Happy 23 Months Luke!

One month from being two year old! I'd say that it is hard to believe you are almost two, but it really isn't. You seem SO big these days (physically and otherwise), and although I might still call you my "baby" from time to time, you are far from a baby! You keep us on our toes at every turn, and we love the energy and surprises you bring to our lives.

You continue to amaze us with your physical skills. You love to jump, and have been able to jump for a while now (off both feet at the same time), but you've gotten really good a jumping many times in a row without pausing between jumps. You also impressed us with another skill (which I was shocked by when I saw you do it). Ella and Troy were swinging on the bar shown in the picture below, and you decided to join in. Not only did you grab onto the bar and hang on, but you also raised your legs out straight as well as raising them up bent. And you hung on for a good bit of time too! You also do a great job kicking a soccer ball (and you've gotten lots of practice while we've been in Paraguay!).

You've always been much more able to keep a poker face than Ella or Troy, and you continue to show that skill off (a skill which you got from your dad!). After watching Ella and Troy, I'm amazed at how well you can keep a straight face. Don't get me wrong, you smile a lot too, but you often keep us guessing with your straight face.

Despite the crazy schedule and circumstances we've been in throughout the past three months in Paraguay, you've handled everything pretty well, even when you've been exhausted. You've slept well in your tent bed (which I've loved for traveling, by the way), and even voluntarily gotten in it a few times on your own when you've been really tired. You, Ella, and Troy love to play with all your bedding stuff (blankets, pillows, and stuffed animals), and every night before bedtime everyone has to gather their stuff up to get ready for bed. When we first got to Paraguay Ella and Troy always had to gather your stuff, but lately you've been doing a great job helping out and putting your stuff in your bed.

I feel like there are countless times each week Trent or I say to you something along the lines of "you think you are so funny, don't you?" You love to do things, see if anyone is watching, and then grin really big when they see what you've done. One thing you've done consistently lately is to steal mine or Trent's seats/spots on the bed. As soon as one of us gets up, you promptly crawl over to the spot and sit in it, grinning, waiting for us to come back and "evict" you. You've also crawled under the covers like you were going to sleep in our bed a few times as well, and you are SO proud every time you do it.

You've become a great hugger this month, joining in at bedtime with the rounds of hugs. It is SO precious! There are still times when you aren't in the "hugging mood," but most nights you are happy to pass out hugs. You'll even sometimes give people hugs when we are leaving somewhere. You are also great at saying "Ciao" when we are leaving.

You continue to enjoy playing by yourself, and I think you will probably be excited to be back at our home in Texas where there is more room to spread out and Troy isn't constantly around you. We attended a birthday party this past month, and you spent a large part of the time off playing by yourself. You DO like to play with others too, but you seem perfectly content to entertain yourself. When you are interested in playing with Ella and Troy though, you have no problem grabbing their hands and pulling them right where you want them. Ella and Troy love it (for the most part) when you pull them away to do something. You'll also go get Ella to do things for you such as pick you up to put you on the bed if you don't feel like climbing up yourself.

You are still really good at turning on the tears when you don't get your way. You've been spending a lot of time in the corner, as you learn to calm down and get over your fit. Overall, I think you are getting better at listening and obeying, but you are definitely stubborn at times. :) 

You've been saying more phrases lately, and I love to watch your communication develop. Sometimes I'm shocked when I realize what you've just said. Some things we hear a lot include "More! Empty!" (when you run out of drink), "Night-night daddy! Night-night mama!" and "right here" (while you point at something).

Something kind of crazy happened this past month as well . . . you finally decided that shoes were OK! You've been resisting wearing shoes, especially since we've been in Paraguay, but I decided to really try to get you to wear them again because we were going to be traveling to Iguazu Falls. To my surprise, you've been keeping them on! When we put them on you, the first thing you almost always do is a big jump in them, It is pretty cute!

Signs you do: more, finished, thank you, hungry, thirsty, please, sleepy, bath

Body parts you can identify: nose, ears, mouth, eyes, tongue, teeth, hair, face, hands, feet, belly, neck, arms, legs (You can also identify many body parts by their Spanish name)

Animal noises you make: cow, duck, dog (I think you can do more, but I didn't take good note. . . .)

Favorite foods: Yogurt, chicken (especially chicken nuggets/strips), nutrigrain bars, donuts, mac and cheese, and foods you get to eat with a fork

Favorite activities/toys: Books, balls, little figurines (like Mickey Mouse), cars, buckle stuffed lion. You love to "put things in things" as well as throwing. You also love to play chase with the other kids. You also enjoy shutting doors and drawers. You also love to play peek-a-boo! You really love singing as well! One of your favorite things to do is to "wrestle" with your dad and siblings.

Words you say: I cannot keep up with the words you say anymore! You say so many things (in English and Spanish)!

Luke @ 22 months
Troy @ 23 months
Ella @ 23 months

Happy 21 Months Luke!

I missed writing your 20 month post! You turned 20 months old during Focal Point, and we left for Paraguay the next week. With all of that going on, by the time I had time to really write your post, you were almost 21 months, and it was hard to distinguish the months. Sadly, I never even brought my real camera out this month, so cell phone pics will have to do. With all that, here's your 21 month post!

You continue to be a busy, busy little boy. You love to run and play with your siblings (especially Ella). Sometimes you and Troy don't get along well - but I'm hopeful this will change over time. I think most of the time when you don't get along it has more to do with you still being little and not understanding what's going on. And, though you like to play with your siblings, I think I can see some of my personality coming out in you - in that I like to have my down time, and don't have to constantly be surrounded by others. There have been a few times lately when, especially if you are tired, you'll find a spot to sit by yourself.

You say lots and lots of things, and continue to add more Spanish words to your vocabulary. There are times when you come up to us looking very serious and say something (sometimes you say it over and over) that we can't understand. I wonder what is going on in that head of yours! You also continue to love singing and dancing. Some of your favorite songs right now are "Read Your Bible and Pray Everyday," "My God is so Big," and "In the Beginning." You also sing along with "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star" that the kids' stuffed frog plays.

Although you are by far our pickiest eater at this age, you've done really well with the food in Paraguay. I was a little worried that you wouldn't eat much here, but it has been quite the opposite. Plus, we can get yogurt at the grocery store and I think you might live on yogurt if we let you. Several mornings you have eaten 4 or 5 containers of yogurt for breakfast! You've continued to do a good job using your utensils, and you even do a good job eating cereal (with milk) with a spoon. You look so BIG when you are eating your cereal.

You've also been showing off how big you are when you play at the playground here at our place in Paraguay. It didn't take you long to become brave enough to climb up the brown ladder, and slide down the slide by yourself. You've also really been enjoying the swings.

For a little while now you've done a good job repeating after us to "say" a prayer. But lately you've also been saying things you think we need to pray for while someone else is praying. You often start hollering "Gigi! Pop-pa!" during the prayer. Sometimes you also point out everyone in the room during the prayer as well which is very precious.

You continue to be quite stubborn and opinionated. You definitely know how to get your point across if you do or, more often, don't like something. This seems to really happen a lot when you are playing with your siblings. You are at a transitional (and tricky) age when it comes to playing with your siblings because you don't understand the concept of sharing, but you are needing to learn about it (not fun for you!).

I wrote about it in our Paraguay update as well, but you took quite a fall this past month from your highchair. You busted your lip, chipped your top two teeth, and your bottom teeth went through the skin right below your bottom lip. It has been about three weeks since you injured yourself, and you are healing really well. I'm actually shocked at how well you've healed to this point.

Luke playing with frog

Luke climbing at playground

Signs you do: more, finished, thank you, hungry, thirsty, please, sleepy, bath

Body parts you can identify: nose, ears, mouth, eyes, tongue, teeth, hair, face, hands, feet, belly (You can also identify many body parts by their Spanish name)

Animal noises you make: cow, duck, dog (I think you can do more, but I didn't take good note. . . .)

Favorite foods: Yogurt, chicken (especially chicken nuggets/strips), nutrigrain bars, donuts, mac and cheese, and foods you get to eat with a fork

Favorite activities/toys: Books, balls, little figurines (like Mickey Mouse), cars, buckle stuffed lion. You love to "put things in things" as well as throwing. You also love to play chase with the other kids. You also enjoy shutting doors and drawers. You also love to play peek-a-boo! You really love singing as well! One of your favorite things to do is to "wrestle" with your dad and siblings.

Words you say: I cannot keep up with the words you say anymore! You say so many things (in English and Spanish)!

Luke @ 19 months
Ella @ 21 months
Troy @ 21 months

Happy 19 Months Luke!

Every month that passes, you show how "big" you are getting, and this moth was no exception. You are a month closer to two years old, and you let us know every day that you are really a little boy.

You really do enjoy your toys, and one of your favorites is the "gumball" machine below. You like to put all sorts of toys inside it, and then get them out (or get us to get them out!). You also really enjoy playing with your cars.

This year was your first opportunity to really hunt eggs at Easter. You loved it! It is right up your alley because you love to put things into containers, so putting the eggs in the basket was an easy and fun task for you! You also enjoyed eating the candy inside the eggs. :)

You continue to love to sing, and this month you've gotten even more vocal. When "Let it Go" comes on in the car, you literally yell "GO" at the appropriate times. You get SO excited and you are incredibly enthusiastic about singing. 

You started coloring this month. I don't know what it is about coloring, but seeing you do that really made me think about how big you are getting. Your speech continues to remind me how big you are getting as well. You say so many things, and you respond to us (even when we ask you to do things in Spanish sometimes!). 

You also learned how to climb into our chairs on onto our couch this month. You are SO proud once you get in the chair or on the couch. Once you get up there, you often want to stand, so it has been a little bit of a trying time as we remind you that you can't stand up in the chair or on the couch. You love sitting with your siblings, especially Ella (probably because she doesn't get in your face as much as Troy does). Troy wears on your nerves at times, I think partially because he really loves to give hugs and kisses, and you don't seem to care for that very much.

One of your absolute favorite things to do is to "wrestle" with Daddy, Ella, and Troy. In fact, you'll even try to initiate it if someone is sitting on the floor by going and jumping on them. You also like to try to play hide and seek, and you will also try to play duck-duck-goose. I got a video of you trying to play duck-duck-goose below.

Luke playing duck duck goose from Lisa Kennedy on Vimeo.

Signs you do: more, finished, thank you, hungry, thirsty, please, sleepy

Body parts you can identify: nose, ears, mouth, eyes (I'm sure you can probably identify more, but I didn't do a good job noting it)

Animal noises you make: cow, (I think you can do more, but I didn't take good note. . . .)

Favorite foods: Yogurt, chicken (especially chicken nuggets/strips), nutrigrain bars, donuts, mac and cheese, and foods you get to eat with a fork

Favorite activities/toys: Books, balls, little figurines (like Mickey Mouse), cars, buckle stuffed lion. You love to "put things in things" as well as throwing. You also love to play chase with the other kids. You like to chase after Reeses as well, but she's not to sure about that. : ) You also enjoy shutting doors and drawers. You also love to play peek-a-boo! You really love singing as well! One of your favorite things to do is to "wrestle" with your dad and siblings.

Words you say: I cannot keep up with the words you say anymore! You say so many things!

Luke @ 18 months
Troy @ 19 months
Ella @ 19 months

Troy’s Moose Shirt

I have to admit that if I were to guess if a boy or girl child would care more about what they wear, I’d guess the girl. But if the girl and boy I am talking about happen to be my Troy and my Ella, the boy actually cares a lot more. While Ella cares some about her clothes, she really isn’t picky and she really doesn’t have favorite shirts or outfits. She certainly didn’t care as much as Troy does at Troy’s age.

However, Troy has a few favorite shirts: anything with Mickey Mouse, his old-man Buzz Lightyear pajamas, and his moose shirt. He’s liked moose for a while, and when I saw the shirt, I knew he’d like it, although I had no idea how much he’d like it. Along with his Mickey Mouse shirts, he often requests to wear his moose shirt. It is funny to me that an almost-two-and-a-half year old boy would pay so much attention to his clothes. : )

 

 

 

 

“It’s mine!”

Troy has been extremely possessive lately, and reminds me a lot of the toddler’s rules of possession (modified).

Troy often says (or yells or whines), “it’s mine!” to Ella, me, his dad, or anyone else that he feels is threatening his ability to posses whatever he has.

I’ve been really struggling with trying to foster an environment for the kids in which they are better at sharing their things. I know they are only 2 and 3 (almost 4), but I don’t want them to be materialistic or selfish. I don’t want them to be so concerned with physical things. I want them to be willing to share their things with others. I want them to not melt down if a toy gets broken or lost. I want them to be easy going and flexible as they play with each other (as well as others), and to understand that it is important to share and take turns and exhibit selfless attitudes.

I know that I need to be correcting poor attitudes and poor behavior consistently now.  I know there is no “trick” that will instantly turn my kids into kids who share with kindness. I know these characteristics aren’t something that just magically happen when they get to be a certain age. And, although I know that they won’t suddenly understand how to start sharing once they hit a certain age, I do know that their understanding of the concept of sharing will increase with age. Ella has proven that to me.

I also know that this task, although with most tasks in parenting, requires a lot of patience and perseverance.  And don’t get me wrong. They do share. Sometimes. : )

Sibling Photo Time

Before Troy was born, and when I wasn’t nearly as experienced with my camera, I wrote a post about taking a toddler’s photo. Much hasn’t changed in that department except that I’m dealing with two kiddos now. It can be quite difficult to get a photo of them together where they are both looking at the camera and both happy without assistance (things are much easier when my husband helps out). Here’s a great sequence to illustrate the point.  Ella is pretty good at following directions (unless she isn’t in a picture taking mood), but Troy on the other hand seems to do everything in his power to not follow directions.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“Daddy cut my hair!”

Back in November Troy's hair was starting to get a bit ragged.

We personally like his hair to be neat and short, and Trent and I had discussed that he would just buzz his head when we officially decided it was time for the  hair cut. One day when Ella and I were out shopping, I got a call from Trent telling me that he had successfully cut Troy’s hair. I was SHOCKED because I thought it would take both of us to hold him during the process, but Troy actually cooperated with Trent.

However, the haircut wasn’t exactly what I had imagined. It was, uh, a bit shorter. I also didn’t realize how blonde his hair is (which made him look almost bald!). (please ignore the poor quality cell phone pic)

 

Everyone we saw was shocked by his hair, and, of course, rubbed his head and asked him who cut his hair. He’d say, “Daddy cut my hair!”

Although it was shorter than I expected, his little buzzed head was pretty cute, especially after it grew out some.

It has grown out quite a bit now, and he even needs a trim. :) The other day I was playing a game with him to get him to identify some of his body parts. When I pointed to his hair he said, "Daddy cut my hair!"

The Gingerbread House

So behind on blogging (that’s what happens when your computer breaks AND it is the holidays). Catching up a little at a time!

Ella (and Troy this year!) got to decorate a gingerbread house. I was surprised that Troy actually did some “decorating” before he decided he needed to dig into the candy. I cannot believe how much Ella has grown since we decorated a gingerbread house last Christmas, and that Troy could actually help this year!

 

 

I let each kid decorate one side of the roof. This one is Ella's side:

 

And this one is Troy's side: