Snapshots

I admit, almost everyday I experience a moment when I stop and think, "How did we get here? Weren't these little babies just born yesterday... or maybe it was last week? Why are they growing so freaking fast?!?" That's the main reason I am thankful that we keep this blog. Yes, a picture is worth 1,000 words, but sometimes there is an even better story that goes along with it. Even if no one else ever reads a word we write, I love going back and reading over old posts and reminiscing.

I though I would share a few of my recent favorite "snapshots" of our kiddos along with a bit of an update about them. So that when I go back in a few months, years, whatever... I can remember exactly who these little people were at this time. This is truly an awesome time for both kids. They are so much fun and both have such personalities. I definitely want to remember these times.... though I wouldn't be opposed to not reliving a few of the more difficult "threenager" moments we have experienced recently.

Kenzie remains our crazy, fun-loving girl. She is getting "too big for her britches" as my friends and family in Mississippi might say. At 3 (and a half) years old, she is definitely learning to navigate her world even better and thinks she knows everything all the time. She is constantly continuing to amaze us with what she says and understands. She remembers EVERYTHING and breaks out the most random information at the most random times. Like the other morning when she spent 10 minutes talking about the solar eclipse when the moon blocks the sun because she saw about 60 seconds of a segment on the news this morning as I first turned the TV on. Or a few days before that when she started talking about the vet office at Animal Kingdom and how they can't help giraffes inside the clinic because they are just too tall to be inside. Or when she told Nana that she "requested" chicken nuggets for lunch from me. She is just too much. She is our little dancer. She LOVES dance class and talks about it all week. She just lights up when we get to the studio. I think her favorite part is definitely getting the sticker at the end of the class. She does a little happy dance and always comes running out to us to show us her new sticker. She is so proud of herself. We are so proud of her. She is obsessed with all things girly and requests to wear a dress or tutu every. single. day. We make her wear shorts sometimes just because she has them and doesn't own enough skirts or dresses to get through the week. Which brings me to something that made me sad this week. We are buying her new clothes right now because she has definitely been in a growth spurt lately and is growing out of all of her clothes. We are officially out of the toddler sizes and have moved on to the little girl sizes. I might have shed a tear thinking that I can no longer really shop for her at places like BabiesRUs. She can still wear some shorts and skirts in 5T sizes, but only if they aren't made short. Her long legs are just crazy. She was fitted for a dance costume a week ago and the woman fitting her couldn't get over how long her legs were when she had to measure her for the costume. She is so tall, but is all legs. Definitely not from my gene pool. Despite not being built like me, she is definitely my daughter though. She is stubborn and independent. We are working on her using her independence and trying to teach her about things like chores. She now cleans her room on her own every evening before bed. It took a while, but here we are. Finally. Speaking of "finally", I am comfortable in saying that she has been officially potty trained (night was our issue as she has been daytime trained for almost 2 years), for close to 2 months at this point. We no longer go in and wake her to go potty in the middle of the night. We just stopped cold turkey and she either holds it all night or gets up on her own. We have only had one time that she leaked a little in her bed (but didn't actually have a full accident) in the last 6-8 weeks that she has been on her own.

As part of her independent streak, she wants to pick out all of her own outfits. 

For the first time, she took my phone, opened the camera app on her own and took a selfie
without ANY help from me (The camera was already on front facing mode).

Our tiny dancer is pretty serious... and oh so adorable. 

Now, Will. He is definitely a whole different breed than his sister. It's amazing how two people that share so much of the same genetic makeup and the same environment can be so different. They are alike, but far more different. He finally got that walking thing down and despite the fact that he still walks a bit like he has been riding a horse for a while, he now also runs. He is getting pretty fast. He loves to use that skill as the biggest game out there. He runs from diaper changes and being put in the car while laughing hysterically. He runs TO baths and meals. You would think we never feed him usually based on how he eats. This kid can put it away. All that movement though keeps him slim. He is getting quite big as well but is so skinny. He is getting quite tall though. He has always liked to be read to, but is getting super into "reading" books on his own. He also LOVES singing songs and can do the hand/body movements to a large number of them. Will is our smiley kid. I thought Kenzie smiled a lot. I was wrong. This kid almost always seems to have a smile plastered on his face. He has definitely ended up being our champion sleeper too. I guess he is making up for waking up so many times a night for almost a year. Now, he sleeps 12+ hours most nights and takes a 1.5-2 hour nap most days. He also transitions about 90% of the time from one place to another while sleeping with minimal issues. I even picked him up from his stroller at Disney the other day and got him strapped into the Beco without him ever waking up. Score! I think his favorite part of the day is bath time. He loves to try to splash his sister and anyone else close enough to be in the splash zone. He is super cuddly a lot of the time, but is starting to want to do more and more on his own. He still loves to be worn but also loves to be his own man and walk and do things without any help. He is also starting to show his stubborn streak. He lets us know when he is not happy with something or doesn't want to do something. Pushing boundaries time! He is quite the chatter as well and he loves to talk. He has a significant number of words and a couple of 2 word phrases, but he loves to just grunt at us when he wants something. When you finally determine what he wants, he gets so excited and tells you "yeah" or nods his head emphatically. His favorite word (at the moment) is probably "no". I love how he says sissy (isshy) and please (pssshh). Those might be my two current favorite words.

Will has a minor obsession with these panda ears. He is constantly bringing them to me
to put them on him. No idea why he loves these so much but they are adorable.

Always smiling, it seems. 

This picture was actually an accident... but I LOVE it. This is Will's personality
captured in a split second. This is why "snapshots" are so important to me.
This is a moment I never want to forget. 

These kids are just growing too quickly. People have told me for years to not blink because it goes by fast and they were right. Here's to making sure we capture a lot more of these moments so we can look back at them later and remember this fun time in our lives. I love those two munchkins. A whole lot.