toddler story telling

When we went outside to wait for the school bus, Little M and I pretended we were in the beach. It was chilly, so it was a fun play. We walked back and forth in the side walk and saw a shark. It tried to get us so we ran away really fast. We then decided to walk back when we were sure it was gone, but crabs tried to pinch us and run after us! This is Little M retelling the story to Daddy at dinner.

2 years, 9 months old and very smart

The other day I told Little M that it was time for a nap. He looked out the window and said, "No, it's not! It's daytime!"

On a crazy evening after evening, Little M asked me for juice. I had just sat down and wasn't ready to get up again so I told him, "Not now." I heard him go to the kitchen, came back to the livin room and started digging through the box of diapers mumbling to himself, "Wipes. Need wipes." After he found the wipes he ran back to the kitchen. After a few more minutes he came back to me and asked, "Juice, Mommy?"

"In a little bit, baby."

"I clean up kitchen, I get juice!" I had no choice but to get him what he wanted after that.

I diddit!

Last week Daddy and I woke up to Little M jumping on our bed saying, "I diddit! I diddit!" He climbed out of his crib for the first time and was happily celebrating it. Daddy and I agreed that it wouldn't be long when we have to convert the crib into a toddler bed to prevent him from falling head first.

That afternoon when I put Little M for nap, I checked the monitor and there he was with his legs dangling on the outside of the crib. I yelled at him to lie back down, which he did but I knew he would be climbing out at every opportunity. So that evening, Daddy looked through the unpacked boxes in the basement for the hardware and converted the bed. Surprisingly, Little M took to it without any issues. He stayed in his bed when we put him down, although he did get out of it as soon as he wakes up in the morning.

Last night when I was getting ready to go to bed the lounge chair in the bedroom started moving. It freaked me out until I saw that Little M had moved to sleep there. The little bugger.

He's words have taken off, too. The other morning after waking up early, again, I couldn't find him in the room. I called out to him and he answered, "In here. In here." He than snuck up to me and said, "I'm gonna eeehyoooo! [eat you]"

On another day, I told him to stop playing around the fan and he said, "I'm borrowing it!" After that every time I asked him to put something that he said he's borrowing it.

The little monkey is turning 2 in a few days. I can hardly believe it. My eldest is 7 and my youngest is 2. WOW!

some baby cuteness

We had a guest who used this booster seat, and we just have not put it away. Up until now he is still in his high-chair. He is eating Graham crackers and I was just making him do odd but cute things. I had just taught him how to raise his arms so it's fun to make him do it. He also loves calling Dada. A few months ago he would always call for Mama and now he likes to call for his Dada.

His hair is getting so long. We do need to cut it pretty soon or put a girl clip. As much as the girls would find that cute and funny, we probably shouldn't wait until we HAVE to do that.

trying to talk

Pay attention halfway through the video when he answers my question. ;)

And as always, he likes shoes and he likes to stick out his tongue.

big changes on the way

Daddy accepted a job in Texas, to start in little over than a week so it's crunch time. He will go ahead and make the drive to Texas next week without us, and return to us for Christmas. We will then all make the drive there right after Christmas.

In the meantime, we need to return most of our belongings we took with us to live with the in-laws back to our house, so that the moving company can pack them all up. I want this done before Daddy leaves next week because it won't be easy for me to do all that by myself. It's exciting, it's scary, it's worrisome, but we are all eager to start this new chapter of our lives.

In the meantime, in the midst of all changes brewing, things are still the same...at least some of it. Yesterday, I took Curious George on an errand with me. While walking around at Kohl's, we passed by the intimates section. He grabbed a bra and snuggled his face against it, "Mommy, you need to get this, so your boobies can be warm and soft and snugly!" All I could do was grin. :)

Then late in the afternoon, I asked him to try some Pringles chips. He is very picky and would only eat orange chips (Doritos), so we always encourage him to try new things. But he absolutely refused to try Pringles. I kept on pressing the issue, being the stubborn mom that I am though. Finally, he got frustrated and said, "MOMMY, IF YOU KEEP MAKING ME EAT SOMETHING I DON'T WANT, I WILL RUN AWAY FOREVER!"

I looked at him with serious face, and said, "Well, if run away, you may get left behind when it's time for us to go to Texas."

He didn't have anything to say about that. :p

The other day, it was Thing 1 that provided the amusement. I was using my laptop browsing through purses, when Thing 1 sat beside me, crinkled her nose and cocked her head and asked, "dot com, Mommy?" It will only be a matter of time before this little girl become as savvy on the computer as her big brother.

Thing 2, on the other hand stays pretty much under the radar. Even she starts trouble, we happen to mostly miss it. But what's amusing is that when we tell her to go to time-out corner, she says, "Ok, Ok, Ok." She also continues to call Thing 1 "Jojo". We remind her that she's Jojo, but she does it anyway. Oi!

update on the 3 silly ducklings

Curious George:

He is going to pre-k 3 days a week in preparation for kindergarten. His mood continues to be dependent on the amount of sleep he gets. He is a Lego fiend at the moment asking for small Legos whenever we go to the store. For a period of 2 weeks, he kept a Lego catalog close to him at all times "reading" it whenever he finds a second and plans his future with it. "I want this for Christmas, and this one for my birthday, and the next Christmas..."

He continually amazes as with he says everyday. For instance, during past conversations I've told him that when we look for a new house it may have to be a house without stairs because Mommy's knees hurt. Then several days later, he told me out of the blue that it should be OK to have small stairs and that he, his sisters and Daddy would sleep upstairs and I stay downstairs so that I don't have to hurt my knees using the stairs.

Yesterday, Daddy and I attended a 5-week hr-long parenting class. Daddy and I were quite excited about what we learned and having an animated discussion about it. Curious George thought we were fighting and told us to stop. I explained that we weren't fighting, but instead discussing what we learned in class. He asked what we learned, so I told him it was all about what we could do so that we are not always yelling and getting mad at him. His response was, "I'VE BEEN WAITING FOR THAT ALL MY LIFE!!" Daddy and I burst out laughing.


THING 1:

Thing 1 is a sassy little thing who seems to be always at odds with me. Daddy says she's just like me...stubborn. I've said a few times that Thing 1 is Daddy's girl, but she does come to me when she's sick. ;p She is a rough and tumble girl, it seems. During a period of a couple of weeks when Thing 2 was sick, Thing 1 and Curious George played a lot with each other. Curious George throws his weight around and surprisingly, Thing 1 kept up with him. Even now, she and Curious George wrestles with each other. Thing 1 sometimes protests but usually all smiles and giggles.

Thing 1 has also developed a love for her big brother's shirt. She demands that whatever shirt she is wearing be taken off and then she grabs whatever shirt she could find of Curious George's. Sometimes she grabs a PJ he takes off as soon as he takes them off.

Her language explosion was a few weeks behind Thing 2's but they are both very good talkers. She loves to watch Dora The Explorer and Diego and eagerly responds when asked to join on their adventures.

We have noticed several months back that Thing 1 seems to favor left-handedness but it was too early to be sure then. Nowadays, it is becoming more obvious that she is left-handed. All of us have noticed a few instances where she tries to do something with her right hand only to find it very awkward so she just switches hands immediately.


Thing 2:

Thing 2 continues to be a few pounds behind Thing 1. She has been sick a lot this past month, battling strep throat for a few weeks. But after only being well for 1 week, she contracted the flu. It was a mild flu, but the body soreness she experienced for a few days was unmistakable. The illnesses caused her to lose about 5 lbs.

She talks very clearly and can tell on both her sister and big brother. She loves cuddles and would rather be on our lap when the other 2 are rough-housing.

She hates buildings that look like a doctor's office. We went to the Department of Social Services one day and she let go of my hand and headed for the parking lot as soon as she could see in after I opened the door. Thank goodness she didn't take off on a run!

She loves to ask for things using a very small cute voice. "Mom, can I have milk?", she asks in the morning. Recently, she's also mastered the art of begging. She asks for something and when I don't move fast enough, she holds her hands together and puts them under her chin, closing her eyes, and says "pease, pease! [please]"

She loves peanut butter and jelly sandwiches! If I can't think of anything to feed her, I could never go wrong with PBJ. She also loves any kind of cereal, much to her brother's annoyance. Curious George absolutely hates any kind of cereal and would run the opposite way from it.

Thing 2 loves to pretend to read. She grabs paper with print on it and "reads" proudly, "A, F, I, B!"

stringing 3 words together?

I think I read somewhere that at 24 months, most babies are stringing 2 words together, and some even doing 3. Tonight while I was getting the girls ready for bed, I couldn't locate Thing 1's PJ shirt. I asked them both to help me look. Thing 2 puts her hands on her cheeks and said, "Oh no!" Seconds later she found the shirt. "There it is! Here you go Mayee [Mommy]!" she told me. Stringing 3 words? Phooeee. We go straight to 7. I'm just sayin'.

Chit-Chatty Thing 2

There has been a lot going on this past few days, with Curious George's party on Saturday and with us finally moving to their Nana's and Papaw's place on Tuesday. Life is very busy and there are a lot of photos/videos to share but just don't have time to do that.

But there is something I'd like to share with Miss Thing 2. She has been chatty this past few weeks. For the past couple of months, she loves to pretend to talk complete with gestures and facial expressions but of course, none of us understand her. In the past few weeks, she's been repeating words, use them regularly and pronounce them clearly. She started with the word "water", "apple", and others I can't seem to recall this very minute.

Yesterday, when I caught her doing something she shouldn't, I told her to stop. She didn't listen. I called her again and then she turned to me and said, "What?" I had to ask Daddy if I heard her correctly. I did. Then when she bumped her head one time, I went to her and asked if she had an owwie and if I needed to kiss it. She rubbed her head and replied, "head hurt, hurt." Her first string of two words!

This evening we went to a church dinner and while charming the folks, she went out to a few people (including me) and said, "what?" in a New Yorkan rudish way.

Chatty little monkey!

Words Words and more Words

Lately the twins have been spouting and pontificating more and more. Just some of the recent shenanigans from them are:

Twin 1 frequently calls her sister "Jo" or "Jojo", but twin 2 has not been prone to calling her sister. Just the other day Twin 2 is on the couch when twin 1 climbs off the couch, and she called out "Kagie, you okay?" This was a first in our hearing.

Both twins will now ask if you are okay, usually followed by a pat on the back and a hug.

Twin 2 will try to have a conversation with you, a very animated head shaking arm shaking conversation. She gets very animated, especially if you start talking back. Of course it is usually not understandable but it is cute.

Twin 1 just today has been saying "Matthew go away" and yes it is VERY clear. When I came home from a job fair she wanted a hug, and when Curious George tried to join in, this is when she said it.

Of course curious George got a little out of control due to excitement and decided to push. As I calmly told him not to push, Twin 1 came running up and shaking her finger at her older brother saying "no no no, no pushing".

It is rather amazing to see them grow and start talking like this. It seems only yesterday they were so tiny..

-Daddy

kissy kissy

I gave the girls color wonder markers today to play with and here is what happened. This is also a good look at the "twin talk" - twins talking in their own language. It's a long video at 4 minutes, but if you stay for the whole thing, you'll see these 2 kissing at about 3 minutes in. (Thing 1 is in blue, Thing 2 is in green)

(Do watch it in High Quality to see their cute facial expressions. )

snack time

I am testing my new toy, the Sanyo Xacti VPC-E2. And so far so good. I'm sure the grandparents will appreciate better videos. But then again, the mess in the background is also more obvious. YIKES!

Thing 1 has become more and more talkative lately, trying out new words. Thing 2 has been the talkative one for a while in terms of learning new words, but they are now equally chatty.

talk talk talk

I forgot to show a video from the girls' birthday, so here it is. Jojo is on the right (cream/green high-chair) munching away on her cupcake. It took Katie a while to get into her cupcakes.



This one was taken after they just had their lunch. They were full and happy and talkative.

When no one is playing with you, it's up to you to amuse yourself

Katie is on the right doing an ode to the celery and Jojo is on the left playing with her tongue, twisting it to the side (watch carefully). We've nicknamed Jojo the Lizard Girl. By the way, she got that gene from me.

Oh, and Daddy wanted me to add that he has nicknamed Katie the Billy Goat, because she puts everything in her mouth.

Katie's First Words

Oh the betrayal. The backstabbing. I don't know if I can take it. Twenty-four hours, seven days a week with Katie and what is her first word? I thought the females of the house are supposed to stick together.



http://youtube.com/watch?v=iOf1h241CXo

Well, maybe Jojo will be kind enough to restore my belief in the estrogen sisterhood.