things to remember...

The purpose of this post is to publish the stream of thoughts about the kids that I've been meaning to get into a previous post, and haven't, but don't want to forget. Prepare for total random thoughts/facts/stories...



We'll start with Cole(2 and a half)- my happy (kinda whiny) and easy going little buddy. He is so eager to please and such a lover. We went to Gram's apartment for her birthday and he hugged every single little old lady in the place, with no hesitation, and beamed at the attention he got. He is still the spitting image of his Daddy, and is so well behaved. Well, mostly well behaved:) He has this habit of breaking all the rules when I'm on the phone- but it could be worse so I'm not complaining! He loves to be outside, and asks to go as soon as he wakes up in the morning. Juice or milk make everything ok, and he asks for pancakes for every meal. He sleeps with a shark as big as he is and wants to "hold hand just minute" before he falls asleep. I taught him that when I sqeeze his hand 2 times, that means 'I love you,' so it has become our special little "thing" to give 2 sqeezes when the feeling hits us ;0) "I've been workin on the railroad" is his favorite song- and "Take me out to the ballgame" is a close second. He always finds a way to make me smile- lately it's by running to me when he's been out of eyesight for a few minutes and saying "Mommy! I miss you!" or "Love you to the moon." His favorite TV shows are "Dora the Explorer," "Diego," "Wonder Pets" and "Mickey Mouse Clubhouse" and some movie favorites are "Finding Nemo," "Cars," and "Shark Tales." Recently, he has taken to following many phrases with "Ok" or "Actually." He will say something like "I want to play with my trains, ok" or "That's a dump truck, actually." Something about a 2-yr old saying "actually" just makes me laugh. He also apologizes for things that need to apology. Sweet silly boy.

Me: "Hey Cole, come here and let me tie your shoe."
Cole: "Oh, ok. I sorry."

Cole is still pretty dramatic, especially when he hurts himself. The "boo boo kiss it" usually comes out before the knee actually hits the pavement. His favorite line after he wakes up from his nap, when he comes out of his room to find me is "Hi Mommy, me wake up. What choo doin?"

Kellen (almost 17 months)- why is it when I think of writing something about Kellen I hear my own voice in my head say "Ohhh Kellen." :) I'm not sure whether that boy keeps me young, or ages me prematurely but he is such an addiction. I just can't explain the hold that boy has on me. He is the absolute perfect mix of rough and tough boy and Mommy's sweet snuggle bug. He gives the best hugs and kisses that are absolutely intoxicating. He's always in a hurry and is absolutely fearless. He loves to test the limits and is undetered by punishment or redirection. He is extremely independent and marches to the beat of his own drum. He wants to do EVERYTHING his big brother does these days. When Cole asks for me to push him higher on the swing, along chimes Kellen with "Higher Mommy!" When Cole asks for more milk, along chimes Kellen with "more milk Mommy." He calls Cole "Dole", which interestingly enough, is how Cole said his own name for the longest time. It kind of baffles me because they could both say the "C" sound, but it was always "Dole." I guess it's like Cole calling Nana "Nina." But we like Nina, and we're going with it. Kellen's favorite song is "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star," but you better not try to hum the second verse because that just isn't going to cut it. "STAR!!" he says and will resort to grabbing your face and repeating his request if necessary. He really isn't into TV much, but sometimes will sit and watch Dora. He is definately not my patient child. He knows where the puzzle piece goes, but if it doesn't sink into its spot easily, he doesn't stick with it long. He is counting to ten and singing intermittent letters to the alphabet, along with various other songs. It makes me laugh to hear him chime in with the last couple words to each line of a song. He is very coordinated, and rarely falls, but when he does he is unphased and keeps right on going.

The boys have just recently started a little bit of sibling rivalry. I knew it was coming. No longer does Kellen just sqeal and run to me when Cole takes something he was playing with-- nope, now Cole gets a truck to the head. Maybe this isn't my most shining "mom moment" but it makes me kinda proud to watch him stick up for himself. They need to learn to fight their own battles sometimes. Most of the time, though, they do play very well together. They push trucks in circles around the downstairs, race in the driveway, look through books together, and genuinely enjoy each others company.