Santa Claus

For pretty much the whole month of December, all I heard about from Rowan was her only Christmas wish--a real live pig. That and, of course, waking up each morning and immediately saying "Advent calendar" and running into our room to eat the Hershey kiss out of her calendar. Tate did the exact same thing. Though he also snuck into the room when we were playing somewhere else and stole candy.

So when we went to see Santa at the Gerald Ford Museum (can it get any better than that?), I was sure she'd mention her wish for a pig. Instead, we waited in a long line, got to the front where Rowan freaked out. She got within about 10 feet of Santa. He asked what she wanted for Christmas, she yelled "A cookie" and then ran away. Tate sat on Mrs. Claus's lap crying away. When I later told her Santa would come to her house to bring her presents, she said "He better not come to my house."

Other funny things this season: Tate saying "Santa Claus, ha ha ha" (though he figured out pretty quickly he really says "ho ho ho" and altered his little mantra accordingly), the ridiculous obsession with the advent calendar, which I truly feel is the reason the kids seem to be waking up earlier, Rowan practicing her Christmas songs for the church performance very loudly in practice (and excitedly adding "and many more" at the top of her lungs after "Happy Birthday, Jesus"), but chewing on her dress during the entire real performance.

Tate is becoming a pretty easy-going little guy, most of the time. Generally when I try to correct him, he just says "Oh, okay, Mama". He loves blocks, books and snacks. He loves horses, Elmo and pretty much anything Rowan loves. Rowan is starting to really read (well, a little bit) and can read most of the Bob books on her own. She loves reading, being read to, and hearing stories. Still. All the time. She also loves the Little Einstein's character, June (though we've never actually seen that show), pigs and anything pink.

I've had a blast with these kids this month. And I'm looking forward to more fun in 2010.

Girls' Weekend with Rowan

Since Rowan has been so into her babies lately and so into spending time with mommy, I decided to take her on a trip to Chicago. Lance was there for work and was staying in a hotel right downtown, so I took advantage of that and took Rowan for a fun mommy-daughter trip. After dropping Tate off with my mom, we headed to the train station. Rowan loved the train ride. We looked outside, read books, ate snacks. We got to Chicago and headed straight for the Shedd Aquarium where Rowan grew pretty tired of "looking at fish all day", but loved the Beluga whales and the little canoe she could sit in. Lance picked us up and we headed to the Rainforest Cafe which was the perfect place for Rowan. While I saw some children literally hiding under their tables, I told Rowan it was just a giant puppet show and she was thrilled with all of it. And I was thrilled that she was thrilled.

Sleeping in the hotel was a bit tricky. Rowan had her own little room, but she would not stay in it, so she slept with us, which resulted in little sleep for anyone. But we weren't really expecting anything different.

The next day, Rowan woke up nice and early (of course) so we headed to a place called Day Frog downtown. It's kind of an indoor play place with doll houses, dress up, big slides, bubbles, etc. It kept us busy until it warmed up a bit and the stores were open. Then we made the treck to American Girl Place. I didn't tell Rowan until we were on our way because I knew we wouldn't be able to do anything else. She had been talking about getting a baby with brown hair and brown eyes just like her. She had been sleeping with the American Girl catalog that mysteriously followed us from NC to Holland to here. We got there. She was thrilled. She immediately named her Erica Madeline. She was in love. (Might I add, though, that since we've been home (since this trip was over a month ago now), she no longer likes Erica and only likes Clarissa because she loves a bald baby. Great.)

We ate Garrett's popcorn. We went to Millenium Park and looked at all of the huge sculptures and I even got a quick stop in at H&M, but somehow only bought a scarf for me and socks for Tate.

After we were done, I asked Rowan what her favorite part was and she said "The lions." "The lions at Rainforest Cafe?" I asked. "No, the lions that were outside of the hotel" she said. "The lion sculptures." I guess it doesn't matter how much you've planned, you never know what they're going to love the most. But I loved my time with my girl. And she loved having her very own "Girls' Weekend" with mommy.

When they grow up

This morning, during an unusually relaxing family cuddle time in bed, the conversation went like this:

Rowan: Mommy, I want to be a mommy when I grow up--just like you.
Lance: That's sweet, Rowan. Tate, what do you want to be when you grow up?
Tate: Grapes

Forgotten, but not Gone

I have to admit, I actually forgot about this blog. Really completely forgot. I wrote one day and the next day just kind of forgot to write. And continued forgetting. Until now. In the past month, a lot has happened. Too much, really, to blog about. In short, I went to Nashville, I had my 10-year college reunion, I turned 32, we're trying to find long-term care for Lance's dad (very long story) and Lance is working virtually every waking moment.

Rowan is still loving school and is still obsessed with her dolls, particularly the bald one which is still named Clarissa. She tells me nothing about school each day except that she ate a snack and drank juice. She still asks me to tell her a story approximately 100 times a day. She no longer naps. She thinks rhyming words are hysterical. Rowan's idea of a joke: "Knock, knock" "Who's there?" "Horse"
"Horse who?" "Horse Lorse". Cue gleeful laughter.

Tate is loving having a little one-on-one time. He mostly just asks for me to read to him ("reet, reet, Mommy") and picks the books he wants. He also wants to play chase, play ball and find different animals in his room. He hates putting on his coat or having anyone else put on their coats and this all results in a major tantrum. He also hates his high chair, but has fallen out of a regular chair too many times for me to get rid of the high chair quite yet. Tate's favorite word, currently, is Obama and he says it pretty constantly, leaving people to stop me and say "Is your baby saying 'Obama'?" Yes, he is. All the time.

The kids are playing together more and more, which is really Tate just going along with whatever idea Rowan has. Lately they have been taking the couch cushions down and making things--a house, a library, a rocket. Occassionally they'll share a toy, cuddle or work on the magnetic farm together since Tate can't quite get the pieces in just right. I'll catch Rowan saying "Good work, Tate." Or "That was a great choice, Tate", though I'll also catch her pushing him and taking his toys. Tate, for the most part, is just a sweet little thing to Rowan, but today he pulled her hair and I realized that one of these days he's going to have his own opinions and it won't be quite as easy for Rowan.

Despite some of the chaos and the prematurely winter-like conditions, this fall is going well. We're staying pretty busy, sometimes too busy, and are trying to fit in something fun every day (baking, crafting, an outing of some sort). Today's was Trunk or Treat and, after Tate's nap, we'll be stopping by the Family Fun Day at the horse stables nearby and then heading to a Hope picnic, assuming, of course, that I can get Tate's coat on.

A Big Week for a Big Girl

Finally. It was Rowan's big week, what she'd been waiting a very long time for. The first week of preschool. Rowan has been talking about preschool, pretty consistenly, since last year. I started talking it up this summer at some point and, this week, it finally came.

Rowan, who normally sleeps in until 9:00 or so, was a bit disgruntled when I woke her up before 8 to get to school by 8:45, but quickly woke right up, dressed herself in her green butterfly dress, ate breakfast, got her backpack all ready, allowed me to take a few obligatory "first day" pics and we left. And she loved it. With Rowan's active imagination, it's a bit difficult to know what happened in reality and what happened in her imagination. But I'm pretty sure she sang songs, read books, painted and played with her friends. And judging by her conversations with her imaginary friends during nap time, her teachers said lots of "por favor" and sang a specific song called "Bienvenidos Aqui".

Rowan also rediscovered dolls this week. Never one for dolls before, when we moved to our new house, I kept her dolls in a box since she, not even once, ever played with them. But lately, she'd been carrying around tiny dolls (part of her doll house set) and calling them her babies, cuddling them, pretending to be their mommy. She even occasionally did this with stickers from her Little Einstein's book. So, I went downstairs and found a tub with some dolls in it and brought them up. And life has changed completely. One doll quickly became her favorite. She named it Clarissa, after a girl in her class. Then the next day she named it Polly Pocket and the next day it was Lucy. Well see if a name sticks or if she just continues to name it whatever works that day. Today she brought Lucy to Target with me and I indulged her by letting her bring in her baby doll stroller and walk around Target pushing her baby stroller while I pushed the cart. And, I have to say, it might have been one of the cutest things I've ever seen.

Tate and I are enjoying our new time together. Building with blocks, reading books, playing just the two of us. He continues to be obsessed with monkeys, dogs and milk. He loves music, dancing and being tickled and thrown in the air. He doesn't say a lot, but his favorite words are milk, hold you and woof woof (and, of course, Mommy, Daddy and RoRo).

Tonight while we were dancing around the kitchen, Tate discovered his shadow. I'm not really sure how it took 18 months, but unlike Rowan's sheer delight when she discovered her shadow, Tate did not like it. Not at all. He looked at it, looked at me and his eyes widened. I showed him how his shadow moves when he moves, how my shadow moves when I move. He seemed okay with it for a minute, but when we walked out of the room and our shadows came along, he was, again, unhappy, So, I turned off the light and figured I'd save it for another day.

Bye-Bye, Dada

Here Tate is, at 18 months, and he's now given up calling Lance "Dada". It is now "Daddy". Lance is just a little sad about this. It's just another way he's becoming a little boy. For some reason, I'm still "Mama"--at least most of the time. I've heard "Mommy" just a few times, but "Mama" is his word of choice for now. He also refuses help on the stairs and refuses to slide down on his belly. So far this has resulted in only one fall.

I remember that Rowan, between the age of 18 months and around 22 months, grew up so quickly. Her speech went from single words to short sentences. She learned her colors, shapes, letters and numbers. She started having opinions about her clothing and hair. Her favorite color was blue. She was obsessed with art projects and one particular pair of blue socks that were way too small for her.

It will be interesting to see how the two compare. What color will be Tate's favorite? Will he love to talk? Love art projects? Will he care about his clothes? Will he still be content following around his 3-year-old sister or will he have his own opinion about what we should do? I can't wait to see what Tate has in store for us.

In the meantime, Rowan is three. Really three. The person who came up with the term "terrible twos" never had a three-year-old. If she would only nap, life would be better for all of us.

Tate, 18 months

Just the title of this blog alone makes me both a little sad and a little excited. Sad because my little baby is just not so little anymore. At 18 months, he wants to do everything by himself. He screams if I try to help him up or down the stairs, throws himself onto the floor if I try to feed him, immediatly tears his socks and shoes off after I've put them on. However, pretty much any other time, he wants to be held, wants mommy there, wants to sit on my lap. And sometimes I just love that. I love rubbing my cheek against his, marveling at how smooth and soft and flawless his skin is. I love how he gives kisses almost constantly at times, how he says "love you", how he nuzzles in to my neck, even if it's just for a few moments. And I know, as he gets older, he'll only get more independent. So I'll miss those sweet moments with my little guy. But I'll also love watching him entertain himself more. I'll feel better leaving him with a babysitter and at church. I can't wait to hear him talk, really talk, in his own little sentences.

At 18 months, he is saying a lot more than the 10 or so words at 15 months. He still loves to mimic animal noises, loves books (especially "Barn" and "Pet Show"), likes to sit in his rocking chair and say "rock rock", requests "snacks, crackers, bar, milk, drink", always wants to play with "arrow" (pronounced "R O", which is Rowan), asks to talk to "Susu" or "Dada" or "Grandma" on the phone and probably says the word "Mama" hundreds of times a day (that is not an axaggeration). Other than "mama", his favorite word is certainly "no", but pretty close is "dem", which somehow means yes. He keeps me entertained and is so energetic I can't sit still for a minute.

It's amazing to imagine what he's going to be like as he gets older and amazing to spend all of this time with him while he's little. Happy 18-month birthday, Tater Tot. I love you.