Happy Valentine's Day

First up is this:

Amelia will now give kisses when you ask for them (roughly 80% of the time). So sweet! Although you should be warned 100% of the time she kisses with an open mouth. And tongue.

Kiss! I have a feeling this is going to be a picture we are going to look back on and wonder how we were ever that young.
Daddy and his Valentine's ready for church (well, 2 of his Valentines)
Another try

Amelia in her BEAUTIFUL pink, velvet dress (thanks, Charlotte!) I so hope we get to wear this a few times before she outgrows it!
Pretty girl standing up - she is so close to walking (and has been since Thanksgivingish). I can't figure out what is slowing her down other than right now walking is slower than crawling. And speed is necessary for keeping up with a brother!

Happy Valentine's Day Mama!

The kids loving on each other after church
More kissing! Or at Amelia's trying for a kiss - you can tell by her WIDE open mouth! William is trying to hide from it.
William turn to give the kisses - he has the closed mouth thing down. Most of the time.

Hi everybody!

The best picture so far of Amelia's changing eyes - you'll have to look carefully!

What to cook up for your sweet Valentine's? Heart shaped, pink pancakes of course! Daddy is very talented, isn't he?

Oh Bummer

Oh bummer. Is William newest favorite phrases. I know it looks like it should have an exclamation point after it, but he doesn't use one when he says it so I'm not putting one there. I'm not entirely sure where it came from (me? a definite maybe). Most of the time he uses it in situations entirely appropriately. For example, when his large stack of blocks tips over, you'll hear him say "oh, bummer".

However, this new phrase is totally hilarious to both John and myself when it is a complete understatement in a situation. For example, when William doesn't listen he either looses a toy for one day or goes into time out (punishment depends on the crime). Earlier today, William was sent to a time out AND lost a favorite car for the rest of the day. His response? Oh, bummer.

John and I barely made it out of his room before busting out laughing like crazy. Funny boy.

Update

Tooth #8 2/10/2010 Upper right of the middle tooth

Argh

Amelia adores her big brother. Big, puffy clouds of love. She happily spends entire days just following in his wake, trying to get near to him. When she gets close, she kisses, hugs and pats him all over. Not gently either. She has been known to leave marks behind with her pinchy little fingers and scratches with her pointy fingernails (and no, it doesn't matter how often I cut/file them. They are always pointy). And she squeals. A high pitched, headache inducing squeal of overwhelming happiness. This isn't the problem.

The problem is William plays and forgets that she is there. So, as she approaches, he elbows her in the face. Or drives a backhoe into her nose. Or tips over a tower of blocks upon her pretty head. Tears come fast, hot, furious. I rush in to assess the damage by scooping her up. Which results in tears of anger from our adorable Amelia. Not mad at her brother. No. She is mad that I have taken her away from her brother. Either he is put in time out when I feel like he knew what he was doing and did it anyway (he pushed her down) or I am simply examining her for injuries and reassuring William.

It doesn't matter if he has caused her pain just seconds before, all is immediately forgiven and all she wants is to be back at his side. Just after pushing Amelia down for what felt like the tenth time of the day, William was again in his room serving what felt like the tenth time out of the day. And for the tenth time, Amelia was crawling like a madwoman down the hallway to his room. To find her big brother. Because his door doesn't latch all the time. When she pushes on the door it will open sometimes and allows her to be back with her big brother.


It is tough on both sides. The adoration has to be tiring. William is just a three year old, impulsive boy. Sometimes a boy just needs to drive his truck or read his book without the grabby little sister waiting to tear out the pages of your favorite book or destroy the lego creation you worked so hard to build. And yet, all Amelia wants is a little love from her beloved older brother. I think the solution to this is going to be balance. Somehow. No one said this parent stuff was easy, did they?

Peek A Boo

3 Things

Three things that made me smile today:

1. After a rough trip to the store where the word "no" was uttered more times per minute than allowed by state law, William happily clapped away to the "Happy and You Know It" cd playing. Although his behavior in the store made me want to....well do something not nice, it warmed my heart to hear him clap merrily away to the music on the way home. Because if he wasn't happy he wouldn't have been clapping along.

2. Amelia wore a cute little dress to church today with a sweater. What with the cold weather, I had forgotten about how adorably pudgy her little (big) thighs are. Utterly kissable. Totally wonderful and brought a smile to my face every time I saw them.

3. The giggles. Just one of the kids has to start and the other will join in. Within moments they have each other rolling on the ground. Laughing at each other, bringing joy to my heart.


Three things that made me want to gnash my teeth down to tiny nubs

1. The screech. Amelia has more and more communication abilities every day. She has discovered that by screeching at an piercing upper pitch, she is able to have her needs met in a more expedient manner.

2-100. The mind changing. William is more willing to do things when he has a choice. I know he doesn't want to go to the store with me to get milk. I don't really want to go the store with me to get milk. But if he gets to pick out his shoes/jacket/special toy/etc he is much more willing to go along with the program (or what needs to be done). However, the last few days have been more about the changing mind. For example:

Q. Do you want oatmeal or cereal for breakfast?
A. cereal
Meltdown: I DIDN'T WANT CEREAL! I WANT OATMEAL!

This can range from everything from how his sandwich is cut at lunchtime to the clothes he wears. It is totally unpredictable and stressful because I'm just not really ever sure when he is going to cooperate these days. All bets are off and I think it might be a safe bet to expect him to be uncooperative at just about every turn.

Dear

Dear Underpant manufactuor:

Please make the front of your underpants for boys prettier. My son insists on wearing them backwards so he is able to admire the racecar/train/character every single time he pulls down his pants. However, worn backwards, the underwear do not fit correctly in the rear....which is an issue during potty training.

Thank you,
The Mama