TotboyAndLollipopStealer

My kids seem to develop and do amazing things days much faster than I can possibly find the time to adequately document. It's constant. They are such little developmental sponges.

Zachy is a little totboy now. He's no longer a baby. He is full on tot. Still not in a defiant way, not yet anyway. But, he's grown. His wobble walk is less wobble. He tries to run now. That's pretty priceless. Today he learned how to point to his nose and ears and wiggle his hands, all in one day. He already had the tummy and the head down. He was playing Peek-A-Boo and, very softly and deliberately, said, 'ee ba boo.' He practices new words all the time. His actual vocabulary is still pretty minimal, although I suspect he says a lot more than we realise. And regardless of his use of actual words, he communicates what he wants very well and understands seemingly just about everything.

He imitates Mackenzie now. Loves to do what she is doing, which at times is okay and other times not so okay. One day she was pretending to fix her kitchen with some tools. He wanted some of that action, bad. But Mackenzie was not in the mood to share her game or the tools. Later, after she had gone to bed (he stays up about a half hour later), he went right to the tools and started to fix away. He even reproduced the sounds she was having her tools make.

Today they played doctor. More like Mackenzie played doctor and he decided, after she forced him, to comply. I look over and he's laying there while she examines him. When I walked over she asked me to take off his shirt. I didn't. But I laughed. When she was finished, she said, 'Your baby was very patient today.' She doesn't miss a beat, that girl of mine.

Things have been pretty good lately. Zachy is sleeping better and OHMEGOSH he goes down to sleep by himself. He cries for a minute or so (tonight just a whimper) and is quiet. Now if only I could get the three old to follow suit! I am convinced she is going to cosleep until she leaves the house. This morning she woke up and I was already out of bed and she came out and said, 'Momma, I was worried about you.' Probably more like she was a bit scared (she has definitely entered the stage of the scaries), but it was sweet nonetheless.

Oh, and BIG NEWS....Mackenzie got a real haircut (1-8-10)! Well, I cut it. She had gone with me to get a haircut and I asked about her hair, which I think might make the Guinness Book of World Records for slowest hair to ever come in. But it was cotton candy like in the back. The woman who was cutting my hair explained to me that I needed to cut it regularly in short layers to keep it healthy and growing in (Rookie Mom, I know). Mackenzie would not let her cut her hair, but the stylist showed me basically what I needed to do and I did when we got home and it looks a TON better! Yay! I know she still wants 'True Princess Hair' (Shame on you Dora the Explorer), but I think just seeing real hair on the floor felt good for her.

I cannot believe how fast they are growing up. They learn new things and change every single day. It's impossible to keep up with! They are constantly doing things that amaze me. They make me smile. They make me laugh. And, yes they make me crazy. But at the end of the day, I will have inevitably fallen more in love with both of them.

Now, for a few TotMusings...

• Last Spring Mackenzie and I went on an 'Adventure.' First stop was the car wash and, despite all we did afterward, all she could talk about was how much she did not like the carwash. On Saturday I asked her if she wanted to go on an 'Adventure.' Her response, 'Okay Momma. But I no like the car wash very much.'
• Mackenzie and Zachy were playing Merry-Go-Round; Her 'spinning' him around on an upside down Little Tikes Table. She would say, 'Zachy do you like this?' And he would say, 'YAH!' Trust me, hearing a sixteen month old and a three year say that over and over again is very amusing!
• Zachy loves meat and cheese sandwiches. Actually, what he really loves is the process of taking out the meat and cheese and eating it. He dismantles the sandwich, bit by bit. It's intense.
• Mackenzie called Zachy 'Dude' the other day. I have NO idea where she got that.
• The other day a plane was in the sky and Zachy started to wave and say, Bye bye. Mackenzie did the same thing at his age - it's in the Tot A curriculum, I suppose.
• Mackenzie likes Lollipops. Today she manipulatively told me to go in Zachy's Room, while looking at the Lollipops. I played along and she came and found me and said, I a Lollipop Sneaker! I going to tell everybody I a Lollipop Sneaker!

InTheMoment

I had a busy day, but was missing my kids by the time they got home. How did I know they got home? I heard Mackenzie yelling 'Momma, Momma' at the front door. When I opened it, she was standing there, drenched with her slowly-growing-in hair all curly from being wet, her cheeks nice and rosy.

I asked her how her day was at Carol's and she replied, Good, Caleb and I were good helpers. They had helped picked up toys I guess. Gotta hand it to her, Caleb is seven and she's only three, so that Carol said She and Caleb were being the good helpers, well that's pretty impressive for a three year old. Still waiting for it to happen here...won't hold my breath!

She went right to the potty. Said in her cutest totvoice, I have to go REALLY BA-AD! Can you get me my cars? So, I had to get her all set up. Table - check, bucket of cars - check, stool to set the bucket of cars on - check. Okay, now she can get to the business at hand.

Dad carried in a barefoot Zachy. He now takes off his shoes and socks for entertainment whilst driving. He greeted me with his big eyes and a delighted smile. Makes me melt every time. He got right to work. Bringing me his shoes and socks to put on. Then he decided he needed to throw away the dog food. Piece by piece. Wobble walking to and fro - from the dog dish to the trash can and back and forth again and again.

Totally IntheMoment. I love that about toddlers. Gone all day and they get home and immediately fall into being right where they are. Doing whatever it is they do. So, while I enjoyed a nice quiet, albeit busy, day alone, I loved getting to spend some time just 'being in the moment' with them tonight. Lucky, Lucky Me.

TotgirlHair

Mackenzie has taken forever to get hair. Really, for a three year plus three months old, she doesn't have a whole lot. It's very slowly filling in, though. And, of course her Momma thinks she is ab-so-lute-ly adorable, regardless of how much hair she has!

Over the years, her hair has come in something like this...

Her first birthday....

At sixteen months. We were over a friend's house and I had talked about Us (Mom and Dad) getting haircuts. Kathy looked at me baffled and asked how much I had cut from Mackenzie. She had misunderstood. It was hilarious. She thought I was nuts!

Despite the hat, it's pretty clear she still didn't have a whole lot on her second birthday.

In the last six months or so she has taken more notice herself and her friends. I think at school they will comment if someone gets a haircut. She never has really had a haircut, although last June-ish, a friend was kind enough to make a big deal out of cutting her hair. She was soooo excited!

Her third birthday. More than her first and second for sure...

Hair 'today.'

Lookin' cute.

We even managed to get in a couple of  'pigtails,' with a bit of effort of course.

But WHERE this came from...I have NOOOOO idea!

Odds&Ends

A few Odds&Ends. How to organize? Don't...I guess I gotta just start typing!

How 'bout a couple of totmusings to begin with?

1. I was talking to totgirl earlier today about going to the Pumpkin Patch this coming weekend. She said she did not want to go. So, I told her she could stay home and asked what she would do. She responds, very thoughtfully, with, 'I think I sure will clean the playroom and take a bath.' Fascinating what goes through that mind...and a bit frightening at times as well. So, I have decided to let her stay home...hey, she said she'd clean!! Just kidding, folks.

2. Later in the day, she randomly tells me, 'Momma my bum bum is stinky cause some toots are coming out.' I can't help it, I find her toot comments hilarious (and the poop ones too, for that matter).

3. Now, on the rare occasion that she actually eats and likes something, she will comment on how happy her tummy is. Today she took her gummy vitamins and, while patting her tummy said, 'I really like vitamins. Yummy yummy in my tummy. That make my tummy happy.'

4. The other day, I put on a less worn and stained tshirt than usual and she asked me if we were going somewhere. Sad, but she she also asks this if I actually do anything other than put my hair in a ponytail. One day she didn't want me to go to work (so she could stay home) and tried to force my hair into a ponytail.

Now, Zachy's turn. He continues to practice standing and yippee I got a picture!! Not the purejoy excited look I wanted to capture, which is absolutely priceless....cause he was too busy playing with the letter 'R.' That's right, while standing. Multitasking. He figured out he could put his finger through the hole and twirl it around and sling it across the room. Thata boy! So, here is our 'stander,' playing with the letter 'R'....

 (YIPPEEEEEE....HE'S A STANDIN' BOY!)

(Reaching for the letter 'R'....I just think his bum bum looks too cute not to post! Sorry Zachy.)

Back to totgirl. She has talked&talked&talked about getting to bring home the ever so coveted ShareBag from Preschool. She would play ShareBag all day long, putting random things in random bags and sharing what she 'brought' with 'the friends.' So, finally, last Thursday Dad calls me after he picks them up and tells me that Mackenzie has something to tell me. SCORE! 'MOMMA, I GET THE SHAREBAG!!!! Wow, was she ever excited! All weekend long she put different things in. The 'rules' of the ShareBag indicate that they are put one thing in to share (nothing weapon related or live...haha, yes, it actually says that!) and that we should practice what our child will say. Finally she settled on her book 'Pinkalicious.' Sure we practiced what she would say...it went something like, 'This is my book Pinkalicious. She eat too many cupcakes and is Pinkerbelle!' Who knows what she actually said. All I do know for sure, is that she was quite upset that she had to return the ShareBag. Momma knew that was coming!

 (Hair was a bit wild on this morning, someone would not let someone brush it...)

(Ah, the excitement of....the ShareBag!)

(And, looks like someone got himself in the picture....ZACHY...lookin' a little smug!)

Lastly, for today...I ALMOST forgot....Zachy had a 'musing! Yes, he did....So, now for our first EVER Zachymusing...

Totgirl was sitting on a chair and fell off (poor totgirl, but she was okay) and Zachy says, 'Ut-oh!' How 'bout that!