Oh Amelia

why did you go and grow? Some of your pretty spring clothes are too small and you can reach the top of the kitchen table. Milestones.

3 year appointments

We met with our pediatrician last week for William's three year appointment. Thankfully, there weren't any shots this time as he still hasn't forgiven me for the flu shot he got 2 appointments ago (we were there with Amelia). The appointment was uneventful and in general things are going extremely well. One highlight was seeing how much he has grown since last year!

Three year vs Two Year

Height: 39 in vs 35.75 in
Weight: 35 lbs vs 29.5 lbs

So, he's been doing some growing! Three inches and a little over 5 pounds. He is at the top of the chart for height and surprisingly in the 75% for weight. The height doesn't come as much of a surprise because he is constantly being mistaken for a four or five year old at storytime. The weight was the big shock of the day. This boy doesn't have enough...well....let's just say his pants don't stay up very well. He looks normal enough with his clothes on, but when he is undressed, he is all skin and bones. He is like a stick figure with a big round head on the top. On bath nights I marvel at how he is able to walk at all with that big old noggin on top of his skinny, little body. But, he does. Anyhow, the doctor reassured me that he was completely normal and it was typical to see the ribs on kids his age. Totally normal.

Our other appointment recently was some three year pictures of William. Here are a few!

So angelic. Of course I didn't write on the walls Mama!

YAY!

Two nights in a row, William has woken up with a dry diaper. Exciting times people, exciting times.

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

tooth #7 1/31/10

--------

Also:

William picked out a sucker from our treat jar for doing something great*. He has just discovered the wonders of different flavored suckers**. He requested a green sucker, but was a little disappointed or surprised to find a white colored sucker under the green wrapper.

Will: What flavor is this?
Daddy: Cream soda
Will: ??
Daddy: The flavor is called cream soda
Will: This is called....Minne soda?


*He pooped. On the potty. That's right, he POOPED ON THE POTTY. This is big, people. HUGE in fact because he has been doing it for an entire week now. Exclusively pooping on the potty. It is taking all my self control to leave it at that because there is nothing I love more than a good poop story. But, I promised myself. No potty training stories.
**Dum dums if you are interested

10 Months Old

Oh Amelia. You are 10 months old now. There are days when that doesn't seem possible and others when...well, I'm so exhausted with keeping up with you I don't think I'll ever sit again. You are quite the spitfire these days and have definite opinions about how you think things should happen. You threw your first temper tantrum this month. It was brief but intense. And hilarious. You were sitting on the carpet in our living room and threw yourself backwards in anger about having a teeny tiny [choking hazard] toy taken away from you. You were easily distracted out of your temper, but you sure meant business. You cried, banged your hands on the ground and kicked all at the same time.
You are quite the shoe and sock girl lately. Earlier this week, I caught you trying to put a sock back on your foot after you took it off. You love to take off your shoes and socks. I think within the first five minutes of going anywhere, you easily dispose of both. You love all shoes. All of are shoes are now all nicely put away because you love to chew on them and crawl around with them. You aren't picky about who they belong to or what color they are. We'll have to work on that, won't we sweetie?


There are lots of things you really love lately. You love eating table food, your brother, giving kisses, taking baths, music, dancing, our cats, your brother's toys and when your daddy comes home. Your eating has really taken off. You eat everything in sight saying "Mmmmmmmm" the entire time you are doing it. If I didn't know you do the same thing with cardboard (eat it, say "mmmm"), it might go to my head. You continually impress us with the different things you are willing to eat and the amount you consume. There are occasions where I'm sure you eat more than your brother during meals. Amazing. You chow down on cooked vegetables, fresh fruit, noodles, yogurt, cereal, and meat. The only things you don't like currently are toasted bread and broccoli. These two consistently end up on the floor (although other things do too when you get worked up or when you are full).

You also continue to idolize your brother. You want to be right with him, doing what he is doing all the time. Every single second. He brings a smile to your face and can make you laugh harder than anyone or anything else. This is something we are having to work on because while he tolerates you pretty well, he does need some space. He also isn't a fan of your destructive tendencies. You certainly aren't gentle with books, blocks, cars or any of his other favorite toys.

You also love bath time. Maybe because it is more time with your brother? We were just remembering that about now is when William starting not liking baths anymore. This doesn't seem to be anywhere on the horizon with you. You have no fear whatsoever. At all. Your whole face in the water? Not a problem. When you hear the bathwater start running, you make a beeline for the bathroom. You don't want to miss a moment.

A quick note about your daddy. You have really become a Daddy's girl. You are so excited when Daddy gets home from work. The minute you hear him walk through the door, you are looking, looking, looking for where he is. And if he hangs up his coat before coming to hold you? The world comes to an end. There are tears and dramatic crying. And worse yet, if he has to use the bathroom? Well, nothing could be worse. No distraction will do. Not Mama, not your brother, not toys. Nope. Nothing. Not until Daddy reappears. Then all will be right with the world.


Sleeping has improved. Most nights of the week you are sleeping straight through from about 7:30 to about 7am. Not always, but most nights. You have relocated from your bedroom to our walk in closet in our bedroom because your room is just too cold to sleep in without a blanket. It makes putting laundry and other tasks more difficult with you in there, but it is the right thing to do. We're hoping for an early spring so you can go back to your pretty bedroom where you belong.

You talk all the time. You have several recognizable words: Mama, Dada, Hi, Hi there, no-no and bye bye. The rest of what you say isn't understandable to anyone but you. But, that doesn't stop you one bit. You are a champion crawler and unbelievably fast when you want to be. A small whirlwind flying through the house emptying wipes, dumping toys, pulling books down off the bookshelf. I can always tell where you've been just by following the trail of messes. You've been on the verge of walking for at least a month. You can do it and I've seen you thinking about it as you eye the distance between the couch and the coffee table. But, it appears you are willing to just bide your time and make us wait a little longer. This is a face looking for some trouble

Love people, love to dance. You point at the CD player and laugh when the music starts. You hang on with one hand to a chair, the coffee table, your brother's leg, whatever is nearby and dance. You also love us to dance you around and you'll bounce and clap your hands in delight.


There isn't much the same about you from ten months ago. You are turning into a little girl. Your eyes are starting to change, your hair is coming in like crazy. You have wonderfully fat thighs and cheeks. Just like a baby should. At least once a day, I am distracted by your beautiful babiness. It makes me stop what I am doing and forces me to kiss your cheeks. Because really? Someone should always be kissing your fat cheeks. They were made for kissing.

How many...?

We like to play this game recently:

Mama: How many eyes do you have?
William:....[counting]....two!

M: How many noses do you have?
W: ONE!

Etc, etc, etc


As I was tucking William in tonight, we talked about all the things that had happened today. It was a crazy busy day despite the fact we didn't set foot outside the house. After talking things over, William turned to me and asked "How many eyebrowns do YOU have Mama?"

Two, I think.

Mama's Try

Well, it isn't getting any easier to get a picture of either of these kids. William will now smile on command, but it only lasts a second - tough to catch. Also, when he says cheese, he looks away from the camera. So, either he is looking at the camera/not smiling or not looking at the camera/smiling away (but you can't tell because you can't see his face). These pictures were all taken on his third birthday. Here are the best ones of today!

funny, verbal, smart, demanding,

Kind of funny how all of these have a greenish cast. I bet I could take care of that in a hurry if I wasn't so lazy with photo editing (if I edit one, I'd have to edit them all. I have a HUGE backlog. See: two children under three).

And just a few details about what is going on! William is funny, curious and demanding as of late. He is so observant and picks up things about both John and myself we didn't realize you do. He'll say or do something (like run his fingers through his hair or copy the exact way John is sitting in his chair) we haven't seen before and all of a sudden John and I stop what we are doing to look at ourselves. Because most of the time he is mimicking one of us.

William wants to be a big boy and likes to do things for himself. On his own timetable. He is fully capable of dressing himself from head to toe, but without intervention it would take him roughly 30 hours to do the task. It been a period of battles the last few weeks, trying to get him ready to go anywhere in a timely manner. He loves story time at the library. But no amount of coaxing, bribing, threatening, forcing, etc is going to make him move any faster. Boy is it a bummer when you get to story time in time to say good bye to the friends leaving after it is over. Even that doesn't hurry us up.

He has recently decided it is high time to start learning how to cook which has led to some serious....ummm....let's call them discussions (read: showdowns) at mealtimes. I'm working on finding tasks for him to do in the kitchen, but really I believe he is a little young to operate the oven and stove. We are working on him making his very own beloved peanut butter jelly sandwich. The mess is unbelievable, but so is his pride when he gets it done.

The eating around has also shown significant improvements as of late. I'm sure it is largely due to a growth spurt or extreme hunger, but William is willingly trying (and EATING) a number of items on his "won't eat" list. We've eaten chili, stew, chicken soup, tacos, mashed potatoes, vegetables - all kinds of amazing things. I don't expect it to last, but maybe the next time he'll remember a little so it won't be quite the battle. Maybe?

William knows about a trillion and one words. I'm not sure if a minute goes by when his mouth isn't going one hundred miles an hour. He is asking questions, telling stories, narrating what he is doing ("Now I am running!") and singing. All wonderfully cute. And overwhelming. Because it doesn't ever stop. He passionately loves anything to do with vehicles,trains and letters.


I'm afraid to write about this here as it will probably jinx us, but the potty training is going very well. After several false starts, we have gone several weeks now without any accidents at all - of any variety. I'm still nervous leaving the house with the big boy underwear, but it doesn't feel like a wild gamble anymore.

William you are one amazing boy. You have grown from a round little toddler into a big boy with sharp edges and chicken legs. I'm so proud of everything you've learned and to have been part of it. Here's to another amazing year!

1/27/2010

Today should have been a day of joy and happiness for our friends, the Hawn's. Today we remember their beautiful baby boy who would have been one today. We were lucky to be with them for a few [cold] minutes this evening to celebrate his memory. We released balloons and were together to celebrate the moment his life began just one short year ago. It was a [cold] beautiful moment. It feels like there should be more to say, but I don't know the words. Happy birthday Ryan.