Life with a Toddler

Life with an almost-two-year-old is never dull. It is the exact oppopsite of dull. Sometimes it is crazy, and I mean that in the pull-your-hair-out-and-scream kind of crazy. Sometimes it is break-down-and-cry kind of crazy. Sometimes it is the giggle-maniacally-because-it's-that-or-scream kind of crazy. Occasionally it is the I-can't-believe-you-did-that crazy. But sometimes it is the very entertaining kind of crazy. And that, my friends, is my favorite kind.

I'm talking about times like this, when you have spagetti for dinner and your daughter, who has total nap-hair, eats it off her plate like a puppy dog, but stops the second she sees the camera. (And that would be the kind of sentence that makes Dan crazy. Those gramatically anal journalist people!)

Then there are the times, after that spaghetti dinner when your toddler is still wearing her dinner on her face, and she does this....

And I have no idea what she thinks she is doing, but she certainly cracks me up. That's why I take so many blurry pictures, I'm laughing so hard I can't keep the camera still!

Last, but not least... Delaney!

This kid is the one I liked more BEFORE she turned one. The rest, I coulda left 'em and come back to get them when they could walk; that's when they became enjoyable. This one was different! She was a delightful, happy.... normal baby, and I liked it! Now that she's walking and trying to express an opinion, well, its gone downhill!

Meet the grumpy face. The "I want a cookie now" face. The "I'm about to hurl myself to the floor screaming" face. Fortunately, it is still a very cute face.

This is the mischievious face. She figured out how to drag the stool from the bathroom, and put it on the chair all by herself. Then she climbed up on it, without any help. I happened to walk into the room and saw this. You can see that I first grabbed the camera, before I removed her. That's the kind of mom I am!

This is the happy, eating-candy face. She climbed up on the counter and found this pack of Smarties somewhere and started to snack on them. She has green frosting on her face because I let her lick the beaters after I made frosting.

...and speaking of frosting. I am quite cross. There is something wrong with my vanilla! I noticed that the frosting tasted off. Not horrible, but wrong. It turns out, my vanilla doesn't smell like vanilla. (And yes, it was pure, real vanilla at some point in time, I don't know what happened.) And now I must get a new thing of vanilla. But, back to Delaney....

Here she is, cracking me up with her happy stomp dance. I laugh hysterically when she does this. Don't you love the red velvet one-piece?! I thought it was very Christmassy, so I put it on her. I think red is a good color for her!

So, that's my baby. My adorable, trouble-making cutie-patootie!

Callie

This is my most entertaining child. Callie is a whirlwind of energy and emotion. She lights up the world with her sheer joy of life. When she is happy, the sun is shining, and when she is mad, it is major storm clouds. I love this girl!

She gets to hang out with me all day still. Yep, and one more year of that to go!

She is being silly for me. She loves to laugh and play. She will never quit, either. I love it when she smiles so hard her eyes become 2 squinty little crescents.

She is showing off her blanket and pink elephant. I think that pink elephant was actually a gift to Delaney last Christmas, but its kind of been comandeered by Callie, who loves it.

Did I mention how funny she is and how much she likes to be silly?

Callie is a happy, energetic, fun girl. Amazing to think she was a rotten infant! Now she is a delightful, happy girl. She loves to play with her friends, tell terrible jokes, and put on gobs of "lipsticks". She loves to laugh, play with her toys, and be with her siblings. I'm lucky to have her.

Marian

This is my sweet girl. She is so funny sometimes with her little quirks, but she is growing into such a neat kid. She is doing great in school. I don't know how much she's learning, but her personality is doing great!

She was not thrilled to have me pull out the camera in the middle of her favorite PBS cartoon after school yesterday.

She was willing to ham it up for me though.

She is such a cute girl. She refuses to wear jeans, and will only wear "soft" pants. She won't wear long sleeves either. It is hard to dress her. I have to make sure the pants are on her approved list. Then I have to find shirts that match the pants. Jeans are so great because they universally match everything. Sigh. She is wearing shorts here, because some days she runs upstairs to change into them as soon as she gets home from school. Silly pickle!

This was her weak attempt to smile for me. I love that about Marian. She's honest! She'll tell it like it is. When she is happy, you know it. If she's not, she isn't going to pretend like she is.

She is a great girl. This morning, I went to my room after my shower and I thought Dan must have made them bed. Then Marian came and admitted it was her. Wow! Not only did she do a good job, but she did it because she wanted to be a helper! She really is growing up nicely.

Joshua

I love this kid. He makes me laugh. Well, not so much today. He is whining that he is bored, but he won't work on his homework. On the plus side, that's about as bad as it gets with him. I am darn lucky!

He is a silly boy. He is a marvelous boy.

Today, Marian and I were watching old video clips of the kids. It was quite amusing. And I am so glad that Joshua is growing up! I do miss that gravelly, deep voice he use to have. So cute.

Dispite this face, he really is growing into a fabuous boy. I have a video clip of him, when he was 3 and in the middle of a 45 minute tantrum. I thought those days would never end! Whew and thank goodness they did!

Hee hee hee. His inner gargoyle does rear its ugly head on occasion, but nothing like 2 years ago! People really were right, it DOES get better!

And by fighting the fight then, I do not have to do it now. I am glad Joshua is my boy. He is a great brother, and a good kid. He is smart, he is funny, he is a good reader and he tells the funniest jokes! Yep, I love this kid.