Updates and Things to Remember...

Wow, it's been FOREVER since I've written updates so I have a bunch, but I've also been so bad at keeping track of stuff so it's not as much as it should be. I'll just be glad to have some things written down for our records.

Overall, Zane's been going through an interesting phase. He's SOOOO fun to play, talk with, and joke around with. He comes up with fascinating ideas every single day. He's also been super extra loving lately. he tells us constantly how much he loves us and gives tons of hugs and kisses. He mostly takes care of Emmy and is getting so much better at sharing and loving her. And is improving on asking for toys nicely instead of grabbing them. On the other hand, he's been testing limits for sure. He's started to lie about random things. When we used to ask him what happened when Emmy started crying or screaming, he would tell us exactly what he did to make her cry or if she just fell. Now he says, "Oh, nothing" or "She's just crying for no reason," etc. He also tells us these elaborate stories and swears they're absolutely true. He's also started getting a little bit of an attitude and will respond to me with a less-than-polite answer. It's sooo bizarre watching him grow up and push the limits so much. The other thing that's been a little tricky lately is that he's been responding so badly to the word, "no." By badly, I mean yelling and crying for a very long time. Sometimes even throwing a really bad fit. It's just not typical for our little guy, so I hope this part of his phase passes quickly.

Overall, Emerson has been going through her best phase yet. She has been so much fun. Her caring side is shining - I love watching her give toys and other things to Zane and other friends when they ask for it or are sad. I love watching her pat Zane's head and back when he's upset and ask me what's wrong with Zane. She's talking more and more too, which is so fun. She adores Zane more and more too and she is right by his side almost all day. Her spunky personality is just too darn cute.

Updates and Things to Remember About Zane:

* I've started trying to teach Zane to read and we have all sorts of things we've been doing for it. When we were putting cards together to make the word "jet" he put the letters together, sounded them out and said "j - e - t.... airplane!" since that's what it looked like. :) It's so cute because he gets sounding out words and even saying the sounds faster, but it's so hard for him to hear the actual word.

* He is starting to draw and write better too. For a person, he can draw a complete face, hair, ears, etc. Then he draws the arms and legs coming right out of the head. When he drew Grandma Fran, he made sure to put a purse in her hand. :)

* Yesterday he chewed his first piece of gum and after about 5 minutes, he said, "This sure does take a long time to chew. I can't chew this all day!!"

* He uses lot's of really great words and phases lately, like "ridiculous, very familiar, Something's telling me I should keep my eye on that, peculiar, fantastic, lovely, interesting We have a mystery on our hands and better get busy solving it, totally, there's no use, I feel so upset or frustrated or grumpy, absolutely, joy up (instead of cheer up), mysterious,

* He told me, "I'm not a bully, Mommy. I'm a nicey." When he was frosting cookies, someone told him he was an artist and he said, "No, I'm not an artist, I'm a cookiest."

* When we can't understand what he's saying, he says, "Mommy, watch my lips" and then says it super clearly.

* The other day, he pretended all day that he was a super hero whose job it was to save snow and penguins. It was an adventure!

* When we were driving to the Mall of America, we were talking about riding all the rides and he said, "I am sooo excited!! I'm soooo happy!!! But actually, I'm a little bit worried too."

* He changes words to songs, like changes the letters around in ABC's and in Frosty the Snowman, he likes to say "not" in front of a bunch of the phrases. "Frosty the Snowman was NOT a jolly happy soul, WITHOUT a corncob pipe...etc."

* We were pretending that I was a bear and he was a kid finding fish for me to eat from a river. I asked if he wanted one and he said, "No way! People don't eat fish, they eat chicken nuggets!"

* He asked for something in the store and I told him we would think about it. So, he put put his finger on his chin like he was thinking and said, "Hmmm, should we get this? I think yes, for sure."

* One of Zack's favorite shows growing up was Duck Tales. Now Zane and Emmy watch it sometimes and so now we of course imagine we're the characters. Zack is Scrooge McDuck. When he was out of town, Zane said, "Where's Uncle Scrooge?? We haven't seen him in days and days!"

* He also likes to play "Frosty and His Little Sister Homey" - I'm sure you can guess who gets to be Homey, Frosty the Snowman's little sister. He says he's made out of cold and everything in his house is also made out of cold.

* He praises me all the time, like he'll say, "Oooh, that was very polite, Mommy. Good job."

Updates and Things to Remember About Emerson:

* She likes "girly" things now. She likes to get her hair done, wearing skirts and boots, bracelets, glasses, and purses.

* She's pretend playing better now. She'll have her stuffed animals or little people talk to each other and play together, and other things. She also likes to pretend she's a doggie and drink out of a bowl and lick everything - especially us! Cooking, tea parties, and pretend eating are favorites too.

* She could sit and read all day. When Zane's at school, we usually spend most of our time reading together. She's starting to memorize a few books.

* She dips everything in ketchup. And by everything, I mean, fruit, desserts, every thing. Yuck. But it gets her to eat at least.

* She likes to count a lot and can say "one" and "two" and then the rest of the numbers sound exactly like she's speaking German or another language.

*Sometimes I count for Zane when I'm asking him to give Emmy a toy back. Yesterday, he took a toy from her and she yelled, "No Zane!" and started counting for him to give it back.

* She is being so good about sharing and giving things to other people. She almost always will if you ask her now.

*Sometimes she covers her ears when Zane cries or screams and asks, "Zane??? Zane???"

* She completely understands basically everything we say, so we give her lot's of choices and some timeouts. It's so cute, for example, if she wants juice and we offer her milk or water, she only says juice a couple times and then just picks one of the choices.

* When she hurts us on accident, she immediately says sorry and gives a kiss.

* She sings and sings and sings and sings and a lot of it is pretty understandable.

* She copies Zane on everything!! She learned "Eeny, meeny, miny, mo" and loves doing it with him. She'll sit with Zane too, and help with puzzles, games, or whatever he wants to do.

* She says, "too" after most things that she says. Zane will say a long sentence and then she'll try to copy the whole thing and then end it with "too."