It's like she knows

Allie turned 2 last week. I'm pretty sure someone told her that she's 2 now and therefore she's supposed to fulfill some kind of cliche prophecy about being "terrible."
When you have your second kid, you have a better point of reference about what is normal and/or different. If the first kid did/didn't do something, you naturally compare that experience to the second kid. Not in a competitive or better/worse mentality, just a factual comparison.
For example, when we transitioned Zachary from a crib to a bed, he stood at the door yelling at us for five minutes and then fell asleep on the floor every night for two weeks.
When we transitioned Allie from a crib to a bed, she stood at the door screaming at us for 30 minutes and then got back into her bed and went to sleep every night for two weeks. Not better or worse. Just different.
Zachary is a train wreck disaster zone everywhere he plays.
Allie picks up after me in the kitchen if I drop a speck of bread.
Disciplining Zachary is very simple, black & white. He responds immediately and our methods have been extremely effective.
Disciplining Allie is like putting together a 10,000 piece 4D puzzle that changes itself every 5 minutes.
She's not nasty. She's not malicious. She's very considerate and affectionate. She's so darn cute. And this girl is complex. It's like a strange combination of strong will, intelligence, innocence, hard-headedness, and sweetness.
I've heard this about girls. I'm not sure what I expected. A woman is complex. Why wouldn't a tiny version of a woman be complex?
Monday, when I got home from teaching, Zachary said, "Mommy, Allie wasn't listening to Grammy." Wednesday, when I got home from teaching, her teacher wrote me a note and said she was "mischievous" all morning. (I'm assuming that's the nice word she uses when she talks to parents of "those" kids.)
More often than not, Allie is really a sweet girl. Since last Wednesday, she's taken on a new little dynamic in her behavior that just reminds me I'll have to be on my toes for the next 16 years. I'm definitely ok with that. After all, I'm very familiar with the original prototype.

Big Boy Baseball

Well, let the games begin. We held out as long as we could. Zachary is now playing t-ball. Todd is now coaching t-ball. They had their first practice on Saturday. Zachary's the youngest player on his team and was so darn cute out there.
He LOVES the batting helmet...and decided to wear it the entire practice.

Getting ready to catch the ball:

I helped Todd with some of the coaching responsibilities for the first day only. See all those people behind the fence? Parents.

So proud of our little guy.

Birthday Weekend

We celebrated Grandpa and Allie's birthday this weekend. Here are pictures from her little celebration. She was so sweet.

A few weeks ago, I asked Allie what she wanted on her cake. I gave her lots of options, like butterflies, flowers, kitties, etc. She paused for a second and said, "Mommy, Num Nums." (In Allie-talk, that's M&Ms). So, here's her M&M cake:

Grammy Claire made Allie a Raggedy Ann baby doll, which she LOVES!!

We skyped with Grammy Claire, here's Allie showing her some of her presents.

Recently overheard

Zachary: "Mommy, I'm not Zachary today. I'm a girl dog name Cleo...woof woof."

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Zachary: "Allie, would you like to marry me?"

Allie: "Yes!"

Zachary: "Mommy, Allie & I are married."

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Zachary: "Allie, boys can wear a watch when they dance with girls."

Allie: "Ohtay."

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Zachary: "Mommy, Allie's hitting me with a screwdriver!"

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Happy 2nd Birthday Allie!!

I can't believe my Allie Marie is already 2. Our house has no more babies in it! She's in a big girl bed now (pictures soon), wearing big-girl undies (sometimes) and talking like she's grown. I really feel like she was born just a few months ago. What a blessing she is to our family.
I LOVE my sweet girl and wish her a HAPPY HAPPY Birthday today!!

Boys

Zachary & Todd were wrestling. Zach stopped and yelled, "My privates are broken!"
We laughed so hard - which, of course, encouraged him to repeat the statement many many more times throughout the evening.

What a girl wants

Mommy: "Allie, would you like juice or milk with your breakfast?"

Allie: "...coffee."

Snow Day!!

Well, we had our annual one-time big snow yesterday! At first, it was really wimpy snow, but as the afternoon moved on, the snow piled up. This morning, we headed outside to enjoy it. What a beautiful morning. It was sunny, dry & cold...with everything covered in white!!

We thought maybe we could "sled" down the hill. We thought wrong...and neither of us have any clue as to why it wouldn't work. Probably the wrong type of snow.

Pretty Little Allie

Allie's 2nd birthday is next week. I really can't believe she's already 2 years old. Here are some pictures from this past weekend. She's so pretty! She has a fake smile that is super funny. If you say, "Smile, Allie!" she makes her bottom teeth come out over her top teeth (like a barracuda or something...) and then her little smile is crooked. It is so cute though.

Really?...A vampire?

Dear DK Publishing,

This letter is in reference to the hideous and completely inappropriate Vampire character in your Alphabet Book for preschoolers. Since the letter V is so late in the alphabet, I hadn't previewed that particular page and was shocked when I turned the page while reading to my almost 4-year old.
Not only is the whole idea of a Vampire ridiculous for an alphabet book, but the artist painted a drip of red blood pouring from the left fang. How am I supposed to explain that to a 4-year old?
Needless to say, the V page has been torn out of the book. In the future, you might want to consider hiring a parent to brainstorm the ideas for your book.

Sincerely,
Rebecca

More questions

"Mommy, I would like to have one of those chairs that have wheels. Why don't I have one?"


"Mommy, is it ok to eat my boogies?"

Costume Changes

Here are a few pictures of Allie from last week. Every few hours, she changes her look. And every evening, I gather the clothing & accessories scattered throughout the house....

WWJD?

Also, a shout-out to Grandpa...he (grandpa) knows why...


Mommy: "Zachary, I want you to take the dress off."

Zachary: "Why, why can't I wear it Mommy?"

Mommy: "Because boys really don't wear dresses."

Zachary: "Well, Jesus did."