Life with Two Toddlers...

includes many evenings of dance party and lots of creativity. Tonight the kids had a lot of energy so Daddy got up and danced with them. Cole proudly rolled around on the ground doing somersaults and looking like he was the king of break dancing. When he dances he always swings his right arm back and forth. Gwen was a little more reserved but she had fun spinning in circles and bopping around.

Then the kids discovered some large pieces of paper that had been used to wrap a custom frame. We had them lie down on it and traced their bodies. Afterwards, they used crayons to color themselves. Gwen has been getting much better with drawing recently. Tonight she gave herself "eyes, nose, ears, sticky up hair, shoes, belly button" etc. Cole hasn't quite gotten the hang of drawing at this point but he did have a blast coloring.

Visit with The McCaslin Family

On Saturday, 7/30/11, Chip, AnneMarie and Sean came to PA for a little visit. We enjoyed a weekend of fun and food together. We went to the farmers market, grilled out, and had fun at the Fish Hatchery. Gwen and Cole loved Chip and took to him immediately (see pics). Gwen enjoyed playing with Sean. At one point i asked her what she was doing and she said: "I play with the little boy".

We Learning to Eat the Rainbow!

Today we went to a local children's boutique to participate in storytime and talk about healthy eating. The kids enjoyed listening to the story and were excited for the interactive parts (holding up their fruit signs and placing plastic fruit/veggies on the colors of the rainbow). They had fun making Caterpillar hats and mommy was happy that they worked fairly independently with the glue and other materials. Pics to come.

Silly Toddler Quotes

Today Cole was frantically looking for the play oven mitt in the front room. Gwen and I were snacking in kitchen. I looked at her and asked: "Do you happen to know where the oven mitt might be?". She turned to me and said: "Mama, I don't remember EVERYTHING". heh.

The other day I asked Gwen a question and she went southern on me by answering: "Yes, Maam".

Cole has been refusing to nap recently. I have been standing strong that he needs to have quiet time in his room for a little while before he comes downstairs and that he does not get a special treat of watching TV while Gwen is asleep. Today he kept pestering me to watch his "digger movie" and I told him that when Gwen woke up they could watch it. As soon as he heard her peep upstairs he went running up. I heard him say: "Gwen, digger movie, wake up, hurry, digger movie. o-tay, o-tay, o-tay?".

This evening Gwen was in the coupe car pretending to go through the drive through to get her "medicine". She pulled up to me and told me her full name "Gwenie Pearl Stamps". I asked for her address and she said: "I live in my house" and then she pretended to pay me. As she was pulling away she said: "I have to concentrate to drive now". I wonder where she's heard that one! Oh and then Cole wanted to pretend to go through the drive through. When i asked him where he lived, he said: "On a farm". "Yes, Cole, sometimes i also feel like i live on a farm!"

Sibling Hospital Tour

This morning I took Cole and Gwen to Lehigh Valley Hospital for a sibling tour of the mommy baby unit. We got there early and sat on the couches to eat a snack and watch the people go by. Cole was very excited to see the little "cars" and people rushing by. When there was a lull, he kept saying: "Mommy, no people coming now" and then would announce: "there someone is!" During the tour we met baby Alex and Gwen was glowing the entire time. She was SO excited to see a little baby up close and personal. She was not thrilled about the idea of leaving baby Alex at the hospital but perked up when the tour guide, Dawn, gave her a newborn diaper and infant hat for bunny/blankie. We shoved both of them in the diaper and tried to get the hat to fit the best we could. Cole was not thrilled about putting the hat or diaper on his special animal, Chickie, and refused to be in the picture with Chickie.

2 year olds are pretty fun...most of the time anyway!

Both kids have been talking more clearly recently.

Gwen has also been pretending more and Cole is picking up on it more and more each day. She takes her bunny everywhere she goes and often makes little beds for her. She loves pushing her in the shopping cart and feeding her pretend food. The other night she said: "Daddy, bunny do a flip" and she flipped bunny onto her shoulder like Andy does with her. One afternoon last week both kids were pretending together. They decided to pretend to go to the library. They would put all of their "library books" into our library bag and then carry them to the other room together to put in the "book drop". A few minutes later they both ran back to me holding new books and yelling: "we got new library books, mommy!"

Their little conversations are also getting easier for me to understand. Last night when they were lying in their nest, i heard them talking over the monitor. Gwen was saying: "Cole, you a boy. You have a penis" and Cole was saying: "Yes, Gwen, i have a penis penis penis". Then Gwen said: "I have a gina. You don't have one. You are a boy".

Cole has been very in tune to directions and destinations recently. If we go to a playground he finds the bench where we sat to eat snack the previous time and insists on sitting there to eat again. Sometimes he insists on having the SAME snack as we had last time. "Sorry, Cole man, mommy doesn't remember these things!" He also proudly announces when we are going to go by certain excavators/construction sites and sometimes gets upset when we go in the direction of the roller coasters but dont' actually go by them.

Cole seems more interested in baby Reid recently. He loves to sing pat a cake. He usually wants to sing the song once with a "G for Gwen", "C for Cole", "M for Mommy" and "D for Daddy". The other night when we were done with all of the usual verses, he said: "Now sing for baby Reid!". What a sweet big brother :)

Gwen is very excited about the baby. She enjoys helping me organize his clothing and other things in his room (although she takes all of his blankets and makes them her own!). She proudly announces several times a day: "We're having a baby!" and loves reading library books about babies and being a big sister. She insists that she is going to "carry baby Reid" and "I hold baby Reid". She also thinks about him often and wnats to know: "Baby play with this toy?". It seems like she's going to be mommy's little helper with her baby brother :)

Gwen has been very interested in peoples names recently. She is constantly asking "what his/her name is?" She seems to pick up on her friends' moms names quickly but always wants to know about their dads. The other night she was riding in the car and was talking to herself: "Madelyn's mommy is Kristin. Madelyn's daddy is Ryan. That nice name. I like name Ryan. Mommy, you like name Ryan?"

Both kids enjoy saying it is "X time". If they are ready to eat, they'll say: "It's eat time". If they are ready to go in the car, they'll announce: "It's car time".

Cole is obsessed with the alphabet these days. Andy says it is like he is living a musical because many times throughout the day, Cole will break into song. He especially enjoys singing the ABC's but also specializes in The Farmer in the Dell, 5 little (fill in the blank) Jumping on the Bed, Here Come the Dinosaurs

We've been spending a little more time around the house recently. Part of it is because Mommy has been nesting and trying to get things ready for the arrival of our little man and another part is because the kids are used to going somewhere EVERY morning and I want them to get used to being home more before baby arrives. On this morning, we decided to do a little art project. We talked about healthy eating and how we should eat a variety of foods in the rainbow. Then we fingerpainted. Gwen kept saying: "Dr. Rice happy when we eat good foods, Mama". Cole would respond with: "Dr. Rice happy, Gwen." So Cute!