An update on the kids

It's been awhile since I've written about just the kids, so I thought I'd post a quick update.

Alexandra

Well, we all know that Alex is now 2, and I think it's suffice to say that she has the attitude and the temper of a 2-year-old. She's very strong-willed and I don't remember the terrible twos being quite so difficult with Austin. Then again, my memory may have just faded in the two years since we were last there.

But she's also very sweet and loves helping out. She's always pulling her chair up to the counter to help me with dinner, putting dishes away from the dishwasher, working with me in the garden and even attempting to fold laundry (this last one usually just results in me having to redo it, but it's the thought that counts).

She also wants to be self-sufficient --trying to get undressed and dressed by herself, and even putting on her own shoes. The cutest part of that is, as she's putting the first shoe on, she'll always look up at me (or Ryan) and ask: "right feet?".

Her language abilities have finally come along and she's now talking in two and three word sentences. And along with finally having the ability to speak more than a handful of words has come the ability to sing. She loves singing and is constantly singing the songs we learn at the Early Years' Centre or ones that Austin teaches her. In fact, there have been mornings that she wakes up and, instead of crying out for me to come and get her, she just starts singing. Her favourite song is Roly Poly because it gets loud, Loud, LOUD!

At her 2-year checkup, she weighed in at 26lbs and 34 inches tall -- still tall and skinny for her age. It's amazing that she's still so light, considering her favourite activity is to eat -- there are some days that she can out-eat Austin!

Just this week, I've restarted potty training her. I'm not rushing her, but since I know she knows how and just doesn't want to do it anymore, I figured it was time to try it again. We'll see how it goes.

She's still in a crib -- mainly because unlike when Austin was her age, we're not in need of the crib again -- but we'll probably make the transition to a bed in the next few months.

Austin

There's not as much to write about Austin.

His preschool finishes this week, which will be sad because he loves it there. But he starts JK in September and he's pretty excited about it. He's definitely ready to start school. We've been doing a lot of learning at home -- the alphabet, numbers, writing, etc. but there's only so much I can teach him. He's even interested in learning to read so we've been teaching him a few basics.

Like Alex, he too loves helping out. Last week, he helped me plant all the vegetables and flowers in the gardens -- digging holes, placing plants and watering. (Oh yeah, and watering me with the hose too! Good thing it's 30C out!)

At his last doctor's appointment, he weighed in at 40 lbs and 41 inches tall. This means that he's heavy enough and old enough now to be transferred out of the car seat and into a booster seat -- but so far we haven't done that. We figure he's safer and has no knowledge that he's allowed to be moved to a less restrictive seat (and he's still not too big for the one he's in) so we're just going to keep things as is for now.

Finally, in the when-did-he-get-old-enough-for-that-category, we bought Austin a big boy bike with training wheels. We thought he might have a bit of trouble with it at first, but so far he's doing great. With Alex on the bike seat of Ryan's bike, the four of us have been already out on a few bike rides this spring.

This summer is going to be a busy one for Austin. He's registered for soccer again and this year, he'll be on the field two nights a week. One night will be a game and the other night will be a practice. He's also going to all-day camp for one week in July and I'm thinking of signing both of them up for swimming lessons in July as well. And Alex is registered for the same toddler soccer program that Austin was in the last two years.

Busy summer coming up, that's for sure. I got a little behind in posting pictures, so there are two new slideshows on the right-hand side.