The Best Things In Life are 3!

What’s that you say?! Blog resurrection? Meh…Maybe, but don’t hold your breath. I would love to blog more often than every 8 months (yikes, my last blog post was in April!!), but I can’t make any promises.

There’s a brief update chock full of excuses for not blogging at the end of this post.

But this post, this very important post, is dedicated to my two little weirdos who turn 3 today!!! I think that until I had kids of my own, I thought the phrase “time flies” was silly. Now that I have kids, whoa, time really does fly. These kids didn’t know how to BREATHE when they were born and spent 78 days in the hospital before we were even allowed to bring them home, and now they can run and jump and kick the ball and sing and dance and speak in full sentences!!

Last year I shared some of the kids favorite things in alphabetical order. This year, I’m going to use the alphabet as a guide…some favorites, some stories…. There are lots of things I could repeat from last year’s post but I’m going to do my very best to avoid repeats. Ready?

A: Animals. Neala’s favorite animal is a flamingo and Ry loves polar bears.

B: Bedtime. What have we done to ourselves?! Our bedtime routine lasts for what seems like DAYS…and NIGHTS. Bath. Jammies. Books. Potty. Climb into bed (yes, they will be in cribs until they’re 15). Turn on the white noise (“the alarm” as they call it). Drink milk. Drink water. Back rubs & songs. Shenanigans. Shenanigans. Shenanigans. Shenanigans. Shenanigans. Poop. Milk. Water. Snuggles. Shenanigans. Shenanigans. Shenanigans.

C: Cooking. Both kiddos love to “help” cook. Most of the time it’s less than helpful but it’s fun teaching them about different foods and ways to cook.

D: Diddie Daddy. At some point we started calling dad “Diddie Daddy.” This was, of course, after Rylan already had the nickname “Diddie,” so I guess it makes sense. Diddie daddy’s residency takes lots of time and they often ask for him but…they usually say they need their Diddie Daddy when Mimmy Mommy enforces the rules. (They rarely call me Mimmy Mommy and I think it’s hilarious).

E: Eating. Mealtime is a STRUGGLE. It would not be an overestimation to say that every single meal involves some sort of bribery, frustration, and anxiety on my part. These kids just do not like to eat. They don’t like to sit still and aside from pasta and oatmeal I can’t consistently get them to eat anything. I am thankful that I’m able to eat almost every meal with them and literally put 90% of the bites into their mouths. I know, I know…lots of people say, “They’ll eat when they’re hungry.” Well, that may very well be the case but I feel like we can’t afford to miss any calories. At 3 years old, they haven’t even hit 25 lbs., and poor little Ry had to have blood tests and has regularly scheduled visits with the endocrinologist because the docs are concerned about his tiny stature. So yes, I will force feed my kids until I probably ruin them.

F: Friends! It’s been super fun to see our kids make real friends in the last year instead of just being “friends” with the kids we force them to hang with because we’re friends with their parents. They actually play with other kids now and have little games. It’s super cute. Oh, and they are the very best of friends to each other. So sweet.

G: Gondolion. We went to Mexico for Thanksgiving (yay!) and there was a gondola at the resort. Neala got it in her head that it was called a “gondolion,” like dandelion. She can’t say it any other way.

H: Home. Both kids love to be home, but especially Neala. Often, we’ll be on our way some where and she’ll ask where we’re going. I’ll tell her and then she’ll ask, “And then home, mommy?”

I: Imagination. It’s so fun to see their little minds working and they love pretending and making up little scenarios. They love to have pretend tea parties in the bath tub, pretend to talk on the phone, and pretend to cook all sorts of things in their little play kitchen. Favorite dishes include broccoli soup and ice cream. (I made real broccoli soup for them and they wouldn’t touch it.)

J: Jokes. Yup, they’ve started telling jokes. They’re favorite is, ” What do you call a bear with no teethGummyBear.” (That was not a typo–that’s the way the joke is delivered and teethGummyBear has turned into one word–maybe they don’t want me to have time to guess the punchline?)

K: Kick the ball and run run run! That’s what they say when they play soccer. It’s super cute.

L: Learn. They love to learn new things. Sometimes when we have a few extra moments, I’ll take time to really explain something in detail, like why I can’t take the keys out of the car while we’re driving. As it turns out, I don’t actually know much about how cars work, but I do know that they are very curious about the how and why of all sorts of things and when I do take the time to explain things, they want me to explain over and over again.

M: Mommy. Mommy. Mommy. Mommy. Especially when there’s ANYONE else around, they are obsessed with me. What have I done to make my children so freaking clingy?! Is this a phase?! I know there will be a day when they want nothing to do with me and I should cherish this time. I know. But sometimes I don’t cherish it. Sometimes it frustrates me beyond belief. Some days I just don’t really want yogurt on my shoulder from a tiny toddler wiping their face on me while they needed me to hold them. But other days, it makes me feel like I’ve done something right because they are so good at expressing how much they love me.

N: Neala. Rylan loves his Neala. One morning when he was awake first, which is every morning, he went in to wake up his sister and said, “Good morning sweetie pie.” Sweetest thing ever. (Yes, this is a repeat from last year’s list).

O: Opinions. They’ve started to really be able to express themselves. They have opinions about pretty much everything. Undies. Socks. Food. Colors. Letters. Games. It’s pretty cool that they can communicate verbally and that what they say makes sense most of the time. Other times, it can be a bit frustrating explaining for the 50th time that the footie pajamas covered in basketballs and soccer balls, otherwise known as “sports jams,” are dirty and can’t be worn for the 3rd night in a row. The only way to get out of this argument mostly unscathed is to show the toddler the aforementioned pajamas actually wet and in the washing machine. MOM, YOU’RE GOING TO FIX THIS, RIGHT?!

P: Potty. Yay! We potty trained in February and though we still have accidents every once in a while, we’re completely diaper free day and night. T

Q: Questions. (This is a repeat from last year). “Mom, what’s this street called?” Three seconds later, “Mom, what’s this street called?” Three seconds later, “Mom, what’s this street called?” Three seconds later, “Mom, is this a long street?” Three seconds later, “Mom, what’s this street called?” Three seconds later, “Mom, who lives on this street?” Three seconds later, “Mom, why?”

R: Rylan. Yup, another repeat. Neala LOVES her brother Ry Ry. They really are best buddies.

S: Singing. They can sing TONS of kids songs all the way through, and often do together. And they both know most of the words to Wagon Wheel (otherwise known as Daddy’s song).

T: Technology. They’ve become rather obsessed with phones, ipads, tvs and computers. Any tips on how to teach them about technology without overdoing screen time would be greatly appreciated! It can be frustrating but it’s also useful at times and I find it hilarious when they say, “OK Googoo” (ok Google).

U: Under, or not. Rylan likes to sleep under the covers, Neala does not. Whatever you do, don’t try to tuck her in at bedtime. (Please refer to letters B and O above.)

V: Videos. They love to make videos, especially Happy Birthday videos for friends and family. Then they love to watch them overandoverandoverandoverandover again. (See letter T)

W: Water. They’re super into bathtime, doing dishes (one day they might actually get the dishes clean), swimming pools, and they both (especially Ry) absolutely loved the ocean. They both also love to paint with watercolors but Neala especially loves it and according to her, painting her face, hands, feet, and nails is way more fun than painting on paper.

X: Xylophone! I can actually use this one now! They really do like the one xylophone we have and like to experiment with sounds by banging various objects on its keys. They also have a little keyboard in their room that has a microphone that they put INTO their mouths and “sing” into. It makes the most glorious sound. Or not. But it’s hilarious…

Y: Yelling. Sometimes them, sometimes me. Sometimes for fun, sometimes out of frustration. Sometimes it’s ok, sometimes it makes me feel like the worst person in the world.

Z: Zippers. WHATEVER YOU DO, DO NOT TRY TO UNZIP THEY’RE PAJAMAS–that’s their job.

 

And as promised, here is my update…er…excuses for not blogging. The kids are wild. I started working part time in May. I’m tired. I still have to get dinner on the table. The laundry is never done. The dogs are sort of terrible (I know this is my fault). I’d rather watch TV than write (sometimes). The blank page is still intimidating as hell. Does anybody even read this far into a blog post?