Big Boy on a Red Tricycle

Who is this big grown up boy on a tricycle? I can't believe it's my little Huston - how did he get so big? He has just been delighting my heart so much the past few weeks - I feel like I've really been enjoying him as much as I can and trying to treasure every word from his mouth and every hug and every silly little thing he's doing. Here, in no particular order, are some of the wonderful things I'm loving right now:

- His prayers. He's offering them up more freely lately and last night at dinner prayed: "Thank you God for this food and for this day and for Arden and Mommy and Daddy and for Mimi and Mimi's Grandpa and for Grandma and Grandma's Grandpa. Amen." Then we started eating and he said "Oh, Mommy, I just forgot to thank God for the glasses," so we closed our eyes and he prayed, "Thank you God for the glasses and the pink glasses and the sunglasses. Amen."

- His songs. I love when he comes home singing songs from preschool. Lately he's been singing something about graham crackers, something about "things go up, things go down, and the world goes around and around," and "Skinamarinkydinkydink."

- Poopy jokes. Everything is funnier with the word "poop". Yesterday he was singing "Feliz Poopy-dad," "I wanna wish you a poopy Christmas," and "Skinnamarinkydinkydink, Skinnamarinkydoo, I poop you."

- Dancing in the bedroom when Daddy comes home from work. This is a tradition that we seem to go through phases of doing and not doing, but lately we've been doing it daily. Huston often requests "Hey Mambo" aka Mambo Italiano (Rosemary Clooney) and I love when he sings "mixed up siciliano." He's got some awesome dance moves.

- Running around with no pants on. Huston's still using a pull-up to do his business and it's working quite well. When he needs to poop he'll just ask for a pull-up and say, "I'd like a pull-up to poop but no pants on." And then he'll run around with no pants on until he's done.

- His love for haircuts. He always gets so excited when it's time to go get a haircut with Daddy. He really loves the whole experience.

- His memory - which astounds me. We were at the library and he pointed to the walls and said excitedly, "Look, Mommy! They're like your school!" and sure enough the walls had the same gray and green square tiles that my school does. He hasn't been inside my school in months. He's always remembering the roads we take to places, like "If we just keep going straight is my school down there," and "Is this the way to Granny and Papaw's house?" At the grocery store the other day he picked up the frozen Eggo waffles I'd thrown in the basket and said, "Mommy, these purple words say 'granola bar'." He was pointing to where it said "Nutri-grain" because he recognized it from his granola bar boxes. He can also "read" the words Baylor and TCU and all kinds of store names like Kroger and Walgreens and Tom Thumb, and the obvious ones, like Chick-fil-A and McDonalds.

- His vocabulary. I love how he tries out new words. At Kroger the other day, I gave the pharmacy the wrong insurance card and on the way out he said, "Why did you just hand those people a mistake?"

- Pronunciation. He says "oose" instead of "use" and "oosually" instead of "usually." I love it.

Sweet, Sweet Huston. I treasure you and every single thing about you.

love,

Mommy

Peek-a-boo

I took these pictures of Arden this afternoon at the birthday party of a sweet friend. Just had to post them because she's looking so grown-up with her crooked pigtails and little boots (that she kept tripping over). She's been cracking me up with her favorite games lately, which include running away anytime she thinks you want her to come, especially if you're in the process of trying to change her clothes. She also likes to pretend to hand you something and then snatch it away and smile and laugh like she's so hilarious. She does this to Huston, too, when she has a toy that he wants. She'll hold it out like she's going to be so sweet and share, and then snatch it back before he can get it. Such a little sister!

My kiddos

I've done a terrible job this year about documenting the little phases and quirks my sweet kids are going through. This is not good, since I have a terrible memory and am sure to forget all of their stages unless they're written down. Here's a quick recap of everything I can remember at this early hour before I head off to work:

Huston has been in a "why?" phase for months now. He can ask a string of questions like you would not believe. I keep thinking that I need to record some of them, but they're so frequent and so rapid-fire that I never can seem to remember exactly how they go. However, the other day on the way home from the store, it went something like this: "Hey. Hey. Hey, mommy. Hey, mommy, why did those people take their blue lights down? Why is Christmas over? When is it going to be Christmas again? When is it going to be Halloween? Why do we just wear costumes for Halloween? Hey, mommy, are we going to take our Christmas tree down?"

That doesn't even do it justice, but you get the idea.

Huston watches his favorite episode of Thomas (Creaky Cranky) almost daily and can recite it from memory. You'll hear him muttering around the house as he acts out the episode little snippets of the dialogue. He went back to preschool yesterday for the first time after Christmas break and came home singing "skid-a-ma-rink-a-doooo.... I loooove you." So adorable! I love when he comes home singing new songs.

He loves Arden and always really likes when she's around - he doesn't like me to put her to sleep for naps or bedtime, and is always anxious for her to wake up. When they run around and squeal and laugh together, nothing makes my heart happier. But he can also be such a brother to her. It seems like everyday there is some set of toys he has decided to protect for the day, that he doesn't want her anywhere near. And of course those are the toys that Arden will most want to have for the day. How do they start this sibling fighting so young? Arden kicks up the screaming if she thinks you're looking and that she might get her way. She knows how to use the drama to her advantage. I have to keep an eye on her because something I'll think Huston's done something to her, but she's really just screaming because she wants something.

His vocabulary continues to impress us, and I love how he'll say the same things back to us that we say to him.

Arden is a hilarious little ball of energy. She loves accessories, as I think I mentioned in the last post, and will wear necklaces all day long. She also likes putting her little backpack on her back and walking around the house with that on while carrying her lunch box. She loves climbing up and sitting in chairs that are her size, gets thrilled when she gets to bounce around and fall down on the couch or on our bed, and still loves stuffed animals.

Although she's not really talking yet, she understands almost everything and certainly has her own way of communicating. Over the Christmas break, she learned how to put her hands up (like the picture below) to ask "Where'd it go?" She loves to drop things and then whip those hands into position and look at you. Sometimes she says something like "d' go?" when she does this. She says "woof woof" when you ask her what a dog says, and can smack her lips together when you ask her what a fish says. I'm almost positive she says "liiiiiii" for light and some version of the word diaper. And "da da" is a frequent word with her, too. The other day we were outside and some birds flew across the sky and she yelled "buh - deeeeeeee." But she never would repeat it. She been like that for months now - we'll be sure that she's said a word so clearly, but she never will repeat it. She signs "please," waves bye-bye when she feels like it, and has an adorable exaggerated head nod for "yes."

*Edited to add* How could I forget to write that one of Arden's favorite things to do is read books? Every time she sees a book, she brings it right up to you, ready to sit in your lap and be read to. She never seems to tire of reading stories. Lately she has started to look through the books on her own and babble through them like she's reading them to herself. It's so adorable!

And now, I must leave these crazy, sweet kids sleeping in their beds, while I go to work. *sigh*