Where did my toddlers go? I am currently live with two very
short adults – able to hold full conversations, rationalize what they want and
why that want it, acknowledge how things work, and get themselves dressed. Honestly, they seem to have it more together
than I do most days – except for the whole using the toilet thing. Riley is still just as stubborn as ever – she
will immediately go if you sit her on the potty, but she WILL NOT tell you when
she needs to go. It is exhausting and I
am beginning to think it will never happen.
She seems perfectly content with wearing pullups, even the promise of
princess underwear has had no effect. I
know that it will happen eventually, but if anyone has any “potty training
bootcamp” philosophies or if anyone is willing to just come over and do it for
me – either is welcome. Honestly though,
I would just prefer someone to do it for me.
Between my work at Holy Angels, the contract work I do, and now the
addition of 2-3 hours of homework each day – I just don’t feel I have the time,
which is probably why I am in this predicament.
Anyway, on to another subject. My sweet little man Landon. He loves to be held and wants to sit in my
lap all the time. He still wants to be
carried when we are out in public. The
Hubby refuses to carry him and informs him that he is a “big boy” which leads
to a “big boy” breakdown, but I plan to carry him as long as I can. He is only going to be this little once. He has recently discovered a love for dance
and has some very interesting side to side dance moves. He can still always be found with a toy in
his hand, usually a Rescue Bot. He loves
to have conversations with and between his toys and actually does a lot of play
by himself creating elaborate story lines that involved Paw Patrol, Doc
McStuffins, and the Rescue Bots. He does
play well with Riley (most of the time) and has no problem pretending to be her
pet or using his characters to “rescue” hers.
Over the last month, we have been playing a lot more board games as a
family and Landon and Riley are complete opposites when it comes to the
games. She gets frustrated and moves to
quickly, not following the rules. Landon
is more meticulous about it and makes sure he is playing the game
correctly. They still love to watch
Curious George and Paw Patrol. Landon
has a particular episode of Curious George he wants to watch – he even has many
of the lines memorized. He is still a
picky eater, but the way to his heart is to offer him a cookie if he will eat
some bites of his food. I have no shame
in that- he gets a cookie most days after lunch and dinner – it is the only way
to get him to try something other than peanut butter and Jelly or cereal. There was one day where he ate imitation
lucky charms aka “cereal with a star on it” for breakfast, lunch, and
dinner. He loves to read and will take a
book to bed with him to read to his toys.
He likes to read about trucks, trains, and his new favorite is Pete the
Cat. They both ask for MANY hugs and
kisses before they go to bed, perfecting that stalling technique. They usually go to bed between 7 and 7:30,
but don’t often fall asleep until 8ish.
They can be heard talking and playing together until then.
I just had a lady ask me today if Riley ever walks, and the
answer is no. She continues to run
everywhere she goes and unfortunately it has led to multiple injuries – but she
just does not want to slow down! Her two
favorite words are “beautiful” and “perfect” and she uses them as descriptions
about 50 times a day. She continues to
love animals and ALWAYS has a stuffed cat or dog with her and each of them have
a name. I spent a lot of time looking
for White Puppy, Clifford, Tiny, Rocky, or Princess just to name a few. Sometimes Landon even has the honor of
pretending to be her pet – or more often than not, Riley is the puppy and we
have to call her puppy and act like she is a puppy to avoid a major
meltdown. If she is not a puppy, she is
a princess. She will only wear “princess
dresses” and her “bow shoes.” The bow
shoes are pretty rough looking and have most of their glitter knocked off, but
she won’t wear anything else. She has
come to expect a hug from her brother when he runs into or hits her and will
stand there and demand it until he stops and gives her one. We talk each night about what was her
favorite part of the day and she offers up the information if I don’t ask. She likes to read books before bed and then
will read a book in bed as well. She
prefers to read about Princesses and puppies – no surprises there. I love that they are starting to read along
with me, not necessarily reading, but they know the stories enough to know the
next line and I let them “read” it for me.
I love being able to spend the time with them and I am
grateful to have the opportunity spend several mornings a week at home with
them. This month we did some homeschool
activities involving The Five Senses and they seemed to enjoy it. Overall, I think they are very intelligent
and pick things up quickly. They can
recognize and name all the colors, shapes, and most of the letters. There are a few letters that trip them up sometimes. They like to practice tracing letters, but
don’t like to try and write them on their own- I think they are each too much
of a perfectionist for that. Riley does
like to “write” though and at any given moment there will be 8-10 notebooks
around my house with random scratchings on every page. They both love to color and cut with
scissors. Riley asks me if we can paint
at least twice a day – the messier the better with that one. All in all we stay pretty busy and while it
can be exhausting at times, I wouldn’t have it any other way.
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| Candy Cane Experiment |
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| Binoculars |
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| Tracing our letters |
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| Working with scissors |
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| Listening walk |
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| O is for Orange |
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| Snow! |
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| Bringing me the "sled" |
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| Seriously... "three"nagers |
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| Still get a few snuggles |
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| Racing our cars |
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| He played with floam forever |
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| "I win!, I win!" |
