Monday, August 12, 2013

State Of The Youngins: August 2013





Leo is three years and three months and Zoe is just shy of fourteen months.  They are each firecrackers in their own right, but together...watch out.  Here's what's new.


Leo:

- We recently turned his carseat around to face forward.  He's right around the weight limit (35 lbs) on his seat for rear facing, so it's time - but wow, what a big boy milestone.  He, of course, loves it - and I like being able to see and hear him better, too.

- Leo has an obsession with tying and hooking things together.   If there is anything in the house with a string/ribbon/hook/loop/wire it gets intricately laced up with everything else in these elaborate projects.  This game has replaced "parade" as his favorite thing to completely lose himself in.  It drives me a little crazy because it's genuinely difficult and time consuming to unravel these projects.  The worst ones are the ones that involve door knobs because then I can't easily leave the room/house and sometimes don't notice I've been tangled in until I'm running late.  Frankly, it's a fire hazard, so we've made door knobs off limits.


- I've suspected a growth spurt over the last month.  He's been moody, tired, and picky about food.  Then just this week he reached up and turned a light switch off.  Uhhhh...that's new.  He certainly shot up there.

- He hasn't been dressing or feeding himself, even though he has in the past.  My guess is that it's a way for him to get jb and/or I to focus our attention on him.  It can be infuriating at times, but I try to remind myself that he is finding ways to get his needs met and I want to meet those needs.  So...sigh...open wide for the spoon, kid.

- Leo is singing ALL THE TIME.  He listens to music intently trying to learn all the lyrics and once he feels comfortable he will sing along (both with people and recordings).  Singing along is a big deal for him, I think, because he's so cautious and restrained about making sure he knows the words - for the longest time (and still sometimes) he will only sing the last word of each line.  But now, when he really throws himself into a song it's complete with hand gestures and a slight vibrato.

- We were on a great streak of wearing gutchies at bedtime - but that came to a halt.  We will try again in another month or two.

- We've reached the point where his chores are actually helpful (and not just a time consuming investment in hoping they will someday be helpful).  The other day I was putting Zoe to bed and I asked him to play quietly until I returned and when I walked into the playroom he said, "Surprise!" and had picked up every toy off the floor.  Love this.

- Leo has started calling Zoe "the baby" and will say "I've got the baby" or "Don't worry, I'll watch the baby" several times a day.  The other day we were at the zoo and I sat on bench while they were looking at the giraffes.  Leo started to lead Zoe away by the hand and called over his shoulder, "Mama, we are going to go look at some other animals.  Don't worry, I've got Zoe!"  Adorable...but no.




Zoe:

- Zoe is a kissing machine.  She kisses everybody.  She blows kisses.  She makes all the toys kiss.  I love it.

- She has moved past walking to full on running.  When she really wants to go fast she will swing her arm as she runs like a softball player winding for a pitch.  Oh, I need to get this on video.

- Only in the last couple of days has Zoe actually started to say her first words (beyond "haaaa" - as in "hi")  Now she says: agua, meow, and bye.  There's still a lot of "ehhh?" and pointing.  Between that and her signing she seems to get along just fine.  It's really made me realize how verbally advanced Leo was at this age and reminded me how different kids can be.

- She's begun coloring a bit.  If she can keep herself from eating the crayon/marker/colored pencil for a few moments, she can actually get it in contact with the paper and make a few scribbles.

- Much like Leo did at this age, whenever jb arrives home from work she scrambles to find a toy to bring and show as her greeting.

Unwinding with a show
Watching the Polar Bear swim


Pushing his sister in the swing



Holding hands at the table

Until they see I'm snapping a picture...then these faces

Wearing Daddy's hat
These kids are serious about ice-cream
Very serious about ice-cream
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1 comment:

  1. lifewithkaishon8/12/2013

    Oh my word. They are so incredibly adorable : ). I am glad they are great at eating ice cream! That is a very important skill!

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