Two and a Half: A Life of Contradictions...

Mac is 2 and a half. His life is full of contradictions:

-he says, "I do it myself!"; but he sometimes needs help

-when given a choice between 2 options, he keeps changing his mind; then is upset when we make him stick with one of the choices.

The most poignant example: Last night I went to check on him after he was asleep. He was sleeping sweetly in his bed, with a paci in his mouth and a football in his arms. You can't get much more contradictory than that!

Our girl...the diva?

We have long known that Arden doesn't like sleep sacks--like this:

We figured out that she didn't like them because whenever she wore it she would cry and cry, until we took it off. She loves to grab her feet, so we think the "limited foot access" kept her from liking these.

Then she decided that she doesn't like socks. (Or maybe she just enjoys the challenge of taking them off?) She immediately takes them off whenever we put them on. (I don't like sleeping in socks either!)

Next she decided that she doesn't like footed pajamas. I put her down the other night to sleep, and she screamed--SCREAMED--until I came in. I brought her back out and tried to calm her down, only to have her screaming louder and louder--so loud that my ears were ringing. I finally realized that I should try taking off her pajamas and putting her in something else. She sighed and slept almost immediately.

Her latest? She's decided that she doesn't like one piece outfits. Brad put her in foot-less pajamas last night (I was gone at Bible study)...and the Arden wail began. Through trail and error he figured out that she wanted to be out of a one piece, and into a shirt and pants. I think she wanted to play with the hem of her shirt.

She's so sweet most of the time. So happy with just about anything. It's so weird. If she's this picky about what she wears as a six month old...what do we have in store??

Sweet girl...

(The picture above is her most common expression--the worried smile.)

Sil-wee brother...

Sil-wee

I love that Mac says "sil-wee" for silly. He uses "sil-wee" instead of "funny". So anytime time he's laughing really hard, he says, "That's sil-wee! That's sil-wee!!" It cracks me up.

Innovative!

Today I have been spreading pine straw in our (newly sodded!) front yard. This morning, Mac kept trailing me saying, "Mac help too? Mac help too?"

I stopped and looked at him, thinking how can he help? What can I do to keep him occupied?

"Mac, this is a job that you really need gloves for. See how Mama is wearing gloves?"

He considered this. "Mac wear gloves too?"

Ugh. Who knows where his gloves are? And anyway, the only gloves he has are fleece winter gloves--pine straw will poke right through and jab him. But, in order to get him occupied, I responded, "Okay. Go inside and look in you top dresser drawer where your underpants are. See if there are any gloves in there."

I was pretty sure there were not, but I hoped he'd go inside and be distracted by a toy or something, and be out of my hair for a few minutes.

Five minutes later, I hear his voice from inside, through his open bedroom window.

"I found them! Mama! I got the gloves!!! I'm coming to help!"

Hmm.

A few minutes later, Mac comes bounding outside, ready for action. He has a pair of socks on his hands and is so proud. Innovative! Not only was I impressed that he thought to put socks on his hands, I was equally impressed that he managed to get them on--since he has trouble getting them on his feet.

Anyway, of course, he "helped" for about 45 seconds until he realized it was hard work and not really much fun after all. I was relieved, because his "help" was basically picking pine straw up from a place I'd already spread and putting it someplace else, leaving big random holes throughout.

Not long after he came out with the socks, I decided to water my window boxes before spreading pine straw around the bushes underneath them. I filled the watering can, and went to turn off the spigot. I didn't realize that it was loose...so suddenly the watering can was overflowing...I pulled it out of the way...without realizing the force of the water coming out. Poor Mac was standing about 3 feet away and got blasted with a direct shot of cold water coming hard out of the spigot. I was franticly trying to get it off and he didn't have the instinct to get out of the way. I felt terrible! Not only was the poor kid soaked from head to toe, he was probably hurting from the force of it, and definitely terrified. This whole episode probably lasted about 5 seconds before I was able to get it turned off, but it was 5 seconds too long! Poor Mac! I felt so bad, and apologized a thousand times.

Anyway, I finished the rest of the yard work while they were napping. A much hotter time of day but so much easier to get work done!

My Tender Hearted One

Arden has a tender little heart. Unless something really changes, I can tell that she will be shy.

I've known this for awhile about her--mostly in contrast to Mac. I remember at Mac's 4 month (or was it 2 month??) check up, the doctor commenting about what an engaging personality he had. He was the baby that loved attention--from anyone--and seemed to know how to make himself appear in the cutest possible way (smiling, tilting his head, etc.), so that anyone around would notice him and talk with him.

When Arden was a few weeks old--just starting to engage, smile and interact--she was so different from her older brother already. She loved me, Brad and Mac, but was a little more careful around others. I began to suspect that she might be a shy one...

My hunches proved right. Now, at 6 months, she rarely smiles at strangers but instead looks to make sure I am there. At youth group this week, she burst into tears and wails when the high school girls began to talk to her. (She was completely overwhelmed--where her brother, in the same situation at that age--ate the attention right up.)

It's hard to see her so upset--but it's so sweet too, because she needs us. Brad, Mac and I are so smitten with her!

(By the way--Mac's first unprompted "I love you" was last week, to Arden. "I love you baby! I love you baby!" They are like 2 peas in a pod. His chief goal is to make her laugh--and he does, easily. I feel almost like they have their own language sometimes. It is SO dear.)

I wan sum-ping!

"I wan sum-ping!"

Translation: "I want something!" (or, "Feed me!")

I know a day will come where I miss hearing these words. But for now, I'm SO TIRED of hearing this again and again....all.day.long.

I asked the Doctor is it was okay to feed Mac all the time. (He's hungry--or so he claims--ALL THE TIME.) He said it was fine. I felt reassured.

Raisins. Bananas. Apples. Goldfish. Peanut Butter (he goes through one jar of peanut butter a week. A normal sized jar. Really.). Milk? I am not exaggerating when I say that he would drink 3 gallons a week if we let him. He's at about a gallon and a half now. Yogurt. Mini-wheats (plain). Frozen peas (still frozen). He loves them all. Pleads for them all. It seems like all the time. In reality it's probably about every hour and a half that he asks for something to eat.

"I wan sum-ping!" (I want something.)

"I wan luns please!" (I want lunch please. He says that at all times of day.)

"I wan pea-nu-butter-banana!" (I want peanut butter and banana.)

"I wan gol-fis milk!" (I want goldfish and milk.)

"I wan wasins!"(I want raisins.)

On and on it goes.

(Despite my constant--CONSTANT--reminders to phrase the request: "Mama, may I have peanut butter and a banana please?" He never remembers this format, and only remembers to say please about half the time.)

What will it be like when he's a teenager!?!?!??!?! How will we afford to feed him then????