Harper Kate- the wonders of 2

Oh how I love certain stages.  If you know me at all you know I love 6-10 months.  Babies are so sweet and cuddly at this stage.  They can sit up on their own, but sweet mother, they cannot move.  Such a fun stage!

In the same vein as 6-10 months is 2 years.  I love this amazing stage of growth and language explosion.  It has been so fun to watch Harper really grasp communication and use it to tell us what she needs and how she feels.

In the last couple of weeks she language has become much easier to understand.  Just a couple of days ago she said, "Mommy, turn on light please."  and "Mommy, Harpie Kate look pretty in dis' dress."  So sweet! That being said, Harper has been a huge challenge on the eating front.  Just when I think we have broken down a wall and gotten her to eat some kind of protein or veggie she is right back where she started.  I would estimate she is still only eating dinner a couple of times a month at this point.  So frustrating.  But I refuse to feed her mac and cheese and grilled cheese every night as she requests!

Things I love right now...

1.  She is an adventurous swimmer too.  She is constantly trying to wiggle away from me in the pool.  This summer she actually ran away from me at the neighborhood pool and straight into the water, crazy. I had to jump in to save her!

2. She loves her baby dolls.  We recently went through the traumatic process of taking away her pacifier.  It is such a hard thing for a mom and dad to do.  Because it means you are messing with sleep, and sleep is so... well... it's wonderful.  But we talked about it for a couple of days and read a book called No more Pacifier for Piggy.  Then we gathered up the pacifiers and put them into an envelope and took them to the post office to "mail" to babies.  Then to Toys r Us for a special big girl present she got to pick out for herself.  She picked a toy she loves at a friends house called "All Gone Baby".  You can feed her food and give her juice.  She loves to do this.  It is so weird that the mothering instincts seem ingrained in her at this point.  She loves on her babies, feeds them, sings to them, covers them up and takes them on walks, so sweet!

3. She loves to sing.  I would say her favorite song is This Little Light.  She is so good about trying to sing along.  She really loves singing Happy Birthday, recently was singing Happy Birthday in the car, she always starts singing it to herself (a.k.a. Harpie Kate).  But this time she sang it to "Mommy Kate" and "Phoebe Kate too.  So cute, she thinks everyone's name is followed by "Kate".

I never believed that I would be a mother to a girl.  Weird right?  I don't know why I didn't think that was in the cards for me, but I couldn't be happier to be Harper's mom, I just hope things slow down a little.  While I love all the changes she is going through I am sad that the smiley little baby is gone.  Just look at this face, wouldn't you miss this phase too?

Beckett

Beckett is in a very moody phase right now.  It can be hard to deal with, I remember other moms saying that 4 was such a magical age for their children, that all of a sudden they were easier and could handle themselves on their own.  This is not true for Beckett.  The age of 4 has made him much whinier.  And I would argue more sensitive to small things.

For example, I came home from a trip to Chicago for work a couple of months ago.  Within minutes of my arrival Beckett has pulled the curtains down in the living room.  I was pointing out this issue with him when he quietly dropped his head and walked out of the room.  He sat down and just fell apart, crying, sobbing, gasping for air.  So sensitive.  I am not that terribly sensitive of a person, so this has been a challenge for me.  I am constantly toning down my first instincts in responses so as not to break his little heart.

Some things I love about this age...
1. Beckett is loving swimming, he finished a couple of weeks of swim lessons this summer and would go swimming any time, anywhere!  I so enjoy watching him explore the water and get more and more adventurous.

2. He is VERY into picking out his own clothes.  In fact he often gets dressed before even coming downstairs in the morning.  He is constantly asking me if "this shirt is handsome" or which shoes he should wear.  He wants to wear his Royals jersey and soccer uniform EVERY day.  I really need to get more pictures of him in these clothes.  I guess I'm more likely to grab the camera when he is wearing something I would pick!

3.   He is always up for a dance party... got to love a boy who loves to dance!

4. He loves to do art projects.  Tonight for the first time he sat down with the cover of the coloring book and the exact picture from the inside (uncolored).  And tried to make it look just like the cover.  So cute!

5.  Beckett is an amazingly adventurous eater.  He'll try anything.  He never wants to hurt my feelings if I made something new, so if he doesn't like it he'll say, "I liked it mommy.  I just didn't like it so much."  So sweet.

As he rapidly approaches 5 I am so happy that he is not starting kindergarten this year.  I can't believe he is approaching that stage of life already.  It feels like just a couple of days ago that my water broke at JC Penney.  And although this stage has been hard I know it is just a season, so I'll wait for this storm to pass, knowing that if I stay strong in what I want to build in him that this season will pass.