the stem gave way.

He even found a few apples already on the ground.

When the bucket was full, it was very heavy.

So Donovan helped Grandpa carry it back to his house again.

When they got there, Grandpa said, they could have some apple pie he had made from last time he picked apples.

Donovan likes apple pie!

To Get to Donovan's Original Blog

follow this link: http://donovann.blogspot.com/

How Donovan Became A Big Brother

Allow me to tell you a story about a little boy named Donovan.

Donovan is a handsome boy who is very good at many many things.

He is good at building Lego buildings and drawing pictures.

He is good at helping Mommy with the dishes.

He is good at catching spiders.

He is even good about eating his vegetables!

He is especially good at being wonderful, as it comes naturally to him.

His mommy and daddy love him very much and so do lots of other people.

One winter, Donovan's mommy started to get tired really easy and wasn't feeling good a lot of mornings.

Then by summer time Mommy's belly was growing

bigger

and bigger

and bigger!

It got bigger and bigger and bigger until it became very difficult for Donovan to effectively cuddle her.

But he was okay with that, because Mommy told him that she was growing a very special something inside her womb.

A baby sister!

So Donovan cuddled his new baby sister through Mommy's belly and sang to her and kissed her and blew raspberries on mommy's tummy so the baby would kick & play with him.

Then, finally, the baby was born!!!

She was 9 pounds! But Donovan had been 9 pounds and three ounces when he was born - so it's lucky she didn't grow inside of Mommy any longer, or she might have been bigger than him when she came out and that would be silly.

Mommy and Daddy named her Lillian Olivia.

The meaning of the name is "Beautiful Peace-maker".

Both Mommy and Daddy were very proud of her and quickly realized that she already had quite a talent about being wonderful, just like her big brother.

She was beautiful from the beginning and Mommy couldn't help but stare at her and call her "Enchanting."

Daddy fell in love with her very quickly, too.

And who can blame him? Besides, she has his eyes, just like Donovan does.

Which, by the way, was what Mommy hoped for both of them since Daddy's eyes were one of the first things she noticed about him.

And Donovan, being as wonderful as he is, has been a wonderful big brother from the first moment he met his little sister.

And he took great joy in studying her.

He pointed out that she has little hands.

And a little nose.

And a little mouth.

Even though she could open it really wide.

And Donovan's mommy and daddy couldn't be prouder of how well he accepted his new role in the family.

And Lillian will one day realize just how fortunate she is to have such an awesome person for her big brother.

A whole lifetime of memories are in the making.

This is not

the end,

it is

the beginning...