Lincoln and Anndra are changing so fast that I felt I should use this post to take a 'snapshot' of what they are like right NOW. It may be completely different from the way they were a few months ago and might not be true two months from now... but that's kinda the whole reason to do it. :)
Anndra turns 15-months-old today and she is such a happy light in our family. But she shines brightest when she is with her daddy. She starts asking for him and pointing at the door between 4 and 5 o'clock each afternoon because she can sense that it is almost time for him to come home from work. She loves to wait for him on the driveway. She is walking better and better each day and practically RUNS to him when he gets out of the car. Even in the rain:
She says about a dozen words now. Her newest one is "please." She said that for the first time this morning. She can also say:
da-da or daddy --- she switches back and forth
mama or mom --- depending on her mood
bye-bye --- which includes a wave and, if you're lucky, blowing a kiss
no --- when she's serious (or 'no-no-no' when she's laughing about pulling my hair)
uh-oh --- when something falls down
wee --- on the swing or slide
shoe --- brings them to me to put on her even if she was some on
baby --- she calls all her dolls and stuffed animals 'baby'
ga-ga --- for Grandma
woof --- every time she sees a dog
Parker --- which sounds more like 'cracker'
beep --- because her favorite song is 'Wheels on the Bus' and she loves to say this as she taps her nose on the second verse
pop --- also from a song: '5 little peas'
She can sign 'more' and 'all done' when she's eating. She switches the sounds in uh-oh when she sees a monkey in a book or a monkey toy... she thinks they say oh-ah.
She is a cuddler. She almost always puts her head on my shoulder for a few minutes when I pick her up out of her crib, which I really enjoy. Unfortunately, she is in full-blown hair yanking phase and I joke with Todd that I'm so sick of it I'm going to shave my head.
She is fairly obsessed with the key clicker that goes to the van. She has pushed the panic button only once and the noise scared her so much that she has never touched it again. She loves to open and close the side doors and hear the van beep when she pushes the 'lock' button. In fact, it was when she was asking for the clicker that she said "please" this morning.
Anndra is a good eater and is wild about baths. Basically, she loves to get messy and she loves to get clean. She also enjoys when we read her books together before she goes to sleep. She insists on turning the pages herself. And when she figured out that she gets put in her bed when the story is over, she started turning the pages backward whenever we got close to the last page... I was so amazed that she figured out how to prolong story-time that way - what a smartie!
Lincoln is my little buddy. He is a walking contradiction, though. He can be so independent sometimes and then so clingy at other times. His emotions are always super hot or freezing cold (no middle ground) and very near the surface. One of my friends tried to put it nicely when she saw him yesterday, by saying: "He has a lot of... passion."
He is fearless when he rides his two-wheel scooter up & down the street or tries new stunts on the trampoline... but he says he's 'afraid' when I ask him to do little things like get something from his room or say he's sorry to a friend.
He loves to do anything that makes him seem more grown-up. For example, these days he would rather push Anndra in the backyard swing than ride in it himself. He wants to dress himself, but refuses to dress appropriately. I found him making mud pies while wearing his new church shoes earlier this week.
There are some tasks that he will completely re-do if you try to help him. For example, he always buckles himself in his car seat now. But sometimes I'm in a hurry and accidentally start to untwist the strap or something - but that just won't do! Lincoln pulls his arms back out of the straps and starts all over again from the beginning.
Another thing he does to seem more grown-up is echo Parker. He only does it when Parker is talking to someone else, and (like a translator) doesn't wait for Parker to stop talking before he launches into his own version. He'll be just a word or two behind the entire time... and doesn't repeat the other half of the conversation, just Parker's. Fortunately, it doesn't seem to drive his big brother too crazy.
He has also begun exploring his artistic side and suddenly loves to color with markers. But instead of drawing a picture or working in a coloring book, he marks on a blank sheet of paper until the entire thing is colored (front and back). This takes a long time because his little hand muscles are not very coordinated yet, and when he gets tired he asks me to help. He'll hand me the marker and then get really busy pointing out all the 'holes' - which is what he calls the little specks of white paper still showing through. And sometimes when we're finished he grabs another color and does it all over again.
We are always laughing at the way Lincoln says things. It is hard to think of a lot of examples at the moment, but yesterday when the boys were looking in the snack cupboard together I noticed that Froot Loops & Pop Tarts became Froot Poops & Top Parts when Lincoln said them.
***warning: if you don't like bathroom talk, skip this last section***
The biggest exception to Lincoln always trying to be more grown-up is when it comes to potty-training (he is completely trained when it comes to #1, but when he needs to go #2 he asks for a diaper). Here is a conversation we had 2 days ago right after I walked out of the bathroom:
Lincoln: Did you poop?
Mommy: Yes
Lincoln: In the toilet?
Mommy: Yes, because I'm a BIG girl.
Lincoln: I'm a BIG boy!
Mommy: Good! Does that mean you'll poop in the toilet?
Lincoln: No, I'm a baby boy.
Mommy: Ok, so when do you think you'll be big enough to poop in the toilet?
Lincoln: When I'm seven!
Thanks for the highlight post Jen. I love all of these little details. I can't wait for our kids to get to hang out together, especially Kate and Aandra, because they are doing all of the same things, they are going to be BFF :) Love you girl!
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