34 months

Have I mentioned lately how much I treasure this age? It feels so magical and sweet. Here are a few tidbits from life lately...

1. Kitties...Ella and Noah sit on the kitchen counter to eat breakfast each morning. A few days ago Ella told me that she had two kitties. I asked where they were and she pointed to the window sill saying that they were 'right here' in her tiny voice. We talked a bit more about the (imaginary) kitties and she even scooped them up and put them in my hands so that I could pet them as well. She has decided to name them Sweetie Pie and Lollypop...

This morning I asked her where Sweetie Pie and Lollypop were and she told me (as if it were completely obvious) that they were by the couch eating raisins. Naturally.

2. Potty training...Last Friday I finally decided that I was ready for potty training. They've been ready for months now but as indicated in previous posts, our schedule seemed too hectic for tackling the whole potty thing. Plus, I rationalized that the more I waited, the faster it would be.

Friday morning, I told them that today was a no diaper day and that their job was to keep their undies dry. I don't know what I was expecting, but I felt like I was cleaning up one puddle after another. By 11 am, I had this huge pile (like three grocery bags full) of wet undies and, while cleaning up Ella's accident, I looked up to see Noah on all fours, on the rug, watching pee run out of his undies. It think that was one of my favorite moments of the morning. That and when Ella finally peed in the potty for the first time. No lie, I had a sore throat from all the celebrating we did.

The fun thing about doing this with two is that they are so excited for their sibling to use the potty. Just this morning when Ella used the potty Noah insisted that 'I want to see Ella's treat'. His excitement was about equal to the thrill over using the potty himself.

3. Post lunch conversations...they seem to be really engaged with each other after lunch and today I finally wrote down a snippet of what I heard. They were playing in a corner between a desk and the couch that they call their house. They had arranged a bunch of trucks around them to form their 'room'. As a side note, this was also the appointed pooping place before we started using the potties in earnest. I have heard one ask the other ‘you come to my house to go poo poo?’ many times. Okay, back to the conversation.

N - My babies are crying.
E - No Noah, your babies are not crying.
N - My babies are crying.
E - No, your babies are not crying.
N - My babies are crying.
E - No Noah, your babies are not crying. Put them on the pack n play. They are not crying.
N - Where is their bed? On the firetruck.
E - They are not crying.
N - Let’s make the room again (ie. let's rearrange the trucks around us again). Let’s make a different room, Ella.
E - You take the babies out of the pack n play. I have an owie on my tummy. Put your babies on my tummy. Count 5.
N - They are crying.
E - No.
E - Put the babies to sleep on my tummy. Don’t touch the buttons (the ones on the firetruck that make noise) and wake them up.
N pushes buttons.
E - Don’t wake them up.
E - Two, five. That is five babies. One, two, three, five. Five babies on my tummy.
N - Why Ella?
E - You got them out of the pack n play too?
N - I’m hiding them.
E - Don’t hide them on the fire truck.
N - I’m keeping them safe.
E - I’m putting them to sleep on my tummy.
E - Put them on my tummy. They are Noah baby, Ellie and Ella. Ella and Noah and Ellie and Noah. On the firetruck. You woke them up again. (We have some friends with newborn twins named Noah and Ellie.)
N - Why Ella?
E - Because you are waking them up. You put Lily (another friend) and Ella and the other Ella on my tummy? Okay, that is one baby. They are on my tummy sleeping. They are on my belly Noah. I have a belly. Time to go to Nancy’s house (that is the little school that they go to). Time to clean up Matt. (That is from book.)

4. Cuddling...Both of them love to cuddle. The other day I set them up on my bed with an episode of Curious George on the TV while I made dinner. When I checked on them a bit later, they were sitting right next to each other and Noah had used his blankie to cover his and Ella's legs. He looks at me and says 'you come cuddle with me momma?' And then Ella affirms the request with an 'I have a side for you' as she pats the bed indicating where I should sit. Could I ask for anything more?

5. The moon...My kids love, adore, and are infinitely curious about the moon. We look for it many mornings and rejoice when we find it in the daytime sky. The other night we were out late and Noah was asking where the moon was. It was cloudy and the moon's light was being reflected in the clouds around it. When he spotted it he told me that 'the moon is melting'. I looked up and he was right, it really did look like the moon was melting.

6. Phraseology...Some common phrases heard around our house...
It is awake time. (Ella) It is time to wake up.
I hold you. (Noah) I want you to hold me.
No nap. I be kite for Noah. (Ella) I'll be quite while Noah sleeps and I'll stay awake.
Yes Jesus wubs me. The Bible tells meee so. (Noah)