What they're doing at the moment

Spencer:

-Is getting more and more capable of reasoning. He has learned how to ask for things very politely and it melts my heart when he says things like, "Mommy, may I take a bath, please?" or whatever else strikes his fancy. Turns out it's harder to say no when he asks like that. The flip side is he thinks if he asks nicely he is guaranteed to get what he wants. We have some pretty epic fits thrown over being told no. It's improving though.

-He loves to do headstands, which he refers to as headstanders. Genevieve joins him and they laugh and laugh and laugh.

-We had what feels like a small breakthrough in his eating habits and he has started trying a few new things we give him in trade for jelly bellies. It's not the most ideal method, but hey, new tastes crossing his tongue is so novel that I'll take small bribery to get it. He still can choose to say no, so it seems to be the right level of bribe, enough that it motivates him, not so much that he feels faired against if he says he doesn't want to try it.

-He is starting to talk to other people more and notice the folks in the world around him.

-He loves anything chocolate. He will do much for chocolate. :)

-He still has a memory like an elephant. He can count to 100 and gets the concept of numbers.

-He is "reading" a few words in Bill's Hooked on Phonics game on his phone. He knows all the letters and he's catching on a little bit. The few words he knows, "cat", "dog", he will point out when he finds them in our books we read.

-He is our little lover boy. He showers us with hugs and kisses, particularly Aaron and me to a slightly lesser degree.

-He absolutely adores Aaron and is pretty bothered when he's asleep. He's fairly oblivious to the needs of others to sleep, so he has no problem kissing him and getting right in his face to wake him up. In fact this morning he freaked out that I was still asleep and came and screamed an inch from my nose. Not his best moment. lol

-He is super independent. He can access just about anything he wants in our house and gets down whatever he wants to play with or see.

-By the same token he is very attached to my hip. He prefers me to anyone else and always wants me to help him over anyone else.

Genevieve:

-She turned two this week and is hard core into her terrible twos. We love her anyway.

-Her favorite phrases at the moment are "no," "no, not that one," and conversely "thank you." The first two drive us a little crazy, but the third sure is precious as she always says thank you whenever we give her something or do something for her.

-She has a scream like a banshee that she lets loose whenever she is displeased, which is often. Think terrible twos again. However, as soon as her issue is solved she stops immediately.

-She is also enthralled with Aaron. She is super sweet around him. She always wants to give him hugs and kisses. Both kids think it's utterly hilarious to give him raspberries on his stomach. He suffers their love quite well. :)

-She is smart as a whip. She has a really well developed vocabulary and speaks in full sentences with multiple things said each time. I'm constantly blown away by how well she can say what she wants. Watching kids develop their vocabulary never ceases to amaze me.

-She has always been shy of strangers and even people she knows that aren't her family. But she is coming out of her shell and really starting to talk to other people. She particularly likes other kids close to her age and she will follow them around at the park and she is pretty social. This surprises me as Spencer is more of a loner still.

-We're trying to get her bangs to grow long enough to go behind her ears. She hates having her hair done, so she has hair in her eyes virtually all the time. She has a double cowlick that makes it do the craziest things on the back of her head.

-She loves to climb and can get pretty much anywhere she wants to go.

-She is still very much a daddy's girl. She loves him to pieces.

-She and Spencer are best friends and worst enemies at the same time. They just adore each other but can't share if their lives depended on it. They'll get there in time.

Aaron:

-Weighs 13 lbs as of yesterday, nearly two weeks to his two-month checkup. That is more than either siblings weighed at two months. He's huge! His torso is so long he is wearing his 9-month onesies. I often wonder why he can't do some things yet and then realize it's just deceiving how big he is. He's still only 7 weeks old.

-He's starting to smile at me and coo! It makes my heart melt.

-He absolutely loves to sleep on his stomach, so we let him for afternoon naps. He sleeps on his back at night.

-His night sleeping is pretty erratic. Sometimes he only wakes once, but more often it is two or three or even more times.

-All his hair rubbed off, save a thick fringe on the back. Now it is all coming back in uniform in length and still dark. This kid will not lack for hair.

-He has long, beautiful eyelashes that would make any girl jealous.

-His eyes are still blue and fairly dark at the moment.

-He is still very chill. He only cries when he's hungry and I'm not feeding him fast enough. Though he is staying awake more now and doesn't quite know what to do with himself since he can't really grab things yet. He'll figure it out though. He does a lot of looking around, taking in the world.