An April Update

Clara, at 9 months, is pulling up to a standing position on EVERYthing...and beginning to hold on and take steps, or let go and stand on her own for a few seconds. She's SO fast when she crawls, and can spot some tiny piece of leftover lunch long discarded under the table from 20 feet away. I now can recognize the determination in her face as she promptly drops to the ground and makes a beeline for something, and can usually sometimes get there before she plops whatever it is into her mouth. She can clap her hands now too, and expects everyone in the room to do the same when she does - getting immediately frustrated if we do not follow suit. She ADORES her brother, and wants to be right where he is doing whatever he is doing. He's not always a huge fan of this though and isn't always gentle...

Yep. That would be Clara's first black eye. Given to her by Oliver. Oy! Thankfully it didn't actually get "black," just puffy and red for a few days. Didn't slow her down in the slightest, though. She's going to be one tough cookie trying to keep up with that brother of hers.

She's got four teeth and is eating solid foods like a champ: we haven't come across a fruit or vegetable yet that she doesn't devour. Broccoli is one of her absolute favorites. She had her 9-month checkup today and has leveled out to about 58th percentile for weight, 78th for height. Oliver was still 90th plus for both at this point so she's definitely a bit more dainty than her brother was...but since she's wearing 12-18 month clothes, I still wouldn't say she's super small. We grow 'em big around here. :) She's got her brother's (and her mother's) big eyes and is SO expressive...it's been a lot of fun to see her personality start to come out a bit more.

Sick with a cold, but still having fun being pulled around the living room

Oliver is really starting to loose a bit of his "baby" look now, and is constantly having to pull up or tighten his pants on his long, skinny waist. I can't believe how big he looks sometimes. He gave his booster seat to his sister and now sits at the table like a "big boy" and is quite proud of himself for doing so. I, on the one hand, am glad that we do not have two booster seats at the table, and on the other, have found that trying to keep a two year old ON his chair when not strapped in is pretty much an impossibility. Buckles and straps really are a wonderful thing while they last. :) He has also fully transitioned to a big boy bed now. We let him pick out a new comforter and sheets, and then started with the mattress on the floor for a couple weeks before putting it up on the frame. And really, it wasn't as tough of a transition as we thought it would be. Looking at him laying in the middle of that huge twin bed is a little bittersweet, though.

First day with the mattress on the floor - and every stuffed animal he could find...

He's really picking up his letters and numbers quickly and points them out in books and on road signs and storefronts when we're driving. We went to Lowes the other day and he shouted out in the parking lot as we were walking in:

"L - zero - Bubba-doo - S! Spells 'Store!'"

Haha, pretty close.

Can I just say, though...I think that "Bubba-doo" (his word for "W") is my most favorite thing ever. 

His vocabulary grows daily, though some of it would still require a translator for most people to understand the toddler-speak.

"oooo need help, mommy?"
"ajee hazzam dis?" (Oliver have some of this?)
"Uk-oh, what 'appened? It's O-tay."

And, he takes "back seat driving" to a whole new level. 

"oops! 'ite turned eddow. Now 'ite turned red." He watches the stoplights like a hawk and is quick to holler from the back seat if he thinks I'm turning right on red and shouldn't be, ignoring a "ittle geen ayow" (little green arrow) in a different lane, or if my head is blocking his view of the light in the intersection. 

"'scuse me mommy! Move head!"

So if you see me sitting at a red light with my head ducked...now you know why.

Oliver and his bear - who does just about everything Oliver does, all day long. Including needing his own chair so that he can sit with us at meal times.

When we tuck Oliver in for bed each night, we read a couple of books and then lay in his bed with him and pray and sing songs. After relentlessly asking me for a garbage truck song, I finally made one up (to the tune of 1 little, 2 little, 3 little Indians - which we've never actually sung with the "right" words, he thinks it's all about trucks).

1 little, 2 little, 3 little garbage trucks

4 little, 5 little, 6 little garbage trucks

7 little, 8 little, 9 little garbage trucks

10 little garbage trucks driving.

Then we sub in 'cement trucks mixing, rollers rolling, excavators digging...' The rhythm doesn't always work right, but I didn't know any construction-themed nursery rhymes so it works for us. :)

Another song that he has recently re-discovered is "This Little Piggy" which, when he sings on his own, usually sounds like this:

"This wittle piddy went to eye-bary (library), This wittle piddy had bah-pa (grandpa), this wittle piddy had ice cream, this wittle piddy had oats beef, this wittle piddy WEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!"  

He was trying to do the little piggies to our cat today. She was NOT impressed.

Oliver's prayers each night have become his way of processing his whole day - and I absolutely LOVE listening to him. I can't help smiling as I lay there and watch his eyes start out scrunched closed in focused determination on his prayer and then pop open with the excitement of re-telling his day:

"Dear Dod,

Tee-tow (thank you) for mommy and daddy and Beeba Tia,
Tee-tow that mommy drew garbage truck on steps with chalk. And garbage cans. And 'ittle eddow garbage man.
Tee-tow that squirrel outside jump in grass, and 'oof's' (dogs) barking, and I heard garbage truck on different street.
Tee-tow for bear and teezy (curious) George, and ice cream with sprinkles.

In Jesus' name,
The end."

I'm telling you what, I'm pretty sure prayers from two-year-olds have got to be about the BEST part of God's day. They're definitely one of the best parts about mine.