I'm relatively sure no one reads this blog anymore, but just for the sake of my being able to look back on it, I'm going to keep updating it every 9-12 months or so :).
These are our kiddos at about 4 and 2.5.
Christmas picture photo session at the park
Reading before bed on Christmas Eve
Me & Wade on Christmas
Caden turned 4 in January and has slowly been progressing & developing. He doesn't throw as many tantrums anymore, but we're still working on listening, obeying & having a good attitude. He loves his preschool class and his teachers, Ms. Judy & Ms. Jenny.
He is wild and all boy - he doesn't think before he acts, but somehow is still pretty cautious of new things. He just finished his first month of swim lessons, in which he progressed from sobbing on the side the whole first lesson to loving it and wanting to keep going to the pool. He's still a ways from actually swimming by himself, but it's great to see his confidence around the water improve. He just needs to learn to really TRY things that are hard and take effort.
He is OBSESSED with trains and Thomas the Train. He will play trains for ages, just narrating his own story based on the Thomas videos he has seen and his imagination. He uses AA batteries as "jobi logs" (a certain type of wood they have on the Island of Sodor) and pulls them around in the flatbed cars and who knows what else. It is really a trip to watch :).
He is a good eater (always, "mommy, I'm still hungry!") and good sleeper still. He got one of his top front teeth ripped out by a hammock last month, so he now sports a snaggle-toothed grin (for probably 3-4 years until the permanent tooth grows in!).
Kids playing in a little bit of snow we got late this winter.
Lindley is very much 2.5. She is a stubborn little thing. She can be the most adorable girl on the planet or a belligerent lunatic! She has a violent streak of hitting or pushing Caden when she doesn't get what she wants, or just throwing things across the room. And then other times, her little giggle and grin just light up the room and are the cutest you've ever seen.
She's a good bit more daring than Caden and more independent-minded. She potty trained the weekend before she turned 2.5 and stays dry at night now too. We set up her big girl bed right before Christmas, so after a week or two of adjusting, she doesn't remember any different. She is able to take herself to the potty, put on her pants & shoes, and ride a tricycle - all well before Caden did those things, age-wise. She can get picky about her clothes & hair bows & jackets and has to pick them all out herself. Her amazing hair takes 8 minutes to blow dry after a bath!
She's still a very picky eater. Pretty much still just peanut butter sandwiches, applesauce, cereal/bread, pumpkin pancakes, milk. But her pot belly and 4T clothes tell me she's growing in spite of it! She can be pretty clingy to me & wants to be held a lot, but once she gets involved in something away from me, she's good to go. She loves her preschool class, too, and her teacher Ms. Beth. She will not sit and watch anything on TV, but occasionally she'll sit & look at books by herself for a while. She talks a lot & is easily understood now.
The two of them together can get into a ton of mischief (coloring on the walls, smearing lipstick everywhere, pouring water all over the floor that ran through the ceiling and poured out through the dining room light fixture, crumbling up styrofoam all over the trampoline to make "snow," stacking oddly shaped objects on top of each other to try to reach things that are too high for them, etc. etc.).
Sometimes Lindley just follows Caden around, imitating everything he says & does, which is hilarious. Other times they fight, and it is fairly even now in terms of who is the aggressor - it is just as likely to be Lindley as it is Caden.
Overall, we're getting into a better stage for me, parenting-wise, I think... having two kids that are able to do more for themselves & are picking up helpful habits at a more regular pace. No more diapers or baby food or cribs. We'll test out how much easier it is to travel with them in a few weeks when we go to the beach. I think they'll have a blast playing in the sand together - they could probably do that for hours.
Wade resigned from being the varsity basketball coach after this past season, so it will be different to not have that time commitment and such a big part of his/our lives. We shall see how God uses & directs him in his career over the next year! I'm still enjoying my 15 hours a week at the church - it's the perfect amount to give me a little outlet and mental/creative stimulation but still have plenty of time with the kids and being at home.
