Monday!

levitating

Welcome to your first weekly Monday post!  Not all that much has happened of note since last Friday, so I'll post a couple of pictures, and regale you with snippets of just general life as it is right now.

Linden, now well into his "terrific" twos, is as much a handful, a sweetheart (and at times, a terror) as he has ever been, but his ever-growing ability to communicate makes him relatively hilarious at times as well. More than just mastering sentences, he is also incredibly expressive - a complete facial, body, intonation package. He also makes sure that he is heard and understood.  For instance, we were watching the Nutcracker Ballet the other night (on YouTube), and at one point he queried, "where did the horses go?"
"Ummm - backstage?" I guessed.
"No - went back to the farm. Eating grass, yum yum yum. Neigh!!! Yummy hay, too".  Not getting enough of a reaction, he placed his hand on Juniper's shoulder, put his face directly in hers, and announced "HORSES GO BACK TO THE FARM, JU-A-PER. EAT GRASS." We all acknowledged this clearly important truth, and he went back to studying the ballet in peace for another minute or two.

post-ballet snuggles

He also often expresses himself in needs:
(every morning): I NEED A BREAST!  (to which I usually respond "Linden, I don't think you actually do.  How about we go down and have breakfast?"  But so far, he has managed to convince me, often by placing my head in his hands and repeating himself with his eyes inches from mine that he does in fact "NEED A BREAST")
(often throughout the day): I NEED A HUG! Sometimes this is because he is sad or hurt.  Often, however, it is just because he randomly feels the need for a hug, which is perhaps one of the most endearing, heart-warming things I experience as a mom.  He also, however, likes to test just how much I love him by declaring ardently that he needs a hug right when he is at his messiest during mealtime. These hugs I postpone until after he has been cleaned up… I'm not sure what important subtextual message I am inadvertently sending, but I can only do so much laundry!

you take one from the bottom...

The other (really annoying) trend that has been happening lately is Linden's complete denial of wrongdoing. For instance, I watch Linden touch the computer.
Tara: "Linden!  Don't touch the computer!"
Linden: (indignantly) "I didn't!
Tara: "yes you did!  I watched you do it!"
Linden: "No I didn't! Didn't touch poo-poo-ter. See?" (proceeds to touch the computer with his nose, rather than his hand). "No touch poo-poo-ter".

Juniper teaches a dance class

Juniper right now is obsessed with being a ballerina.  Obsessed. Every single day (often twice a day), she sheds whatever clothes she is wearing, and dons a fancy/sparkly dress, some sparkly tights, and requests to have her hair put in a bun.  Then she puts on the Nutcracker Ballet (always the Nutcracker), slips on her imaginary toe shoes, and dances her little heart out. If she is lucky enough to have an audience, we all have to pretend that we had never seen her dance before, and that we are amazed at what a beautiful ballerina she is. Part of me thinks we should sign her up for real dance class, and part of me thinks that she is having so very much fun on her own terms that we should just keep letting this play itself out.  We'll see.

Citrus sun-catchers

Juniper is also obsessed with being "big". This takes many forms, a large number of which involve helping with chores.  Folding laundry, washing dishes, making super - she is often eager to take charge of them all. Every night it is her job to set the table, and increasingly she has also been trying to be the one who serves everyone their meal.  This means that a) we are currently all eating off of the kids' plates and bowls; and b) there is an exponentially larger mess factor that before. Ah well. She has also been having some serious talks with me about how she feels she is outgrowing her nap, and perhaps this is true. But we have not yet crossed that hump where is goes napless and remains civil toward the end of the day. I'm sure this is just a transitionary thing, and that we will eventually find our way into napless territory.  Sigh. I must admit, that hour or so where both kids are down at the same time in the afternoon is something I have grown very fond of.

Anyway, that's all for now!  Don't expect anything on Friday, but I'll see you back here next Monday.  Have a great week!