I do it!

I won today.  I asked the kids one time if they wanted to take a nap and they walked to their room and laid down and have been quiet ever since.  If nothing else good happens today, I will focus on this achievement.  Ha ha.  Actually we have had a lot of fun today already.  I had to run some errands (thank God for drive thrus as I had 3 kiddos with me today) and I am pretty sure they did not stop talking for the entire car ride.  They like to make sure I see everything we pass and apparently today one of those things was a flying dragon in the sky – who knew?!  We also inspected 7 rocks, 3 leaves, and the “broken” road on a walk around the neighborhood.  

The above was from when I started the blog on Thursday, it is now Saturday – and that is how my life goes.  We had a pretty good day today, but I am tired.  Sometimes I just feel mentally drained at the end of the day – as I am sure other moms can relate – and today was one of those days.  It started early and began with Riley having multiple meltdowns and ended with Landon’s epic meltdown and luckily there was a lot of fun in the middle.  I have said it before and I will say it again, there is a lot of emotion wrapped up in these tiny little bodies as well as a lot of growing independence.  I would be rich if I had a dollar for every time I hear “I do it” during the day.  

Riley is very much an independent personality.  She takes the initiative at the park to try the new things and then will encourage Landon to try them behind her.  She only refers to him as “buddy” and has woken up twice lately in tears wanting to know “where’s buddy?”  She doesn’t want to go anywhere without him, “come on buddy” is a phrase I hear a lot.  She loves to sing and dance.  I find her singing all the time, especially in the car – “Baa Baa Black Sheep” or the alphabet are two of the current favorites.  Riley also loves to pretend to be a dog and will “become” a dog at any given moment.  Now while Riley likes to get dirty and play, she also loves being dressed like a “princess.”  She prefers to wear dresses and sparkly shoes, will pick a nightgown over pajamas, and has recently developed an affinity for having a bow in her hair.  She is showing signs of becoming that “threenager” I have been told about as one of her new favorite words is “never.”  I thought I would have a few more years before I had to hear “I never get to (insert any type of activity here),” but no such luck.  She likes to play with paint and stickers and the activities involved with our school lessons.  Her favorite activity is story time at the library and today she did great singing along with every song.  

Landon has developed a fun imagination.  He was working very hard to convince me that there was a dragon outside of my window on the way to daycare the other morning.  He plays with the dollhouse and can often be found making the dolls talk to each other.  The other day when I was rocking the baby to sleep he got out his baby doll, sat down in his rocking chair next to me, and rocked his baby to sleep before laying it down in his bed and covering it up.  He asks me to make him a castle about every day and I must admit I am getting pretty good at turning our livingroom into a castle.  He loves to build and play with his cars, making sound effects for each.  He loves to climb and laugh and giggle.  Unfortunately, he has also developed an affinity for hitting and attempting to bite – but both he does while laughing as he thinks it is funny.  We are working on it and I am hoping that it does not become a habit! Landon has already learned some manipulation in that if I tell him that he can’t have/do something he will tell me that Spiderman or one of his other toys wants it instead of him.  He likes to do his school work also and loves to color and paint.  His catch phrase of the moment is “Woo Hoo” and he uses it often causing smiles.  

We are loving this weather and that we get to play outside more often.  I try and incorporate some of our school activities into our time outside.  We practice counting while we play hopscotch.  I draw giant shapes on the sidewalk and they jump from shape to shape.  Sometimes we just talk about what we see while we are outside.  Since the trees are in bloom we have been able to see more butterflies and the kids love them!  This last time we saw one, Landon asked what they ate and I said “flowers” (not wanting to try and explain too much) so he ran and plucked a flower, waving it in the air, and yelling “Here butterfly.”  This is also his strategy when we feed the ducks at the boardwalk.  He is very much concerned with the appetite of all animals as I just had to buy bird seed and a feeder so we could ensure the birds at home are eating as well. 

There is honestly never a dull moment in this house and they keep me busy.  We get out as much as possible and have been to the aquarium, build and grow at Lowes, story time, went with daddy to Discovery Place kids, an Easter egg hunt, playing at the park, a birthday party, and bowling just to name some of the places from this past month.  We also stay busy at home making crafts, playing with cars and dolls, dress up and pretend tea parties.  They grow and change on a daily basis and I wouldn’t have it any other way…  

and she is out....

 

Blowing bubbles with bike pump

Loves her swing!