I know, I know, they don’t all rhyme. Blame the english language, not me!! I tried.
** Before I write what I actually want to write about today, I want to first thank everyone who gave me some feedback yesterday. The general consensus was that I should do what makes me happy, and I really appreciate that! I genuinely enjoy writing this, so I’m grateful that people are willing to take the boring days along with the exciting ones. Thanks for all the support, everyone!
I’ve been noticing lately how my kids are changing. Its rapid and wonderful and unlike anything I ever thought I’d witness. Seriously, how fast does time really go? How would it ever seem to whip by so fast?! I remember specifically feeling like my grade eleven year went on FOREVER. It wasn’t a particularly bad year or anything, but it seems like when something exciting is coming (summer!!) time stands still. So a large chunk of my younger years felt like they dragged by. These years are proving to be very, very different. I guess I just wanted to touch on each kid today, and tell you the changes and development I’ve been seeing in them.
Ladies first 😉
The very beautiful Laela Hazel is SUCH a grown up!! She is learning an amazing amount of things these days, and while she’s still pretty rough with Rowan, and loves to flop on top of him in an effort to hug/cuddle, she means very well, and it shows. Anytime someone is holding Rowan, she goes on the hunt for any way that she can help. Her regular things to bring are blankets, burp cloths, and soothers. Now I’m using plural forms of these words because Rowan doesn’t need one of each. He needs as many as she can get her hands on. My favorite is when we’re downstairs with laundry running, and she will bring me every crunchy burp cloth out of its pile of dirty laundry and present me with it proudly. I love that. I often have a bottle made and ready for Rowan to need it, and the second he whimpers, she’ll walk over to the table its sitting on and point at it like crazy, then back at Rowan, then the bottle, then Rowan, and so on, until I get the message. She takes wonderful care of him.
Another thing about Laela that I’ve touched on recently is her new desire to sit on the potty!!! I know, its insane. Laela has been very clearly requesting to sit on the potty recently, multiple times. While we have yet to see any “fruits of her labor,” its nice to know she’s not scared of being up high or anything like that. She is brave and growing up, and I think her brother is starting to catch on. I hope so, anyway! She takes the celebrations very well, and loves to give high fives, or to pound it.
The last thing I’ll touch on about Laela today is that she’s starting to talk! Just a few things here and there, but she’s SO clear in her communication! But in just the last few days, she’s starting to say certain things without us prompting her to! If I carry Rowan off, saying I’m going to put him down for a rest (nap) she’ll say “Ni-night!” really, really loudly! Its so cute. Or when I tuck her in, as I’m leaving I hear yet another very loud “Byyyyye!” She’s even just begun saying “All done” when she’s full at the table. As I said, even when she’s not saying words, its very easy to know what she wants, but the words just make it so much more fun and cute and, yes, easier.
Onto Deks!
Dekker Thomas is my goofball. He is right in that stage where he can’t sit still, and talks non-stop. And I don’t mean that lightly. I mean he is sort of a constant play-by-play that never turns off. He asks a ton of questions and absorbs a very literal 95% of what we say. Its a bit dangerous, honestly, but we’re learning 😉 As is he. “Mommy, where do scabs go?” Huh.
For those who don’t know, Dekker is not potty trained. Not even a little bit. Honestly, yes, I really wish he was. His poop is no long little baby poop, but thats all I’ll say about that. This morning, he suggested that maybe he should pee on the potty. I told him I would be absolutely thrilled if he would. He asked then “Maybe you could help me?” I agreed that, of course, I would help him. He hesitated a little bit and said “Not today. But maybe tomorrow.” At least its on his mind! I’m very excited to see that all start up.
Today I witnessed something that I was SUPER excited to see!! Dekker was playing with a ball and it went under the couch. This happens often, and he’s learned to just grab a little hockey stick or something like it, and fish it out from under the couch. However, he couldn’t quite get this one, and asked me for help. I grabbed a stick and managed to shoot the ball out from under the couch. When it was free, Dekker reached for the other little hockey stick, and while he was getting it, Laela grabbed the ball and went to run off with it. Taking toys is a big deal to kids, which I think (hope) that other parents can relate to. Dekker always gets very upset if Laela even nears him while he’s playing toys. As soon as she took the ball that had obviously been his first, I took it back from her and gave it to Dekker, telling Laela that this was Dekker’s toy right now. I wanted to finally prove to him that, even if she does take his toy, I will help and get it back. Well, Laela burst out crying, as one would expect. Her little red rimmed eyes cried BIG dramatic croccodile tears as she gave me her best “betrayed” face. Dekker witnessed this interaction, and immediately rushed over to Laela and gave her the ball. “Laela can just have it” he said. “This helps her feel better.” And he was off to the next thing. Now, this is not the usual happenings around here, but I LOVE that it happened, even just once. I know he has it in his mental capacity to put all of the emotions together and find a solution, even if its not 100% all about him and his desires. I love to see that. I’ve been waiting for that!
Last but not even CLOSE to least…
My little Rowan Toby. Ro is growing by leaps and bounds! He’ll be weighed and measured later this week so I can’t speak on that, except that I guarantee that he is chunking up JUST FINE! While he is still obviously small, being that he’s a baby and all, his thighs tell another story. I love my chunky babies.
Rowan is finally starting to react to things around him! He smiles much more readily. Where we used to basically stand on our heads to get a half-second sideways grin, all I have to do is tease his little lips to get a big, face brightening smile! He’s just itching to give them out! He’s also getting super verbal! He is quite chatty in a one-on-one setting, while he’s quite when everyone around him is talking. He may look like my side of the family, but he’s like his dad in that way 🙂
The one biggish update I wanted to share on Ro is that I’m pretty sure we are entering his very first cold. Already!! I’m not sure where he would have picked it up, but such is life. Last night, he was so snarly through his night feeds, and seemed to gag on just about everything. He didn’t go down as nicely as usual either. Poor dude. However, he’s spent a large chunk of today sleeping. If he’s anything like Dekker, he will sleep away EVERYTHING. Dekker was never miserable when he was sick. He just slept a lot. We missed him when he was sick. So let’s hope that Roro gets through his illnesses nice and quickly.
This post seemed important for me to write, for the sake of recording our lives, and knowing who was doing what when. These kids blow me away with how fast they are moving and changing. People will tell you that time goes by so fast after you have kids, and to cherish each moment. This is 100% true. What they don’t tell you is that it gets faster with each one!!!