Last night, Kyle and I and the kids were playing in our basement before going to bed. At Micah's request, he wanted to "shoot some hoops" before laying down for the night. One of my neighbors asked me about borrowing some of our old baby items this upcoming weekend, as she has a sister who is coming to visit her with a new baby. I had our pack and play, bouncy chair, and play mat all set out in the basement for when she comes to pick up the equipment. While playing, Micah went over to the bouncy chair and turned on the music function. Instantaneously, a whole bunch of memories of the kids as babies flooded my mind, as they both sat in that chair a lot as new babies. As I watched Micah run around the basement jumping and wresting with Kyle, I had to ask myself where the past 3 years have truly gone??!! This past year has also been a whirlwind with our move and then welcoming Macey into our family.
Micah
1) Growth has slowed down. Still wearing 3T-4T clothes.
2) Thankfully, he is squeezing into last years coat and snow pants. After spending a descent amount of money on good, quality LL Bean outerwear, I am very happy to see him be able to use it 2 years in a row. Macey will eventually inherit his snow pants
3) I had to buy him new boots though - size 13!!
4) New favorite phrase is "How come?"
5) Into imaginative play, which is so, so, so fun. Yesterday, he and I played "school". He was the teacher - Miss Jodie and I was Micah.
6) Move over Pete the Cat - Micah's new favorite books are "The Polar Express" and "Peter the Cruiseship" - a book that Kyle and I bought him while on a recent cruise.
7) Still loves his matchbox cars, in particular his 2 black trucks
8) Interested in sports - asks Kyle to turn on basketball, football, hockey or golf. ESPN has taken over our TV!
9) Speaking of Kyle, he continues to be a daddy's boy.
10) Potty trained during the day. At school, he does not wear a pull up at nap. This past weekend, we attempted the same at home which resulted in a huge accident. Naptime/night time training is going to be hard!
11) Loves to assist with dressing and undressing himself. He's so proud when he can do things by himself.
12) Insists on putting his shoes on, even if they are already off, prior to undressing for bath each night. He gets a big thrill out of being able to independently take off his shoes and socks.
13) Still loves watching you tube videos of "Shawn the Train" and recently Buzz Lightyear.
14) Recently learned to cut with a scissors. So far, takes short snips with it.
15) Can recite all of his ABC's
16) Know's the days of the week and the months of the year.
17) Enjoys telling you the weather every day.
18) More interested in drawing and coloring lately. Likes drawing circles.
19) Still enjoys school. Some days drop offs can be hard, especially if Kyle's the one who is dropping him off, or if we get him there a little late and the kids have already integrated into a learning activity. Generally does not want to come home at pick up.
20) Asks to pray for Brutus and Jack every night before eating supper.
21) Overall a very good eater. There's not much that Micah won't eat.
22) Motivated to eat his supper by the fact that he gets a piece of Halloween candy or a cookie if he's part of the clean plate club.
23) Has a great memory - the small details that he remembers is amazing!
24) Does not like being told no, especially by me : )
25) When mad, screams, kicks or will hit something, like a table or a wall. We are really working hard at getting him to express his emotions through his words.
26) Punishments usually involve time outs in his room. If he continues to kick or scream we will close the door. Micah does not like being isolated from the rest of his family, so closing the door generally causes him to stop his tantrum and shape up.
27) Becoming better at sharing, but is not always happy about doing it.
28) Loves imitating Macey and vice versa : )
29) Needs reminders to be gentle with her, as he sometimes forgets that Macey is smaller than him.
30) Daily topic of discussion is whether or not it's a hair washing night.
31) Loves going to play at the YMCA
32) I'm hoping to get him enrolled in swimming and basketball this upcoming spring.
33) Is looking forward to Christmas. This year, he's asking for a train, tractors, and trucks. Can you tell that we have a theme going?? Hopefully Santa is good to him.
34) Next post on Micah will be when he turns 3 years old. We are so thankful for our handsome, sweet but strong-willed little guy. It's been fun watching him grow and develop over the past 3 years.
Macey
1) Still fitting into her 12-18 month clothing, but not for too much longer. Currently wearing size 4 diapers, and size 3 shoes.
2) Active, active, active - this girl is constantly on the move, which is great. I love that our house is conducive to her activity level, as she basically has full ability to explore our main level without us having to worry about her getting into too much trouble. We just have to keep our bathroom doors shut.
At this point, she walks everywhere! She's now able to bend or squat down to pick toys up off the floor and carry them around. She loves getting to cupboards, and emptying their contents. She loves climbing, and with it being colder outside, we have been trying to go to the YMCA on a weekly basis to allow her to climb all over the kids equipment.
3) She is much pickier than her older brother when it comes to eating. She loves her carbs, but isn't fond of her vegetables. Fruits are hit or miss. She loves string cheese and yogurt, and she could snack on puffs or crackers all day if allowed to. She still gets 4-5 bottles/day, but she is less interested in them. She'd rather be on the move than sit down to drink a bottle. I've started giving her a sippy cup of water at meals, and she's getting used to it. She'll take a few sips before playing with it or throwing it on the floor.
4) She's started taking a more consistent morning and afternoon nap. Naps can be as short as 30 minutes, but never are longer than 2 hours. At night, she goes to bed around 8:30. She sleeps pretty well, but does cry out sometimes 3 times a night. She can generally self soothe herself back to sleep.
5) Imitates, which is so much fun. If she sees you talking on the phone, will imitate holding a phone up to her ear and babble. Screams when Micah screams - yes, our house can get pretty loud some days! Loves to play peek-a-boo. Shrieks with excitement when you blow raspberries on her belly! And, absolutely loves crawling around and bouncing on our bed.
6) We've been trying to read to her more, and she will sit for a short book.
7) Changing her diapers and clothes can feel like a wrestling match at times. Some mornings it can take up to 10 minutes to change her.
8) Loves to unroll the toilet paper roll, which is why we have to keep our bathroom doors shut. Becomes upset when taken away from this activity or if the dishwasher or a cupboard door get shut. Does not love having stuff - whether it would be a toy or something that she shouldn't have - taken away from her.
9) Making lots of sweet sounds - mama, dada, m ka, for Micah
10) Continues to be healthy, and we are so thankful for that!
11) Is excited for her first Christmas, although does not need anything present-wise. At this point she has been perfectly content playing with a lot of Micah's old toys and whatever else she can find around our house.
Finally, I couldn't resist posting the following picture. Kyle, the kids and I have gotten into the Sunday habit of grocery shopping. As I've posted before, Micah has become accustomed to getting a cookie at Hyvee when we do large grocery shopping trips. Sometimes, we buy a box and other times we get a free one at the bakery. On this particular shopping trip, Micah was begging for a cookie and we decided to get a box of peanut butter cookies. Kyle stated that "Macey probably won't notice Micah's cookie". Definitely not the case - she was after it the minute that it was placed in his hands. So, we had to get Macey a cookie too - sugar, instead of peanut butter. She's protecting her cookie pretty well in this picture!
