Saturday, October 30, 2010

I apologize for repeating some of this stuff

Everyday one or both of my girls will do something that makes me stop and wish I could remember it forever. They do the cutest and sweetest and most amazing things. I know that before I realize it, these days will be gone. They will be teenagers and the infant and toddler stages will be long gone, never to return. I wish there was a way to preserve the adorable things they do. We are lucky enough in this day and age to have photos and videos, but honestly it isn't enough. You just can't capture everything and my memories of these days will fade, as all memories do. So, I'm just doing the best I can at keeping track of the little things. These things will hopefully one day bring me back to this time in their lives.

Gwen moves and talks so much lately. She loves to lay on the floor or on her play gym and she will just babble babble babble. She is so loud most of the time too. It is adorable and fun to listen to her. She also likes to play with a blanket and will wiggle all over the place, rolling from her back to her side and then to her back again. She is awesome at tummy time. When you place her on her tummy she holds her head up all the way and will turn her head from side to side if there is something she wants to look at. Since she wiggles so much, sometimes she looks like she is about to start crawling, or roll over, sometimes get up and sometimes it just looks like she is boogie boarding. :-)

Christina is talking more than ever now as well, of course in a totally different way than Gwendolyn. She says "I want more now" and "go away". She'll say "my" this and "my" that instead of just "mine". Those particular examples don't paint her in the best light, but she also says "please", "thank you" and "bless you" several times a day -without being asked. She repeats everything you say and does a pretty good job at it.

Christina knows that cars are in parking lots and in the street and that you have to hold someone's hand when they are around. She knows what Mommy's car looks like and Daddy's as well. She can almost count to 5, but always skips 1. She sings the first few letters of the alphabet and she knows the movements to just about every kid song.

Christina likes to throw things away, loves to give high-fives and loves to take her medicine, whether that means her inhaler, tylenol or anything else. We sing songs while she does the inhaler so that she actually enjoys it. Last year we had to hold her down kicking and screaming, so this is a big and welcome change. Her favorite song to sing while she gets her inhaler is the Dora the Explorer song. Sometimes she makes me sing it for all four times she needs the inhaler. So yeah, I am so over that song, lol.

Like a typical toddler, Christina hates to have her diaper changed but oddly she loves when I put diaper rash cream on her, specifically the Bourdeaux's butt stuff. Ever since I started calling it "medicine", now she likes it. I told you she liked medicine, no matter what kind it was. :-)

Since Christina and Gwendolyn have been sick lately, they have had several doctor’s visits so I got to find out their weight. Christina is about 26 pounds now and Gwendolyn is about 12 pounds. They are both quite healthy in general (not counting the colds) and it is even getting time for Gwen to start on solid foods. This is still such a foreign idea to me though. Having a two year old, I can't help but see Gwen as a baby baby - meaning a baby that is nowhere close to old enough to eat solid food (even if it doesn't exactly resemble real food). I probably won't start her on it for a couple of months, but still this seems so fast. Christina is still eating in her highchair. I better get her a booster seat quick so that I can get Gwen in the highchair. Even thinking about Gwen sitting in the highchair is so weird - she's just my little ity bity baby!

I'm sure Gwen will do well with solids when she starts though. She is a roll with the punches type baby for sure. She has been wearing her hearing aids for over a month now and she is doing great with them. They don't seem to bother her at all although sometimes she accidentally knocks them out when she is flailing her arms about. They don't stay in too well in general actually. Christina occasionally likes to pull them out of her ears even though we keep telling her not to, but it hasn't been a big deal so far.

Christina actually seems to be listening a little better (don't let me regret saying that!). She knows what it means to clean up and understands the concept, but still only occasionally will actually clean up. In fact, I think she likes the phrase "big mess" so much that she purposely makes messes so that she can say with a smile "big mess" "big mess". She likes to sing the song "clean up, clean up" while she cleans the "big mess" or just puts her toys away. The cutest part is that she pronounces it "P-nup, P-nup". Now if only I could get her to clean up all of the time, then I would have a really clean house and great abs from laughing everytime she sang "P-nup", "P-nup".

CC's worst and guarenteed "big mess" is food related every.single.day. She has gotten so much better with her food preferences though. So it is no longer only macaroni and cheese on the floor next to her milk cup or some fruit (her only accepted choices of nourishment for so long). Now she eats chicken regularly, would die for pancakes, and eats one vegetable (squash to be specific -finally! it is only one vegetable, but at least it is something). She also really likes pizza and can even eat an entire slice herself.

Most of the time when she is eating a meal, she likes to ask for a spoon even if she doesn't need one. She also likes to ask for a plate or bowl when she has a snack, even though she doesn't need one. I honestly think she just enjoys asking for things when she knows that she will be understood. I think she is as proud of her language development as we are.

That reminds me of a story. The other day Christina was saying something over and over again that I wasn't understanding, "bandi, bandi, bandi". Finally when I realized what she was saying, I said "Oooohhhh, you are saying bandaid!". She said "yeah" with such an attitude, rolled her eyes and then made a face like "Duh, that is what I've been saying all along." lol

Ok, so here are my cuties . . .