Babies No More

I feel like it has just dawned on me in the last couple of days that we don't have a baby anymore. We are now the parents of a preschooler and a toddler. The kids seem to have grown up more in the past month than in the six months before that.

I am amazed that we are going to have to register Claudia for kindergarten one year from now. How is it possible that she is going to be in elementary school in a year and a half? I am so excited for her to start on that path--new friends, adventures, learning. I must admit that I am sad too that she isn't my little baby girl anymore. (Well, I tell her she will always be my baby girl, but you know what I mean.)

I have also found it very hard to know how I should be parenting her lately. She still is just 3, but she seems to be "maturing" well beyond what I expected her to be at 3. She still has the temper tantrums (almost daily) but she is also wanting to be more independent from me, which isn't all that different from before, but what is different is that she can actually do so much more independently than she used to.

I am trying to give her the independence that she craves. I am trying to step back and let her try things her way even if it isn't the way I would do it. It is hard. I keep questioning if I am guiding her enough or being to strict.

If anyone has any advice or wants to commiserate with me, leave me a comment. Please!

Let's Dance!

Claudia and Wilson LOVE to dance. Take a look! (Oh, and sorry for my annoying commentary.)

Wilson Is Officially a Walker

No, I didn't get any paternity results back. There really wasn't any need for that; the evidence was pretty clear when he was born and looked exactly like Claudia. But, our little guy is walking all the time now.

It is pretty amazing to think that just a year ago he was just basically still an eating/sleeping/pooping lump-a very cute lump, but still just a tiny lil' babe.

One peculiar habit that he is displaying is that he holds his arms very high out in front of him as he walks. I am assuming that it is for balance, but it does look just a little funny.

Way to go little monkey!

New Look

As you can see, I am trying out a new look for the blog. What do you think? Any comments? I know that I have at least 2 people that read this still. (Hi Grandma and Sandy!)

Goldfish or Elephant?

I have heard that a goldfish has such a short memory that by the time one swims in a circle they forget that they just did it and so swim in circles all day. Do they think, "Wow, this looks cool, I think I'll swim this way!" each time? Sad.

I have also heard that elephants have such amazing memories that they can find a watering hole when the only other time they visited it was when they were tiny calves many, many years before. Cool.

I have found that Claudia alternates between having a memory like a goldfish and an elephant daily (or hourly or by the minute). We can have a conversation like:

Me: Claudia, get your coat we are going to go.

C: Where are we going Mama?

Me: inevitably: Target.

2.2 seconds later...

Me: Claudie. Go. Get. Your. Coat.

C: Why? Where are we going?

Did we just circle around the fishbowl?

Then there are other times that that she will remember a place that we have visited once or she will remember something I told her in passing weeks before. She at times will pick up and continue a conversation that was started days before.

Did we just find the watering hole?

Say Cheese!

The annual Christmas card photo dilemma was upon us again! I don't know why, but every year I think, "we simply must have a wonderful photo to put on our Christmas card!" Every year I set about the morning of the photo getting kid(s) ready: a bath, ironing clothes, drying hair, applying hair products. Really, I should just give it up.

This year, I had the bright idea of going to the St. Paul Conservatory for the photos. I thought it would be nice to get a picture in the "sunken garden" room, which always has a beautiful arrangement for seasonal flowers. This year was no different. The garden was filled with thousands of Poinsettias--truly gorgeous!

After admiring the beautiful flowers, we set about to make an equally beautiful photo of our children. This was not so easy. Poor Wilson, I forgot when I was dressing Wilson in an adorable snowman sweater that the Conservatory is a greenhouse and thus very warm. Although, his warmth really did not stop his desire to, shall we say, "explore" his surroundings. His explorations could not be stopped even when it was most undesirable, like when we needed him to stay still for a picture.

Here are a couple examples:

Claudia and Wilson also saw a number of things that they needed to draw our attention to, which of course, requires pointing:

Finally, there was the general pulling and pushing that siblings must now and then inflict at inopportune moments:

We did manage to find a couple of photos that worked--out of the 176(!) that we took. When you receive your Christmas card from us this year, you will notice that none of the photos on the card have both Claudia and Wilson smiling at the camera at the same time, but now you know that it wasn't from a lack of effort on the part of their parents.

Next year, it's going to be a text-only card!

Stylin'

It goes a little something like this every morning at the Walker household: Claudia wakes up, walks to the bottom of the stairs leading up to our room and flicks on the (very, very bright) overhead light in our room. She says, "Mom, come down here now. I want my breakfast and can you turn on my show?"

After my eyes adjust to the blinding light, I get out of bed. We get breakfast and then we go into Claudia's room. She picks out her outfit. I try to steer her in certain directions (mostly unsuccessfully), like to avoid too many competing patterns or to wear weather-appropriate clothing. I hold firm to not allowing her to wear just shorts in the cold, although she can wear shorts over her pants, which she does (often).

Then we sit down to do her hair. She sits on one of her white chairs and I spray detangler and try to comb without pulling too hard. (Lord, I remember my mom or dad just about giving me migraines when they did my hair when I was little--didn't they have detangler?!?)

Wilson is normally up for this routine. He busies himself in a number of (un)constructive ways, like pulling out all of Claudia's clothes from her drawers or putting things in his mouth that just shouldn't go there. Well, that is until recently. Now Wilson has become a surprisingly willing participant in the morning beauty routine.

Here's a visual representation of the routine:

First, you spray the detangler:

Then you brush:

It always helps to applaud your stylist:

Final product: ADORABLE!