Kids these days

Colson is 20.5 months old now...and Lauren is 2.5 months from being 4. I know there are so many influences and circumstances that contribute to their differences in personality and preferences, but mostly I like to think about how fun it is to have such different kids. They are both so unique and fun!

Colson loves to point out all the cars and trucks when we drive. He says "ma fruck" (my truck) and "ba fruck" (big truck) a lot. He still doesn't attempt to say the word car, but prefers to make the "car sound". Colson is so vocal and is nonstop chatter. I understand about half of what he says and sometimes I just have to tell him I don't know what you are saying! He says the same phrase over and over again and probably thinks "okay mom, I have only said...15 times in the last 30 seconds, why don't you understand?!" But he does have a pretty good vocabulary of words we can all understand and it increases every day.

I don't remember ever thinking that I didn't understand what Lauren was saying. She was a late talker and used a lot more sign language and body language to communicate what she wanted. I usually knew what she wanted before she did and took a lot of the guess work out of it - which also never forced her to speak at an earlier age. So this is fun with Colson hearing him have whole conversations with us in his own little language.

Other parents are always surprised Colson is so young when they see him playing on the big playscapes and playgrounds...nothing really stops him- and if a step is too high for him to climb, he asks his big sister for help. She is such a good big sister, and will assist him getting up and down from the steps. She also sticks up for him when other kids take something he is playing with. The teachers at the gym are always telling me what a good sister she is and I am so glad! I really hope these two grow up to be best buddies!

Lauren is such a sweet girl and always so compassionate. Whenever someone is sad she is the first to comfort them. She will hug them and tell them she will make them so happy- and she usually does- either by saying or doing something silly.

Lauren loves to chew gum and will randomly let people know this when we are out. She is at the age when you never know what she is going to say or how she will interpret a situation. She has a little crush on her coach at the gym. He is probably about 20 and really good with the kids in their sports class. You can tell he loves coaching them and they all adore him. Lauren talks about Coach Grant all week and smiles and flirts whenever we see him at the gym.

Lauren is also taking swim lessons and doing so well. She is swimming on her front and floating on her back with no assistance for short distances. Both kids love to swim and Colson is only wearing a puddle jumper half the time now. He is getting pretty comfortable in the water and could care less when he goes under water. Swim lessons for him are up next!

Lauren is really obsessed with dying right now. Not in a tragic way, but she will ask numerous times a day, "Is the guy singing this song alive? So he didn't die, right mom?" or "We are going to be so careful so we don't have a car accident and die. Then we won't be alive anymore". All of her babies and stuffed animals that she loves on have recently lost their families also. She announces that "Her family got dead and we are their family now. okay mom?" whenever she plays with a new "pet" or baby doll.

Both my kids love to hang- on anything... door handles, handicap railings, counter tops... I must say, "don't hang on that, it isn't a jungle gym" at least once a day.

Speaking of other sayings I say a lot..."No roaring at the table" My kids love to pretend they are lions and roar at each other. It is actually quite comical but not great table manners!

Trapeze Show

I am a little obsessed with trapeze right now - I am not planning to run off with the circus, but I loved my first lesson and can't wait for my second. The company had a pro and student trapeze show today and Tina and I took Lauren for a "girl date". It was really fun to spend time with just us girls. 

Lauren actually took better pictures than I did... she was completely mesmerized and sat there for the whole show in awe taking pictures...and of course wanted to know when she could do that. 

We got to see some fireworks also and it was probably the first time Lauren has seen them that she can remember - the last few 4th of Julys she has fallen asleep by the time fireworks start.

my pretty girl with her crazy hair

Getting ready for some ice cream on our "girl date" which she always looks forward to! 

Interesting

Lauren loves to write her letters, but especially her name. About 90% of the time she write it like the bottom page (correctly) but every once in a while I see a name like the one she wrote on the top- backwards and mirror image. I don't even know if I could do that...

Dance with Dad

There is a Daddy-Daughter Dance coming up in February and Lauren can't wait to go...but first she had to ask Jason to take her...

oh, and Jason said yes...

just like Mary

As I was parking at the gym today, it was rainy and cold...and the gym was incredibly busy- even for a January day. We parked about as far from the front door as you can, which was one of the only spots open at the time. I made a comment that we were going to have to walk a long way to the gym and Lauren said, "Mom, we are going to have to walk really, really far just like Mary did when she had baby Jesus."

Her comment had an immediate impact on the dreary shuffle to the front door we had before us...All we needed was a little perspective from a 3 year old!

Bounce House fun

We haven't been to a bounce house since we moved here, so I figured it was about time. The kids had a blast in the foam pit and bouncing for hours on the bounce houses. 

of course Lauren had to climb... what a monkey! 

Colson was fearless - he just plunged himself into the foam pit repeatedly... and thought it was just hilarious.

Commitment Day 5K

Lifetime sponsored a 5K on New Year's Day called Commitment Day so I took the kids and ran it. It was a lot of fun, but a little cold. The kids did great until mile 2 and then wanted out... Lauren ran the last 50 yards with me to the finish line and got a finisher's shirt which she is so proud of. She loves that we match and she can't wait to run another race with me. I love it. 

me and my running buddies