The Kids Are Alright--Part 3

My poor, neglected blog. It needs a kick start in the worst possible way.  I don't know if an overshare about my kids will do the trick, but it's worth a shot, right?

Youngest goes first!

Two year old Harper has heard rumors of this thing called the terrible twos and is trying her hardest to execute it.  It's too bad for her that at two I can still kind of laugh at her "tantrums."  Talk to me when she's three and I'll be singing a different tune, I'm sure. 

 She's starting to talk for reals now, and although most words are still only understood by her parents...Oftentimes not even then.  She never complains though, and frequently gives us a pass when she's accepted that we are just not understanding what she's saying. 

Her stranger anxiety is still at an epic high, and she still prefers her mom to pretty much anyone else, and you only sometimes hear me complaining about this fact.  

  

She's always very concerned about where Holden is.  Whether that's because she wants to be around him or she's worried about her safety is unclear, but we hear a lot of "Hodie, where ahh you?" which is just as cute as you think it is.
She's growing!  The doctor tried to call her chubby at her check up but ate his words when her stats showed up perfectly in proportion.  (34 inches and 27 lbs 13 oz = 65% for  both height and weight).  Poor girl can't help it that she carries most of her weight in her thighs.

               

Firstborn!
Holden continues to think that he is in charge at our house.  He knows best, and if someone disagrees, it must just be that they don't understand.  Because if they did, surely they would agree with him.  Needless to say, it leads to some headbutting at our house.  But it also means he is bright and energetic and wants so badly to be a grownup that I could sit and listen to him talk for hours.  And I do.  Because that kid can talk.

He is enjoying preschool and is already planning a graduation party for himself.  He asked his preschool teacher to call me to bring him a dollar so he could get an ice cream cone on the way home, so clearly his priorities are right where they need to be.

 

He cannot wait until the day he can use the Lagoon season pass he got for Christmas, and he will tell you the height requirements for every ride in the park.  Being 44 inches (and 46 lbs) (55% and 75%, respectively), he doesn't quite make the cut for all of them, but is diligently eating his vegetables to get a little taller by summer.
Holden does not have stranger anxiety, and wants to be around people all the time.  He makes friends with anyone he can and loves attention from anyone who will give it.  I'm crossing my fingers that no strangers with candy come calling when I'm not around, because I'm quite confident he'd be in the back of that creeper van in two seconds, despite our stranger danger talks.

Basically, I obviously have the best kids in the world.  And though I can't honestly say I'm enjoying every minute of these ages, I CAN say that I'm enjoying them a lot, and that you better believe I will be soaking up my last few months of having both my kids around full time.

The Kids Are Alright (Part 2)

This little blog is WAY overdue for a random kid update.  Time is passing, and details are slipping from my memory one scrambled mom brain moment at a time so I have to document what I can.  

Let's start with this little girl, shall we?

What's New:  She finally got some teeth!  I know you were all worried, so sorry about the delay in getting this information to you.   She uses the teeth to smile all cheesy whenever I pull out my phone to check Facebook (and now Instagram!  Find me!) so I am pretty much obligated to take a picture of her adorable face quite frequently.

What's Old:  Since I know there is nothing more interesting than hearing about how tired other people are. She still doesn't sleep.  At night or during the day. Thanks for asking.

How She's Contributing:  She's my little sidekick, to the point that babyproofing hasn't yet become necessary because she's never out of my sight.

How She's Adorable: She sings along to Taylor Swift (unintelligibly) and her crazy, gorgeous hair gets comments everywhere we go.

What Needs To Be Documented:  

Recent stats

Height: 29.75 inches (28th percentile)

Weight: 23 lbs 3 oz (55th percentile)

Head: 18.9 inches (94th percentile)

Moving on to offspring #1

 

What's New:  He finished preschool.  This would be harder to take if his October birthday didn't give me a whole other year before Kindergarten comes calling.  

What's Old:  He can be bribed or threatened to eat anything, but the only three things he eats willingly are dessert, Happy Meals and pancakes.

How He's Contributing:  He keeps us on schedule, never lets me forget a promise, and rats me out to Reo when I let him have a cookie with breakfast.  

How He's Adorable:  He reads himself to sleep every night, writes love notes and gives unsolicited hugs.

What Needs to be Documented:
Crowd favorite! Random stuff Holden says--

To Reo:  "This book is only for young boys and old girls.  YOU are an old boy."
and while roughhousing.  "DAD! You are hurting me! Your own son!"

Character on TV:  How would YOU feel if you couldn't catch the ball?
Holden to TV:  Oh, well, I could catch the ball, so.....

To Me:  "MOM, don't look!  You are not going to like this commercial.  It's all about kids growing up!

While getting lunch: "Mom, do you know what is rude? That customer just gave that worker the stink eye."

and my personal favorite as told to me by his Primary teacher at church:
after being told a story about people drinking out of rivers and streams.
"Wait...if they drank out of rivers and streams, wouldn't they get Dysentary??"

The Kids Are Alright

For those of you who may have been concerned that my lack of posting meant that having two kids has done me in, this one is for you.  It's not a pretty post.  But my mom has an innate ability to tell when Holden and I are about to be on enemy terms and whisks him away on some awesome grandma adventure (someone please tell me why I am trying to move out of here), so I am on borrowed time.

Despite the long and frustrating learning curve that comes with having to start sharing everything when you have pretty much never had to hear the word share in your whole life, Holden remains as cute as ever.  His love for The Beatles still reigns on (although he is increasingly becoming a fan of the Foo Fighters as well).   Here he is jamming out.  Since this is not a pretty post, it hasn't been edited for content or to fit in the time allowed, but I still think it is worth your time to take a peek. Plus, you can hear Harper hiccuping in the background, and that is cute stuff, my friends.



Despite having an overzealous big brother with an affinity for trying to push in her soft spot, Harper continues to thrive and be pretty much an adorable angel baby.   In typical second child fashion, she has far fewer pictures of her than Holden had at this age.  The biggest reason for this is because I never want to put her down long enough to take her picture.  She is super cuddly and I am too busy taking advantage of every second of that to bother with documenting it.  I do manage to sneak in a camera phone picture here and there, and here is one to prove that she does exist.

So there you have it.  Enjoy, because who knows when the next post is coming your way.  Seriously, when I had a kid I had to learn how to do things one handed.  Now that I have two, I am trying to learn how to do things no handed.....What do people with three kids do, try to grow an extra arm?  

At least I completed something on my 30 by 30 list!  (#3)