Just wanted to say that. It was one of those blogs where I hit publish and then immediately texted Brian like, "wait, did I just do something really bad?" He's totally a biased person to ask because his response is always, "Nope. It's honest."
I'm here today to actually talk about the kids and how much they are growing and changing. I can't help but be so proud of them. It's cliche (and I've said it many times before) but this is my favorite age so far. No, it's certainly not without challenges or bad days but the kids get more fun by the day.
We are in this whole new phase of a sibling friendship slash rivalry. It actually took us a long time to get to "fighting", I think. I think this is because Patrick has been so easy going that he used to be willingly dominated by Hartley. But not anymore. He is becoming a toddler with his own idea of what he wants now. They fight over things like toys but also attention. Also, gone are the days of giving something to Hartley and not to Patrick. Like juice boxes are a "big kid" thing in my house because they can be so messy but Patrick now has to have his juice box, too. The rivalry/fighting is a hard thing but if I'm being honest, a lot of the time I let them kind of sort it out on their own. I definitely intervene if it's big enough but I also want them to learn how to work through this stuff without me constantly playing referee.
Another thing we're currently working on in our house is self-care. Now, people are going to read what I'm about to say and laugh, and I totally get it, you are free to LOL at this. A big thing is walking. Yes, both of my children, and this is fueled by rivalry, are only wanting to be carried. It's straight up crazy. For a few weeks there I was carrying each down the stairs one at a time, same with to the car. Finally, my body started to ache so badly that I decided I couldn't do it anymore. At almost 1.5 years old and almost 3, they are totally able to walk so I'm trying to give in to the carrying thing less.
For Patrick, that boy just loves, and I mean LOVES, being a baby. He loves to be picked up and carried. Of course, then Hartley wants it because Patrick is getting it. And let's get real, while I often think of myself as a mini pony, I can't carry 70 pounds around. And I also can't take two trips to the car or up and down the stairs all day.
I'm also trying to get them to come and sit on our entryway bench to have their shoes put on; I was getting so tired of chasing them around in the morning and tackling them to get on their shoes. Wrestling Patrick is like wrestling a wild boar. The kid is crazy. I'm working on them walking to and from the car, only lifting them and fighting them when I need to buckle them into their carseats ;)
Hartley I've actually started unbuckling and letting her slide herself out of her seat when I unload. I've just been trying to get her more self sufficient and trying to save my back.
I've also been working on getting Hartley to help with certain things. Cleaning up goldfish she spills, we're at like a 10 percent success rate on that ;) I'm trying to have her take off her own coat if I unzip it. I actually hung a couple hooks by the door so I'm going to eventually have her take down and hang up her coat. She can put on her rain boots, and sometimes even on the correct feet! It's seriously the cutest thing ever to watch her walk around with her shoes on wrong. She's so proud of putting them on, and it's the sweetest thing.
Other big things she's helping with is sometimes bringing Patrick a snack or finding her drink cup. "I go get it, Mama!" I've actually gotten to have her help carry in groceries a couple times recently!
I'm sure a lot of these things are tiny for kids her age but it's been hard not jumping in to help her with everything and watching her have to try to do things on her own a little bit. But once she gets it, she's so proud, and it's always worth the frustration and tears we see along the way.
And while I love that my baby boy loves being a baby, I'm having to push him a little, too. I'm finding that to be hard. More often than not I think Patrick is my last baby so I want to prolong his babyhood as much as I can. But truth be told, I'm physically starting to not be able to carry him as often as he'd like. There's a gigantic part of me that just wants to tell him to take as much time as he can growing up but at the end of the day, my body is saying it can't do it.
I also thought for a bit that Patrick's growth had slowed but it hasn't. Being around friends from his playgroup or other toddlers at the playground, I realize he is still massive. The kid is a beast. He still looks like a gigantic baby as opposed to having that little boy toddler look. It cracks me up. What we must look like together, my 5 foot 2 self carrying around the world's largest 1.5 year old.
He is a total mama's boy. He just started giving me kisses right on the mouth. Those big ol slugs come at me nice and slobbery, and he blurts out a loud "MWAH!" He loves to clap and make music. He likes being read to. He's learning new words little by little bur in true boy fashion he's not in a rush to talk. He mainly says, "car" "bus" "mama" and "bub gup" (that last one means the show Bubble Guppies). He's actually got a minimum of a dozen words but he mainly says those four! We'll be driving down the street and it's all "CAH! CAH! CAH! BUH!" from the backseat. He calls out every car and bus he sees. It's ridiculously cute and silly.
He loves Pete the Cat. My dad actually calls him Pete the Cat sometimes. I bought Patrick a Pete the Cat Valentine book that came with paper Valentine's in it. He loves giving his mom Valentine's. Today he'd hand me a slobbery valentine and shout a demonstrative, "HERE!" The book also came with a poster; so shock of the century, Patrick's first poster is not a Celtics or Patriots one, it's of a groovy beatnik Cat ;)
He is now in a forward facing car seat. I know that's probably a horrific thing to many modern moms but the kid couldn't fit backwards anymore, and I could've lift him into the backwards car seat anymore so it actually had to be that way.
We are pretty much down to one nap a day unless he's having an off day. We are trying to kick the bottle but he loves the bottle so it's been a struggle.
Ok, I was going to write a boatload about Hartley because all of a sudden starting yesterday she's had an incredible language burst but I have written too much already! But in the next few days I plan on a serious Hartley update. I actually just scheduled her next meeting with her developmental pediatrician for March so I'm actually going to be making more of a point to chronicle and record her development leading up to that. Sometimes I get into those appointments and feel like I should've written more down to "present", so my goal is to be more prepared this time :)
Thanks for reading another crane babes novel. Happy weekend!
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