Since It's Not April Anymore...

My Little Sweeties,

I am a bit behind. I have good excuses! Illnesses, Weddings, Communions, and general lack of sleep... what better excuse could there be for being behind on blogging? So, my dear children, there are no April Letters from Mommy... instead I'm just going to make a general list of April 2009 moments/milestones I don't want to forget.

Kirsten
- You were adorably excited about the Easter Bunny. He "woke you up" in the middle of the night and we had no choice but to explore your basket in the darkness

- At an Easter Egg hunt we had pictures taken with the Bunny. After catching a glimpse of his neck and zipper you whispered that this was "NOT a real bunny" but "a human!". You were thoughtful enough to make sure that none of the little kids heard you, but concerned enough to need to discuss it immediately. I explained why the bunny would need helpers, and the benefits of the impersonators and you were satisfied. After all "no human could hide eggs around the whole world in one night!". I love you.

-You are doing really well with your violin lessons and earned a spot in the school's Spring Concert. This is a very big deal.

-You excel in gymnastics. Your new trick is one-handed cartwheel (aerials?) and you somehow convinced Uncle Jeff to do them with you on the beach at Uncle Greg's wedding.

-You danced ALL night at the wedding. ALL night. As I was getting ready to leave I looked up to see you leading the Conga Line. You had a major case of Flower Girl envy, but you handled it like a champ.

-You are becoming a bit of a fussy eater. All of a sudden you demand the crust be cut off of all your sandwiches. I find this both very endearing and very frustrating.

-You began taking a shower before school each morning this month. It seems to make a HUGE difference in your mood in the morning. You are a lot like Daddy in that you could stay in a hot shower for hours!

-You are still amazing with your brothers. You love them so much. You've been teaching them to say their prayers and you still pick them up (which they love!) 100 times a day even though they weigh about 60% of what you weigh each.

-You were precious, and fun, and exhausting this month. I don't think you'll ever be described as an "easy child" but you are often described as "amazing", "charismatic", and "beautiful".

- I love you more than you will ever know.

Matthew
-You are growing up much too fast! You pretty much forced me into taking your crib apart and are now in a big boy bed. You fall out of our bed regularly and like to knock on the door to your room when you want me to come get you.

-You really enjoyed hunting for eggs this Easter. I couldn't believe how quickly you caught on! By noon on Easter you were taking eggs out of your basket, hiding them around the living room, and then hunting for them. It was really, really cute.

-You still love to jump on the couch and run through the blinds. You often enjoy your moment of naughtiness and then happily put yourself in time out (with a very satisfied look on your face). It seems as if you are thinking "totally worth it".

-You cover your mouth and say "Excuse Me!" in an adorable voice whenever you burp, sneeze, or cough. Cute.

-You love to be tickled and often tickle yourself. Super-cute.

-You love hats, glasses, and props of any kind.

-You love water... at the beach, in the tub... anywhere you can find it.

-Yo love music and are positively obsessed with guitars. You are the cutest, most charming, beautiful child I've ever seen. I love you.

Daniel
-You have become such a little person this month! You have all these ideas, and such a personality! You are speaking in sentences almost all the time and I love, love, love to hear you talk.

-You love to play "boat" in a laundry basket. You often try to capsize the boat when Matt is in it so you can have it to yourself. (Little stinker)

-You got crazy excited about Grandpa's Birthday Cake. I was surprised you even really knew what it was, but the entire day you were talking about cake and yelling "Yea! Grandpa!! Grandpa! Cake!"

-You enjoy taking baths and hog the faucet. I have to leave the water dripping the entire time you are in there or face your wrath.

-You've become very silly recently and think it is hilarious to joke about biting. You bite your toys and tease them about it "Ha! Bear Bear I bite! I bite you Bear Bear!". You'll also come to me with fake tears, make me kiss your boo boo, and tell me "Bear Bear bite. NO BITE Bear Bear!".

-You refuse to stay in your bed. It's a losing battle. You are in bed with Matt all the time. (It sounds very sweet... and sometime it is... but often you are terrorizing poor Matt... stealing his water, his blankie, his pillow...).

-You love, love, love birds. Seriously you LOVE birds.

-You've come up with some funny expressions recently. You think it's funny when I call you "my baby" but you often hug me saying "Mama... my baby" and positively MELT MY HEART. I love you so.


And so, my sweets, I love you. April 2009 was not an easy month. We were so busy and so exhausted... and we managed to create so many precious memories. I love each of you so much. You are everything to me. Everything.

My Daniel,

You, my sweetness, are a very determined little boy! I think this will be a wonderful character attribute 99% of the time. The 1% of the time it is not quite as positive has been very evident this month :) "NO!" is your favorite new word. You say it about 500 times a day. Sometimes it is very cute when I ask you a question and you answer with such assurance ("Danny are you ready for a diaper?" "No."). It's not as cute when you repeat it at the top of your lungs when I'm trying to talk to you. You will only eat a banana offered to you in the peel and you refuse to eat raisins that are not given to you in your own little box.

You have come up with quite a few really funny things this month. You are CRAZY for cheese. You say "Cheese Please!" at least a dozen times a day... and it's never enough! Last week you found a yellow Post-It pad. You squealed with delight and declared "CHEESE!". You carried it around with you for the rest of the day pretending to eat it. So cute!

As I've mentioned before, you and your brother are quite the climbers. I saw shirts recently that say "I have my own stunt double" that I need to buy for you two! When you are getting ready to flip or jump you say (in a very excited voice) "Five... Six... GO!!!!" and then proceed to do something very dangerous that you are not allowed to do.

We've began "prepping" for potty training. This mostly involves a lot of "potty talk". You are terrified of sitting on the potty and REFUSE to get up there... but you love to cheer for anyone else who uses the bathroom. You'll come running across the house screaming "YEA!!!! Pee Pee!" if you hear the toilet flush.

Your language skills are just amazing. You are speaking very clearly recently and using lots of 3 word sentences. You are starting to pretend and you really seem to enjoy antagonizing your brother. You love slides, birds, and shoes. You still pull your left eyelid (very hard) when you are sleepy. You are smart and sweet and I love you with all my heart.

I love you always,
Mommy

Dear Matt,

My sweet, silly boy. You are so expressive. I find it so funny that such a tiny little person can have such strong feelings about things! You've had the "charming" look down for quite awhile now. You can flash your dimples and million dollar smile and melt hearts in an instant (and you seem to know it too!). This month you introduced your "disappointed" and "hurt feelings" expressions. Your little eyebrows furrow down so low and your little lip sticks out so far! You hang your head and cross your arms (and you still melt hearts... just in a different way). Luckily you are happy most of the time. Your biggest frustration these days is when we don't understand what you are trying to say. You either get very, very sad or throw a HUGE tantrum. This is as frustrating for me as I'm sure it is for you!

One area where you don't have any frustration (but I still have quite a bit!) is your motor development. You are so strong, so fast, and a freakishly good climber. There is nothing you can't climb. Seriously. I've yet to see you "stumped" by any piece of playground equipment or furniture. You are able to climb up and down stairs now. You've been climbing out of your crib for quite some time. This month you mastered climbing back in (not that you choose to do that very often...) Recently I put you and Danny down in your cribs and you were both MAD. You were both screaming and crying (very overtired). In the middle of your tantrum you stopped and said "bye" to Danny as you jumped out and ran across the room crying again. Daddy and I watched this on the video monitor in amazement. Danny was NOT amused. Now you climb out of your crib and go knock on the door when you want me to come get you... cute at 7 am... not as cute at 4 am.

You like to play ball but have a very hard time with the concept of "catch". You like to play fetch by yourself. You throw the ball, then run after it... repeat. You like the idea of playing with someone, but you don't ever trust that you'll actually get the ball back... so you won't let anyone else touch the ball.

We were at the park about 2 weeks ago and you and Danny were having a great time on the slide. There was a boy there who was about 3 years old who sat right in front of the slide you were using. You and Danny both tried to get around him but he would not move. After a moment I asked him to move and he refused, standing up and putting out his arms to completely block the slide. Danny tried to get past again and the boy growled at him. Without missing a beat you rushed forward and stuck your little finger in his face and yelled "YOU! NICE! NICE!" The boys mother (finally) came over laughing and said, "That's right, listen to that baby and be nice." The boy was at least a foot taller than you and easily doubled your weight. I loved the way you weren't the least bit intimidated. It was awesome!

You love to look at pictures and name everyone you see, you are OBSESSED with Elmo, and you love to tickle your brother and sister. You know all your body parts and enjoy nursery rhymes. You laugh at me when I look mad and hug me when I look sad. You are growing and changing everyday. I love you so much!
Love,
Mommy

Dear Kirsten,

Well, my sweet girl, you lost another tooth this month. You were thrilled and I want to laugh each time I look at your "jack 'o lantern smile". This month you have been very busy with Brownies, gymnastics, and violin lessons.

You are still the best big sister around. You love to teach the boys things and you are so proud when they copy you. Danny has perfected his somersaults and is your little gymnast in training. Your brothers have been experimenting with temper tantrums lately and it is killing you! A couple of weeks ago the boys threw all their Cheerios on the floor. I showed them how to pick them up but they refused. I wouldn't allow them to do anything else until they cleaned up and they had HUGE tantrums. First you tried to show them what to do, then you tried to give them incentives and cheer them on. After twenty minutes of screaming and crying you asked me "Can't I please just do it for them??". It was so hard for you to watch them upset and not be able to "fix" it. When they finally cleaned up you clapped and cheered SO LOUD.

You are doing great in school and get "greens" almost everyday. It's still hard for you to stay calm in the early evenings but you're working on it. I recently told you you needed to come help me with something and you told me "I just want to be a big girl and make my own decisions. I don't mean decisions like 'eat candy everyday' just decisions like 'keep reading and not go help you right now'... cuz I AM a big girl you know!" ...It was VERY hard not to laugh but you were very serious. Another moment I don't want to forget occurred at the beginning of March. You tripped on something in the twins' room and were looking for some sympathy. You were limping around and telling me (with fake tears) that your leg was "broken". A few minutes later I opened the back door to let the boys go out to play... you ran past me and I caught you saying "oh no... not if your leg is broken sweetie". You gave me QUITE the look and declared "That is just an expression! Of course my leg is not really broken!".

You wrote your teacher, Mrs. Booker, a letter last week. I REALLY wanted to make a copy of it... but you had it sealed up long before I had a chance. I wish I could remember how you spelled each word.. it was SO cute. The letter read:
Dear Mrs. Booker,
You are the best teacher in the world because you clean up our whole classroom everyday when the kids go home. That is so nice of you! It's like when my mom has to stay up until 9:30 because my brothers mess up our whole house. Did your kids do that when they were 1 or 2?
Love,
Your Favorite Student Kirsten Taylor

A couple of months ago you asked, very seriously, when you brothers were going to "learn English". As they've been learning to talk I do a lot of interpreting for you (i.e "Did you hear him say 'Sissy'?" "He said 'Thank you'!"). It was as if you thought their poor articulation was actually Chinese. (SO CUTE!) This month you finally agree that is "sounds like they are starting to learn English".

I think you may be the most joyful person I've ever met. You take true delight in the simplest things. You went to an ice skating birthday party this month. There were little metal "guides" for the children to use to help you get the feel of the ice and keep from falling down. You went around the rink twice to get used to it. I expected you to dump the guide after that... boy was I wrong! You figured out that you could skate VERY VERY fast when you didn't have to worry about falling. You started racing around the rink and then began doing tricks as if you were in the Olympics. It was hysterical! You still can't keep a secret (it's just TOO exciting for you!) and you gave the birthday girl half a dozen "hints" about her gift in the first five minutes of the party :) You sing in the shower, wear VERY sparkly shoes everywhere you go, and never stop moving!

I love you more everyday. I truly do love you with all my heart, sweet girl.
Love,
Mommy