I'm a Big Kid Now

I have especially enjoyed the kids this week. Today Chloe wanted me to use my "pinchers" on her hair.  I couldn't get all the little curlies underneath.  Maybe I can do a better job next time.  It's just so curly.  She liked it though.  Doesn't she look like her cousin??  She reminds me of Bella so much.  Anyway, the other day, we were coming out of an office and a man with a walker was slowly following.  Chloe stopped and held the door open for him.   How cool is that?! I'm still reeling over that one. She's been especially sweet lately.  She and Chad have been watching old X-Men cartoons together. She loves it and knows who they all are. Her favorite is Storm because "she's cool." And of course she constantly bugs me to go outside and take her for walks so she can learn and practice riding her bike. Oh, and she drew a temple the other day during color time! I could totally make out the steeple with the Angel Moroni on top!

I've been keeping track of Everett's vocabulary. Yesterday, he woke up just talkative as ever. It was like he was trying to show me how many words he knows. He points out anything with wheels and says "vrvvrvrvr" except for trains. The other night we were practicing our family names pointing to each person in turn, (We're learning Chloe's name. He does it well, "Loweee." I love it!) when he pointed to his big belly and, suddenly noticing the trains on his pj's said "choochoo!!" So then we had to label each train. Funny kid. In contrast to Chloe, the couch potato, he rarely sits for more than a couple of minutes in front of the tv, regardless of what's on.  Except a while ago, we happened across some nascar. He watched for a really long time going "vrvvvrrr". He's also learning "love you." He says "luthewee" or "luthoo" it's awesome. Oh and the shoe fetish continues... I had to wash them because he has stinky feet. Do any of you know any 18 month olds with stinky feet?! Crazy. But anyway, after nap-time yesterday, Chloe and I came downstairs while he stayed up playing nicely by himself (such a sweet moment!) I finally went up and crawled quietly to find and surprise him. He had collected all of the shoes from Mr. Potato Head, took them to my room and was lining them up on my bed. When he noticed me, doing a double take, he excitedly started telling me about all the cool shoes he'd found. Those of you that don't know him, I wish you could because, when he's not yelling at me, it is truly a pleasure. He kills me! He did well for his first day in nursery today. He fussed, but the ladies said they found his toy, a giant purple truck. Any time someone came near, he'd say "no, no!" He didn't even notice when I came to get him. I had to pry him from that truck; we had to tell it bye.  Tonight I reintroduced a toy that they used to fight over.  They did really well at sharing it.  Once Everett realized that Chloe was committed to sharing, he was happy to share as well.  It felt like a victory, hopefully...As for me, most of my friends have been MIA due to spring break. Weather has also been a little cooler, but I've enjoyed waking up every morning to the songs of a bird who has taken to our fence.  It's a lovely spring time song that makes me smile.  I've noticed growth in my ability to think up resolutions when the kids are driving me nuts instead of just withdrawing until I'm ready to scream.  Having a whole big list of activity ideas has really helped enormously, but it's also great that they're both getting older.  It seems like they've both taken giant leaps forward in the last month.  They're awesome!