March 2012 Update
Looking back its clear why we haven’t done updates for awhile...we’ve been busy for the past few months and largely thanks to our kids!
Molly is now 19 months, still feisty & ALL GIRL! At a mere 18lbs 13 oz and 29 1/4” Molly is still tiny.--she is still off the charts low for her weight but is in the 3rd %ile for her height but she is healthy. She is also starting to grow more. She is officially out of her 3-6 month clothes now (except for some pants) and is even wearing the occasional 18 month outfit which is exciting! She has really come into her own and now and is talking up a storm. She is combining words...her first two word combo and most frequently used phrase is “yes please.” She uses it for pretty much everything--appropriately, to manipulate her parents or anyone else and just randomly. Almost simultaneously she learned to say “hair bow.” Other favorites include nearly everyone’s names in “the family”, Pretties (referring to chap stick, make-up & jewelry of any sort), Zo-Zo & no way...oh yeah and plain old NO is her favorite word!
Molly may surprise us but right now she seems like she is going to be a girly girl. She loves her “pretties” and regularly demands to put on chapstick (she even puts it on her babies) and lotion and to wear jewelry, put on hats and will only wear the shoes she wants to. A recent shoe shopping trip was completely derailed by her deep passion for a pair of hello kitty rain boots. I’m proud to say both Grandma and Mommy stayed strong and didn’t get her the boots...but Mommy really wanted to!
Molly much like Caden is very strong willed and gets into a lot of trouble. She begs whines and generally acts pathetic to get what she wants. Then if she doesn’t get it which is rare because she’s too cute to say no to she throws full out tantrums--screaming, kicking and I’m pretty sure swearing. She is also a risk taker and has zero sense of self preservation. She climbs, runs away from you and does very odd things. She’s been known to climb up on a toy to get to chair to climb onto a table to dance--and did all of this in a matter of seconds. She has also stuck her head through the stair rail (clearly those aren’t to code), empties the bookshelves several times a day and beats up on her brother. If its ever too quiet in our house we know that at least one of the two kids are up to something.
Molly continues to be enrolled in gymnastics at “The Little Gym.” She can hang from the bars in a pike position and then dismount all on her own--this is her favorite & can do a forward roll and balance beam nearly unassisted. She loves her gymnastics!! She also really enjoys reading, playing tea, going down slides (she prefers the big ones) and playing outside.
Caden continues to be awesome. He has made some huge strides of late which all deserve mention. He absolutely loves school now which is fantastic. He is missing it already being on spring break and is participating more and more every week which is exciting to see. He recently requested to be able to stay for “Lunch Bunch” at school two days per week instead of one. This was HUGEh as last year he stayed only a couple of times and not willingly. He also recently has taken a music class and a swimming class that parents don’t participate in. This was a new scary thought to him but he did it and loves both classes.
Also, possibly most importantly we made another HUGE stride with the potty. He now only uses big potties for #1 and we got rid of the potty chair. This much like the 1st step of potty training was not done willingly but Jon and I decided there was no way in hell we were carrying his gigantic potty chair through Disneyland so we forced the issue. As always, it wasn’t easy but after 18 1/2 hours of “holding it” he successfully pee’d standing up and that was that--no accidents and never asked for the little potty again. #2 however is still done in a pull-up--ARGH! I think our household might set the record for the longest ever potty training period!
Caden still definitely keeps us on our toes. He is very chatty and is beginning to chat with more people then just his inner circle. He now answers questions people asks him (a very new thing), places his own orders in restaurants and is sometimes even striking up conversations with our neighbors. He has excellent manners (most of the time) and is very endearing. Right now he is very into his routine. He knows the days of the week and what should happen according to schedule on those days; Monday-school and swimming, Tuesday play with Kendra, Wednesday-school, Thursday-music and play with Beth etc. He likes to go through this over & over & over & over! Caden is still not an eater but he is starting to become aware of this being a problem a little more. His diet still pretty much consists of pancakes, chicken nuggets, grilled cheese (with very little cheese) and veggie sausage sandwiches. But he’s branching out a bit--trying new yogurts, chicken sandwiches and veggie chips. This is a TINY step we know but we’re holding out hope that someday he might eat a vegetable that’s not hidden in something!
Caden continues to love to do pretty much anything with someone. He is a helper and will help you with anything...cleaning, clean up dog poo whatever! He really, really, really loves doing projects and working outside with daddy. Other favorites include bike riding, painting and writing letters. He loves sending people pictures and really, really loves it when they write back to him via snail mail!
Caden and Molly Playing Bedtime together