Laine, 19 months (pictured above wearing pigtails for the first time, fire truck pajama selection by Blaise):
Talking like crazy. It’s a girl thing, at least around here. I remember my niece when she was around two in the backyard saying “Hi, airplane. Bye, airplane. Hi, bird, Bye, bird.” I thought it was cute but she never stopped talking the whole time. This is my everyday now.
Wearing hair bows. This is a must. Even at bedtime. Brian is anti-bang (not really sure why) and her hair falls in her face. She used to object to hair bows but now they are a requirement. Blaise is on the bow bandwagon too, and prefers the lime green one.
Roaming the house. We took the gates down so everyone has free range around the house. Upstairs, downstairs, wherever her little heart takes her, she’s there. She’s become quite the stair master, experimenting with different ways to get up and down … bouncing from stair to stair; jumping from stair to star; walking sideways, forwards, backwards. It entertains her more than any toy we have.
Running everywhere. She no longer just walks. Running is her preferred method of transportation. Thankfully she’s not too quick so we can still catch her.
Dancing. Kid loves to dance. If there is music on, she’s getting her groove on. And if there isn’t music, she finds one of the few toys with batteries and repeats the sound over and over until she’s done shaking her thang. Which makes music class so much fun for her. She loves getting up in the middle of class and dancing her way to the middle of the circle, music playing or not.
Eating like a horse. Laine is an eater. She will eat her breakfast, have seconds, then finish Blaise’s.
Blaise, almost 2.5 years (pictured above wearing Laine’s pink cat cat while on a walk pointing out letters):
Knowing his alphabet. I’d love to take credit for him knowing all his letters but it’s really thanks to the iPad and Starfall. He knows *all* of his letters, and if we walk by anything with letters—licence plates, parking spots with writing, signs—he stops to point out and say each letter. Laine knows most letters, too.
Talking. The man of few words talks now, only a little though. He still has no problem communicating non-verbally and now can verbally. Laine still surpasses him in word count but it seems her talking is helping him.
Puzzling. The kid is a master puzzler. He’s always been good at figuring things out and a superstar at puzzles, but we’re pretty impressed with his mad skills. He has these puzzles (three sets, so 12 puzzles with 12 pieces each) and we dump them all out on the floor. He sorts them all out and puts them all together really fast.
Cross-dressing. Purple horse pants and a pink wicker hat make a killer outfit. He is all about dressing himself and changing outfits multiple times during the day. Fire trucks aside, anything from Laine’s drawer is his first pick.
Enjoying alone time. Now that we don’t have any baby gates, he periodically goes up to his room for 15-20 minutes at a time and enjoys some alone time. He’s always been an independent guy but I love knowing he’s comfortable enough to hang out with himself for a little bit (or maybe he just likes to get away from sister).
Getting ready for preschool. He’s growing up! He’s registered for preschool in the fall and will start just as he turns three. It was a challenge finding a preschool that met our preferred teaching style, didn’t require being fully potty-trained (we’re waiting for him to lead the way), had openings, and accepted him having a birthday past August 31. We found an awesome one and are super excited for him to start in September. He’ll go for three years before starting kindergarten just as he turns six.
Jumping Raccoons 