Gabriel 3 years and Amelia 9 months

Gabriel and Amelia went to the doc's for the first time for a joint appointment at the end of the year. Gabriel for his 3 year and Amelia for her 9 month check ups. The doctor says:

Gabriel:

Weight: 33lb - 75th percentile

Height: 39.25cm - 89th percentile

Amelia:

Weight: 18lb 15oz - 51st percentile

Height: 28.25cm - 75th percentile

Head circumference: 45.2cm - 80th percentile

No shots needed on this visit, yippie!!!!!!

Gabriel FREAKED out when the nurse tried to take his blood pressure! He was not OK with the pressure cuff, and the nurse finally just gave up. It looks like we need to get a doctors play set some time before his next visit! :-)

Amelia is such a big girl! It is all going by so quickly! She already helps mommy get her dressed (pretty sure just so she can get done more quickly). She will help look for the arm hole in shirts and jackets and pushes through the sleeve. When she has a toy in her hand, she will put her toy in her other hand so I can put the other side on. I thought it was just a coincidence at first, but then she kept doing it every time I would get her dressed.

Not doing much more in the talking front, just still making A LOT of noise and raspberries. She does the best raspberry on daddy for sure! Amelia has what I call crocodile tears. They come almost instantly from the moment she starts getting upset. This has started to shift. Sometimes she will just scream with no tear in site. This tells me that she has learned the art of fake upset. Uh oh! She continues to be fearless, and love her brother. She seems to be over the mommy separation anxiety phase for now. I can now leave her in the gym child care without her making a peep! Yay!!!!! I need to take advantage of this seeing that I have no idea when the next phase of separation anxiety will start up.

She is still a super happy baby who LOVES to dance! She waves at you when you are leaving and waves hello to you when you come back. Amelia loves to hear herself talk and just lights up when you answer back in her own language.

Gabriel has been going through some trouble with not listening and acting out. This has been going on for some time, but had peeked in the past few months or so. At least I think (hope) it has peeked. We really have been working hard to shift things around with him. We have had MANY temper-tantrums, MANY conversations with him, and MANY time outs. But I think we are working through it because things seem to be getting better. It has to be a tough time for them as well. You can tell how frustrated he can get. I tell you, parenting is an ever changing job and is quite complicated. You want to make sure you are raising your child to be comfortable with who they are, to develop and convey their opinions, to feel that their opinions really do matter to you and the rest of the world. We want to help them develop a sense of independence and good self esteem as well. Then all at the same time, you have to make sure they are well disciplined, listen and respect you and other people, are polite and appreciate what they have been given, and teach them the kindness of giving to others. It is a tough job, and although you feel that it is tough when they are younger, it has nothing on how difficult it continues to get. I feel like I am walking a very fine line most of the time, trying to balance out everything. Just when you think you have things under control, the walls start to come crashing down on you. But if you have built a solid foundation, those walls can more easily be rebuilt! That is the good news (that is, if the foundation has been built early on). Much patience is needed to be a good parent. I have always thought that Daddy and I have had more patience than the average person, and our patience level has been put to the test on a daily basis! I have to say that thus far we must have been doing something right. Because Gabriel really is a good spirited, kind, considerate, and super sweet person. It is so cute when he is concerned for us, like when he wants us to have a glass of milk as well, or a sticker tattoo on our hand too. Same thing with his sister. Often when we sit down together as a family with Gann and Papa, he will ask "let's all hold hands" so we can say a little prayer. When mommy is having a bad day and is upset, he will come right over to give me a hug. He is very open with his "I love you's" and you can tell that he truly means it. Despite his tantrums as a 3 year old, he is just a good little person. And that is the absolute truth.

The other day, I sat down with him to play the game Shoots and Ladders. If you remember that game, you choose a child that you can be to play the game. When I asked Gabriel what little kid he would like to be to play the game, he said "I just want to be myself". Well of coarse you can be yourself, what a great comment to make at such a young age. I said, "yes buddy, that's right"! There is no one better to be than to be yourself. So I had to change my tactic. So it became, "which friend would you like to be on a team with for the game?". This sat better with him and he choose himself a friend.

He is going through this phase that he is constantly asking "what did you say?". You repeat yourself, then he asks it again, and again......and again.

He is getting really good with tracing his letters now. I have to get better about working with his freehand letter writing. I have tried, but he just doesn't seem all that interested in it. He does really like to trace.

So here are our recent family pictures taken mid December. The first group (with Christmas outfits) was taken on our deck and in our back yard. We traveled about 5 min away to a public park for the second round of pictures. It is a beautiful place and we had a lot of fun! Some you have seen on our New Years card, but there are a lot more that you haven't seen! Check them out!