So Many New Things

Learning overload is the best way I can describe the stage that Caleb and Emma are in right now. I have never experienced anything like this before. Of course, I was around my brother Jordan, going through this stage and can remember it, but seeing it as a parent is different. Daily, I am amazed at how quick they pick up on things! New songs, games, words/phrases and so much more!

Their day care this year is a preschool/day care. It is the same place as last year, but she is only taking older kids now. Caleb and Emma love Miss Candi and the other kids at day care. My kids are working on saying preschool, it comes out "pee-koo", but it makes this mommy proud! They are excited to get there in the morning and yet, some mornings it is still hard to say bye-bye to mommy and daddy. And they are always happy to see us in the afternoon.

Caleb and Emma have learned lots of fun songs this year and actions to go with them. They love "The Wheels on the Bus", "The Hokey Pokey", "If You're Happy and You Know It" and "Old McDonald Had a Farm" just to name a few. They still love to listen to their Bible songs CD in the car and sing-a-long with mommy.

Nothing warms my heart more than hearing my kids say "mommy" and they are looking right at me...talking right to me....asking for something or just wanting me to love on them or hold them. "Mommy" takes on a new meaning when they direct it right to you and are not just repeating after you when you are trying to get them to say it. Both of them refer to Rick and I as daddy and mommy now! I love it!

It is getting so easy to understand them when they talk. We ask them questions and they answer. We tell them to get something or do something and depending on their mood...Ha Ha...they do it. Emma was always my little helper and still is, but Caleb is starting to understand what mommy and daddy expect and he does it too.

They love to play together and hug each other. But they have their full on "I don't like you" moments too. They get time outs and sometimes swats...just depends. Emma love to push mommy and daddy right to the breaking point. She is our tester. She tests us to see how serious we are when we say: "no", "get down", "don't touch", "don't hit", "be nice", "leave the cat alone", "don't throw your food", "give that back to your brother" and so on...it seems never ending with her. Caleb will push us once and a while, but mostly I just have to give him "THE LOOK" as Ryan calls it and Caleb will stop and sometimes cry...poor kid he is so sensitive.

Emma is definitely all girl. She loves to play dress up! She always wants to wear mommy's shoes around the house and play with her babies. Caleb loves to play with everything! He really just wants to play with whatever someone else is playing with. Not to take it away, but he likes to play with them. Doesn't always work out that way for him, because Emma thinks he is going to steal her toys. So he ends up playing alone. No don't get me wrong, he doesn't ALWAYS share that nice! He has many moments of his own where he doesn't want people to play with what he has. And sometimes he steals toys away too. So he is figuring out how to be a little stinker too! His favorite toys at home are the Noah's Ark set, cars and anything noisy! They both LOVE books, which make this librarian mom super happy!

Caleb and Emma love to do preschool work at Miss Candi's house. Caleb and Emma can both spell out their names with help from someone. They will repeat the letters after us and love it when we clap for them afterwards! They love to count with us and learn animals and their sounds. A couple weeks ago at day care Miss Candi was working on the letter "E" and they made elephant hats! Mommy of course had to get a picture! Also, they LOVE to paint! Miss Candi say that he always cries when he has to stop.

Caleb and Emma in their elephant hats.

Emma finger painting at Miss Candi's house.

Caleb finger painting at Miss Candi's house.

A melt my heart moment this last week was when Caleb and I were playing on the floor. I looked at him and said, "Love you buddy!" He looked right at me and said, "Wuv you"! I quickly looked at Rick and said, "Did you hear that!?!" He had and I got all excited! I have tried since to get him to say it but, no such luck. He did it was to prove he can and that he finally did something before his sister...he is satisfied and that is that! Ha!

Caleb and Emma are becoming such pros with forks and spoons. And they really aren't as picky as they used to be. They love chicken nuggets, pizza, fries, mashed potatoes, corn, peas, green beans, hot dogs, cheese and crackers, cookies, fruit snacks, pancakes, french toast, eggs, beans and rice...you name it they problem like it!Tonight for example they polished off ravioli stuffed with cheese and spinach, garlic bread, and tons of green beans! It is funny to watch them use their forks and spoons. Depends on what they are eating, but most of it gets in their mouth. Of course, sometimes fingers are still the best way to get everything they want in their tummies.

Emma's most recent adventure is figuring out how to climb out of the playpen at Miss Candi's instead of taking a nap or after her nap. Ha! The other day Emma went down for her nap like normal according to Miss Candi. When the kids started to get up from naps they were playing and Candi heard a knocking on the door coming from the room where Emma was taking her nap. Candi opened the door to find Emma at the door...ummmm...not in her playpen...problem...YES! She had finished her nap and decided, "Well I might as well help myself get out of here, so I can go play with the other kids." So little Miss Emma now knows how to get out of the playpen. Then that same day Emma managed to climb over the gate blocking one of the rooms at Miss Candi's house. Ha Ha! She is such a little stinker! Miss Candi gave her time out...thank goodness! I don't want her disobeying Miss Candi's rules, so I am glad she stuck to it! Plus, we don't allow her to climb all over things and would have done the same thing. Hopefully, she doesn't figure out the crib anytime soon!