Maxwell: 21 Months

Max is now 21 months old. It is absolutely mind blowing to think he will turn two in just three more months. The past two years went by in a blink of an eye. I can't even begin to imagine our family without him. Life would be way too easy! Ha. We love you little buddy!

the skills & life experience of mr. maxwell:

1. He loves books. He tries to grab pictures off the pages and it's hilarious. His sound effects are the best, as he struggles to pull an item off the page.

2. He is so thoughtful, especially when it comes to Lyla. If he is getting a glass of water or a snack, he always always always gets a second one for his big sister.

3. Speaking of water, he can reach the water dispenser on the refrigerator. We generally try to keep it switched to the "locked" function, but occasionally we forget. He always discovers this mistake and it's always a disaster.

4. He can now jump with both feet off the ground. It's super impressive. He also likes to show off his skills by jumping off furniture and playground equipment. He's determined to give his momma a heart attack.

5. His playground skills are very advanced. His abilities include running, jumping, climbing up ladders and rock walls. Playground moms are always in disbelief when I tell them how old he is and it's doing wonderful things to my ego.

6. However, he is not much of a talker. His vocabulary seems to be progressing at a very slow rate. I think he is holding back on purpose though because he frequently surprises me by saying a word clear as day. His favorite sound to make is "UH UH" and he doesn't even seem interested in any attempting anything else. He is my little cave man.

7. His hair is growing in quite nicely. It is thickening up and getting long. I would like to explore a shaggy hairstyle, but Kirk prefers him to stay in the crew cut category. We will just have to see who wins that battle!

8. He sleeps 11+ hours at night and takes a 2-3 hour afternoon nap. The thought of transitioning him to a toddler bed keeps wandering into my mind, but Max is sleeping like a champ and sleep is usually my arch nemesis, soooo I probably shouldn't rock that boat.

9. My extended breastfeeding has produced a lifelong boob man. While my milk supply is no longer accessible, Max is still prone to letting his hand get cozy in my cleavage area. Also, he happily recognizes boobs of all sizes, including real life people, barbies, and photos of celebrities. He does not discriminate.

10. He is finally accepting fruit as a necessary component to his diet. He enjoys cantaloupe, apples, bananas, oranges. He still spits out any type of berry, but other than that he isn't much of a picky eater. His new favorite snack is string cheese.

If you want to check out his previous list just click ----> here!

Spring, Where Are You?

I am so unimpressed with this cold weather that's been lingering around in Texas. I keep find myself complaining to Kirk that I don't think it got this cold the first year we moved here. He claims my body has likely adapt to the change in climate. I guess that's possible. I honestly don't think I would ever take my kids out of the house during the winter if we still lived in Idaho. It's hard enough now getting them all bundled up and secured in their car seats with all that extra gear, not to mention they find it amusing to remove their socks and shoes in the car. Ugh! So annoying! Haha. Although 40 degrees still isn't cold enough for snow, it sure feels like it. Perhaps it's the humidity that is giving it that extra brrr factor. 

I'll admit it. I'm a wimp now. There was once a time I thought 40 degrees was a heat wave, now when the temperature falls anywhere below 50 feel like I'm going to get frost bite. The struggle is the real deal. As a result of not getting to play outside, we've been doing a lot of this....

We are still avid Frozen fans in this house. However, I am trying to expand our Disney movie exposure. Mostly for my own sanity. Kids these days just don't appreciate the classics though! There have been several moments of me getting completely absorbed in some movie from my childhood, while the kids lose interest and start making messes elsewhere. Then I'm quickly brought back to reality when Lyla approaches with a guilty look on her face and says, "I'm really sorry, Mommy." 

'

My nap experiment I mentioned a couple weeks ago has concluded and Lyla's requirement to take a nap is being determined on a day to day basis. It all depends on her overall mood of the day. I think she is slowly transitioning out of naps completely, but she isn't quite there yet. The days she doesn't nap have allowed us to spend some quality time together in the afternoon, while little brother is snoozing away. Some of our activities include making play dough, baking muffins, doing hair & make up, and playing dress up. This is stuff that Max usually likes to be involved in as well, but it's much easier with only one child. More fun too...sorry, Max. He can be a destructive little feller. 

With all this time indoors, Max experienced a big victory this week. He used the big boy potty for this first time! It honestly was not my doing whatsoever and all the credit goes to Lyla. It isn't unusual for Max to strip down to bare booty or remove his own soiled diaper. It's his new(ish) thing. I continue to encourage him to use the potty, but he pretty much just looks at me like I'm crazy anytime I suggest he do so. Well, his bare little bum was running around one morning, when suddenly Lyla instructed him to sit on the potty. He obeyed her command. She then explained the steps to him in her cute little Lyla voice. I could tell she was growing impatient, as she bolted for the kitchen and came back with a sippy cup for Max. She continued to tell Max he needed to drink water so he could go potty. Once again, he obeyed her command. This was all very amusing to me. I pretty much just sat back and observed the whole process. Max ended up GOING POTTY and it was a celebration had by all. It did feel a little strange giving him praise since he did only manage to get out about a teaspoon of urine, but he was clearly trying to impress Lyla. And that is freaking adorable!

What I Wore Wednesday: Part 3

In an effort to keep up with self care, my sister in law prompted the What I Wore Wednesday trend among us bloggers in the family. I originally thought the idea was to share our exact wardrobe choice for each Wednesday. I was later informed it can be outfits from any day of the week, just shared on Wednesday. I think I will just keep doing our Wednesday attire though, unless we are looking smokin' hot on a different day of the week. 

Anytime Lyla wears these leggings she calls them her "Scarlett Leggings". Scarlett being her baby cousin in Idaho. She also requested this hairstyle, which she has never done before. She is very particular about her hair, but today she asked for two ballerina buns. Please note that Max is sporting some red cargo pants. Kirk brought it to my attention that cargo pants are a total male fashion mistake and I feel so enlightened by his wisdom. Max is only one year old though, so hopefully he can bounce back from the humiliation inflicted by his mother.

Also, these pictures are horrible quality because my phone was nearing its death. Oh well. 

Lyla Estelle:
 Cream Lace Top: Marshalls
Cheetah Print Leggings: Old Navy
Ugg Boots: Gift from Aunt Kari

Maxwell Monte:
Grey Polo: Second Hand Store
Red Cargo Pants: Children's Place

Kaili Magdelina:

Teal Top: American Eagle

Aztec Print Sweater: Burlington
 Jeggings: Bohme Boutique

Black Zip Boots: Forever 21

Necklace: American Eagle

My sister is basically a fashion guru and you should totally check out her blog by clicking here! 

----> www.organizecleandecorate.com

Memorable Moments

Love these guys so much! 

Lyla's first sleepover with her friend Jordyn!

Please excuse the laundry & potty in the background, he just looks too cute.

Lyla painted her nails with watercolors. Ha!

This is how most of my nights end. 

It's not unusual for Max's cheeks to be stuffed full, as they are here.

He set up his superheros on the stairs while watching Hulk on YouTube.

Kirk said he wanted a picture of three of his favorite things. Aww! 

Sunday Funnies

Story 1:

Lyla has officially reached the age where she cannot be trusted with a secret. Kirk's been drooling over a pair of new shoes for several weeks, but refused to pull the trigger and buy them for himself. So, I figured it was a good opportunity to surprise him for Valentine's Day. I was super excited, especially since it gets increasingly more difficult for us to surprise each other as time goes on. The shoes arrived during the afternoon while Kirk was at work and upon their arrival, I expressed my excitement to Lyla and Max. I took the shoes out of the box to admire them, then quickly stored them in the upstairs closet, eager for Valentine's Day to come. 

Well. Here comes the part when I learned my lesson. 

Kirk walked in the door from work and not even one minute later Lyla says, "Mom, let's give Dad his Nike shoes." I gave her the look of death and told her to be quiet, unsure if Kirk was even paying attention. She responds to my reaction with another honest remark of, "Oh never mind, Dad. I can't tell you, it's a secret. Sorry." By this point Kirk is listening, half chuckling and half confused. Then Lyla, very assertively, walks up to Kirk and tells him the new shoes are black like his shirt. Ugh! He obviously knew she was talking about the shoes he has been wanting after she made that last comment. There was no point trying to bounce back at that point and he ended up getting his gift two days early. I was slightly disappointed in Lyla's lack of ability to keep a secret, but it was mostly hilarious. I guess I didn't actually expect a three year old to keep a secret. It's just the first time she has truly sabotaged me, so I was a bit stunned.

Story 2:

I know a lot of parenting experts frown upon the use of reverse psychology. Apparently it's cruel to play mind games with your children. However, my own experiences are leading me to believe otherwise. Max is going through a phase of wanting to do everything on his own. He is becoming very self aware. He is a big boy and he can do it himself. As such, he will likely do the exact opposite of anything you ask him to do. This story happens to relate to his eating habits, which seem to be evolving. He continues to eat most foods, but his ability to focus is lacking. He is easily distracted and it takes him f.o.r.e.v.e.r  to eat a full meal. However, if you tell him not to eat, he gets great satisfaction in doing the opposite. The other night he ate seven pieces of broccoli during dinner. This all happened because we told him not to. He thought it was hilarious to disobey. The gene of rebellion lives on!!! The reverse psychology trick didn't work long for Lyla. I think it only took her one day to realize we were trying to outsmart her and she can't have any of that! Max is still young and naive, so it is working out quite well on him. I'm going to take advantage of this trick for as long as I can. If I pay for psychological damage later in life from tricking my child into eating vegetables, so be it.

Story 3:

As many people already know, Kirk has bestowed his love for Superheroes to his children. Lyla and Max can recognize all the characters and have all their names memorized. Kirk is a proud father. Ha! DC Comics is the favored series in our house, Flash in particular for Kirk.  I've banned the "boom" game in the past, which is just lingo for playing superheroes. We still read lots of books, have lots of action figures, own several items of clothing, and watch all the movies. However, Max is beginning to comprehend the rules better, so the real life game is slowly making a comeback. 

Anyway, Kirk owns a Flash t-shirt. It was a gift from the kiddos for Christmas. At the request of Lyla, Kirk wore this shirt three days in a row after work. Initially, he attempted to avoid wearing the same shirt multiple days in a row by claiming it was dirty. Lyla didn't see this as an issue. She dug through the dirty clothes to find the shirt and put it in the washer. She even started it herself, although I'm sure there was no soap. Then she promptly transferred it to the dryer when it finished. Needless to say, Kirk wore the shirt again. 

 

Be Mine

We celebrated Valentines Day with a little party at Charli's house on Friday. The kids decorated cupcakes, built candy heart towers, had a spoon race, played dress up, and jumped on the trampoline. aka jumpoline in Lyla language. 

Car Troubles

I just thought this was a funny string of pictures. I'm not sure what was actually happening, but it appears Lyla had some car troubles and then Max saved the damsel in distress. Thank heaven for little brothers! I like it when pictures tell  a story.

What I Wore Wednesday [on Monday]

Monday morning started out as pure torture. We were alerted first thing in the morning (6am) to Miss Lyla going totally ballistic. It appeared she was still in the fog from a nightmare, as she was mumbling something about misplacing a Barbie. It seemed totally ridiculous at the time, but who am I to minimize her fears. In her three year old mind losing a Barbie is a completely justifiable nightmare!! We finally calmed her down, but by that time her screams had echoed throughout the house and everyone was already very much awake. It was obvious that she still needed more sleep since she angrily told me, "you're not my best friend no more," after denying her request to have mac & cheese for breakfast. Then, just as Kirk left for work, the kids started clawing at each other's faces and I saw myself sitting on the edge of a very miserable Monday. There was way too many tears and not nearly enough coffee.

Generally I like to spend Monday at home to get all the laundry done and focus on any neglected housekeeping, but since we were off to such a pitiful start I had to change up our routine a bit. I decided  to get everyone ready and get away from the negative energy looming around the house. We spent an hour playing outside, soaking in some sunshine. It's always brings a smile to my face to see Lyla ride her bike. She is improving so much. We took the car to the car wash. The kids are always fully mesmerized by this experience, plus they think the car wash is the only place they can devour in peanut butter crackers. Somehow it's become a special car wash treat. We visited Kirk at work and brought him some lunch. We returned home with happier attitudes and hopefully a better forecast for the rest of our week.

For the record: Lyla's no nap experiment has been revoked until further notice. 

Also, as mentioned in a previous post, my sister in law requested my participation in this What I Wore Wednesday movement, buuuut I can't always commit to all three of us looking presentable on Wednesday. Sooo I'm breaking the rules and doing a What I Wore Monday. Deal with it. 

Lyla Estelle:
 Printed Peasant Top: TJ Maxx
Orange Ruffle Leggings: TJ Maxx
Pink Sparkle Flats: Ross (Wedding Shoes)

Maxwell Monte:
Blue Striped Top: Target
Lightweight Khaki Pants: Carters
Nike Free 5.0: Nike Outlet

Kaili Magdelina:

White Swoop Neck Tee: Target
True Religion Jeans: Nordstrom Rack [Circa 2009]

Grey Slip-On Suede Sneakers: American Eagle
Necklace: Lucky Brand

I was pleasantly surprised that I was able to choose outfits for the kiddos today without any toddler intervention or opinion. It's pretty rare for that to happen these days. However, they did choose their own shoe attire for the day.

My sister is super awesome and fashionable. You can check out her blog by clicking here --->
www.organizecleandecorate.com 

Zoo Day

This weekend we took advantage of the nice weather by spending the afternoon at the zoo. Apparently everyone in the Houston area had the same thought, since it took us nearly an hour to find a parking spot. Besides that small annoyance, it was smooth sailing! Kirk likes to avoid the petting zoo area, but I convinced him otherwise this time around. Max and Lyla were very entertained by the goats. My favorite part of our visit was the orangutan exhibit. He had the sweetest little face and he pressed himself up against the glass as everyone oogled over him. I've never seen a monkey act so engaged and happy to live in a zoo, but it seemed he really enjoyed being the star of the show. Lyla may have kissed him through the glass, which is half cute and half disgusting. It was a fun day had by all & both babies slept the entire ride home.