Nearly Every Minute

These kids crack me up nearly every minute of every day. During the non-nearly minutes, they are exhausting me, but they mostly crack me up. Scott and I can't keep up with the stories and moments we want to remember. I should walk around with a pad of paper so I don't forget everything. But I wanted to take a couple minutes to remember our lives in the nearly-every-minute-meantime. 

Brooky at 14 months

I have finally crossed the line in my mind that Brooklyn is a toddler. I have two toddlers, not a toddler and a baby. Brooklyn INSISTS on being a toddler. Oh, she wishes I'd turn her car seat front-facing like her brother's. She has a mind and personality of her own, and I love it. She is so eager to learn and do whatever her brother does... except walking. She has absolutely no interest in walking. It's throwing me a bit for a loop (especially since Peter started on his strider bike around this age), but the more I encourage her to practice, the less interest she has in walking. So I'm ready to swoop in and encourage, but I wait in the peripheral until she decides she's in the mood. I am officially the mother of a girl and all the attitude that comes with her. This is going to be fun. Brooklyn loves to use her walker, and she beams with pride, full aware of how big she's being, whenever she uses it. But the minute I try to get her to practice standing or taking steps on her own, she freezes up, and sinks like a stone to the ground. Oh, Brooky. Once she's walking, the level of cute in our home will finally exceed maximum capacity. So it's probably for the best that she takes her time while we figure out how to make room to handle all the cuteness to come. 

Toddlerdom also comes with a newfound selective process when it comes to the first thing we, as humans, learn to control... our stomachs. Brooklyn is so selective about her "na na." She has gone from my bottomless-pit-daring-taste-tester to a bottomless-pit-lover-of-anything-red. Strawberries, watermelon, raspberries, grapes, and blueberries (not red, but close). She'll even eat red meat. She'll eat other food, but if there's something red on the menu, everything else goes to the floor. Brooklyn can put away three time what her brother eats, and she howls for more if her tray is empty or if she sees something red. "Na na na na na na na na na naaaaa!" All while desperately making the sound for "more." She is a determined little thing. In the car, stroller, store, church, or anywhere on the go... this girl needs her snacks! With all of her early teeth, I shouldn't be surprised.

She is a fantastic talker with a growing vocabulary. I can't really keep track of all her words. Her favorite and most frequent words are still: 

"Dada" Always. It's dad in the morning or any time the phone rings. It's dada every time we walk downstairs. 

"Papa" There's no secret as to why both by kids know their Papa from a very young age and love him tremendously. My dad is the most loving, doting, and actively involved grandpa. Tonight Brooky was in full-blown tears while facetiming, but the minute my dad was on the screen, she stopped, smiled, and screeched "Papa! Papa! Papa!"

"Nana" for food and sometimes Grandma.

"Baba" for her bottle.

"Caaaaaah" for cup and cat.

"Dins dins dins dins" for dance dance dance dance! And she dances with a pretty awesome head shake and knee-bob. 

"Mama"

"Tuh tuh" for Peter

"Daaaah" for dog

"Buh buh" for baby

"Cah cah" for cracker

"Zu zus" for Jesus

"Bud" for bird

"Uh uh uh uh" for monkey (the sound he makes)

She also makes the lion's sound, snake sounds, and elephant sounds
She loves to point out her nose, and your nose. She loves to point out and talk about "teeeeeeeeeeeth"

Brooklyn's hair defies all levels of awesomeness. Brookyn, in general, defies all laws of cuteness.

Brooklyn loves books lately, both reading alone and being read to. She especially loves when Peter reads to her. She is so busy these days, and I just know that every day counts so much when I think about how much she is learning. She is fearless, tough, so eager to love. She gives the greatest wet, open-mouthed kisses, and she gives them freely. I hope that never stops. She stretches her arms in front of her as though she's superman, and makes the greatest, shaking, clenching fists of excitement. I can't even describe it, but "eeeeeeeeeh" will have to be our reminder going forward of this funny little habit. I like to think of it as being so filled with joyous energy that she can't even keep it in. I feel that when I watch her. 

Brooklyn is the kind of girl who pokes her hand out the side of her stroller so she can feel the tall grass and bushes alongside the trail while we walk. I love that about her.  

Brooklyn waves at everyone she sees, whether we are on a plane full of strangers, at church, or in a store. She is so social and nosy. I love it. She wins attention and friends everywhere we go, and I catch people doing the "scrunchkin" face back at Brooklyn in all types of places. She is so joyful, it is truly infectious.

Peter at 2 and 9 months

I can't even handle Peter's sweetness. We have sailed through the "terrible twos" with zero terrible, and I really mean that. Peter is a sweetheart. Even when we are having a day, Peter is without guile and NEVER does anything to be purposefully mean or disobedient. He is becoming more and more independent every day, and stretching and growing comes with a lot of new territory. Peter explores this new territory, and soaks it all in with so much reason and understanding. I have always felt like Peter just has a sense of understanding that astounds me. When we have to turn back from a walk around the lake, Peter has that initial reaction of two-year old resistance. But if I explain to him how far it is to go all the way around the lake, point out where we started and where we need to go, and explain that it would take a very long time on his bike to get there, he is instantly reasonable and compliant. He is a logical kid. 

Peter aims to please. He always wants to be sure that everyone is happy, often asking "You happy, Mama? And Booky is happy? And I happy too!" He is a concerned big brother, and has a hard time realizing that it's okay for Brooklyn to climb up onto things or try a new food. I think Peter's also having a hard time recognizing that Brooklyn's no longer a baby, but a fellow toddler! I give it another six months, and then these two are going to be the very best of playmates. I can't wait.

Peter potty-trained a 2 1/2 (last March) in a week. No joke. Scott came home from a week in Chicago and asked what we did that week. "We potty-trained," I said, and it was really as simple as that. It was Peter's idea, and Peter's momentum. We picked a potty at the store, got some awesome big boy pants, and he was good to go. Wearing the big boy pants was incentive enough... no stickers, confetti, gadgets or bribes. Peter was ready to be a big boy after logically grasping the concept that his baby sister wears diapers, while his big cousins Andrew, Ben, and SJ wear big underpants. When we needed a little extra celebration for getting to the potty on his own, we'd do a BIG THUMBS UP. And he was thrilled. Easy to please. With all the travel that ruled our lives the last few months, we've had a handful of accidents, but he is honestly so great and being consistent with the potty. He even told his nursery teacher today that he had to go, and they came to find me. He tells me when we're in the car if he needs to go "camping potty." I may or may not have pulled over once for a roadside potty break...

Peter is growing fast, and he knows it. He gets dressed by himself, puts his shoes on by himself, and reads by himself. He loves to do whatever I do and be a helper. And he actually is a huge help! It's nice to cross into this new territory where "helper" doesn't mean "stir a bowl of water and bubbles around in the sink for twenty minutes while I make dinner, and then we'll change your clothes and spend the next week trying to dry the kitchen." He loves to have his own special part to play. A big transition for both of us in on its way, and it is exciting and sad! He is starting preschool this September and is so excited to go to "Big School" after he turns 3 and take his "Cat Hat Pack Pack." I can't wait for him to go to preschool. He will love it. He loves nursery every Sunday, and calls it his "class." He fills me in on all the details every week. He is very impressionable, absorbs information voraciously, has his mother's memory, and is polite and sweet. He is a "young 3-to-be" with a very sweet, innocent style of playing and viewing the world around him. But he logical and a fabulous communicator, especially for his age. He has a very advanced vocabulary, and is a quick learner (eg.... potty training, thank goodness). I have to be very careful around Peter. He hears all, processes all, understands all, remembers all, and repeats all. He keeps me on my toes! 

Peter memorizes songs like.... his mom. He has a really good ear and sense of pitch, the sweetest little voice, and a fantastic memory. He will ask for a specific song for three days in a row, have it memorized by day three, and then ask me for a "new song." He will lay in his bed sometimes at night for an hour singing the same song over and over and over in this darling high-pitched voice (his play-pretend voice). I listen of the monitor and fight the urge to go in his room and hang out. 

I usually go hang out. 

He does the same with books. He memorizes books to read to me or to Brooklyn. He loves to show off his reading skills. He has since he was young, reading to his grandparents and cousins on facetime. I've started reading Level 1 and 2 early readers instead of board books to keep him challenged, but he's doing great with those too. He definitely has the verbal thing down. 

He is also well aware that "When I turn free (3) I get to have a lesson at the swimming pool." We visited the pool, and he can't wait to get going! The only thing holding him back is his mom's ability to juggle two kids in the water at once when the swim school requires one parent per kid under three.

Things Peter says. I can't even. I'd have to record an entire day of conversations. Tucking Pete into bed and having our nightly chats is the highlight of my day. He will rehash the day, share something he remembers or has learned, tell me what he wants to do tomorrow, or will bring up a completely unrelated experience that happened months ago! It is a nice change for me to actually have a person and not a parrot to talk to during the day. I am consistently impressed by how smart he is and how excellently he expresses himself. He is learning so fast! But there are a few things I am trying to NOT let him learn, because they are just too adorable to grow out of... 

"Gaga." I just love that he calls Scott "Gaga." He knows Dad. He knows his dad's full name! He is always telling us, "You are Scott Hay-nay. You are Winds Hay-nay. You are Booky Hay-nay. And I am Peter Hay-nay." He always calls me "Winds or Winsy" and just the right moment to make me laugh.

I just love that he stills says "Homeboy" for big boy. Homeboy bed, homeboy pants. "Mama, I'm a homeboy." It doesn't even sound like big boy, but he's always said "homeboy," and I love it. 

"Got for" instead of "forgot." It's just too much cute.

 "Shapez" for shapes

"Wagon" for all the cars pulled behind a train.

Crocodadle for crocodile

Octagon and stethoscope he says CLEAR AS A BELL.

"Huckatacocter" for helicopter
"rushanaught" for restaurant
he still calls his kitchen his "chicken" I don't want to correct him. 

"Mahballs" for marbles, his cabin obsession. And I can't even get into that. I've never truly understood the word obsession before those darn marbles. 

What does an ox say? That is Scott's favorite. Peter's response can't be described with any combination of letters.

Peter has excellent balance (up on skis at age 2 with ease) and is a good little athlete. He loves to be active. Riding his bike is his consistent favorite.  

The other day we were driving on the freeway when Peter asked, hey mama, are there pigs in that truck? I looked out the window to see a dozen snouts poking through the air holes of the truck in the next lane over. I burst into laughter, and Peter thought it was the greatest thing ever. 

Peter was crying in bed. Scott went in to check on him. "I'm really sad. I miss my ocean." His ocean is the lake we overlook from the top of our street. Scott gave him a hug and told him it's okay. His response, "Ok. But I'm still a little sad."

I can't explain this, but I want to remember Peter's little hook finger and squinty eyes when he's explaining something when he's really tired. 

This weekend at the pool a ladybug landed on Scott. He told Pete to be really still while he put the ladybug on Pete's finger. Peter was so still and so reverent, in complete awe at this interaction. When the ladybug released it's wings and took flight from Peter's thumb, he looked at us with a face I'll never forget. In an instant I was reminded just how magical childhood is. I want to do all I can to create those moments for him again and again.