Kevin
"Oh, come on."
He loves describing things as a "BIG, FAT ______."
"Hardly." (He got this from Ryan.)
Kevin is making slow progress with learning to use the potty. For the past couple of weeks he has been wearing underwear except during naps and at night. The main problem we are encountering is that he has such a strong bladder that he can hold it in until nap time when he's in a diaper, and then after he gets up and we change him out of the dirty diaper he can hold it in until bedtime, which just doesn't seem healthy to me. It sounds like a recipe for a UTI. To give you an idea of how strong this kid's bladder is, today (4/1) he went at least eight hours without using the toilet at all, and finally Ryan nagged him enough that he said, "Fine! I'll just go in your bathroom." Ryan timed him and he peed for a whole minute. Not an exaggeration. Hopefully that will happen less and less, but I am slightly concerned. That's the main reason why I don't feel like I can declare that he is potty trained. We're trying to implement a sort of schedule so that we can say we always use the potty after lunch and before going to bed, and that seems to be helping somewhat. He has also apparently figured out simple addition. He gets one marshmallow for going #1 and two for going #2, so one time when he did both at once, he looked up at Ryan and said, "So I get two marshmallows for going poop and one for going pee. That's three marshmallows." (Apologies to my readers who are not moms and therefore may think this is way TMI.)
Kevin has been very interested in the story of the Atonement this Easter. He gets out the gospel art book and asks us to tell the stories that go with the pictures. It's been pretty neat to teach him about Christ's love for us and the hope that we have because of the atonement. He also likes to hear the story about Jonah.
Hoping to make tooth-brushing a little more pleasant, I told Kevin that we brush his teeth so we can find creepy-crawlies. So when I brush his teeth I do things like tell him I'm going to check in the back or under his tongue, and after brushing there I pull out the toothbrush and we check to see if we got any creepy-crawlies. I think he sort of enjoys it.
I also started telling Kevin some fairy tales. He loves Goldilocks and the Three Bears and The Three Little Pigs. Sometimes I hear him telling the stories himself. I attempted to do this a year or so ago and it was not received well, so it was a relief when this time he was delighted with hearing stories. But then I forgot about the part where they want to hear the stories again and again and again and again and again. Still, it's fun.
Heidi
Heidi is also very interested in the potty, but unfortunately right now she has the order backwards. She forgets that you sit on the toilet before you go. She desperately wants to switch to underwear, but I just don't feel ready to take on potty training right now, especially when she's only 21 months old. Maybe this summer after classes are over. Her personality is very different from Kevin's, so maybe we'll be able to potty train her a little earlier. There is also a strong motivation to get her potty trained so the horrible diaper rashes will stop. The doctor prescribed nystatin for a couple of weeks, and it seemed to help, but there must be another problem because now the rashes are back.
She can climb out of her crib if it's next to Kevin's dresser, and she has successfully climbed into and out of the pack n play. She can also climb up onto the top bunk of the bunk bed at the ends--i.e. without the ladder. Recently one of her favorite games is to use the drawers to climb onto the counter in the kitchen and then pull all the spices out of the cupboard. I honestly think we're lucky she's never had a concussion. She loves to copy Kevin.
She repeats what we say when we help her with her prayers at night. Even Kevin still refuses to do that sometimes these days (and actually he is perfectly capable of saying his own prayers [or helping Heidi with her prayers]--he just insists on help).
Heidi can be very sensitive and dramatic. She has mastered a cry that will melt your heart. She rubs her eyes and whimpers or sniffles softly and puts out her lower lip. Sometimes she even sinks to the floor face down because she is so devastated. The thing is that it's usually an act, which means we generally stifle laughs when she does it.
The fire alarms in our building are really intense. They are really shrill and loud and set to the perfect frequency to make your body shake. It's quite awful. There was one day a few weeks ago when they decided to test the fire alarms (as we found out later--at the time I didn't know), and I was alone with the kids. Kevin was in a t-shirt and underwear and Heidi was in a t-shirt and diaper, so we weren't exactly well-equipped for going outside. As soon as the alarm sounded both of the kids freaked out and grabbed me and wouldn't get out of my lap, and the fire alarm was also having an awful effect on me (I'm not kidding when I say it makes your bones shake). So I was frantically trying to hurry and grab pants and socks and shoes and jackets and get the kids outside and meanwhile both of the kids were sobbing and wouldn't let go of me. Then just as we were about to go out the door it stopped. But the kids wouldn't get out of my lap for a good 20 minutes because they were so shaken. I kept repeating, "Yes, the fire alarm was scary, but it was just a test, and it's off now." Heidi still will often (a couple of times a day) stop what she's doing and look at you very seriously while saying or whispering, "Fire alarm. Scary. Test. On. Scary."
Kevin likes to use his duplo train set to make diggers and street sweepers. He made this street sweeper all by himself and asked me to take a picture.
In March I also became a quarter of a century old. Ryan made me a cake and bought me a Costco bag of pistachios. It was awesome.
We don't really do a lot of crafts or activities for most holidays, but this year Ryan decided to make the Easter chocolates that his family always made together for Easter when he was growing up. They didn't turn out pretty (we probably should have added more powdered sugar and frozen them before dipping in the chocolate), but they tasted amazing. I'm giddy just thinking about them. Try this recipe and make sure you have lots of friends to share them with, because the recipe makes about 3 million chocolates.
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