Wow, our kids are getting older fast! Tommy is now closer to age 4 than he is to age 3. He’s working on riding his bike. Daddy is still trying to convince him that pedaling is fun, though he seems to prefer the leisurely coast provided when James breaks his back bending over his little training bike to push it. He can write the whole alphabet with some coaching and is practicing A-J on his own. He likes to write TOM over and over, preferably on his Magnadoodle or with a big, brown crayon. He still loves Curious George, but now he’s interested in Harry Potter and keeps asking me why he doesn’t have an “N” on his head like Harry (the lightning bolt scar is fascinating to our little wizard!).
Our mealtime battles continue to be very tough. Breakfast is pretty easy with cereal and/or Nutrigrain bars and fresh fruit. Lunch is predictable: PB & J de-crusted with a fun cookie cutter, a cheese stick (it must be orange!) and some Cheez-It Party Mix. But dinner, Lord help me. He asks for a cheeseburger, then flips because there’s cheese on it. He requests mac & cheese then insists on chicken nuggets. When chicken nuggets are up they need ranch, then “there’s something missing on my plate” and if Veggie Booty doesn’t magically appear it’s meltdown time. But hey, two meals out of three ain’t bad. If he still has the energy to play he must be getting enough to eat. All I can do is offer him healthy choices and hope he puts them in his mouth eventually.
Annalise…she’s been a busy girl this month! November 7 she took her first three steps in our kitchen. She was trying to sneak into the dishwasher while I was unloading, so I closed the appliance door to keep her out, leaving her standing unsupported more than her usual arm’s length from the cabinetry. She teetered, she tottered, then she toddled…three big steps before she got a big “UH OH!” look on her face and carefully lowered herself to the ground. No more significant bipedal action until earlier this week. Now she’ll take a half-dozen steps here and there, but she still prefers the efficiency and speed crawling affords her.
Frankly, I don’t think she cares too much about walking because she’s far busier CLIMBING everything. And she finds all kinds of things to help her reach new heights. I think I mentioned a couple of months back that she likes to climb the stepstools by the bathroom sinks which allow Tommy handwashing access. She’s also figured out that if you dump the blocks out of the bin you can turn it upside down and stand on it, then climb onto the ottoman. Capsized laundry baskets make awesome pedestals. You can borrow the toy piano bench to reach up onto the kitchen countertop. Or just try to stand on the seat of your pink riding pony because it looks fun and will scare the dickens out of Mommy. All with a sweet, sheepish grin on her face.
She can also open doors. I wish we had regular doorknobs instead of levers for this reason. She seems to have a longer reach than I remember her brother having at this age, or perhaps just longer legs. Her 12M sized pants are starting to look like capris on her.
And Tooth #7 snuck in there somewhere. She lets me brush her teeth every day as long as I promise not too look, but she never lets me peek in her mouth. During a giggle-filled tickle session I caught a glimpse of white, so I pried her jaws open for a minute to find a brand new molar fully exposed on the bottom left. No wonder she was so cranky two weeks ago (I was looking for #7 & #8 to pop in up front). The other side is pretty swollen, so we should have a matching set soon. She is an angry, grumpy teether, so wish us luck!
More pictures tomorrow. How’d it get so late?
