Silly Kids

Katie with her boo-boo - it's getting better!

Tyler is still super excited if he manages to have TWO cups. Katie can tell you what a truck says and does it when she plays with them - vroom vroom. Tyler loves books too and is finally getting to the point where he will sit and read with you instead of trying to turn all the pages. Katie looks surprised that I caught her trying to climb the couch with her truck. We now have other people telling us Tyler needs his haircut - gotta do that soon (and yes, I know I have been saying that for a while)!

Clumsy Girl

I hope to get new pictures up this evening - especially of little Bug's boo-boo. Katie has had a rough go the last couple of days. We went to Centennial Park (to see the ducks) on Sunday and while running (and having a blast) Katie fell and skinned right below her nose. She had yet another nose bleed and it probably hurt the poor girl because she also has three teeth just now cutting through (the ones that have been coming in forever)! Then, yesterday she fell at daycare and had a bloody mouth again. She has been in relatively good spirits though! Tyler, on the otherhand, has been a little grump lately. You can tell that it is all about frustration - last night he had a meltdown when I took his shoes off when I put him in the chair to eat (Lance had to figure out that he wanted his shoes back on) and he has mastered the art of letting his body go limp when you try to pick him up and move him away from whatever hs shouldn't be doing and then laying on the floor in a full-blown tantrum. Luckily, his tantrums aren't (so far) as drawn out as his sister's and there have been moments of pure cuteness mixed in too. He was ecstatic to have strawberry cake last night, I mean full-out giggles and chuckles in response to how big of a fan he was. He has some new words - outside, down, and is really starting to say Mama (he started crying it when he was put in his crib for bed and it nearly broke my heart). Katie is doing good too, has some new words and she is nodding yes now, too cute!

18 months!

It is pretty hard to believe that the kids are a year and a half old! Lance says it seems like 5 years, but really it is going by so fast. I must admit that I much prefer this stage and age, but it makes me sad that this one will be gone before we know it, too, and we'll have big kids sooner than we think.

They had their 18 month appointment today - wow, that is difficult with two 18 month olds! They were great, but waiting in a room with nothing to do only to have some stranger come in and dig around in your ears and give you shots is not my idea of fun and definitely isn't for the kids. We asked lots of questions like first time parents of toddlers will of course do, and I'm pretty happy that the kids seem to be doing great. With our little gymnast's (Katie) supreme flexibility we may have to move to toddler beds sooner than they suggest - she almost made it over the edge a couple of days ago and when she figures it out not only will she do it but her brother will realize he can too (he is much stronger so I have no doubt that he will figure it out if he sees her). The only areas they were behind on is our fault - they are supposed to solely be using utensils at this point and we haven't really forced that issue and at Nana Pam's they aren't allowed :) and they are supposed to be able to go up and down stairs which we try to make them stay away from our dangerous stairs so I don't know if they can go down (they can definitely go up)! They are supposed to have 6 - 20 words now and they are right in the middle of that range, so that's good - still not really referring to us as mom and dad consistently but we won't mention that because it is getting better and again I think that is partly our fault because we still don't remember to refer to ourselves like that all the time. They are ahead, actually, in their mobility since both of them can run and jump and maneuver really well. So, overall pretty pleased.

Now for the stats! They adjusted for prematurity and have them down as 34 weekers (born at 34 weeks, 5 days) so the numbers are a bit skewed but they are finally registering in percentiles. Katie is 30.75 inches (39th percentile!) and Tyler is 31 inches and in the 28th percentile adjusted (16th percentile compared to other 18 month olds). Tyler is 23 pounds, 7 ounces (25th percentile) and Katie is a pound smaller at 22.5 - but she is in the 30th percentile because she is a girl. They both have tiny heads, Tyler is in the 16th percentile adjusted and Katie is in the 9th! Hats for their age (particularly winter ones that I needed them to wear) are still huge on them and I guess we may have a hat issue for a while. Their BMI's are great (probably the only time in their life that we will be happy that they are high) with Tyler in the 53rd percentile and Katie in the 40th. They are still, as we expected, pretty small for their age even when adjusted for prematurity, but growing on track, eating good, and developing well! Just for fun I entered their stats into a height calculator and it predicts anywhere from 4' 11" - 5" 2" for Katie and 5" 6" - 5" 8" for Tyler - basketball probably won't be their sport!

Barney... Really?

Little Bug has been a bit behind Tyler in the amount of words she has, but when she says something it is usually clearer and obvious that she is really trying to say that particular word. Last night in the bathtub as she was trying to help me wash Tyler's hair she grabbed some bubbles and looked at me and said "bubble" very well. Obviously, though I didn't understand what she wanted because she then put the bubbles on my hand and then took my hand and put it on her head. She didn't realize that she had bubbles on her head too and wanted to be like Tyler!

Trying to figure out what they are attempting to tell us has become a challenge! Tyler will still look at you so earnestly and intently and just talk and talk and it frustrates him to no end that often we have no clue what he is trying to say (even though we try to say the right things like yeah, and oh, really, and you are right!). Oh, sometimes we do know exactly what they want like when he tries to do a pull-up on the table while yelling doodoo - that means he wants a cookie or when they both run at you with their empty cups in hand and proceed to bang on the fridge it is pretty obvious that they want more "mi" (Milk). Other times though, like yesterday, they are forced to use their words if they really want something. Katie was doing her crazy babble thing and motioning toward the television. I tried to figure out what she wanted since Lance was switching back and forth between Hockey and Basketball and Golf (!) so I said things that I thought she knew like ball, tree, ice, etc. to no avail. Finally, she climbs up in my lap, points to the tv, looks at me and says very clearly - "Barney." Yep, that's right, she wanted to watch the big purple dinosaur and she wanted it right then. There was no way we were going to usurp Lance's tv shows so me and the kids went upstairs to watch and Katie just sat there mesmerized and happy as a clam sitting with me on the couch. Barney is so old, and I think the newer shows like Jack's Music Show and Yo Gabba Gabba are much better, but I am beginning to agree with Lance that they might be putting subliminal messages or something in Barney shows because it is like crack to kids! Nana Pam says that Katie found an old Barney doll in the toy bin over there and carries it around all day and that at the end of the day she goes and stands in front of the tv waiting for Barney time. It is insane, but the lessons are pretty good and there are worse things for her to want to watch (like one movie that doesn't change), so I guess we will deal with the (hopefully short-lived) Barney obsession. Tyler likes it, but just like when they were little bitty, he would rather play and have it in the background than sit and watch.

Their 18 month appointment is Wednesday so we'll know soon how big the munchkins are getting. We will talk to the doctor about their speech and general development (we let them color yesterday because they will ask if they can scribble - answer is big YES and they had fun), but I think things are going great!

Lots of People to Thank!

We have had a fabulous weekend so far (and pre-weekend Thursday night) thanks to some awesome people who have watched the kids for us! Thursday evening we went to the Vandy/Georgia game and So-So and unnamed Grandpa (still - but soon I think the kids will call him something) had baby duty. Then, on Friday night we finally used the free hotel room that we got a year ago (that expired at the end of this month) and went to dinner last night. Liz came over and stayed with the kids ALL NIGHT, and then did the whole morning routine with them. Marie joined her at the kid's breakfast time and stayed with them until we got home mid-morning. It was awesome to go out and to sleep in a bit and we are so, so, so grateful to them for making that happen. I don't know how much of the story we get but all said that the kids were relatively well-behaved - good news! I've made no secret that I've been worried about finances and there is no doubt that we couldn't afford babysitters and couldn't really even afford to go to dinner (used my blogging money) so it is fabulous to have such caring people (who the kid's like too) in our lives willing to give of their time and nerves :). We are so unbelievably blessed with the kids, our family and friends and I need to remember that more when I get so worried and Shellie-like. It really was wonderful to just get out and be a couple and get a little break (even though we missed them terribly and couldn't wait to get home this morning). Thank you, thank you to everyone for helping us out and for letting us get out!

The consignment sale drop-off is tomorrow and not one item of clothing is hung so I best get to. Thanks to my mom and So-So for giving the kids such cute spring wear too - now I can just sell at the sale and not have to spend my earnings on warmer weather (please oh please come soon) clothing!!! I am probably going to take the kids to the park tomorrow and will try to take some pictures since they absolutely love being there so more to come soon!

Some Random Pictures

The kids have, thankfully (and knock on wood) been pretty healthy lately. Our biggest challenge hasn't been keeping them well and healthy, but rather entertained and focused on things other than tantrums and tiredness. Of course they still have runny noses and Tyler still has a slight cough, but he has been to the doctor twice and is breathing fine (no breathing treatments for a month now) so I guess it is just caused by dry air and being inside more because it is so cold. Lately, the kids have been a bit better with naptime - they are taking naps just not sleeping that long. However, they are still getting pretty tired well before noon (when they are napping nowadays) and kind of grumpy, but if we get creative with things to entertain them like taking trips, getting outside, or playing with "toys" that they aren't bored with they do pretty good.

They still like their couch and it is pretty much the only place I can get a picture of them together. They both have rosy cheeks thanks to the heat in my van going full-blast because it was freezing outside!

They are really enjoying being forward facing finally. They have been singing and smiling and talking - rare occurences on the ride home when they were facing the back of the seat.

Tyler was enamored with his "new" shoes that I got for him at a consignment sale for $2! He may look more like me, but he definitely has his dad's wide, duck feet that makes shoes hard to find and fit!

The climbing/slide toy is a big hit, but we have to limit their time on it because it causes fights like nothing else - they both want to climb the slide at the same time, go down it at the same time, and stand on the platform on their own which means lots of pushing, kicking, pulling, and grabbing that gets tiresome after not too long.

It's the crazy things their dad does (like put them in the laundry basket) that entertains them the most!

They both still have crazy hair!!!

Beautiful Day at the Zoo

I have some cute pictures to upload, but I am exhausted tonight (girl's night and Lance had a friend in town which = too late of a night) so I am turning in early. I'll get them up tomorrow, but for now just a mention of what a great day we had! The weather was perfect (compared to what it has been) and we went to the zoo with Lance's dad and So So. The kids had a blast getting to walk around everywhere, and Lance can't stop talking about how fun the toddler mat playground area was :-)! Tyler woke up in a great mood, but I think he woke up earlier than usual because he was pretty tired by the time we got there. He was asleep in seconds when we got in the car to go home. Katie was loving getting to walk around and be Miss Independent, she absolutely did not want to leave. She really liked her first ever merry-go-round ride, but Tyler HATED it once he was surprised by the animals that moved! We got to see my favorites, the giraffes, but didn't get to see too many animals since the kids insisted on walking and that was a SLOW process! They can't make it without a nap yet, soon we can have occasional times when they can go later, but right now they are just on the brink of a meltdown over every little thing once we get close to noon. All in all, though, they did pretty good and we had a great time. Saturday night they got to play with So-So and Grandpa since they watched them for us and Sunday they had a big day that included getting to sit in their carseats forward-facing for the first time and then a fun trip in the buggy around the grocery store after the big morning zoo trip - weekends are so much more fun when it is warm enough to get outside!