Haddie: 2016 wrap up

Dear Haddie,

At almost 3 years old...

• You weigh 33 pounds and are busting out of your 2T clothes. You are still petite, but you are getting too tall for most of your pants.
• You sleep from about 8:00pm-7:00am and take a two hour nap about half the days of the week
• Your favorite foods are cheese, yogurt, pickles, bananas, pizza, carrots, chips, and anything that you can dip (you love the "white sauce" *ranch* and salsa). You recently ate a bowlful of plain spinach, which was hysterical since you generally hate vegetables.
• You sing ALLLLL the time. When you wake up in the morning, I hear you singing in you crib and that's how I know you're awake
• You like singing so much you will pretend to know the words to songs you've never heard just so you can sing along
• You want to wear princess dresses all the time and have gotten much more picky about what kind of shoes or bows you wear
• Everywhere we go you take something with us. It's never the same thing, but you always need something by your side (today it was your piggy bank)
• You give REALLY good hugs. Like, squeeze your arms and legs around me and hold on super tight, hugs
• You're favorite Christmas present was the giant dollhouse you got and your favorite birthday presents were dress up dolls
• After months of being mortal enemies, you and Titus are now inseparable. It is not unusual for the two of you to go hang out upstairs for an hour while I'm cooking or cleaning
• You LOVED the Christmas lights. Every morning as soon as you got out of bed, you would march over to the tree and ask me to turn them on. You also loved driving around and looking at lights on houses
• You love going to school and walk into your classroom like a big girl
• At church you like to go sit with me and listen to the worship before going to the nursery
• You cry big tears really fast
• If you get scolded you will immediately burst into tears and you won't calm down until you're being held
• You love doing arts and crafts at school
• You are still in your crib and you love playing in it by yourself after naptime and in the morning
• You say you would like to potty like a big girl but when I actually try to get you on the potty you refuse.
• Your favorite show is My Little Pony but you also love Blaze and the Monster Machines, which is about monster trucks. You basically love whatever Titus loves.
• You still use a paci but only for naps and night time. Pacis stay in your crib.
• You get so excited to see Zi-Zi (Zion) and Connieee (Conner) when we go to school
• You don't have nearly as much interest in letters as Titus did at your age
• Your hair is still tinted red, but it looks much more blonde now. If your eyebrows weren't still reddish I might think you were turning into a permanent blonde!
• Because you are tall and Titus is short, we get asked about 4 times a week if you are twins
• You enjoy being the class clown. You love being silly and making people laugh. Right now, that's by replacing words in your favorites songs with the word poop ("twinkle twinkle little POOP"). We can thank your brother for teaching you that trick. 
• Sometimes I feel like you're talking to me like a grown up. You say phrases in the right context I didn't even realize you knew. It makes me giggle every time. 
• When Titus apologizes for hitting you he has to say, "I'm sorry for hitting you, do you forgive me?" But you never know how to respond, so he says, "say yes" and you do. Now when you want something, you try to pull that trick on me. "I have a popsicle, mommy? Say yes."
• You like to pat my tummy and say hi to the baby. You also pulled up daddy's shirt and patted his belly and said, "you have baby, too?"

Baby Love we are just thrilled with you! I can already tell you are going to be the goofy one in the family. You love making people laugh and you love laughing. Generally speaking, you are very laid back and enjoy doing whatever is the most fun. You are incredibly social (you make friends at the park all the time) and you love playing with anything you can cuddle or nurture (stuffed animals, dolls, plastic animals...). I have loved getting to watch your personality develop because I feel like you will be a lot like me (Grandma thinks so too). We love you so much, sweet girl!

Titus: 2016 Wrap Up

Dear Titus,
at almost 5 years old...

• You have hit a growth spurt and you have outgrown all your 3T jammies (finally!) You weight 38 pounds and are very proud of that fact.
• This growth spurt also means you have been eating A LOT. A typical day for you involves two waffles for breakfast, a full lunch, an early afternoon snack, an early dinner (tonight was two hot dogs and two PB&J sandwiches) and then usually another second dinner before you head off to bed.
• Your favorite shows are Transformers, Blaze and the Monster Machines and Sid the Science Kid
• You love all things legos right now (lego toys, lego movies, lego games)
• You and Haddie have been SO MUCH BETTER. We went through a month or two where you did nothing but fight and nitpick and scream at each other, it drove me absolutely crazy. But now, for the most part, you play so well together and are inseparable.
• Every night at bedtime you tell me, "but I'm just not sleepy! I can't sleep!" and then you fall asleep 3-5 minutes later
• You are all about the poop jokes right now. And by jokes, I mean saying things like "Is your hair made of POOP??" and then laughing at yourself. I told you that poop jokes are for boys and you can only make them with Daddy and your guy friends.
• You are finally starting to understand when we are teasing you instead of always taking everything so literal (although you are still 100% literal with everyone else besides Daddy and me).
• You are currently obsessed with "wrapping presents" which consists of taking hot wheels or marbles and wrapping them in toilet paper and taping them shut.
• Your emotional control has gotten much better although you still have multiple outbursts a day where you are redlining over small things (usually things that have a simple solution but you get upset before you think to ask for help)
• You say that Brooks is your best friend and Brooks said, "I'm basically a part of your family, we're like brothers" which is pretty darn cute
• You are asking for bunk beds so that friends can stay over. We'll have to wait and see if I'm ready for that...
• You still love school although you don't like any of the craft projects (you get very frustrated because you are such a concrete thinker. Drawing things frustrate you, I think part of this is because you are a perfectionist. So when you have to draw a person you get really upset because you think it doesn't look right)
• We say the phrase "if you don't have something kind to say, don't say anything at all" quite a bit. Your four year old attitude has kicked in ;)
• You love having Haddie follow you around. You make up all kinds of games and activities and she does almost anything you want
• Anytime you trip you yell, "I don't LIKE our new house!" even though you just fell because you lost your balance
• You are really into legos 
• Anytime a kid is doing something you don't like you yell, "NO MA'AM!" even if it's a boy
• You love watching daddy play football on the Xbox even though you don't really ever want to actually PLAY football.
• You still make a "d" sound instead of "th" (weather = wedder, another = anudder)
• You are obsessed with the weather and ask Siri for an update about a dozen times a day. 
• Every morning you wake up at 7 and are allowed to play with the iPad. Around 7:30, Haddie will start calling our, "Titus! Titus!" And you go down and crawl in her crib and play with her until I come in. 
• You ask permission all the time, even about things like taking your shoes off or jumping in a puddle. I love this about you! It's so respectful and sweet. However this does not apply when you are angry or frustrated and you could care less what I think ;)
• You say, "you know what I was thinking?" All the time, and then you pitch me an idea like getting donuts or playing gator golf. 
• We call you Captain Safety because you are ALL about everyone being safe and you keep us all in line

We love how different you and Haddie are, which also makes it really fun that you love to play together. She is girly and artistic and hates to be alone. You love building and drawing mazes and you need to have alone time during the day. But you still have the sweetest laugh and you are finding your own sense of humor and making a lot of silly jokes. I am really soaking up these days with both of you home because in eight more months you will start Kindergarten! I am so thankful for this time with you before you get so big. You were the first I ever rocked to sleep and you are still the last one I check on before going to bed every night (old habits die hard).

Titus: Fall 2016 update

Dear Titus,

• You have started wearing some 4T clothes, although the waist is still a little big and your 3T clothes still fit just fine.
• You don't nap anymore unless you are sick, but you are really good at having "rest time" where you get to play with your marble tower, writing board, or ipad.
• You said your favorite friend to play with is Brooks.
• The best part about you no longer napping is that you go to bed around 7:45 (AND ALL THE PARENTS SAID AMEN). 
• You wake up around 6:45 no matter what time you go to sleep, whether it's 7:30 or 10:30.
• You think it's funny to laugh in this really obnoxious way that you know your sister hates
• You and Haddie are both really into Paw Patrol right now and you spend a good portion of the day arguing about who gets to play with which pup. You say your favorite toys are your Rescue Bots.
• You still don't really like many artistic things, you never want to sing songs with us and drawing can frustrate you because you don't feel like you're doing it "right." You much prefer doing mazes (you even draw your own mazes and have Daddy finish them!) or something more concrete in thinking.
• Your favorite special activities are going bowling and playing putt-putt.
• You still love school very much!
• When you and Haddie play well together you are BEST friends
• You love watching YouTube videos about hamsters, marble tracks, and surprise eggs
• We started a zero tolerance policy to you yelling "NO!!!" anytime we give you a specific instruction (you would yell it even to something like, "lets put your shoes on"). It took a couple of days, but I'm glad we got over that!
• You got really into exploring bugs in the backyard this summer
• Cold weather is not your jam. You hate being cold AND you have too much energy to be inside
• You are a GREAT eater! You actually like a lot of vegetables, including salad. And when I make you try a bite of everything on your plate you usually end up liking it.
• Your favorite thing to eat is nutella. Nutella on waffles, nutella sandwiches, nutella to dip with strawberries... You are also really into hot dogs and always request "the kind on the bread!" (bun) with mustard only.
• You fell off a stool and got your first stitches this month. It was much more traumatizing for me than for you! I almost passed out after they finished stitching you up...
• We stayed Grandmother's for a few weeks while the new house was renovated and you kept asking, "are we going to live in the old house or the new house? Or Grandmother's house forever?" It was a little confusing for you and threw off your nightime sleep a little after we moved into the new house, but you eventually got used to it. Now when people come over you greet them at the door and say, "come up to my new play room, it's SO huge and fun!"
• You are always the first person to be willing to give a hug and you aren't afraid to talk to almost anyone (especially if they come over to our house)
• Speaking of hugs, you are incredibly empathetic. If you sense that any of us are upset you immediately climb in our laps and cuddle.
• You have become obsessed with Lucy, like follow her around the house all day even after she is done playing with you, kind of obsessed. She is very sweet and patient with your crazy antics, but we have to tell you to leave her alone sometimes.

You are a very unique kid, Titus James! You can still be incredibly short-tempered and have loud, tearful, angry meltdowns, but you can also be very gentle and thoughtful and kind. You get very upset if we don't leave the house every day, saying once it is dark outside, "but we didn't even go any places today!" Your favorite places to go are McDonald's Play Place, the gym, school and to Brooks' house (where you build legos and car tracks in his room for hours). I think you are ready to be in kindergarten full-time (you definitely get bored with us at the house), but I'm not sure how I feel about you being gone every day! We love you so much, every sassy, dramatic, aggressive, silly part of you.

Haddie: Fall 2016 update

Dear Haddie,

• You wear 2T clothes and are about to be 3T in some things
• You are only an inch or two shy of Titus' four year old height mark, even at 2.5. You're not necessarily tall for your age, but you're definitely growing faster than Titus has!
• You say your best friends are Conner and Rynn.
• You are still a very picky eater. Right now the only guarantees are french fries, pickles, cereal and peanut butter. Your favorites are probably "pinana" (banana) and "see-yull" (cereal), and you are mostly living on milk.
• You have started making up songs and when you're done singing you'll say, "dat's a good song." You love singing in general, we hear you singing in your crib ALL the time. Your favorite songs are Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, Let It Go & Itsy Bitsy Spider.
• You hated being dropped off at school when we first went back in September (even though you enjoyed being there once I left). But the last few weeks you haven't cried at drop off and marched right in like a big girl!
• You go to bed around 7:30/8 and wake up around 7/7:30 with a 2 hour nap around 1pm.
• About that nap... You have really been fighting it lately, and bedtime for that matter. It is not unusual for you to throw a fit for 15-30 minutes after being put down.
• Everyone is saying "I can't believe how much she has started talking since I saw her last!"
• Your favorite toys are barbies, your Elsa doll and anything that comes in a Happy Meal.
• You almost always take something wherever we go (a Paw Patrol dog, a tiny pig, your pull-along puppy) and then INSIST on taking it inside wherever we go.
• You wear a princess dress almost every single day.
• You. Are. Stubborn. If you aren't getting what you want you will throw things and yell "no!" while sobbing BIG angry tears.
• You have started handing me your pacis in the car or after naps, sometimes without me even asking! I think we're getting close to retiring the pacis...
• You love sitting in your crib or high chair alone with your favorite toys and just playing. I secretly think it's because it's the only place Titus can't get to you and mess up your toys :)
• Your favorite shows are Paw Patrol, Blaze and the Monster Machines, and Team Umi-Zoomi. Which are also Titus' favorite shows, so I think you mostly like them because he does.
• Everything needs to kiss and hug, followed by, "awwww!" Pacis, animals, shoes...
• The thing you say most is, "what dat?" about every noise you hear or unidentified object you see.
• You get SO excited when friends come over, like cheering and jumping and hugging when they walk in the door.
• You are incredibly loving, you give hugs to almost everyone and ask Daddy and I if we can snuggle all the time.

Haddie girl, you are so much fun. You and Titus look different and definitely act different, and I am loving getting to know your little personality. You are definitely passionate about having fun, animals, cartoons and being able to do everything Brother can do. You are pretty fearless and adventurous and can get equally as dirty as you can girly and princessy. At school you love to do crafts and socialize and your teacher says you love music time and sing and dance along to every song. We think you are so sweet, spunky and fun, Baby Love!

Haddie: Summer 2016

• You have hit a growth spurt and are catching up in height to Titus. People mistake you for twins pretty often
• Your favorite foods are... no food. You don't want to eat much of anything. Most of your meals consist of the same rotation of a few things: pickles, turkey, yogurt, goldfish, strawberries. You sometimes scarf down pizza, spaghetti, or french fries, and then other times you don't care for them at all. You will eat a little ice cream or other desserts, but not a lot.
• You really like to dance and you especially like it if we're dancing with you because you imitate our moves (it's hilarious)
• Most of this summer you spent in just a diaper or even naked. By noon you are usually wet, muddy or a combination of both
• You don't seem to miss school at all, but you do ask about "Si Si?" which is what you call Zion, your best friend in your class
• One of our friends said you have the highest, sweetest voice of any toddler she's met. It's so true, everything about your voice is ultra feminine!
• You have started going to bed later, like 8/8:30 and wake up around 7/7:30. You still take a great afternoon nap, usually 2 hours and sometimes as long as 3.5 hours.
• You are obsessed with other babies, although sometimes your affection is still too rough
• Your favorite toy right now is an old hand-me-down Finding Nemo or the stuffed cat you got from Grandmother
• You have started throwing a lot more fits. There are a lot of tears accompanied by melodramatic sobbing. These can go on for a looooonnnnng time and I am starting to get a picture of how 13 may look for you ;)
• You love playing in the stream at Gulley Park, your favorite part is throwing rocks in the water
• I have been trying to not give you the paci in the car (only in the crib) and you will wail from the backseat, "PAAAAA-CCCEEEEEEYYY" LIKE YOU ARE DYING. This is also hilarious to me
• Your play really well independently, but you also like to play with Titus a lot (when he's being nice to you)
• You love making animal noises and when we ask you what sound a Haddie makes you say, "Ah Hah-eeeee!" and pat your chest
• Your favorite shows are Little Einsteins, Rescue Bots (thank to Brother you're obsessed too) and Horton Hears a Who
• I hear you say frequently to your dolls/animals/pacis, "no ma'am!" which is clearly something you have been hearing a lot lately
• You have recently discovered Princess outfits/jewelry/shoes and walk around with a wand saying, "Princess time!"
• You say, "no ma'am!" all the time to Titus (you don't know "no sir!" is a thing). This is mostly because a) you hear that from me, and b) Titus says it to you A LOT
• When you wake up in the morning Titus usually brings you books and toys in your crib. This is one of your favorite things!
• You have recently started to not like bedtime very much (kicking and screaming when you are getting your jammies put on). Once we put you in the crib and leave the room you start to cry, but you always calm down almost immediately when we sing to you through the baby monitor.
• Titus recently developed a fear of thunder and after one particularly scary freak out, you became scared too. Now when I ask you if you want to go outside, you frequently say, "no tanks. It waining." (even though it never is)

You have started talking so much and I'm loving hearing you put 2-3 word sentences together. When you are throwing a fit I will ask you to use your words and you usually say, "that." Which isn't super helpful but eventually you usually explain what I need to know. When we went to the beach this summer you were a little nervous about the water, but it didn't take much to convince you it would be a good time. You liked to go out past the waves with me and just lay back with your floaties, cross your ankles, and close your eyes while you floated in the sun. This pretty much sums you up: laid back, fun loving, adventurous, a big time momma's girl, and a casual lounger. We love you, sweet girl!

Titus: Summer 2016 update

Dear Titus,

 At 4 years old...

• You must be going through a growth spurt because you are eating all the time. You are wearing 3T things and have outgrown everything 2T (which is a big deal for you!)
• You rarely take naps anymore (maybe once or twice a week) so we try to get you to sleep by 8/8:30. If you take a nap, it may be more like 9/9:30 before you fall asleep. 
• When you don't nap, I lay you down for 30-45 minutes of "rest" and you usually make up Rescue Bot stories with your stuffed animals the whole time
• You try the same excuses to get out of bed every night. 
1. I need to go potty
2. I'm still hungry (no matter how much you've eaten)
3. Wait wait wait, I NEED TO TELL YOU SOMETHING! (it's never important)
• You like to sing, "Hangin tough!" because Daddy sang it to you once and you thought it was funny. You also sing the Nationwide Car Insurance jingle with Nanay ("Nationwide is on your siiiiide!")
• Your L's still sound like W's
• You refer to all kids and babies younger than you as "her" or "she" even if it's a boy
• Out of nowhere you developed this really thick southern accent. A lot of one syllable words have become two syllables for you 
• When you are getting in trouble you will start fake giggling and cover your mouth, I can't tell if you are doing it to be defiant or if you are trying to make me laugh so you don't get in trouble. Either way, it can be pretty infuriating.
• You talk about, pretend, watch, tell stories about Rescue Bots ALL THE TIME. As much as I get tired of watching the same show, I am glad you've found something you like to pretend when you play by yourself.
• When you pretend to be a Rescue Bot you call yourself "Hokeekeewah" and then transform into objects (car, boat, vacuum, drill...)
• You are really missing school and keep asking when we get to go back
• I overhear you trying to explain things to Haddie a lot and it's really funny ("No Haddie, we don't put the blocks on the kitchen set! The blocks go in the toy box, silly.")
• You love watching YouTube videos about tornados
• When you have to go to timeout or I get you in trouble you like to growl because you know you're not allowed to talk back. You are learning the hard way that is also considered disrespectful.
• Your favorite activity with Daddy is building our large USA map
• Your infatuation with getting under Haddie's skin has only gotten worse. You spend a lot of time playing in your room alone because you can't keep your hands to yourself. Or worse, you like to steal her toys and run away, teasing her because she can't catch you
• You LOVE swimming. Like, obsessively love it. Last year it still kind of scared you, but this year you've been so happy to wear the floaties and even jump off the diving board all alone
• You have learned to buckle yourself into your carseat and are so incredibly proud
• Your favorite foods are raspberries, PB&J, pickles, pepperoni, ice cream and applesauce
• Most of your stories include "My best friends, Brooks, Garrison, Maddox and Rozy"
• We are really working on "obeying the first time." I will tell you, "go back to bed please" and I'll have to repeat myself. Then when I get off the couch and you know  you're in trouble, you say, "I'm doing it now!!!" and hope that will keep you out of trouble. 
• I hear you tell Haddie a lot, "no ma'am!" because you love making her reinforce the rules
• You frequently pretend to be a Transformer named "Hokekewah" who transforms into a vacuum cleaner, car, drill, and many other things.
• You LOVED the beach so much! Your favorite activity was to put on your floaties and go with Daddy to where the waves were breaking and take them in the chest. Sometimes they would splash you in the face or even knock you over, but you loved every second of it!
• Your love to draw robots on your magnet board, along with lots of spelling and some "Spanish words" (which are mostly just scribbly lines
• You have developed a fear of thunder so now anytime you think it's going to storm you panic and run inside

I can't believe at this time next year we will be preparing to send you off to kindergarten! I'm still in denial. I don't know what Haddie and I will do without you around! The other night you spent the night at Mimmy and Nanay's house and Haddie kept walking around and checking all of our rooms, saying, "Bubba? Ty-tis?" Even though you don't always get along, she can't imagine a day without you and neither can I. I love seeing you use your imagination to set up pretend situations with your Rescue Bots, the way you draw marble machines and mazes on your drawing board, and hearing you suggest a plan for the day, followed by, "Does that sound like a good idea?" We love you so much, I am so thankful for this final year at home with you!

Haddie: 2 year update

Dear Haddie,

At 2 years old...

• You weigh 26 pounds, are 33 inches tall and wear 2T clothes (sometime still 18-24m because you're very petite)
• Your favorite foods are cheese, crackers, pizza, pepperoni, baby food pouches, bananas, waffles, cheerios, yogurt, fruit gummies, and carbs.
• If you see me with a Coke you whiiiiiiiine and whine and whine until I share with you
• You don't run, you prance. Sometimes I call you Fancy Prancy.
• You are finally doing better about dropoffs, you only cry occasionally at church or school
• You sleep like a teenager. You have been sleeping from 7:30-8ish and take a 2+ hour nap ever day. 
• you get VERY jealous when I'm holding anyone else, including your brother. If you're on my lap and he tries to join us you push him off 
• You are finally leaving your ponytail/pigtails in, yay! For a few hours at least, and then you pull them out
• You don't like for me to mess with your accessories. Coats and shoes must be left on at all times (including at school)
• You walked around the house drinking out of your sippy cup and spitting it on the floor. It is so gross but you think its hilarious. You also like to dump your yogurt shake on the table which earned you your first (and only) real spanking 
• You are pretty athletic. Not only are you not scared of many things at the playground, but you seem to run/climb/slide pretty easily!
• You love babies and point them out wherever we go, but you pronounce it like the French word, Bebe, which is so adorable
• You love finding my lip gloss or Chapstick so you can pucker up while and have me put it on you
• You only get your pacifier for sleep or the car and as long as you don't realize I took it away, it doesn't usually seem to bother you
• Your favorite toy is the water table outside
• If you find dog poop in the yard you will squish it in your hands (GROSS)
• You carry a purse around with all your treasure in it (usually a pacifier, lego baby, and a cell phone)
• Brother picks on you sometimes, but you've learned how to milk it. Even if he barely or accidentally runs into you, you start whining like he hurt you really bad
• You are in a real "mommy's girl" stage. You only want me to hold you and you cry if I even put you in the carseat and don't climb into the driver's seat immediately

Sometimes I just look at your Daddy and say, "look how adorable Haddie is! I just can't get over it!" But it's true, your sweet little dimple and big blue eyes frequently catch me off guard when I see you smiling at me in the rearview mirror. Grandma Susie says you like to "keep us busy" which is a sweet way of saying you are into everything! Which is true :) But that is one of my favorite things about you, how adventurous you are. It's pretty rare to find you a) bored or b) afraid to try something out. You will follow Titus around and do everything he does and more! And if you fall down, you usually just get back up and keep going. Plus you are very easygoing and rarely get demanding (unless you want your pacifier, then you are ruthless), so for the most part, not much seems to bother you. We love you to the moon and back, baby love!

Titus: 4 year update

Dear Titus,

At 4 years old...

• You weigh 33 pounds, measure 37 inches tall and wear 3T clothes (pants are still too long and your waist it tiny!)
• You go to bed around 8:15/8:30 but don't usually fall asleep until 9:00. You wake up around 6:30 most days, but know to stay in your room until your OK to Wake alarm light comes on at 7:00.
• When daddy is singing the same song over and over again you say, "Daddy, sewiouswy!" (which is also something mommy says)
• You start most sentence with "how abouuuuttt..." Or "Hey, I have an idea!"

• You say, "oh, c'mon!" to a lot of things, mostly inanimate objects ("oh, cmon blocks! Stand up already!")
• "being funny" is a big thing for you. After you knock over a tower or jump off a stair you will say, "was that funny?"
• When school was out for Spring Break you were pretty devastated. Lately you have become really interested in compost/gardening and recycling because you learned about them at school
• You really struggle with bedtime and naptime and not wanting to go to sleep, but we have started using a timer to let you know when it is time to go to bed and that has helped a lot
• You love watching videos in Spanish
• You are SO competitive. Everything is about winning right now 
• When you and Daddy build with the Jenga blocks you always request him to make the "Entire State Building"
• You say that everything hurts. Putting on your shirt, getting your hair washed, taking shoes off...
• You really like to mess with Haddie which drives me crazy. You just get in her space and make noises or poke her or whatever buttons you know she would hate having pushed
• You are SO literal. You had a book parade at school where everyone dresses up like a book character and you said that couldn't happen because it's not Halloween (then told me you wanted to be a TV for Halloween). You were also really thrown off by your birthday party being on April 2nd but your actual birthday not being until the 10th
• You run through the house yelling, "look! I'm running adagio!" (The word for "fast tempo" you learned from Little Einsteins)
• Your favorite excuse for getting out of bed is "I need to tell you something." This often happens at 5:30/6am and you are either 1) still half asleep and talking about your dream ("Haddie ate my sausage roll. I left it on the table and then she ate it all gone!!!") or just something you make up so you don't have to go back to sleep ("I had to blow my nose, here's my Kleenex")
• You're really into "forever" right now. "Will I be in timeout forever? Is Brooks going home forever? Will daddy be at work forever?"
• You are a savorer. It takes you 4 bites to finish a single m&m. 
• You are the justice police, constantly going around getting other kids in trouble for breaking rules or making other kids cry
• You nap 3-4 days a week, but on the days you don't nap, you do a good job of making up pretend games in your bed with your pillows and stuff animals
• You still get overstimulated and need quiet time to calm down. When something isn't working right or you don't get your way you still get very emotional and it's hard to get you to take a breath and listen. But once you calm down it's much easier to communicate.
• You respond really strong to other's people's emotions. You don't really care if I threaten to get you in trouble for disobeying, but if I tell you your bad choices are hurting my feelings or look like I'm going to cry you immediately change your behavior and come give me a hug and apologize.
• "How does _____ work?" is a big thing for you right now. How does breathing work? How do germs work? How does water work in your body? How do toots work? How do cars work? How does running work? How does the sun work?

One of the biggest changes in you over the last few months is how rough you are! You are always wanting to wrestle or tackle or jump around. You say that your favorite thing to do with Daddy is to wrestle and your favorite thing to do with Mommy is to cuddle. That's the way I like it! Save the rough housing for when Daddy gets home. Sometimes you try to do it with Haddie, too (it's not a surprise for me to hear her crying and come in the room to find out you tried to take her out at the knees). Sometimes you just growl or roar for no reason, just because you have too much energy and aggression built up. That's when I bundle you up and send you outside! On the other hand, you are still a major softie, too. You are so sweet to tell us how much you love us and ask to cuddle throughout the day. You also give hugs to almost anyone who walks in the door! Your stories are endless and you are funny without meaning to be. Your stubborness can be tiring sometimes, but we are praying that it will make you a great leader some day. We are so proud to be your mommy and daddy. I love you to the moon and back, to infinity and beyond, forever and ever!

Haddie: 2015 Wrap Up

Dear Haddie,

At almost 2 years old...

• You weigh 23 pounds and have finally moved up to 18-24 month clothes, although some of them are still a little big and pants are long on you
• You sleep from about 7:30pm-7:00am and take one nap at 1pm (usually 2 hours). You have started fighting your naps on occasion, but overall you are still an easy sleeper
• Your favorite foods are pickles, cheese, yogurt, broccoli, french fries, any type of cracker/carb, pizza and bananas
• You are climbing EVERYWHERE.
• You currently do not like taking a bath, mostly because you hate having your hair washed
• You have started repeating a lot more words and it's so adorable. I love hearing your sweet little voice!
• You think it is so funny to give me kisses for some reason. Every time you do, you burst out in giggles
• You are incredibly nurturing. Your favorite Christmas gift was the baby stroller we got for you, you push your baby around all day and feed her a bottle and kiss her. You also like to sit in the stroller yourself to watch tv!
• You still like to do anything that Titus is doing
• You really love playing on the piano
• You still get upset with I drop you off at school or the church nursery, but it only lasts for a couple of minutes
• You can be BOSSY! When you want something, you want it right. then.
• We still change your clothes at least twice a day because you are so messy
• You love dancing! Even if someone just says "let's dance!" you'll still dance without music. But anytime you hear music you start moving back and forth subconsciously 
• You want to be outside all the time, but don't understand the concept of being cold. You get so mad if I don't let you go out when it's raining and yucky!
• Your favorite show is Masha and the Bear. You do so much better sitting still for a movie or show than Titus did at this age
• At any given time you are usually carrying around 2-3 pacifiers
• You are still a little shy around strangers but when we see friends (especially Ms. Stephanie and Ms. Heather) you go up and give great big, cuddly hugs.
• Your favorite activity is definitely running around and being one of the big kids. If Titus and the big boys are chasing each other through the house you are running right alongside them, even though you don't know what they're doing!
• Your dimples are getting more obvious and they are so adorable!
• Everytime you touch something or climb on something you are not supposed to we tell you no, and then when you stop you start clapping and say, "yay!!" as if cheering for yourself will make us forget you were disobeying
• You will keep a bow clip in but you HATE having your hair in a ponytail or pigtails. Which is a real shame because it is so adorable!


This was the first year that you could really participate in the holidays and it was so much fun to see the joy that you and Titus had spending time with family and opening gifts. You didn't really care about the gifts at all, Titus actually opened most of yours, but you sure loved the Christmas tree and trying to take off the ornaments without getting caught! Every time you smile you light up the room, there's not a single person you've met that doesn't adore your sweet personality and shy little smile. Your big blue eyes and strawberry blonde hair are such a stunning combination and people comment on it allllllll the time. I guess you'll just have to get used to that, Baby Love! We feel so blessed to have you in our lives, thank you for multiplying the joy of our family.

Titus 2015 Wrap Up

Dear Titus,
At almost 4 years old...

• You are still pretty small for your age, which I think has helped me stay in denial about how old you're getting :) You wear 2T in pants and 3T in shirts, although those can be too big for you sometimes.
• You're really interested in directions right now. Are we turning right or left? Which direction are we driving?
• Your favorite toy is the marble tower we got you. You make all kinds of "machines" with the pieces and like to watch YouTube videos of marble runs that other people have created
• You also really like drawing "machines" on your drawing board and they are usually replicas of marble machines you have seen on youtube.
• Another favorite activity is anything that is arts and crafts. You got a paint spinner for Christmas and you ask to use it at least once a day every day (it's basically a piece of paper that you put paint on and spin it, then it turns into a tie dye pattern of sorts). You call it your "paint machine" because everything is a machine right now!
• Your favorite drink is chocolate milk and your favorite foods are pickles, tomatoes, pizza, french fries, almost all berries, cereal, waffle with peanut butter and popsicles (of course!) You have recently started being a much better eater, requesting things like salad, peas, broccoli, or other "vegabulls" (which generally means stir fry veggies). I have been very impressed with your willingness to try healthy food!
• You LOVE school (Mother's Day Out). You have been so upset over Christmas break that we haven't gone to school at all.
• You love to play a game called "You Better Run" with Daddy, where Daddy says, "you better run!" and then you take off down the hall and he tries to hit you with a ball and you fall down. Then you switch and try to hit daddy AND YOU BOTH LOVE IT.
• You have moved from fit throwing to whining, and I definitely think I might have liked the fit throwing better. I have learned that every new age has it's own stage, but this is one that I'm ready to leave behind!
• You really like to reinforce the rules with Haddie, it's like having a 3rd parent around (except you are even more strict than we are! ha)
• You still don't really like it when anyone sings or dances around you (especially if it's loud)
• You went through a phase where you were afraid of monsters and would wake up having nightmares, thankfully that has passed for the most part (sometimes there are still scary shadows)
• Your favorite movies/shows are Team Umizoomi, Little Einsteins, Curious George, Madagascar: Penguins Movie, and Horton Hears a Who
• You get VERY stir crazy if we don't get out of the house every day. I can already tell we are going to have to get creative this winter!
• Bedtime routine has gotten much easier but you are really fighting naptime now. You probably skip your nap at least twice a week so instead I let you have "quiet time" in your room where you either build machines with your marble run or play your letter apps on the iPad.
• You tell me that your best friends are Garrison, Brooks and Rozy
• Our current discipline struggle is learning to obey the first time. Especially when you are told to go to timeout, you try to run to the other parent and have them "save" you from timeout (all while screaming). Big no no.
• You are in an extra cuddly phase. You are always climbing into my lap or asking for longer snuggles at bedtime. Today I was doing my makeup and I heard you call out from the living room, "Mommy, will you come cuddle with me?" You literally want to hug and cuddle and snuggle on the couch ALL THE TIME. I love it forever.
• You still have trouble not losing control of your emotions when you are frustrated, but usually a hug, a deep breath and some "quiet time" on my lap or in your room helps you calm down. You have gotten better at expressing yourself with words instead of just exploding when you're upset
• Your favorite book right now is Dragons Love Tacos
• You say "chechup" instead of ketchup and it's adorable. I also love hearing you stretch your vocabulary and say things like "humongous" for the first time
• You have FINALLY realized it's nice to say "I love you too" in response to someone saying I love you. It's so cute and lovely and I try to squeeze it out of you at least 5 times a day

Before I go to bed at night I always come in and check on you (mostly because you rarely ever have the cover on and 50% of the time are sideways or upside down in your bed). But after I tuck you in I always push your hair out of your face and kiss your sweet cheeks. This is the only time where I catch a glimpse of the baby you used to be; the chubby little cheeks, the dimples in your hand, the way you curl up with your stuffed broccoli. Sometimes I slip my hand in yours and even in your dreams you squeeze my hand right back and pull me close to you. We love you to the moon and back, little man.