"Guy"

Oliver has a new best friend. Appropriately named "Guy" by Ollie. He is a Barbie doll, probably the ugliest male Barbie I've ever seen. A hand me down that was accompanied by about 30 regular Barbie's and a Ken (who suffered a tragic, accidental be-heading.)Now that "Guy" is the only guy in Barbie town, he seems to have a mystical pull over Ollie. Like any 2 year old, Ollie loves to challenge many of my requests. You know... the little daily things "please sit down in your chair while eating" or " don't run with that pen in your hand" or "don't sit on your sister!"BUT.... should you hold up the ugly Barbie Guy and speak in a terrible surfer dude voice, Oliver's eyes twinkle and his ears perk up. He listens to everything Guy asks. Suddenly he is happily sharing with his sister, cleaning up his toys, and any of the tasks that seem too impossible when just mommy asks. When Guy comes to life and starts to speak, Oliver fills up with a 2 year olds excitement and has to show Guy everything in his room. Subsequently, when Guy is tired and "needs a nap" the tears roll in and Ollie grieves terribly for a few moments - until Lincoln Logs don't look so bad anymore.

Emma on the other hand could care less about Barbies.

The next J.T.

Oliver is nearing 2 1/2 and is always full of surprises. You never really know what he's going to say. Yesterday I downloaded a couple of Justin Timberlake's catchy new songs that I thought would make good walking/running music. I played them for Oliver and Emma, and they danced like there was no tomorrow. We also played the "J.T" songs in the car once or twice until I thought Oliver would appreciate his own music and put in "The Wiggles" instead. As soon as Oliver heard the beginning of "hot potato" he cried out in disappointment "NO! I want J.T!" And if you saw the way Oliver can break it down, you would think that he and J.T were related.

How early is too early?

Ok, it's totally ridiculous that every year the stores start displaying the Christmas decorations earlier and earlier. I think this year they were out right beside the Halloween costumes. However, now that Thanksgiving is right around the corner I'm starting to get nipped by the Christmas bug. I'm lighting my holiday scented candles, and playing a bit of Christmas music here and there, and yes... we put up a tree! To try and justify it.... it was a fabulous deal on an artificial tree, and Oliver was really excited about putting it up. So, there is stands. A 5 foot question mark in my living room. Is November 12 too early to start celebrating Christmas?

Big Baby

We had Emma's one year check up this afternoon. Emma was quite happy as we went in to the Dr's office, and extremely regretful as we were leaving. She had to get three of the routine 1 year shots, and then on top of that the 1 year blood test to check for lead. We learned that Emma is 25 lbs, 8 ounces, and is nearly 32 inches tall. That made her in the 97 percentile for weight, and 100 percentile for height. Her healthy weight contributed to her miserable experience having blood drawn. Normally, they would draw the blood from her arm, but her arms were too chubby to find a vein. Instead, they pricked her finger and kept squeezing for several minutes until they had filled the vial. Not fun, to say the least. Our Emma is a trooper though. She takes shots in the leg like a champ, and can body slam her big brother like the pros.

How did this happen?

How on earth is it possible that Emma is one? I've barely blinked once or twice since she was born. Maybe that's because Jeff and I have been a little sleep deprived this last year. We had a little party and celebrated on her birthday, November 7, but I don't really think she knew the party was for her. I'm excited to see how her personality grows and changes over the next year, and to see how she physically grows and changes as well. I'm kind of sad at the same time though. I enjoy every second with my kids (well, almost every second) but it's scary how quickly they grow from tiny babies to independent, demanding individuals. I'll only have the chance to close my eyes for a few short moments before Oliver and Emma will no longer need me to kiss their boo-boo's better, or for me to snuggle their worries away. I guess we better have one more...