Moments

I am hoping that soon I will have time to sit down and edit the bazillion pictures from our trip to Disney World and get a proper post (or five) written about our adventures.  But for now, I want to record some moments that have happened lately so I never forget.

First of all, I LOVE the ages my kids are right now.  My neighbor said that all summer last summer about her kiddos and she always said she wished she could freeze them at that age forever.  I wasn't there yet!  Lilah wasn't potty trained, we were still fighting the nap fight, and Brian was still working through a lot of sensory stuff.  Well I'm there now!  I just love their ages!

So here are some moments I want to keep for always...

Yesterday I got an email from Brian's teacher that when she was testing him on counting, he counted to 29 and told her "my belly is full of counting."  HA!

Today he went in and counted to 100!  So he's now in the 100 Club!  It wasn't a matter of could or couldn't it was a matter of didn't feel like it.  And today's success may have had to do with a little Lego related bribe...

Lilah is totally into the naked thing right now.  She comes home each day and after lunch, she strips.  She stays that way for a few hours usually.  She would probably never get dressed if we didn't have to go anywhere.  What's the point of fighting?  When she does get dressed she usually adds some very Lilah style.  Pants with shorts over them, skirts under skirted shirts (kind of like a petticoat), or most commonly-her leotard.

Speaking of gymnastics, Lilah has been promoted to the big girl class!  No more mommy and me. 

And speaking of accomplishments, we celebrated Brian's student of the month award at an awards ceremony earlier this month.  He was SO proud of himself!  Lilah was proud of him too.  He is such a good brother.  He took her by the hand and led her down to the line of students so she could say the pledge with them.  Too bad neither of them got the memo that they were supposed to turn around and face the flag!

They really are great together lately.  In fact as I have been typing this, they have been happily playing "pirates" downstairs using their play set and a laundry basket.  Pretend play comes so naturally to them now and it's so fun to listen to them.  They play kitchen, "cafe" (according to Lilah), babies, space rangers, carnival and on and on and on.  I like it best when they start assigning roles.  Lilah is usually the mom and and Brian is the dad, which makes me the grandma (according to Lilah).  Brian always doles out the babies-the ones that are Lilah's "come out of her belly" (according to Brian) and the ones that are his "come from the baby store."  They kill me.  The other day the were riding around on the "monorail" (according to Brian) and they were on their way to see Archie.  Lilah asked, "what does Archie look like?"  Brian said,"you know, our Archie.  The one that Pappy goes to see."

Out of the Mouths of Babes

Sometimes I just have to stop and write down some of the things that my kids say so I never, ever forget them.  I have had two of those moments in the past few days...

Lilah

My lead teacher is VERY pregnant and we have had several false alarms where we thought she would deliver and then she hasn't.  Thus there has been much talk about baby Bella, when she's coming out, etc.  Bella will be hanging with me and Lilah in my office during the school day once here mommy returns from leave, so there has also been much discussion about who will hold the baby and how careful we will have to be with her. 

I tell the kids often that they have to be happily married before they can have kids.  I also tell them that babies come out of their mommy's hearts because the mommy loves the baby so much.  I mean, they are 5 and 2...that's as far as I am going with that discussion.

So this is the conversation I had with Lilah the other day...

L: "I'm married."
Me: "Oh really.  Who did you marry?"
L: "My Brian-boy."
Me: "Oh wow, that's great Lilah."
Longish pause...
L: "I have a baby in my belly."
Me: "Oh, do you?"
L: "Yep. Her name is Bella.  She's going to come out of my heart.  You will have to hold her.  I might drop her and she could get hurt really bad."

Two going on 17.  For real.

Brian

Today at the gym when I went to pick up Brian, a middle school aged girl stopped me and said, "I really like your son's hearing aids."  I replied, "thanks so much, sweetie!"  She lifted her hair to show me that she also has hearing aids.

As we walked out, I asked Brian if he noticed that she had hearing aids too.  His response...

"No.  What kind were they mom?"

Me: "Oh I don't know, red and brown, maybe."

B: "No MOM what SUPERhero?  (Insert eye rolling.)  Red and brown?  They must have been Iron Man ears."

LOVE him.  

The Two of Them

Him

Oh my sweet Brian boy.  My first born.  He made me a mommy.  He is so incredibly handsome.  Hi smile can melt me in an instant.   His heart is fierce.  He is brave and he overcomes.  He is tough.  He is compassionate.  He loves to learn, to "read," and to be read to.  He is smart and so very stubborn.  He loves to laugh and to make others laugh.  He loves to sing.  Oh and those big, big galaxy eyes.  He can stare right through you.  He is silly.  He jumps in puddles and loves to be tickled.  He is so, so sensitive and can be very shy.   He is quite creative and loves to "make something."   He is all boy...he loves to run and play.

Her

My sweet baby LuLu.  My baby girl.  She is just so beautiful with her soft red curls and dimples.  She is a precocious little imp.  She is outgoing and happy.  She is funny and she enjoys it.  Her little voice makes me smile.  She is tough.  She loves to cuddle. She loves to be read to just like him.  She loves her babies and all of his toys!  She loves to shop and she loves shoes.  She is my sleeper and my eater.  It's hard to find a food she will not try.  Her big, blue, dazzling eyes and easy smile make me smile.  Just watching her figure things out makes me smile.  She has a whole heck of a lot of attitude and boy is she stubborn.

The Two of Them

Watching the two of them together is absolutely amazing.  I love when they make each other laugh.  I love when he tries to explain things to her.  I love that she wants to be big like him.  I love when they talk to each other.  Especially when they "argue."   She just keeps saying "yeah" to make him mad and he'll shout, "no, Lilah, no!"  too funny.  I love when they read together.  I love when one of them is upset or hurt and they other is concerned and wants to fix it.  I love it when someone captures a picture of the two of them and it's good of them both.  This was what I wanted for Christmas, and I got it!

 Merry Christmas!  I hope yours was as full and blessed as ours.  Now LET IT SNOW!