Overheard

This weekend, Will's friend, Charlie, came over to play for a little while. I was in the kitchen, but I could hear them playing in the other room, and I could hear Will trying to tell Charlie how to do everything. So, I called to Will and told him not to be so bossy. He basically ignored me, and they kept playing, with Will still directing the play. Here's what I overheard:

Charlie: Your mama said not to be so bossy.
Will: I'm not being bossy!
Charlie: Yes you are.
Will: What does bossy mean?
Charlie: I don't know.
Will: I don't know either.
Charlie: OK!

And then they continue playing without a care in the world. I guess Mama needs to mind her own business. Clearly they've got this all taken care of.

Eighteen Months!

Julia turned eighteen months a couple of weeks ago. That's right...eighteen months! How did we get here? If anyone tries to call Julia a baby these days, Will quickly corrects them and says, "No, she's a toddler!" And, he's right! She is in full-force toddler mode. She knows what she wants, but can't express it. Or, she doesn't know what she wants, and this makes her mad. And, her teeth are STILL working to come in. All of these combine to create a force of nature; I think she must be very advanced, as she seems to be hitting the "terrible twos" a bit early! For example, on Sunday afternoon when she was supposed to be napping, Julia was screaming her head off instead. And when no one came to her rescue quickly enough, she took off her pants and her (dirty) diaper, and threw them both on the floor. Luckily, it was easily cleaned up, she went to sleep after that incident, and Will thought it was the best story ever.

In general, she just has this look about her that lets you know she's trouble. She still throws her food and is very particular about what she will and won't eat. She's learned how to say "no" to accompany the vigorous head shaking--as if that wasn't clear enough. On certain occasions, if she doesn't like what you've picked out for her to wear, she will actually try to take it off (all while screaming "no, no, no!"), while you're trying to force it over her head. I thought we had a bit more time before she had an opinion on what to wear! She's also still in a bit of a hitting phase, although it seems that she often hits in order to be able to offer a hug afterwards. We've tried to explain that the hitting isn't a prerequisite, but she insists. When we put her in time out, she just gets up. If we speak sharply to her, she burst into tears, as if we have just slapped her across the face. In short, she's got us wrapped around her finger--and SHE KNOWS IT.

But, just as she offers some of our greatest frustrations right now, she also offers some of our greatest joys. Like when I pick her up to give her a hug, and she rubs or pats my back. Like the way she blows kisses, or wants to give each person in the family a kiss--on the arm, of all places. Or how she knows which books she likes, and requests "Moon" each night. And the way she's starting learning some of her friends' names from school--and will "tell" us about them when she gets home. The little smile that lights up a room. The big personality in an eighteen-month body. She is so precious--frustrations and all. As much as I lament this stage, I will be sad when it is over. When she's too busy for me to hold her. When she no longer requests to "rock" each night. Many days it's hard to savor each moment, but I'm doing my best. I know they'll be gone too fast.

Super hero of all things pink

Conversations With Will

I missed Wednesday Will-isms this week, and thank goodness I did, because the conversations we had on Friday turned out to be some of Will's finest:

Yesterday morning Will climbed in bed with me to snuggle and watch TV. At some point, he noted, "Mama, sometimes when I sit down, my pull-up (he still wears one to bed) or my jammies get caught up in my bottom and I have to pull them out."

Me: "Yes, Will, that's called a wedgie."

Around here, we like to start our mornings with a new vocabulary word. That's my parenting tip of the week. You can thank me later.
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Friday afternoon, coming home from school:
W: "Today Ms. Lizzie came on the playground with us."
Me: "Oh, that's nice, do you like Ms. Lizzie?"
W: "Yes. She's brown like Ms. Katherine."
Me: (trying to figure out what to say here) "Well, yes, um...people come in all colors, shapes, and sizes, don't they?"
W: "Yes. Like how Hayden's head is funny-looking."
Me: (trying not to laugh at this point) "Will! It's not nice to call people funny-looking."
W: "Oh, Mama. It's okay, I wasn't talking to anyone, I was just talking to myself."
Me: "Well, I heard you say he was funny-looking."
W: "Yes, but Mama, I was just talking to myself."

I love how matter-of-fact he is about things and the innocence that children have. Will has no idea that it might be offensive to call someone "brown"; he just notes that information like he would note if someone had blonde hair. I hope that as he grows up, he'll continue to not care what color people are. Of course, I also hope that he'll learn not to call people funny-looking...we'll keep working on that one.

I Don't Want to Forget

I did a few of these posts when Will was much younger, but I haven't done one in a long time. So, here are a few things I don't want to forget about this phase:

• How the first thing that Julia asks for in the morning and the last thing that she asks about at night is "Wuh-wuh?" (Will)
• The way Will thinks that "looking at his toes" is a fun activity. He will seriously spend 15 minutes or more just studying--and cleaning--his toes. Gross, but funny.
• The little shrug that Julia gives to say "I don't know".
• The way Julia toddles to the laundry basket --either naked or just in her diaper--each night before her bath, opens up the basket, drops in her dirty clothes, closes the basket, and looks completely satisfied with herself. It's adorable.
• How Will knows to say 'thank-you' for abstract things and will do so out of the blue. "Thank you, Mama, for signing me up to go to computer class." "Thank you for making me this supper." "Thank you for finding my glove."
• How, even though Will's pronounciation is mostly excellent, he still says "calapitter" for "caterpillar."
• The way Julia likes me best right now. This is not an opinion--it is fact. And, I'll admit that it is sometimes annoying when she wants me to hold her when I'm trying to get ready, eat, do laundry, etc. But, I felt I should document her love for me so I can be reminded of it during the teenage years.
• The way Will often exclaims, "Down goes Frazier!" when Julia falls down. (If you don't know this reference, you'll have to Google it. Will first learned it when my dad said it when a waterskier they were watching fell at the lake.)
• How Julia loves any kind of shoes and socks and enjoys taking them on and off. She really loves wearing Will's tennis shoes around the house, but she also puts on mine and Zach's and attempts to walk in those. And, as soon as she wakes up in the morning, she wants to put on her socks and shoes. I should really let her sleep in them, but that ends up causing more problems when she decides to take them off and throw them (and then cry that she doesn't have them anymore).
• The fact that Will calls everything bagels "all bagels."
• The way Julia has an opinion about everything--from what she will eat to what books she will read--and, despite a limited vocabulary, manages to make that opinion known. It's frustrating at times, but I love that she knows what she wants. (Luckily, she isn't fighting me on what to wear...at least not yet.)
• The love that Will and Julia have for each other. Never mind the hitting, the screaming, the fighting--at the end of the day, they love each other and are (mostly) sweet. The teachers at school say that they both light up if they get to see each other during the day. Melts my heart...and I don't want to forget.

Miss Priss

In case anyone was about to accuse me of only posting positive things on my blog, here's this: Julia is driving me crazy! I mean, look at that face...she is TROUBLE, with a capital T. She's in a big hitting phase, one I thought was getting better, but then it reared its ugly head again this morning. I don't mean that she hits Will when they're fighting over a toy, or she's frustrated and can't express herself. That, I could at least understand. But, sometimes, Will will be across the room, minding his own business, and Julia will get up from whatever she's doing (seemingly out of the blue) and walk over to him just to hit him. Really? That is just not okay.

Then, there's the food throwing. Someone is very particular about what she will eat and how much. And, I guess because she doesn't have words to say "all finished," she just throws whatever is on her tray when she's had enough. Or if she's mad. Or if it's not what she wants. Or if you haven't given her her milk fast enough. If you show her food that she doesn't want, she shakes her head vehemently. This pattern continues until you offer the thing that she DOES want (which changes every meal), at which point she will smile and nod her head. Of course, I'm the dummy who keeps giving her these choices, but see the food throwing issue described previously. I really don't know how to get her to eat AND quit this nonsense. I think it's mostly an age thing, because we've tried all tactics we can think of to stop the madness.

Of course, most of the time she is sweet. And she's learning so many new things each day and developing her little personality (stubborn, independent, strong-willed, from what I can tell). We're not going to sell her to the gypsies just yet, but toddlers are supremely frustrating. Good thing she's cute!

Wednesday Will-isms

The other night Will and Julia were taking a bath together, and Will was sitting in the front, next to the running water. My younger sister has vivid memories (which she has shared with me many times) of me always getting to sit in the front of the bathtub and always "hogging" the hot water. As an attempt to prevent Julia from being scarred for life like Melanie apparently was, I told Will that he and Julia were going to have to switch out. He could sit in the front for a while, then it would be Julia's turn. (As a side note, Julia LOVES sitting in the front because she loves to drink the water out of the tap...lapping it up like a little dog!)

I asked Will several times to switch with Julia, and he just wasn't listening. Finally, I moved him to the back of the bathtub. This greatly upset him, and he let me know why: "Sitting in the back hurts my feeeeeelings!"

Ah yes, the hurt feelings argument. Maybe we need to turn down the psycho-babble a bit over here at our house.
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Will's class has been learning about "community helpers" this month--doctors, teachers, firefighters, police, etc. On Friday, they have a chance to dress up as their favorite community helper for school. (Another side note--this is a completely annoying assignment because who really has a full police outfit for their child? And of course, my child won't tolerate just a police hat or accessories because he tells me that that's not what real policemen wear. SIGH.)

Anyway, I was asking Will what community helper he wanted to be--thinking that I best get to work creating a costume--and he first said he wanted to be a firefighter.

"Oh, that will be great, Will. You can wear a red shirt and your firefighter hat. That will be perfect."
"Hmm...no. I think I want to be a knight!"
"A knight? Have you talked about knights at school as part of community helpers?"
"Well, knights save people. That's HELPING."

As usual, I couldn't argue with him.

Wednesday Will-isms

Will has been learning about the days of the week at school. He knows some of the names, but definitely can't associate the names with actual days or keep track of time at all.

Each morning, Will asks me if we're going to school that day. On Saturday, I told him, "No, today is a day we stay home with our family. Do you remember what that day of the week is called?"

"Um, Home-day?"
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The other night, Will and Julia stayed at Hulie and Bubs' house overnight. Apparently, Will had a tough time going to sleep and kept coming downstairs to talk to Hulie. Finally, she told him something along the lines of "you need to get sleep so that you can grow up and be big and strong" so that he would hopefully go to bed.

Will's reply? "Hulie, sometimes I don't want to eat good food and get lots of sleep and do stuff to make me get big. Because when I get big, I have to grow up and not live with my Mama and Daddy anymore. And I don't want to not live with my parents so I don't want to get big."