Lately

Ahh, strawberries!

Lately things have been going pretty well and pretty smoothly. In the last couple of weeks we have had the opportunity to have friends and family visit us. We have also had ample opportunity to spend time with our friends that live close by. Fabulous!

Meeting friends Jack-Jack and Aidan (from San Diego!) at Howarth park in Santa Rosa.



My Aunt Maureen, cousin Kate (visiting from Wisconsin and Idaho) and my naked boys.

With lots of love, affection and attention, Kingsley has required fewer and fewer timeouts or discipline (we have gone a stretch of days without a timeout now). I have tried remaining calm, not raising my voice and giving very direct, brief instruction. That, coupled with somehow demonstrating that I adore him, seems to be working. He, however, has lost all interest in the potty. He will often state, "I'm too busy doing (fill in the blank) ." Oh well, all in good time.


Charlie continues to charm and beguile. We often receive comments about how happy he seems. He is an affectionate child, often giving hugs and (open-mouthed) kisses without prompting. He loves music and will dance and clap when he hears most songs. Charlie is very interested in words lately. He is at that stage where he brings a multitude of objects to show us, mainly wanting to know what the object is called, he then repeats the word and is off to find something else. I have lost count at this point as to how many words he says and uses appropriately (definitely over 50 at this point, crazy). He even says and signs please without prompting, but usually only in the context of asking for more food or milk. This boy can eat and he, unfortunately, likes snacking---but snacks of the goldfish or other starchy variety. So, I am in search of healthier snacks that will keep my happy, charming boy---well, happy, charming, and satisfied. He is loving learning body parts as of late, especially the face. Get too close to him, and he will grab your nose and then show you his (repeat with eyes, cheeks, tongue, etc) He seems to be very quick to pick up on things, whether it be language or social cues. However, he has taken to ripping up almost every single book in the house. I don't know if its the feel, the sound, the power, or figuring out cause-and-effect. It's driving me a bit mad though and I should be installing very high shelves instead of writing this.

Kingsley is now of the age where he is saying some funny and intriguing things. These are the latest:


Kingsley: Get purple sand for sandbox?
Me: No, sweetie. We just got more sand for the sand box last week.
Kingsley: We'll see.

Kingsley: Can I have a brownie?
Me: No, not right now. We are going to have dinner in a couple of minutes.
Kingsley: We'll see.

And many more "we'll see" moments. This must go hand-in-hand with his selective hearing.

Kingsley saw a man whose leg had been amputated. The man was sitting in a wheelchair and one could clearly see his stump. Kingsley had not seen this before and I could feel him staring and also trying to figure out this situation. I tried to explain to him that the man had lost his leg and needed a wheelchair to help move around. Kingsley's response to hearing that the man lost his leg was "Go find it?"

He loves saying his name as of late: "I am King-suh-lee"--with three syllables.

He also likes to say: "I am amazing."

I hope to add more to the list soon. This is getting fun.