The Kids These Days: Ages 1 Year and 2 and a Half Years

We'll start with Baylor.  He's two-and-a-half now and awesome.  The above is a video he fell in love with today.  He thinks it's hilarious - I just thought it was super cool.  (Make sure you have the sound on when you watch it!)

Anyhow, he loves the top ten countdown on ESPN and refers to it as "the numbers game", though we don't really know why.  He is a reluctant eater, particularly at dinner, but he'll eat just about anything if you alternate it with applesauce ("One bite of this, one bite of that ...").  He finally watched his first full-length feature film in entirety ... Finding Nemo!  He says it is his favorite movie, and I was super proud that he wasn't scared at any point during the movie.  We don't usually watch much television, but he enjoys Sesame Street and Olivia every now and then.  He LOVES Duplo Legos and enjoys making houses and towers out of them.

Baylor is learning to read a bit.  He is so fascinated with words and letters and how things are spelled that we just go with it and answer his questions when they come up.  I always try to explain the phonics of things, but I feel like most of the time I'm just apologizing for how messed up the English language is.

Over a year after he fell in love with elevators while visiting us in the hospital when Mollie was born, he is still enamored of elevators.  The little dude loves them and generally that is the first thing he'll talk about with a stranger, if he's going to make conversation at all.  He might ask where an elevator is, talk about one he's seen recently, or make up one entirely, but elevators are his thing, through and through.

And my little man is sweet.  While he has been a bit trying the last few days, he is generally quick with a hug and an "I love you".  He's learning about manners, but he's two so he has to be reminded of them often.  And he's finally realized that he has a huge part in Mollie's happiness, and he takes great pleasure in making her smile and laugh.

Speaking of Mollie ...

She turned one not too long ago, and her personality has been developing more and more every day.  Miss Mollie has a mind of her own.  If she has it in her mind to do something, you better believe she is going to do everything in her power to get her way.  Diaper changes can be the worst; she'll thrash and start to cry and do everything she can to sit up and get moving.  Unfortunately for her, I am equally stubborn and don't often give in to her protests, something I hope will be good for both of us in the long run.

She gives kisses and hugs to me, but rarely to anyone else.  Have I mentioned she is a total Mama's girl?  Yeah, to the point that she will sob when I leave for an appointment or an exercise class or follow me around the house as I do the chores.  It is overwhelming at times, how attached she is, but I try to explain to her what is going to happen; hopefully someday she'll understand.

I guess, thinking about it, she's also a Baylor's girl.  My goodness, does she love her brother!  Any attention he gives her is a supreme gift, and she loves just hovering around him waiting for him to notice her.

She's a sweet one, too.  Mollie's into hugging her dolls and toys, she sometimes blows kisses when someone leaves, and she loves clapping for other people.

After much practice, she is getting really good at walking and standing up all on her own.  And with a little incentive, she can walk quite quickly; today she practically ran to me when I got home from the grocery store!

While she doesn't say a whole lot, she understands a ton.  When we go up for bed at night, I just tell her which room to go into and off she goes.

She's an amazing little girl, and it is so much fun to get to know her.  I'll admit, I feel like I don't know her as well as I knew Baylor at her age.  I feel a lot of guilt over this, but I know that she is a second child and doesn't have the benefit of my undivided attention.  She and Baylor are so different; at this age he was talking so much more than she is, and yet he is much more reserved by nature.

I love them both so much, and every day I thank my lucky stars that I get to be their mom.