3/19/07 The kids are finally starting to feel better, which mean the orneries are back out. They are such the little two year olds! Constantly pushing boundaries and checking to see if mama and dada will actually enforce the threats of time out or taking away the toys when they can't share. Aside from that, they are having a blast outside enjoying the warm weather. We are hearing more and more words, every single day it's something new. Will and I are getting ever more cautious of what we say around the kids too, since they repeat everything. We've learned to spell pretty well too.
Bella started cereal and LOVES it. I have never seen a kid eat so much at once! We kept watching for her to turn her head away, or act disinterested or whatever to signal that she was done, but everytime she sees the spoon, she opens her mouth as wide as she can and starts kicking her feet. She looks just like a little bird waiting for a worm! I think she's gonna give Lucas (our BIG eater) a run for his money! Here come the grocery bills!
3/13/07 Good Lord, are we ever going to get healthy? We've been back to the doctor's office twice this week, once with Lucas and Soph, who were diagnosed with having "lingering infections", whatever that means, and once with Bella, who has an ear infection. GRRRR.... All of this adds up to no sleep for mama and dada. This is not such a great thing since we are both sick too! Come on Spring, we're ready for healthy kids!
We've been busy this week, nonetheless. I learned that my kids are much smarter than I had guessed (ok that sounded bad, not that I thought they WEREN'T smart, but you know what I mean). I tried to teach them to sort the colored bricks up in the playroom, but apparantly they already knew how (or picked it up amazingly quick) because I didn't even get through the "demonstration" before they started going to town sorting by color. We had four HUGE towers of green, red, yellow and blue bricks, which of course had to be knocked down with a vengence. It turns out that they can also string beads pretty well. Since the box said 3+, I thought maybe it might be a little over their heads, but by the time I gave a brief demo, and then had to go change Bella's diaper, they both had necklaces in the works and I had to RUN to grab the camera. They are just too smart!
Despite having temperatures and runny noses, we have played outside on our new playset a TON this week, It's been in the 70's here, and the kids have had a blast climbing the ladder and sliding down the big slide. We've definitely gotten the hang of BIG and little thanks to our two slides! They also have had a good time exploring their new backyard and getting to know the neighbors a bit too!
Bella is fully into teething now. I had forgotten how insistant little ones can be with chewing when they want those first little teeth to pop through. She is constantly chewing on toys, fingers, our fingers, blankets, bibs, clothing, her brother and sister, shoes, and any other object that she can grab ahold of. She's 15 lbs. now, and squirmy as she possibly can be! She gave me the treat of her first refusal to sit in her carseat the other day (for you moms, you know the arching the back pose... it was lovely). Gotta love independence!
3/6/07 It's been a doozy of a week already! Yesterday, I took Lucas to the doctor because he had been up all the previous night wheezing and coughing. Turns out he has croupe.... again. and so we're back on the 'roids (steroids). Today, we had occupational and speech therapy. Since Lucas decided last night to rub his plate on his head after eating buttered noodles, he had a "gorgeous" hairdo going on. Sophia asked for pigtails this morning. They were adorable when we got in the car. 35 minutes later when I got her out, she had one pigtail and no rubber band for the other one. So i attempted to pull the other one out and give her a ponytail, but of course, the rubber band broke. So she went into therapy with a lovely 'do also. As we were coming out of therapy, the kids decided to show me how big they are. I usually just throw them in the stroller (without straps) and run them out through the parking lot to the car. Then I put Bella in her seat and put them in. Easy enough, right? Well today, as I was taking Bella out of the front pack (it takes about 7 seconds), they both threw up the trays on their seat and BOLTED out of the stroller. Turns out they both can run really fast, especially in two different directions. I ran after them and rounded them up about 50 steps from where we started, only to send up a small thank you prayer that there were no moving cars in the parking lot at the time. We had a long talk in the car afterwards about parking lots and cars (as if we haven't had that discussion a million times). Sophia, of course, threw a tantrum and refused to get in her seat. Once in, I decided to let them play the "put it down" game (see previous entry) on the way home since they were tired and it keeps them fairly occupied. Let me preface this with, "I had been warned." When I told my mom about the Put it down game, she said and I quote, "Just be careful or you will have shoes thrown out the window." So, everything was going fine until I noticed Lucas holding a shoe (and chewing on the laces). I calmly asked him to give me the shoe, to which he said, "NO". I tried to grab it, so Lucas threw it out the window to keep it away from me. Keep in mind this whole time I'm driving on a busy street with three lanes going each way (of course I'm in the middle lane). I had to cut across traffic to pull over and retrieve the shoe (since Lucas only has one pair that fits these days). Needless to say, we lost window AND shoe privileges in the car today. Mama's tired.....
On a lighter note, Bella has a new game when nursing. When she's done, she "detaches" and looks up at me. As soon as I look down at her, she gets this huge coy grin on her face and DIVES back in to nurse again. She does this over and over until I cut her off. She's so silly!
Hopefully, your week is going a little smoother than mine! :) Have to say though, as we were driving to therapy, Lucas and Sophia were having an independant conversation (independant of me) talking about all the people they love. It is pretty heartwarming to hear "and I love mama" from the backseat in little two year old voices. (Of course they also love the crossing guard that works for the school across the street, and the little boy who lives next door that they have only met once, but hey, we take what we can get. I'd like to believe they said they loved ME a little more emphatically than they did the other random people :) )
3/2/07 We've had several 65 or 70 degree days this week, so in honor of that we learned a brand new phrase! PUT IT DOWN!!!!! Ironically enough, Will and I have said this 50 million times to them referring to things they weren't supposed to be holding, but the kids finally picked up the phrase when it became to their advantange. We learned that when we scream, "Put it down!" in the car, the windows "automatically" go down! Then when we say "Up please!" they go up! As fun as it is in the car, it gets a bit annoying for mama when we spend 1/2 the day inside hearing, "Car, put it down!" and having to explain that we can't spend all day in the car. Bella likes the windows down too and it makes for a much more pleasant ride in the car. Plus the kids like to wave at the cars next to us when we hit stop lights.
The imaginations have taken off in our house recently. The kids are having pretend picnics all the time, getting dressed up, and riding pretend horses all over the house. The feed their baby dolls at dinner, and change their diapers whenever they get changed. Tubby time, the kids become fish like Nemo, and the monster babies return occasionally too (if you don't remember that, they all the sudden start screaming like monsters and stomp around the house "scaring" mama and dada). We're singing, dancing, and playing our way through the beginning of March!
Bella is still the happiest baby alive I think, and she loves to play with the kids. It amazes me, Lucas plays so rough with her, and she just smiles and laughs! Soph mothers her and makes sure she is covered up and has toys all the time. She runs up to her and tells her she loves her and gives her kisses too. Bella just grins every time she sees them. She actually cries in the car when the kids aren't sitting next to her, like when we drop off the kids at Mother's Day OUt. She's quiet and happy the whole way there, and then cries on the way home. At least they like eachother (for now) :)
Happy March!
