The children

It has been a really long time since I have just blogged about Sam and Lucy and what they are doing these days. So I am going to tackle that beast and feel a lot better about documenting our life. At least for a few months.
Lucy is a chatterbox. When we are in the car, or running around the house to get things done Lucy is talking to whole time. We have known that Lucy is a talker, but sometimes I can't believe how much is really hears and processes. Funny thing though, she is very quiet when we are in big groups. We went to a concert with my parents a while ago and Lucy sat very quietly and watched (with her thumb in her mouth and her finger twirling her hair of course--we are still working on that!). Later she will either sing or act out the songs. But in the moment is she likes to absorb what she is seeing. She is very motherly and is constantly bossing Sam around. On the flip side of that she is very good at giving kisses and hugs when someone is crying -- myself included. Sometimes if I am having a rough time she will look into my eyes, kiss me on the cheek and say "I know it's hard mom, I love you!"

Lucy is going to once a week preschool with a bunch of friends from church. It is the highlight of the week for her. She is constantly talking about her friends and how much they learn. Of course right after school when I ask her what she did sometimes I get the line "we didn't learn anything..." But she tells me all the stories as the rest of the week progresses.

Lucy is also taking a mini sports class through the town. It is her and a bunch of boys. She was a little apprehensive at first and clung to the coach for the first 15 minutes, but after a while she realized that all they were doing was running around and that is one of her favorite things to do. She is excited to go back this week. Side note: Lucy runs on her tip toes and it makes her look even more like a little girl -- and it reminds me that we need to put her in dance again.

Lucy is starting to read. She is always begging me to read her books and she is always asking me what letters are in the words. Now that we have started to read she is getting more confident in sounding things out, which is really fun to watch. She can read words like "Sam, Mat, Sat, See, etc..." I know that her being able to read will be so freeing. Since quiet time is mostly her looking at books I am sure it will make it more bearable if she can read some of the books too!

Lucy loves to sing. She sings when she plays, she sings when she is cleaning up, she sings when she is using the potty. It usually a rendition of Frozen or Daniel Tiger's neighborhood. I think she inspires Sam to do the same, which means our house is very loud sometimes -- all the time! Her singing often goes along with motion (i.e. dancing). Lucy dances as a free spirit would, with lots of arms and hip movements. When she is high school I am not sure I will approve, but for now it is quite entertaining. She also like to put on shows that start with "ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, it's time for the show to begin..." For those of you have seen this, you know it is fun to watch!

Her favorite colors are purple and pink and if you are wearing either one of those colors you are matching her outfits because that is what is wearing most of the time. She also will eat almost anything I give her, which is awesome. And if she doesn't love it, she is eat a good chunk of it anyways. She is quite a trooper.

Lucy is wonderful and we love her, even if her mouth and body are constantly in motion. Here are some pictures of Lucy and some of her preschool art.

Sam (Sam ba Jam, Sammy, and Sam the Man) is one active little 20 month year old. I am not sure how he or I will survive his toddlerhood. He is constantly busy. He loves to climb, jump, dance, tinker, and dump toys everywhere.

He is just starting to talk. He can say "Mama, daddy, Lulu, book, milk, hello, bye, night-night, bapple (apple), cereal, breakfast, SNACK, more, what's that!, oh, yeah, etc..." He is very expressive in how he says most of these words which makes up for the fact that he probably doesn't talk as much as Lucy did at his age.

He loves food, but is very particular. If I give him something new it often goes in and out of his mouth, and then he won't eat anymore of it. And if he likes one thing better than another he will only eat that one thing. That being said, pasta is his favorite and it doesn't matter what kind. I take advantage of this and put all sorts of veggies in with the pasta and he will eat them (pureed of course!). He also loves smoothies and I do the very same thing. He doesn't know he is eating a bunch of spinach when it is in a smoothie.

Sam loves car, trains, and trucks. Yeah, he is a boy. But he also likes to try on Lucy's princess outfits. He doesn't like being left out of all the fun. I prefer the Snow White outfit because the top looks a lot like a prince's top. He looks very handsome.

Sam can climb and open almost every door in the house. He loves to play in the bathroom, but not for the usual toddler reasons. He likes to put the plunger in the toilet and clean it. He likes to put toilet paper into the toilet bowl, and he likes to throw things away. You see, Sam is a cleaner. When I go to do laundry he helps me switch over the loads. And when I need to sweep something up he holds the dust pan. He loves to take diaper wipes and clean the shelves around him. I hope this carries over to his teenage years where he has a spotlessm organized room -- wishful thinking I am sure.

Sam loves Thomas the tank engine. He calls him "chachis." It is really the only show he wants to watch and will watch. Other shows do not draw his attention, nor do they need to. He would rather be reading books with me, or pushing me away from the counter when I am try to cook. He is a lot more afraid of "scary" things (dogs, vacuum cleaners, doctors, hairdressers), than Lucy was at this age. When he is scared he say "mama" in a worried tone and then shakes. Then all he wants is someone to cuddle. He is such a good cuddler.

Sam never really wakes up happy. He wakes up angry that no one is there to greet him, so he yells until someone is holding him. Then it takes a good 5-10 minutes of snuggles to warm him up to the idea that he is awake. I say snuggles, but snacks work really well too.

Sam is stubborn, loyal and very loving. He is quite the little boy now. Here of some pictures of Sam:

And those are the kids. Goodness I probably left out so much, but I do feel better that I have written something down after such a long time. I have some pretty cute, fun kids and they deserve to know it, even if they don't read this until they are 25!