Idea!

The “terrible twos” are in full swing at our house, but along with those “terrible twos” there are a lot of fun things developing as well.  I try not to dwell on the hard moments of the day because out of the entire day the ten minute tantrums are not that big of a portion.  I admit though, that in the moment, the whole focus is on the tantrum.  I feel like they are really testing my child psychology skills! There is so much good with the bad though.  They officially have completely separate personalities, but they complement each other.  Riley is adventurous.  Landon is cautious.  Riley is loud.  Landon is quiet.  Riley is apathetic.  Landon is emotional.  Anyone that knows the hubby and I can already tell which child has each of our traits… there is a lot of personality in those two tiny little bodies. 

They each have their own little quirks that have developed recently that make me laugh.  Landon has learned to give a thumbs up and he came at me out of nowhere with that one.  I think I was helping him with a craft project and I put the glue on the paper and he gave me a thumbs up and a smile. Recently Riley has started “directing” me when I am carrying something for her.  The only way I can describe it as if I was a car about to park and she was the guy with the orange wands telling me where to go.  I am not sure how to feel about this one exactly… makes me feel like a bit of a wide load.  Ha ha.  They make me laugh when they call out for “Toodles” when they need help doing something.  They also yell out “Idea!” when they have one and let me tell you that sometimes they shock me – like going to get the step stool to get something they want off the counter.  Don’t try and shut a door on them anymore, they have them all figured out.  Even if they don’t open the door on you they are going to stick their fingers under the door saying “tickle tickle.”  They went through a phase where they wanted to diaper every toy in the house and some (ie Buzz Lightyear) presented a particular challenge.  I ended up buying them small guitars after they found my full size guitar in the closet and enjoyed it so much.  For that day they followed me around the house asking me to sing so they could play along and it still remains one of the favorite toys. 

We have been busy this past month with all of our holiday activities and fun.  We attended Jack and Will’s 3^rd birthday party and had a lot of fun bouncing around with all of our friends.  My parents came to visit for Thanksgiving and we stayed busy.  We took the kids to build their first build a bear and it was one of the cutest experiences ever with them.  Landon went first and he melted my heart when he rubbed his little red heart on Riley before he put it inside of his Olaf.  He considered himself to be such an expert after making his Olaf that he pushed Riley’s foot down on the pedal to assist her with making her bear.  We went to see the lights at the Speedway on Thanksgiving and had our first “Santa test.”  They did pretty good- Riley was actually the one that was uncertain, but she allowed us to be in the picture as well.  We also saw the Christmas lights at the Botanical Garden with another Santa and they did great there and the lights were beautiful! We have done some shopping, some baking, arts and crafts, visited some breweries, decorated, school, saw some Christmas lights, went to Christmastown USA and visited the Aquarium.  They love having the house decorated and they wake up almost every morning and ask me to turn the “Kissmass Tee” on so they can see the lights.   

Landon likes to keep track of Riley and wants to hold her hand when we are out in public.  He becomes upset if she does not want to hold his hand back – which is most of the time.  We took them out shopping and running errands separately a few times and it went better when I had Landon with me as he is my emotional one.  When we drove through Christmastown the other night, Landon was excited to lean out the window and yell “Mewy Kissmass” to all the people that were walking by.  Landon’s current favorite show is Paw Patrol and he wants to watch it all day everyday.  He has even been carrying around a figure with him for most of the week.  He would prefer to eat peanut butter and jelly (aka jelly sandwich) for all meals of the day.  He loves to play with trains and cars and make up stories about his characters and his cars.  Landon struggles some this time of year with not feeling well.  He tends to get respiratory infections and has had two bouts of coughs to deal with already in the last month.  I would like for him to remain healthy, but my gut is telling me that respiratory infections are going to be a long term issue with my little buddy.  (UPDATE: As I was writing this last night he woke up crying and a quick decision was made to take him to the ER.  As we are visiting family in Atlanta area it was a bit unnerving to go to unfamiliar territory, but despite the massive amount of people in the ER they got him in fairly quickly once they witnessed his labored breathing.  We left there five hours later after two breathing treatments and a steroid injection.  Stupid croup) 

It was a rough day... I didn't fight this one.

Helping daddy to build his work bench.

 

Riley is my little helper and wants to help with everything I do.  She runs behind me and says “I help, I help. “  She even helps with Landon like the other day I caught her taking his shoes and socks off for him because he couldn’t get them off by himself.  She never stops moving and doesn’t walk anywhere- she runs.  She still carries her boppy around, but she is getting better about not wanting it all day long.  She loves to eat cheese and yogurt (she calls it applesauce).  Riley loves to play with her dolls and put together puzzles.  She has recently decided that she likes to wear dresses and sparkly shoes.  She wore her “Elsa” shoes for the whole day before we went to see Santa.  She hums and or sings to herself a lot lately, she just seems to be discovering the different “noises” that she can make.  She loves to sing and dance and take care of her baby dolls.  She loves to do the crafts and will run right to her table if I suggest that we color or draw.  

Trying out some pig tails...

When it is 70 in December, we go to the park.

Needless to say I am very excited for Christmas morning.  I think they are going to love every minute of it! 

Jack and Wills Birthday Party

Speedway Christmas

This picture taken right before the goat proceeded to eat her piggie tail. :)

Landon helping Riley to make her bear.

Lights at Daniel Stowe Botanical Garden

 

Three Santas!

A little light reading.

Lesson learned, no presents left under the tree.

28 months of joy

Seriously, how could you not love these guys?! It has been a year since I stopped working full time and it is still one of the best decisions I ever made.  Sure, there have been some financial strains and we have had to make some decisions and some cut backs. Turns out you can survive without cable and eating out as much.  I have become a slightly better cook.  I am WAY more relaxed.  I have been able to read more books.  I have lost weight.  Most importantly though, I have been able to watch my children learn and grow and develop on a daily basis.

They talk all day long.  When Landon speaks, he will pause in the middle almost every time - as an example "Thanks (silent count 1,2,3) Mom." He is really good at saying "Thank you," but he struggles with the "please" and no amount of coaxing will get him to say please.  Pretty sure he just does it to be obstinate and I have no idea who he gets that from. Tonight he tripped and I asked him if he was okay and he responded with "I'm fine."  It stopped me in my tracks - they are such little adults now! They have full conversations with each other - I don't always know what they are saying, but they are definitely talking to each other.  On a recent trip to Target they were separated for about 4 minutes for a diaper change.  Upon seeing each other, they both yelled "I found you" and went running towards each other into a full body hug.  You could see hearts melt all over the check out lines and several people even stopped to tell me how much they appreciated the sight.  "I found you" is another catch phrase of the moment - I honestly had no idea I go missing as often as they make it seem.  They also call for things/objects as if they can come to them. "Boppy, where are you boppy? Boppy?"  I must laugh or smile a hundred times a day just listening to them.

We have had some adventures in the last month.  Our first true Trick or Treat was probably the biggest adventure of them all.  They had a practice night at Trunk or Treat where they figured out what to say in order to get the response of candy.  They put it to practice the following night when we took them around a friends neighborhood where they plastered themselves against a few glass doors as people tried to open them.  They would tag team it with "Hi" and "Trick or Treat" and then follow it up with "Bye" and "Thanks."  They looked pretty cute if I do say so myself.  We visited the pumpkin patch and checked out the animals.  We carved pumpkins.  We played at the park.  We got our flu shots (which Riley took like a champ and did not even cry!).  We fed the ducks at the boardwalk. (In case you didn't know ducks are responsive to the word "fetch") We went to Haunted Greenhouse at Holy Angels.  We played at the play area at the mall where they "caught" each other at the bottom of the slides and laughed as they knocked each other over. We went to story time at the library every week.  We even watched Daddy learn some curling.

Professor Wiseman and Curious George

The Man in the Yellow Hat

First house and they got it all figured out

Landon has become a bit of a picky eater.  He will eat pizza and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and snacks.  They both will snack all morning long - especially on fruit snacks and fruit crisps.  He likes his "popcorn" (imitation goldfish) and juice (just don't tell him that it is REALLY watered down).  Landon loves to play with cars and trains and make the appropriate sounds as they "drive."  He likes to read books and be read too as well.  When he falls, I have to kiss his "boo boo" and it is instantly better. He likes to be hugged and kissed and will ask for more.  He is my sensitive one and gets his feelings hurt very easily, yet he loves to run and play and tackle his sister. He has done well with taking the side rails off his crib and has only fallen out once.  He did have a few rough nights of waking up in the middle of the night, but he was able to settle into our bed oh so conveniently. He loves watching the Preschool Prep videos and recently amazed me with knowing all of his shapes - even the octagon! Landon loves to dress up and his new favorite is to dress like a pirate.  He runs around the house saying "Arrrr" and has turned my bed into a pirate ship on more than one occasion.  He still likes to wear his pirate hat, which allowed me to catch the greatest picture of all time.

Riley is my morning snuggler.  She seems to know I don't wake up very quickly... especially after working second shift and she will curl up on the couch with me and cover us with a blanket as I drink my morning coffee.  She loves storytime at the library and would go everyday if it was offered.  She loves to dance, sing, and clap along and has even stood up in the front next to the "teacher" a few times to "show" the group how it is done.  At home, she plays with her blocks and climbs on everything.  She is the first one to get the crayons or markers out.  She loves to play with Playdoh and recently learned for herself (despite Mommy's warnings) that it tastes terrible.  She also likes to do some dress up and pretend and especially likes to pretend to be a vet for her stuffed animals.  She loves to read and can often be found with a book.  We are studying our letters right now one at a time and she loves pointing our letters when she sees them. She surprised me with climbing out of her crib - which they both learned to do on the same day - as she threw out all of her pillows and stuffed toys to create a landing ground for herself before she attempted the climb.  She is less of a picky eater, but she would eat yogurt three times a day or more if I would let her.  She calls it "applesauce" though no matter how many times I tell her it is yogurt, even Landon tells her that it is yogurt now.  Her other new habit is always pulling her pants up to her knees, must be a sensory thing.  She has learned to undress herself also, but thankfully she only does it before bath!

A girl after my own heart 

I am very excited for the upcoming holidays and starting some traditions with them.  They have already started saying the word Santa and seem to be catching on - we will see how they do when they meet him though!

Excuse the pictures, they started lining up weird and I just gave up... ha ha. 

Monkey meets baby

Trying out a friend's costume

We made some maracas

Learning about stars and yellow