Chatterbox

So, if you've read this blog for awhile (I'm sure there's someone out there who has), you may remember that we had a lot of concerns about JJ's speech when he was younger. He didn't really say much until he was almost two and even at that, he wasn't really putting sentences together or speaking coherently for sometime after that. He was even still hard to understand when he turned 4 back in February, but something had switched on at that point and he suddenly began speaking a lot better on his own. We even canceled his appointment to be evaluated with the school system.  After he was finally potty trained, he started preschool in April and it was a only a mere couple of weeks before we saw the difference. We could have conversations with him. He was speaking almost perfectly. It was amazing and I'm still in shock at how far he's come in such a short amount of time.  Just imagine if we had put him in preschool earlier?? (We couldn't; potty training is the worst)

 

Kathryn, on the other hand, is only 18 months and she seems to be talking up a storm (comparatively, anyway). She says lots of words and tries to repeat almost everything we say. She's been saying "thank you" and "let's go" for some time now. She recently added "give me that" to her repertoire, which isn't my favorite, but at least it's something! She says 'mommy, mommy, mommy' a lot. A lot. Usually when she's ratting out her big brother for doing something she doesn't want him to be doing. They generally play very well together, but sharing is a big issue, as one would expect. She is also really funny to watch football with. She likes to copy her daddy and she will clap and yell "Yay!!" and "Go, go, go football!" and "touchdown!"

 

Her speech level is likely right on point for her age, but comparing her to JJ at this age just makes her talking blow my mind. My little girl is pretty sassy, so I have plenty enough to worry about with her, I'm glad her speech isn't one of them! :)

Rainy Day Fun

So we don't get too much rain here in sunny Southern California, but lately we've been getting a lot of it. We'll have spurts of heavy rain and then nothing but cold. Yes, it does get cold her in SoCal. Maybe not as cold as some other places, but your body acclimates to the weather you live in, so yes, it is cold and we can say as much.

 

After the last bout of rain, JJ asked for his own umbrella. He wanted, with all the passion a 4-year-old can muster, a Baymax umbrella because he is obsessed with Big Hero 6. Of course, there really isn't much as far as licensed products go for this new-ish movie, so we found this Spiderman umbrella instead. He also loves superheroes, so he quickly abandoned the notion of getting a Baymax umbrella and was quite pleased with his Spiderman one.

 

Naturally, after we bought the umbrella, it stopped raining. Yesterday, it finally rained again (just for a little while. It has, of course, stopped again). JJ was so excited to go outside with his new umbrella and play in the rain. He jumped in the puddles and just stood in awe of the rain. At one point I asked him if he wanted to go back inside. He sat next to me on the porch and said, "Not yet. I just want to sit and watch for a little bit." So we did.

Sibling love

In my effort to be a better blogger, I often forget to post about things I really want to post about.   This actually happened a couple weeks ago, just before Christmas.

 

JJ and I were getting ready to leave to do a little shopping. Kathryn was upset that we were leaving so JJ got down to her level and told her that she was going to be OK and that we'd be right back (he is such a good big brother!).  Then he gave her a hug.  She walked away and turned around and walked right back into his arms.

 

ME: Oh, you guys are melting my heart!
JJ: No we aren't.  We are hugging. That makes your heart bigger.

 

Melting. Melting all over the place.

I won! I won! I won!

So, if you'll remember, last year was the first year I played Fantasy Football and I got 3rd place.

 

I played again this, in two leagues this time, and I got 1st and 2nd!  Can you even believe that?? First place!!

 

 

It's amazing how much you can learn about football just based on playing in a fantasy league. And watching the games helps too :0)  I love that this is something I can share with my husband now. He's always been into football and I never really cared much. Now, its another thing we can do together.

In this moment

  

Everyday you're on the go

Always some place to be

Another toy to play with

Another book to read

 

On the move.

 

Growing too fast, running from here to there

Gathering independence by the moment

You're laughter rings throughout the house

Lots of noise

Toys scattered everywhere.

 

But just for now you've stopped

You lay still, quiet in my arms

Calm

Listening to the sound of my heart beating for you

Hoping you're soaking up the moments the way I am.

Here comes Santa Claus

Every year, Culver City PD comes around the neighborhoods with Santa so all the kids can meet him and take pictures and such. It's a very cool thing our city does. 

Last night was our neighborhood's turn and right when we heard the sirens from the patrol cars, we took JJ over to meet Santa Claus. He was looking forward to it all day. Of course when it came time to do it, he completely freaked out. He didn't want to have anything to do with Santa. So we walked back home.

I asked JJ why he was so scared. I reminded him that he was excited earlier in the day and Santa is going to go back to the North Pole. His response? "Maybe I should try again. I don't want him to go back to the North Pole." 

So we walked back to the sleigh and he was a totally different kid. He was laughing and singing and really excited to talk to Santa. 

Since I went back by myself, one of the guys with Santa offered to take our picture. He took a ton. His finger was blocking every single one. Ugh. I'm glad I decided to take this selfie!

I told him I was proud of him for going back. He said he was proud of himself too. :0)

Jingle Bell Rock

So on Friday night, JJ had his first school Christmas program and it was as adorable as you would imagine. 

JJ's class sang Jingle Bell Rock, which has also been ringing throughout our house for the past couple weeks. 

We were supposed to stay for a spaghetti dinner afterwards (which we had already bought our tickets for), but the show started 30 minutes late so by the time the show was done, so was Kathryn. 

Hint to all preschool directors planning Christmas programs: don't plan for a bunch of 4 year olds to do a program starting at 6:00 the day after a full day of school. Also, do a sound check.

Other than that, it was pretty great and I'm a proud mama!