What The Kiddos Are Doing

A few highlights of what the kiddos are doing these days:

Laine, 16 months tomorrow (even though I keep telling people she’s going to be 19 months, wrong!):

Getting her groove on. Kid loves to dance. She’ll be in mid-something, stop, and bust a move.

Helping Brian with the trash. Every morning when he takes the trash out, he now makes two small trash bags for his two assistants. What should be a two minute task takes 10 minutes.

Wearing bows. She is getting in touch with her girly side.

Obsessing over shoes. If she finds a shoe, she puts it on.

Obsessing over socks, too. She can’t get them on but she sure tries really hard.

Sticking her tongue out. She has this unflattering (but still cute since she’s a toddler) face where she sticks her tongue out half-way when she’s working hard (like when she’s trying to put socks on).

Buckling and unbuckling the booster seat straps. All.the.time.

Interacting. She doesn’t really play, she interacts. She likes to climb on us, point out body parts, razberry our bellies, read books on our laps, focus on a few things (buckles, shoes, socks) but she doesn’t really play like Blaise does.

Sleeping really, really well. She was a rough sleeper at first, then she got into a really great groove. Then she was back to waking up a few nights a week at first, then just about every night. We’d just pull her into bed and she’d go right back down (which wasn’t too bothersome since she still sleeps in our room). She’s flops around like a fish out of water so we decided to give her the official boot. The first night we did, she woke up as usual and we just let her cry. Fifteen minutes later she was back out AND she slept in later than usual. After that night, she has yet to wake up in the night (though is back to waking up earlier).

Informing us of her diaper situation. She started coming to tell me when she needs a change.

Improving her separation issues. She was great with our sitter the past two times, even crawling all over her when I got home. And she did alright at Adventure Kids yesterday (we didn’t get a call, score!).

Walking up and down the stairs like a big girl. She has to be like brother.

Shaking her head no. At several things. All with a smile though.

Repeating words. Socks and salsa are her latest words.

Climbing. On everything. She thinks she makes a great dining room table centerpiece.

Inhaling food. She ate three helpings of dinner the other night.

Playing hide-and-seek. She loves to hide behind the curtains and let us know where she is (so she’s not *really* hiding).

Running. It’s a little stiff but she’s definitely running more than walking. And it’s very spunky.

Blaise, 26 months (really just two-years but I hear us parents are supposed to do the month thing until three-years old):

Pretending. We’ve really noticed a dramatic change in his playing over the past few months. He makes objects fly and go vroom; all sorts of things.

Opening doors. It took him long enough; he’s finally figured out how to open our oval doorknobs (he’s been able to open handles for a while). And he’s a great little guy. The closet in his room is a walk-in so it has a regular, non-sliding door. We were downstairs after kissing him goodnight one night and we heard the closet door open on the monitor. I went up to check on him and he had pulled only one book from the closet and was reading it on the floor. His closet has several bins of toys and two shelves of books … and he only pulled one measly book out and closed the door. Such a good little guy.

Starting to laugh at small absurdities. He has been a puzzle pro for a while (master jigsaw puzzler) and has started to take pieces from one puzzle and put them on the other’s board, then look at us and laugh because they don’t belong.

Obsessing over rules. Admittedly, I’m an organization freak. He’s clearly picked up on this because if there is a toy in the wrong bin, he is the first one to point it out and correct it.

Disliking pants. He’ll wear pajama pants but if we try and put any other pants on him, he fights it. Maybe it’s because he knows he has some good looking legs?!

Sneaking off to take care of business. And if anyone walks in on him, he pushes them away.

Kissing sister goodnight when he wants her to go to bed. He usually gets to stay up a half-hour longer to have some one-on-one time with us (Laine gets it in the morning). Since sister is a mini-bulldozer, there are a few things we wait to do until she’s in bed. When he wants to do these things he walks over, kisses Laine, then waves for her to go upstairs, bedtime or not.

Whispering. Secrets are the latest thing around here. He loves being told secrets in his ear, especially when it involves getting his daily gummy vitamin.

Counting 1-2-3 with his fingers, at the wrong time. When I’ve asked him not to do something and he keeps doing it, I say I’m going to count to three and when I start, he counts with his fingers as I say 1-2-3. All with an impish smile on his face (that works in his favor every time).

Becoming more sensitive. He’s already a sensitive little guy but is more and more aware of our emotions and others, and he shows when his feelings get hurt.

Screwing around at bedtime. He takes over an hour to situate himself before falling asleep. He eventually does, and entertains himself the whole time.

Hoarding. Not like television show hoarding but starting to want “stuff” with him. For instance, in bed with him he has two Twilight Turtles, six Hot Wheels cars, a gang of pacifiers (that he just likes to have), two pillows in specific positions, and two personally selected blankets.

Having to have things done the same way each time. For example, in order to go to bed, he has to have his sleepsack on, nightlight plugged in, bathroom light on, and music on. If any of these things are off, he can’t fall asleep. And when we tuck him in—in order—we have to kiss the bottom of his feet, his hands, and his lips in order for him to be able to go to sleep. I started the foot kissing one night and it’s become a must; do something a few times and he thinks it’s a requirement. (I asked our doctor if his obsessive behaviors are anything to be concerned about and he said no, he’s just a toddler.)

Talking, sort of. He’s repeating words here and there, and does say please and thank you (which makes us happy that the few words he does say are proper manners). He may not be a talker but he can make any animal sound we ask for. Quack, quack has never sounded so cute. And don’t get me started on how freaking adorable his throw-his-head-back and howl is.

Observing. He’s always been an observer. He picks up on anything and everything, and is on it if we need something without having been asked. If he’s playing on the other side of the room and I grab a diaper to change Laine, he’s right behind me with the package of wipes.

Listening. Along with observing, he’s always listening. Always. Brian came home from work the other night and we were in the kitchen talking about Halo 4 and the Xbox while Blaise was playing in the family room. The moment Brian said “Xbox,” Blaise was over turning it on. He’s always been like this and is getting “worse” for lack of a better word (not in a bad way) as his vocabulary and understanding develops more and more.

Undressing. Occasionally he enjoys taking it all off and lounging.

Appreciating well-kept toenails. My toenails are always painted—and have been since he’s been around—so if I’m late to get a pedicure and have chips in my polish, he is bothered and points it out, often.