Catching up!!

Peter is now 3 years old! He is very active, climbing, jumping, running, etc. But he's also very controlled for the most part. I would not call him wild, just energetic. Yesterday I was scolding him for standing with the fridge open, and he just broke down and cried, and asked for a passy. We got rid of the passy months ago, but he still asks for it when he's really upset. So I'm thinking:

A. He needs a nap,

B. He's been watching his overly dramatic sister, or

C. He's feeling really insecure because I've been scolding him a lot today, and haven't been very nice to him.

I decided it was C, with a little bit of A. I let him cry for a few minutes, then put the baby down and held Peter for a while. I sang his Peter Rabbit song, hugged him , and told him how much I loved my big boy, etc. We sang several songs, and I made sure to make eye contact, which I reallized had been a really long time, at least days, since I'd really looked into his eyes. He immediately responded, and gave me a big kiss on the mouth and said, "I love you, Mira." (Mira is his nicname for me.) I realized then that I had missed my son maybe even more than he'd missed me, because when he got up and walked away, my whole being silently cried out, "COME BACK!" So I offered to sit and read some books with him until he was like, "Mom, that's enough...really... I'm good now. Leave me alone." Sniff.

Peter loves to pray. He prays over everything. Every time I give him a glass of water, he prays over it. It's like this compulsion that he can't eat or drink until he prays. Kevin said one night he gave Peter 5 refills of his cereal, (Peter eats a ton, and still is tiny,) and each time the food was set in front of him, he said a prayer. He loves to start by saying, "OH NO! We forgot to say a prayer!"

The other day he found a stash of candy up high in a cabinet. I would not have known, until I heard his little voice behind the couch saying "Heavy Father, thank you for this day..."

Peter is also very good with language. Ironicly, he was my only child to take a pacifier, and the fastest to speak. So what they say, that pacifiers delay speach, was NOT true with my son. When I read books with Peter, he often is telling me what to say before I say it (he memorizes them.) He teaches me sign language from his Signing Time videos. He will remember things he's learned with no reminders for months! I want to start teaching him reading, and I wish I could teach him other spoken languages, but I am not fluent in any other language. Kaylee is now 4. She is very active, and wild much of the time, though she is calming down a lot as I gradually try to use celebrate calm principles with her. http://www.celebratecalm.com/, it helps with my other kids too. Some days are better than others.

She has a very good memory sometimes, and it surprises me! She remembers her toddler years, and will look at an object and tell me how she got it, or what happened when she got it, when I don't even remember.

She is also very observant. She asks questions constantly, and is a mommy in training. She does a perfect impression of me, and often gets in trouble for immitating me, such as spanking her brother. I have a hard time with it, because she is usually careful to say she's sorry to have to do this, and how she doesn't like to spank him, but he just can't be naughty. He cries, and I come in and say "Hey! That's not your job Kaylee! It's my job!" Then I hear her telling Peter later, "Peter, it is not your job to spank! It's my job." Right now she is putting a load of laundry in to wash. Really.

Kaylee is also a princess, and loves pretty things, except she loves to wear her brother's "zippers." She gets in to my make-up frequently, and loves purses, and pretending she's a mommy. She comes up with names like "Hassaline, and Cashi, and Ci Ci," for her mommy names, and we play make-believe together. It is fun sometimes. I feel like a little kid again.

Last night she was running around the house, round and round constantly for 5 minutes or so, and I was about to tell her to stop running, before she got hurt, and come to dinner; when she informed me that she was "Anjelisha" and riding on a train! She had to ask the conductor to stop the train in a very mature, grown-up voice, so she could come to the table for dinner. As she went"Pssssh, chugga chugga...." and slowed down, I was thankful I hadn't scolded her, and just let her have her childhood moment. What an imagination!

I have one more child than I did last time I posted, Kendon Kevin. He's a very bright little baby. This picture was taken when he was 3 months old. He is now 9 months old, and is such a mama's boy!

He can't leave anything alone. I've learned I can't just give him a toy to play with, because it's too easy. He's bored before he begins. So I give him a bucket with a toy or toys in it. Then he's very interested and is occupied until one of his siblings notices he's having fun and takes the toy away. ;)

He is trying to stand already. I've done nothing to encourage this. It's all him. He's been pulling to stand, and side-stepping along the couch and bed. He has begun trying to stand with nothing to hold on to recently. Mostly to get at me. He is learning to speak as well. He often copies our sounds. He loves "OWWW." We hear that a lot in our house. He says "mama" which is the only word he says that he knows the meaning of at this point. He's been my only baby to say "mama" before "daddy."

He saw me writing one day, and was very interested, and eventually attacked the pen and paper. Then later I caught him trying to write with a pen, the point side down and everything, and then the next day he was doing it again. He's the same way about the computer. We leave him alone for a minute and he's pecking at the keys, squeeling with delight. When the battery cover fell off the remote control, he picked up the cover, and excitedly crawled over to the remote, turned it over to see the batteries, and attempted to put it back together. He's just really observant, and a quick learner.

He's been a very relaxed and easygoing baby for the most part, unless I'm changing his diaper or getting him dressed. He hates being on his back. The last few weeks he's starting to want mommy all the time. It's a sign that he needs more food. I'm nursing, so I know that my milk will adjust to accomidate him within the next two to three weeks, or I could just start feeding him baby food.

He's very curious about food. He cries and bangs on his high chair if we're eating anything, so I often give him tastes. I had to feed him a bunch of my tomato soup the other day, and I was a tad worried about if that was okay for his age. He didn't have any trouble, so I guess it was okay. He also knows the smell and look of craisins, which my kids eat every day, and he demands to be given them, even though I'm a little nervous. But he does fine. He has 6 teeth, and insists on being able to use them! He wants to chomp on breads and crackers, and cookies, and he seems to remember things he likes! He also enjoys gnawing on raw broccoli or carrots.

So that's our update for the kids! Kevin and I are doing really great right now. We're like most couples, and go through ups and downs. The trick of course is having more ups than downs. Lately, we've just had an easy time of communicating, and working through disagreements. I love him so much it hurts!

Last night he stopped at the grocery store without me asking him to, and got some eggs and bread, and a few other things he'd noticed we needed. He did all this, without even calling me!! Some of you may not think that's all that wonderful, but to me, it was a sign of true love! He's come a long way!! He cared about whether we had enough food, and he paid attention! Also, he got the brands I like! I'm pretty picky about my brands...and he nailed it! He also got wheat bread for me, even though he prefers white bread! It was just one of those things that seemed little, but showed a lot of love. I don't think I thanked him enough! I will have to write him a little note.

Kevin spends all day every day building a home for us. He hasn't had a job since just before I got pregnant with Ken. So he's been building a house, hoping to sell it. The economic downturn has really thrown our plans, and is making things very precarious and scary for us. Maybe we're close right now because we're both scared about our future! Well, every cloud has it's silver lining, right?

I love how much my husband loves, and loves to play with his kids!