Growing Blueberries: Baby Boy and Two and Half Years Old

I'm four days past baby boy's due date! Yesterday, my doctor scheduled an induction for Wednesday, April 4th but I'm really hoping he decides to come before then on his own. He's doing well and they estimate he's around 8 pounds. It was fun to get a final ultrasound.

I am very ready for him and getting impatient, but it also feels like I'm getting little gifts of schedule-free days with Allie and Harper and unexpected nights of sleep. Here is his nursery. It was already painted baby blue and the only new piece of furniture is the rug, which was a shower gift from my mom and sister. The dresser was alternately mine, Tyler's and Bobby's growing up. It's a tiny room but the space is used well since the crib fit perfectly in the odd window box.

I'm also taking advantage of the extra time to write an update on Allie and Harper at two and a half (almost). I stopped doing the regular updates because instead of doing a few new things each week to report, they are constantly changing and surprising us, so it's hard to sum them up in a few paragraphs, but here we go...

Harper

This lady thinks she's the boss. She understands how things work and likes to instruct on how they should be done. Michael says, "I'm going to work." and she says some version of, "Go put on your work shoes, and then the door is right there. Your car is outside, you need your keys, and be careful on the stairs." You can imagine that she also likes to tell you exactly what she does and doesn't want to do, wear, or eat. Sometimes, when mom does not follow her instruction of the moment, tantrum ensues.

A happy Harper though is a total joy. She loves to read, especially Bible stories (wish I could take more credit for this, but really she is just drawn to all her bible books without much encouragement from me). She flips through a book on her own quite often and does a pretty good job of "reading" out loud. She also loves to color, and I have to give Michael credit for persisting in teaching her how to hold her crayons properly -- she has a great pencil grip despite me being skeptical that was worth teaching to a two year old.

Her blue bunny and blanket are long-time treasures, and she goes through stretches with addictions to other baby dolls or animals. She's finally beginning to admit that the $5 sparkly shoes that my mom got her at Walmart don't really fit anymore, so I can sometimes get her into other footwear. Her obsession with shoes continues and she is very helpful at fetching the shoes that Michael and I want to wear from our closets. Finally, my dad put an awesome swing in our front yard, and I'm very impressed at how she runs, catches the swing on her belly, and makes herself fly on her own.

Allie

From how she was as a baby -- aggressive, fearless, constantly on the go -- I never thought that Allie would be girlier than Harper. She is still the little energizer bunny, but will now have nothing to do with clothes that aren't dresses without lots of convincing. She talks about marriage a good bit: who is married to who, wearing her blanket as a veil, and that she is married to our neighbor Rob. Cinderella is an obsession (despite our best efforts to avoid the Disney-princess craze). She takes interest in painted nails (not her own, of course!) and is very maternal. She makes sure that her baby and pink bunny get adequate food and sleep. They get rocked and sung to sleep and usually need a sound machine as well.

At this moment, I hear her on the monitor during rest time belting out "So Long, Farewell" from the Sound of Music. She sings continuously and it's pretty amazing some of the notes she can hit. She is also a potty pro. Her smile is contagious and her hops and running make me light-hearted. Her favorite book is probably Madeline, and she is great at filling in the lines. She also likes bible stories, particularly about Goliath, Daniel, and Noah. Allie is very tender-hearted and made my week when she hugged me recently and said, "You are a good mama." That loving encouragement really helped me quell my anger for at least a couple daily power struggles I deal with from both ladies.

Michael was able to convince her to wear hiking clothes.

I can officially call my ladies potty trained, though Harper still has a fear of going more than pee on the potty. She holds it in for a day or two and then desperately asks for a diaper, disappears for 10-15 minutes and then comes waddling back asking for clean undies. On the other hand, I would put money on Allie being the most regular 2 year old in town. Two very different people! I'm prepared for some regression after baby boy comes since I imagine I won't be able to assist them with each potty trip all day.

Both these ladies love Peter Pan, Cinderella, the Jungle Book, Dumbo and Pocahontas (basically the Disney movies that they have watched so far). I made a CD with music from these movies plus Sound of Music, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Annie, the Lion King, and Mary Poppins, and they cannot get enough of it both at home and in the car (let me know if you want a copy!). I field requests for the Elephant Marching song, the Bear Necessities, and So Long, Farewell all day long.