A vocabulary explosion!

Leaps and bounds.  That is the best way to describe the increase in the girls' vocabulary skills over the past 2 weeks.  Their development is literally growing exponentially each month.  One of these days they are just going to take off and start speaking in full sentences.  Seriously. They have started repeating everything that we say, verbatim.  Wow!  It sure makes you think about what you say when it comes right back at you from the mouth of a 2 year old! =)

In the last two weeks the girls have gone from using one (relatively advanced) word at a time (cupcake, opposite, cookie, cantelope, etc.) to using two words together in a sentence (bye bye mom, cookie please, no Bri, bless you, oh geez, darn it) and our favorite possessive pronoun – mine!  They can carry on a conversation with us, or interject into our conversation using just a couple words at a time, making it utterly apparent that they know exactly what we are saying. Oh my!

Their personalities are continuing to develop, and the differences between the two girls continue to amaze me. 

My baby A – Miss Olivia - has become very maternal over the past few months and is becoming increasingly task oriented.  She has taken to her baby doll recently and loves to swaddle her, feed and burp her, carry her around, and put her in the swing.  She likes to pick up and put things in their place.  She is a master at putting together puzzles. She is very good at following instructions.  She is also very much into role playing – picking up bags or purses, filling them with goodies from her toy box, then putting them over her shoulder and pretending to leave (I suspect like momma does when she goes to work).  She is happy to play independently.  She is a total people pleaser. She is very tender hearted – she is quick to anger, but is also quick to get her feelings hurt – so we have to be very careful about how we discipline her.  Likewise she is very concerned about others, so if someone else gets hurt she wants to make sure they are okay, and will do whatever she can to comfort them.  She always wants to be part of the group, and never wants to be left out. She learns the best by simply watching others. This girl doesn’t miss a thing.

My baby B – Miss Brianna - is very artistic and creative.  She can sit for 30-45 minutes at a time and color pictures.  Even after that period of time she gets upset when you take the paper and colors away from her.  Quite the attention span for an almost 2 year old!  She learns best by touching, feeling, and experimenting. She enjoys singing and loves to read books.  She also loves to dress up in pretty dresses and dance around the house.  She is very determined – if she wants something she will do whatever she thinks she needs to do to get it – regardless of the risk of getting hurt or getting in trouble.  She is a pretty messy eater, and dances happily to the beat of her own drum.  She doesn’t seem to care what others think of her.  She loves to sleep and is a hard sleeper (don’t wake that girl up!). She loves to snuggle and read books.  She prefers one-on-one interaction to group interaction, and doesn’t really care whetehr or not she is included in a group.

Both girls are doing extremely well with their little brother.  They snuggle him, give him kisses, and talk sweetly to him.  If he is crying, they try to console him.  Livvy will fetch a new diaper, cover him up if she thinks he is cold, talk to him, give him kisses, stroke his head, and will try to help burp him.  Bri will talk to him and cover him if he is cold, but isn’t interested past that point.  I’m just so very pleased that they don’t hate him!
Although really, who could hate this snuggle bunny?!?!

Both girls are very interested in their ABC’s, and they love to try to sing with us.  I often hear Bri sitting by herself chanting “A, B, C, D, E, F, hmm, hmm, hmm” or trying to hum row-row-row your boat. It’s really quite adorable.  It seems that every 2 days or so she adds another letter to her ABC repertoire.  At this point she has seemed to skip G and has latched on to H.  We are working on G. LOL.  Livvy isn’t quite as interested as Bri seems to be to learn her ABC’s (I never hear her practice, although that doesn’t seem to be how she learns anyway does it?!), but she does like to join in and try to sing with us when we sing. 

It’s amazing to watch them learn and grow!

What has amazed you about your kiddos this week?

Until next time –

Megan

Coming up for air....

Little Hudson is 2 weeks old already!  Our helpers are now gone, and we have been on our own with our crazy toddlers and a newborn since Sunday. 

It's almost a daily occurrence that I have to choose between taking a shower or a much needed nap.  9 times out of 10 I opt for the shower. LOL. I remember having this issue with the girls, and I almost always chose the nap.  This indicates to me that I was WAY more tired with the girls than I am with Hudson.  Either that, or I perceive myself to be smellier this time around =).

Here is an AWFUL picture of me choosing the other option...sleeping on the couch with baby Hudson...no make up...hair a mess...a total real life picture!

We are doing well overall.  We are all in a state of transition, but we haven't had any major issues.  The girls ask for "baby" every morning when they get up which is super cute. Livvy loves to "hold" him, burp him, swing him...essentially be his second mommy =). Unfortunately what isn't super cute is the jealousy the girls both seem to be feeling towards him.  They want their mommy time too.  Hudson is nursed so he gets TONS of mommy time each day.  The girls are totally getting shafted in the mommy time department at this point, and there's nothing I can do about it.  I don't have the energy to give them the attention that they crave so desperately, and physically I just can't do what I could before I had the c-section.

Speaking of the c-section, this c-section recovery has been WAY better than my recovery with the girls.  I've been so relieved! Part of it is very likely that I only had one child this time and none of the nasty stuff (like pre-eclampsia, gestational diabetes, etc.) that I ended up with last time, but part of it too I think is that I knew what to expect (especially the pain and the limitations I would have post surgery).  

I have to tell you though, it has been SO hard not being able to pick up my girls.  Originally when I thought about not being able to pick up the girls, I thought just that. Oh, so if they fall down on the sidewalk, I won't be able to pick them up. I didn't think, oh, but you can't pick them up to put them on the changing table to change their diapers, or pick them up to lay them in their cribs, or pick them up to put them in their car seats, or pick them up to put them in the bathtub, or pick them up to put them in their highchairs, etc, etc, etc.

They don't understand AT ALL.  I have shown them my "ouchie", and they just don't get it.  They still want to jump on top of me and play and roughhouse.  They still want me to pick them up.  They still want me to lay them down in bed for the night or pick them up to soothe them when they are hurt.  And I can't.  Which essentially means that I can't take care of my toddlers on my own.  I have to have someone else here with me. Probably for another several weeks. UGH. What a crappy feeling!

We are definitely still making the best of it though.  The girls LOVE having mommy home every day and being able to read books, play puzzles, and dance in the sprinkler.  I'm looking forward to when my scar fully heals so I can take the girls to the pool.  I'm essentially off work all summer after all - we HAVE to get some pool time in, right?!

Here's a totally fun picture of the girls coloring in the bathtub - thanks Aunt Sylvia and Uncle Josh for bringing us bath crayons!! We love them!

Anyway, I am being beckoned once again by the not-so-tiny newborn known as Hudson, so I must wrap this up.  Sorry for my lack of blogging! I hope to become a better blogger again soon!!

Until next time -

Megan