Kids Update

My sister-in-law did a post with just some tidbits about her kids and I thought it was a good idea. I am too long winded though so this is a little long. If you don't love my kids you may not want to read it. :)

One night I was on the computer and there was nothing on AFN TV. We watch a lot of TV from the computer so the kids and Levin all had to resort to sharing the iPod to watch a show.

Here is some info about Leah.

1. If she sees something on TV she HAS to try it at home. Yesterday Sesame Street had a little girl with her grandpa making chocolates and Leah was obsessed with it ALL DAY. I had a moment of weakness when I walked in -3 degree weather to get some fruit and I bought some strawberries that only cost oh, $8 for a quart. I must have had frost on the brain, but I have been craving them for weeks too. We cured Leah's chocolate fixation and dipped them in melted chocolate chips.
2. Every day we make something for grandma that she's going to mail to her, but nothing ever makes it. We have put a prune in an envelope, but Leah ate it. Lately it has been "balemtimes" aka valentines. Usually I try to help her make something pretty of which she gets mad at my help and I get frustrated. Then she asks for scissors and it is all over . . she hacks it to teeny pieces with the scissors and we start again. I'm not sure what her goal is, but she loves scissors oh, and tape.
3. She is great at sharing. She and Oliver fight, but Leah can quickly be talked into sharing with him and when we are around friends she has amazed many parents and nannies by how willing she is to share a toy someone else wants.
4. She is a good sister to Oliver. Above they are sharing a snack sitting on a bench. We have two of those benches and when we have Family Home Evening they each sit on one. Oliver for some reason constantly changes his mind about which one he wants to sit in. He stands up, goes to Leah pushes her out and sits down. Leah just keeps moving back and forth as if she doesn't notice. They have a little system when they build castles with blocks (we've done that a lot lately). Leah builds something and then says okay Oliver knock it down. He does and they both laugh.
5. She has developed a love of carrot sticks, likes most fruit, but is a picky eater when it comes to dinner and we have to threaten to put her in her old booster seat and "put the lid on." The lid is the tray - she came up with that phrase, not us.
6. She and Oliver love to take baths and still bathe together because I can hardly keep the other out when one is in. I have to drag them out too. They have made countless messes in the bathroom when they decide to start their own bath or when I leave for a second.
7. She loves to change her clothes and goes through multiple outfits a day. She likes to play Cinderella and put on a dress and brush her hair over and over. She may have it confused with Rapunzel. Then she dances to Rolling in the Deep or All the Single Ladies. It is also not uncommon to find her playing naked or partially naked because she gets distracted in the middle of a wardrobe change. We often have to demand she go back downstairs and get some clothes on.
8. She is getting better about not coming to sleep with us in the middle of the night, but still falls asleep 99% of the time in our bed even though, "I know monsters aren't real." The other night she came running out begging me to put her lady bug pillow in a pan and give it to the mail man (we did that with a monster a long time ago). Instead I put it in the only closet with a lock, the utility closet. I don't know what the lady bug did to offend her.
9. She likes ballet class although it is usually a battle to get her dressed, but once dressed she is good to go. She loves her music class too and amazes me at how well she remembers words to new songs when I completely forget the words.
10. She still loves TV so we now have a ticket system where she earns a show. It's working pretty well.
11. Her hair all grows forward and I have no idea how to keep it out of her face. Even when I pull it back, it invariably ends up falling out or she pulls it out and her hair is back in her face.

Oliver:

1. Oliver LOVES Leah. He is obsesses with doing anything she does. Whenever Leah climbs on her tricycle Oliver runs as fast as he can and climbs on his push truck (see pic above) and follows her around the house. The worst part is with his coat. If Leah takes hers off he MUST have his off instantly. If she has put her coat in the shopping cart he is not satisfied until his coat is in with her. If I take his off and Leah keeps hers on he freaks out for it to be back on. Sometimes when he won't fall asleep at night I just have to go in and hug him and tell him Leah is in bed and then he is fine.
2. He has an obsession with shoes and socks. He begs me to put his on all the time and will bring me Leah's to put on her too. It comes in handy because getting Leah to fetch her shoes is pretty difficult. He cries and shoves them at me or her until she has them on.
3. He is the hardest child to feed. Sometimes he loves a particular food, and the next time you'll find it chucked all over the floor in anger. He doesn't like any fruit and only cooked vegetables, but even then not peas or green beans or corn, just carrots and potatoes. He has to use a spoon (of course because Leah does) but gets so mad because he often drops most of the food off before it reaches his mouth and then he throws it all on the floor in frustration.
4. He talks ALL THE TIME, but I rarely can understand him. Today he jabbered on and on pointing at something and I said, "ball?" and he repeated "ball" and was so happy. That was obviously what he wanted, but I have no idea what he was saying about it before. Some of the words he says are, sorry, sure, ball, bath, shoe, stairs, socks, stuck, night night, bed, up, ba ba, wa wa, (milk and water) Daddy, Mama (but not nearly as often as Daddy), uh-huh, ready set go, book, and some more, but those are the first that come to my mind. When he does say a word he always says it in this sweetest soft voice so I love to hear him talk. The only exception is No. He often says it in such a way as if he is offended, shocked and disgusted at your behavior or request and must inform you the answer is no.
5. I am amazed at how well he understands what I'm saying. If you tell Leah directions on how to find something she will stare right at it and cannot find it. Oliver on the other hand finds things so easily.
6. He loves to sing I Am A Child of God and sings a long with me pretty well.
7. Every week we sing I'm So Glad When Daddy Comes Home (you can tell Levin is the one conducting Family Home Evening.) Oliver excitedly stands up and watches me and Leah so carefully and as soon as Leah climbs upon Daddy's knee, Oliver beelines it over to me and climbs up and does the actions to the song to me instead of Daddy. I confess I love it.
8. He still wakes up at night, but not every night, so that is a plus and it's been a while since he's had a horrible night of crying and we have no idea what he wants and he just keeps throwing himself around and waking up 10 minutes after falling back asleep. Maybe it's because he seems to have all his teeth now.
9. He has started to LOVE LOVE LOVE Levin. Before the last month or so their relationship was so-so, but he loves Levin so much now and runs to him all the time. The other day Levin left to work early and Oliver didn't see him when he woke up and he was pretty sad.
10. He loves when Leah "goes potty." If he realizes that's what she's doing he races to the stairs and slides down them as fast as he can. He's so fast that many times he has beat her to the toilet. She has been starting to demand her privacy and shuts the door on him and his heart breaks, but I can't fault Leah for wanting her privacy.
11. Oliver loves babies. When we go to the play room or someone's house Oliver doesn't take too long before he finds a baby doll. At home it's like he knew Leah's babies were hers so he didn't go for them until the other day he found this doll someone left at our house a long time ago. He LOVES it. Leah has never been into babies and prefers stuffed animals so I find it so cute much to Levin's dismay. Today I asked, who is this? Baby! Do you love your baby? Uh-Huh! Then he gave her a big hug. He carries her around a lot. I figure it's okay as long as he is playing ball simultaneously right? Plus, it will be nice when he gets a baby brother or sister if he actually loves babies. As long as he doesn't try to carry him/her around by their head like his doll. **Update: Now that Oliver loves his baby he keeps trying to get Leah to hold a baby and screams when she denies it. He wants them both to carry around their babies, but Leah is not very accommodating.