New Developments

What amazes me almost more than anything else about my kids is how quickly they can change. It seems like both of them are growing up faster than ever.

Take Xander, for example. He has always been opinionated; that hasn't changed. Now, though, he has applied his opinions in a way that enforces the rules at the same time. Let me give you an example. Lately, he has been getting up at night after we put him to bed. He'll come downstairs and give us some excuse, with varying degrees of ridiculousness, as to why he came down. Sometimes it's because he has to use the bathroom. Other times, he lets us know that we forgot to perform some part of his bedtime ritual. Well, one night, he came down and I was eating something while sitting on the couch. I forget what it was, maybe a cookie or something. As soon as he saw me, he let me know that he didn't like the fact that Mommy and Daddy do things after he has gone to bed. I think it would be ideal if we went to bed at the same time as him; that way he would never miss out on anything that may potentially be fun. He yelled at me though, and let me know that "we aren't allowed to eat on the couch." Of course, he's right. He gets into huge trouble if he eats on the couch, unless it's movie night and we give him popcorn. It's funny when he catches us doing things that we yell at him for doing. He acts like a little police officer, here to enforce all the laws as he knows them. Another time, he came downstairs and I was writing a recipe down on paper. Again, I got in trouble because guess where I was writing? In the living room. Another no-no. And he tells you you've done wrong in this schoolteacher tone, as if he's explaining the rules to someone who doesn't know them. It's hilarious. It's like he doesn't remember that I'm the one who usually tells him these things!

Then there's Evan. In the blink of an eye, he's gone from a little baby that really didn't do much, and who needed almost constant attention, to a nearly-mobile little squirmy thing who likes to explore and roll around on the floor. This past week has seen him suddenly spending long periods of time playing by himself, happy and content to talk to himself and get to know his toys better. He now rolls out of your grasp when you're trying to change or dress him, so that has made things more fun. In addition, he has now just started to sit up on his own. I think his current record is 3 minutes sitting up independently before he does a face plant into the carpet. Even when he does fall over, he doesn't really mind. He just settles himself down on his back on the rug and continues to play. He's so laid-back, but he's not yet comfortable with people other than those outside his immediate family. He can warm up to others just fine if they are at a distance, but he either needs to know one parent is in close proximity, or he needs to be held by one parent while the stranger interacts with him.

He's just started eating really well. At first, we struggled with getting him to eat his baby cereal, but then when we introduced veggies, he started improving. I'm glad he loves his veggies, but I know it probably won't last! He has a face full of peas in the picture I posted here. It seems like such an accomplishment when they finally start to eat well, especially because he hadn't been eating well in the beginning. It makes you feel bad at the same time, because Xander always wonders why we don't get nearly as excited to see him eat! He has turned mealtimes into a competition now, where he wants to "beat" everybody else at the table and be the fastest eater. I wonder where that competitive edge came from? Maybe it's typical at this age; I don't know.

No matter what the changes are, though, it's nice because it definitely keeps things interesting. It makes me look forward to each new phase the kids will be entering, and it's kind of cool knowing that no two phases will ever be exactly the same. Now, if we can just work on ending Xander's interrupting phase...