The Joys of 2 year olds...

There are some moments with my kids i'd like to have over and over again.....but there's some that are only funny when i'm looking back on them....but i have to share and document them so we can all look back and laugh together.

So I think September has been a hot month for destruction for the kiddos...we started September 3rd. The first day EVER that the kids didn't have a nap. None of them. They were all in their beds at normal time, but not a one of them went to sleep. Finally, about their normal wake up time, i went in to get them. And i found this...

with a pile of all the stuffing on the floor. Apparently there was a little hole along the seam of Colby's bumper, and he proceeded to make it a very large hole and pull the stuffing out bit by bit and throw it on the floor. Now i know why they were so entertained and couldn't sleep! I told Colby that he ruined his bumper, and he was insistent that we go to the store to get him a new "bump-aa". After a couple of days, I put my sewing machine to work and repaired it to my best efforts and put it back on the bed, and needless to say, he was thrilled....and so far, no more holes.

Then, later that night, I was giving the kiddos baths, like i have for 2.5 years mind you, same routine that we've always done. I wash all 3, and then get one out at a time, put their diaper and bath robe on, and send them out of the bathroom. When they're all out, then I come out and put their lotion and jammies on. Simple, the same every time, never any major problems. Well....their must have been a full moon on this night, because when i came out of the bathroom, I found Avery and Zach standing on the couch, pulling tissues out of a brand new box of tissues and dropping them over the ledge. This is what the stairs looked like with a whole box of tissues on them. After a quick lecture of how "we do not throw things over the ledge", avery and zach got to clean them all up! Not sure they really felt like the clean up was punishment, but at least the job was done!

So those first things, while mildly entertaining, weren't really that bad. But this next one, you just can't make up. Let me set the scene, I was at work when i received a picture message from Josh.

It was hard for me to tell exactly what i was looking at, other than avery and a HUGE mess. His caption was something along the lines of "don't think it's a good idea to take the gates down to the kitchen yet, it took her 45 seconds to make the mess and me 30 minutes to clean it up". I was so anxious to call him after work to find out what had happened.
Apparently, Josh and the boys were finishing up cleaning up the basement when avery decided to come upstairs alone. That's not really that out of the ordinary, b/c she's miss independent and always needs to run upstairs to get something she's forgotten, but in the past has always just grabbed what she needed and headed back down. But since they were so close to being done, Josh didn't worry about making her come back down. He wrapped it up and headed upstairs, and found her in the kitchen like this. He said "WHAT??!!" and she looked at him and burst into tears. He looked around and tried to piece together what exactly had happend. He tried to blame me for putting powdered sugar in a tupperware bowl that was easily accessible to her. When i clarified that no, infact i don't store powdered sugar in a tupperware, and that i keep it in it's bag in the pantry, it all made more sense to him. So Avery came upstairs, opened the pantry, got out the powdered sugar, found a tupperware bowl and poured the sugar in (and all over the floor), then went and threw the bag away in the trash, and got a spoon out of the drawer, and proceeded to sit down and eat it! (that explained the sugar on the trash can and silverware drawer). He did his best to clean it up, but there's still a nice film across the floor. She was still pretty shy when i asked her about it later, but was anxious to tell Uncle Alex about it 2 days later!
So.....that led to us further childproofing the kitchen (cabinet locks and a door knob cover on the pantry) and removing the gates to the kitchen. Not that we want ore messes like that, but we've been fighting Avery b/c she had figured out how to work the gate that led to the kitchen, and it was just too much of a novelty. So hopefully, the excitement of coming in the kitchen will wear off soon, but for the past 2 days, for every meal, i've had 3 ready and willing helpers!

Oh and did i mention before i left for work on monday that avery got into my makeup bag and put my liquid foundation all over zach (and his clothes and my couch)???

where did summer go?

We had a super busy, but very fun summer. It was spent with lots of trips to various parks in the area, lots of practice eating picnics (they still aren't used to the freedom of being able to get up and change seats a million times and eat each other's food...so that's why i said 'practice'), lots of fun playing in the water, and spending lots of time playing wihth our friends. We went back to the Red's game again this year, but this time as the "alumni red's babies", took lots of trips to the zoo and the beach waterpark, and enjoyed every minute of mommy and daddy time we got. This summer Josh and my schedules couldn't have been more opposite, well they probably could get a little more different, and will be when josh switches to 3rd shift in January, but that's a different story. But he works 2nd shift right now, Wednesday through Saturday, leaves here at 4pm, and comes home (ideally) at 3:30am. Thankfully, the kids have decided to get off their "summer schedule" of waking up between 6-6:30 and are back to 7-7:30 these days....then (ideally) take a nap from 1-4. The beginning of the summer, they slept solid for these 3 hours. Now, 3 months later, they maybe (hopefully) sleep 1.5-2 hours of this block, sometimes less, sometimes more, and today they tried not at all. So we'll see what kind of changes we will have to make to ensure they are getting the much needed rest they really do need! I spent Josh's off days (Sunday-Tuesday) working at the TPC Golf Course again....mostly evenings, so I still got lots of daytime hours with my family! Now, for the next few months, I'm back to the Montessori School as the Intervention Specialist ~10 hours a week, and am still squeezing the TPC in until the season is over (November) on Sunday and Tuesdays.
I've shared lots of pictures (and promise there will be some here too...but only after you read all my rambling), but haven't really told you about my sweet 2 year olds.

Avery is a little mama. She spends the majority of her day taking care of her baby...Baby Drew. We change her diaper, dress her, take her with us everywhere, she sits at the table with us for meals, and sleeps in bed with Avery. The funny thing is we have another baby that looks EXACTLY like Baby Drew, except she has blue eyes....and Avery knows which is which. I finally found a cheap pack of diapers in the closet that we hadn't used that are deemed "baby Drew" diapers, b/c she was using our regular diapers, then wadding them up and putting them in the diaper genie! And you can't really tell my sweet Avery "no". She knows exactly what she wants to do and pretty much that's what has to happen. I've been known to tell her "no" and her response is to cry for "daaaaaddddy". At least she knows who to go to to get away with things! Avery is talking up a storm. 7-10 word sentences. She sings songs, and sings along with thier lullaby tape with "do do do's" along with the tune =) She loves to do 'adult' things. She's figured out how to get through the kitchen gate, and always finds an excuse to throw something in the trash can, loves to help me put dishes in the dishwasher, and loves to help carry up groceries (b/c it's an excuse to get in the kitchen!) She could probably be potty trained right now if i wanted 1/3 to be potty trained, but I'm just not ready to go there. And she's not rushing me, but will go sporadically on the potty. She has to do most things 'by herself'....including putting on makeup while i put my makeup on, putting on her own clothes and shoes, and buckling her own buckles in the car and at the table. She LOVES to play in the water and 'swim'. We went to the pool with one of our friends, and she couldn't get enough of swimming in the big pool and jumping off the side. She loves going to the beach waterpark, and even rode the little kids inner tube ride all by herself when we were there last time! I almost teared up...but was a little panicked at the same time, i was ready to run up the thing if i had to and i couldn't have tears in my eyes! She's very polite (unless she's talking to her mama....but we're working on that :) )and is just a sweet, sweet girly girl.
Colby is a total mama's boy, but with a tough guy complex. He wants nothing more than to "make mommy happy". When he's doing something wrong, all i have to say is "you're making mommy very sad" and he'll stop what he's doing and say "i make mommy really really happy". I'm still shocked we haven't been to the ER yet, b/c he is fearless. He LOVES to go to parks, and won't stay in the little kid area, has to climb the big ladders and rock walls on the big kid side. He jumps off of the couch or chairs or anything that i would assume the kids would be smart enough to not jump off of, but he usually laughs and keeps doing it until i make him stop! He also really likes to read books. His favorite book for a long time has been a book with tons of pictures called first 100 words. it started as him pointing to the pictures as i asked where things were, and now he can go through the book and say what every picture is. He loves to "make music" with his harmonica, recorder and drum. He won't sing songs with me like the other two do, but knows all the words and will fill in the blanks if i'm singing and stop for them to fill in. He goes strong and usually is the first to crash at nap time and the last one to wake up in the morning. He's also a boy through and through and loves trucks, bikes, woo-woo cars, firetrucks, motorcycles, tractors, and airplanes....in any form. He's also big on doing things himself...he says "maybe bubby do it" and will sometimes even un-do and re-so something in order to ensure he is doing it himself. Colby is also very chatty. Sometimes he just talks to talk. He comes up with the funniest things to say too, and knows how to get Avery and Zach cracking up too. He is also a good helper when it comes to cleaning up (so is avery...zach not so much) And is always good for a snuggle and hug...when he's in the mood.
Zach is still the same sweet, innocent looking and acting (ha!), little guy. He is also a big mama's boy, and loves to cuddle with me and really anyone with an open lap! He is still in love with his blankie that i've had to patch and repair so many times, there's not much more i can do to it to keep it in one piece! It goes with us everywhere and see the washing machine way too few times, but i can only sneak it away at very planned out times that allow enough time to wash and dry before nap or bed....which don't happen often. Zach's favorite toys change more frequently than the others, but he always LOVES animals and especially loves going to the zoo. He has books, puppets, stuffed animals that he always goes to first. and while colby and avery will pick a baby over most things, zach puts his stuffed animals in the baby seats and carries those around instead. He loves having things that are his own, so whatever it is he is claiming for the day, is what he stashes in a wagon or under the seat in his play car to keep away from the other 2. He really likes playing with the kitchen set too....i think there is so much food and accessories for it, he can always find something that is "mine" without much challenge! He isn't as much the do it by himself kinda guy...his line is "how about mommy do it by self" when i ask him to put his shoes on. He is 90% really sweet, but his rotten is ROTTEN. He knows exactly what to do to make me mad, but luckily that doesn't come out too often. He has been suprising me a lot lately...and has all of a sudden started enjoying playing in the water at water parks or splash parks rather than sitting on the side with me while the others play, and he has hated swings to the point that we only have 2 baby swings b/c he hated it so much, but has started warming up to that too. He still won't get in the baby swing, but will ride the glider and even rode on josh's lap at the park last week. I love that he's coming out of his shell a little big b/c it's so nice to be able to do things that everyone is enjoying! He is also a little singer and will sing all our bedtime songs with me and has the sweetest little voice i've ever heard. He also knows the most letters of the group....he finds "u, uncle"s everywhere we go...and also knows "m, mamaw", "d, daddy" , "z, me" and a few more if i catch him in a smart moment! He is the biggest whiner but biggest snuggler, so that makes up for it!
I can't believe how much has changed in a year...let alone 2 years. It has been such a fun summer, with so many more fun possibilities of things we can get out and do. I'm looking forward to the fall, and cooler temperatures so we can spend more time outside before the cold hits! But will be prepared with all the necessities to bundle up to still get some outside time in the winter...just don't want it to be here too soon!
Now on to some pictures...