It goes by so fast....

A friend of mine recently forwarded me an article (which I subsequently forwarded onto most of you who read this blog) that was written by a mother of two boys. She was looking back and realizing just how quickly her two boys had grown up and was reminding all of us “young mothers” to really take time out of your day to play with your kids and to appreciate the little things that they do (even if these little things drive you crazy at the time!). The article really got me thinking and made me realize that I probably don’t spend enough time just enjoying the kids. I’ll be honest – with both Josh and I working full time (and then some), it is so hard to find time to get everything done that needs to get done around the house, especially when we have only 2 days a week to do it. I find myself (as I’m sure most working mothers do) trying to get things like laundry or cleaning , etc. done during the weekend whenever I can when really, I should be taking some time out to just sit and play with the kids. So, I’ve really been trying hard to do that lately and it has led to some great bonding moments.

For example, the other night, Josh took his parents to the airport, so it was just Avery and I alone for dinner. It was such a nice night. We both had spaghetti and chatted. I will admit, it is somewhat difficult to find things to talk to a 2.5 year old about (primarily because of my lack of creativity, I’m sure – cut me some slack, I’m an accountant!), so most of the time, I just talk to her about daycare and what she has been learning about. That night, I decided to probe a bit to find out what the other kids eat at daycare for lunch – I figured this would be a good way to get some new ideas for her food. Well, instead of really answering me, she listed all of the things that her friends get in their lunch, but don’t want to eat – Johnnie doesn’t like eating his beets (can you blame him??), Maggie doesn’t like eating her cucumbers and tomatoes, Jill (aka, Jilley boo) doesn’t really eat anything, but she always has cheese and turkey and Cole has chicken and rice, but he never eats that either. And, of course, when asked, Avery exclaimed that she eats EVERYTHING in her lunch (don’t worry – her teachers list everything that she does and doesn’t eat on her daily sheet, so I know the truth). We also went through all of the letters and numbers on her Elmo placemat that night – she is getting so good at reading them! She knows pretty much every number 1-10 and definitely all of the letters in her name and in Alex’s name (both of which, she can spell) and then even a few more on top of that. It is crazy to me to think that she is kind of reading at the age of 2.5!


Then, just last night, she wanted me to tickle her and play “up and at ‘em, up and at ‘em” (a game where I bounce her on my legs and say that over and over again)– don’t ask how this got started. So, we played that for a while (instead of me doing laundry, picking up, etc. like I typically would be doing). And, sure enough, first thing this morning, she asks me if I can tickle her and play the up and at’em game again tonight. So, clearly she too is enjoying this mom and daughter time.

Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures of those specific moments, so here are a few random ones of her. Here she is in her coat, boots and pj's - she explained to us that she needed to go to the store to buy a few things, which is why she had her jacket and boots on.





She has really gotten to the point where she uses her imagination a ton. Typically, you will find either a parade (as seen below), a "party" (which includes all of her babies as well as some flash cards and other various objects in the house or nap time (which includes all of her babies lined up in a straight line covered by a blanket) and all of this tends to end up right at the bottom of the stairs for some reason....

Alex and I have fun just sitting on the floor playing with toys. He also LOVES books. LOVES them. If you bust out a book and read it to him, he gets all excited and squeals and tries to hold it, etc. It is really cute. And…nothing creates more of a bond than dressing your son up in his sister’s pink headband. Poor thing – it was bound to happen eventually. Here is another one of him looking a bit more manly in his own hat...