A Weekend With the Kids

With Daddy gone for the annual ski trip this weekend, the kids have been especially attached to Mommy this weekend.

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Andrea has been really cute. She misses Daddy SO much. She keeps asking when he's coming home, and being extra snuggly and lovey with me. Last night, when I put her to bed, she made me promise that I wouldn't go away, and that I would stay and take care of her! She is also constantly after me to do the tings that Daddy does with her: play computer games, do gymnastics, do the midget toss, etc.

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Kevin has been his usual self, meaning, a STINKER. That is my new nickname for him: "Stinker," or sometimes, "Monster." He may be delayed in some areas, but his attitude is definitely heading toward the Terrible Twos! He still has the bad habit of throwing things from his tray when he's tired of eating. Today, I took his breakfast away after he "dropped" the first thing. He still had one last bite of food he was chewing, so he put his hand in his mouth, pulled out some of the chewed up food, and threw it at the wall--SPLAT! Gross! When I scolded him and started to clean it, he laughed, and did it again. MONSTER!

Then, at lunch time, I was making something in the oven that needed to be flipped. As soon as I opened the oven door, he came running in on hands and knees. I had a flipper in one hand, a pan in the other, and I was trying to shoo him away. He laughed at me! He thought it was a game! Then, when I yelled because I didn't want him to get hurt, Andrea came running in and said, "Stop being mean to him! Stop yelling at Kevin! You're being bad to Kevin!" This is funny because Andrea is usually the one yelling at him, so she's probably repeating what I've said to her a zillion times. They're three and one, and they're already banding together against the parents! Actually, I was happy to see Andrea defending her little brother.

Kevin also gets into everything (cupboard locks are constantly on) because he is incredibly curious. He drives Andrea crazy because he crawls after her everywhere, and he tries to tickle her feet all the time! His other difficulty is staying still (when WE want him to); I have never seen a child crawl so fast! Kevin RUNS on his hands and knees! The worst times are clothing and diaper changes; I usually end up chasing him down the hall, crying, "Naked baby on the loose! Naked baby on the loose!"

Still, Kevin is a lovable little guy, and very cuddly with the people he knows and loves best. Who can resist his toothy grin? The other night, I was filming some videos of him (I'll post those after) and he wanted to grab my camera. I was holding it, but he was pressing the button, and snapping pictures of himself. Every time the camera flashed, he laughed like crazy. I'm posting all the pictures here because they made me laugh so much!

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Kevin's really been into blocks lately, and he recently discovered Andrea's set of Pooh-bear Mega Blocks. (Isn't it great when toys get used by both kids?) I was surprised by how well he puts things together, and how long he can spend quietly amusing himself. He's very focused, too; I can barely get his attention when he's playing.

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As far as Kevin's gross motor skills, there's been some small improvements. He likes to play in high-kneeling position, and he'll walk on his knees with a toy. He pulls himself up to standing once in a while. We've even gotten him to take a few steps with his walking toys (but he always cries--he doesn't like it). His communication skills are still a work in progress. Today, he said "Map" and "Bac-ac" (Backpack) when we were playing a Dora game, so that was good. I got a video of Kevin and I doing our songs and sounds practice last night. It's long, but it gives you an idea of where he's at (and he's just too cute!).

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Andrea still loves singing and music, too. Last night, she started singing the cutest little song about Peter, James, and Jesus out on the water. I know she learned this one at daycare (it's Christian--they do a brief church service each morning). I just thought she was so sweet singing this little song to herself, so I asked her to do it on video for me. Of course she was glad to, and then we had to watch it about 50 times!

One more video of Andrea singing. They were learning "Skinnamarink" for Valentine's Day at daycare. She doesn't have it quite right yet, but I just love her ending ("Say it one more time!").