Friday, February 26, 2010

Two Faces, Two Hearts, Two of a Kind

It's better to paint with two paintbrushes. You can cover more area!

'I love to play with my brother. Sometimes I just like to see if I can make him laugh.'

Chillin Dylan in his Pack n Play-sporting a terrific tie onesie. What a man.

'What is my sister doing?' (she is in the Pack n Play with Dylan causing all sorts of ruckus)!

These two children couldn't be more uplifting and down right demanding all within one minute. Dylan has become excessively attached to me, so much so, that my dear husband seems to slumber solo during the second half of any given night as of late. Once Dylan wakes up for a nursing session in the middle of the night, that's it. The love affair with mom begins. Every hour to every two hours he seems to waken and unfortunately for me, he finds me right where he last saw me-slumped in the rocker, fast asleep, from the previous nursing session. The cycle continues through to daybreak. The dreams I've been having during these erratic sleepless nights would sure make someone think I'm on acid. Let's just say, Avatar meets Abby's Flying Fairy School and together they meet my family (both my side and Steve's) on a remote island with a metropolitan center. Yeah, it's out there!

My dreams of having a creative space for the children continue to be a dream. However, I do carve out a space here and there to allow for some exploration of the arts. While it's by no means the full craft zone I envision, what little I have done brings great satisfaction. Kaitlyn gets all into painting, from picking out the colors to obviously holding the brushes. She can't hold just one and I don't blame her. It's so much more fun to use both hands!

There is a developing interest between Kaitlyn and Dylan or is it between Dylan and Kaitlyn? Either way, it's shared. I find her sneaking up on him, laying down next to him, holding onto him, just loving him. It's precious, at least the first few minutes of it as then her curiosity gets ahold of her and watch out Dylan. Eyes get tampered with, fingers are shoved into his mouth and the poor guy just starts sucking. He doesn't know any better. Her hands push onto his chest as she'll try to stand up and then oh no...she'll stand on his leg or stumble and fall on top of him. Yeah, it's a full time job watching the two of them interact.

I try to not discipline too much as most of her prodding is harmless and who wants a mom always barking some type of direction. It's endearing to watch and while it can raise the heart rate a few times, it's by no means a war zone. Dylan just chills, laughing when he feels like it. As of late I have spotted him grabbing her shirt when he wants to sport some attention...she can get annoyed. She will try to pull his fist off of her clothing, but isn't too successful. His grasp could put him on the charts for an NFL draft! It's pretty funny to watch-ususally I have to intervene!



Sunday, February 21, 2010

New phases of joy...




Kaitlyn in her Raiders cheer outfit...such a Daddy's girl.

Suckers. A new type of treat for that special moment.

This morning's hello.

How does this happen. One day a child has no concept of possession and overnight 'Mine' is the new word along with hoarding motions. Yes, this is how it unfolded at the Patterson household. Kaitlyn has recently started declaring that things are hers by pulling the item away from you and pretty much shouting, 'MINE!'. The other recent behavior that I must admit is quite cute is the concept of 'Bye'. Kaitlyn will go into the bathroom to brush her teeth and when nearing the sink she stops in her tracks, looks at me, puts her hand up with a Miss America wave and states, 'Bye'. Almost like 'get the heck out of the bathroom mom, I'm brushing my teeth'. This isn't isolated to the bathroom, it happens multiple times in the day and at any given moment. She is fiercely independent and whenever she feels the need to be alone to play, eat, brush her teeth, poop, watch a show....'Bye' comes out of her mouth with that darling wave and a mischievous grin. Oh there is never a dull moment around here.

Dylan has tapered his blowouts down to a minimum and seems to take a fondness to the bathing. I can't keep his nails short enough so often his forehead gets pricked and the poor guy looks like he had an altercation with a cactus. His grin continues to ignite an internal joy and yes, having a second child brings you to a new capacity to love. No matter how inconceivable, with a second child your heart does expand. I had those all too common feelings of doubt, 'how could I ever love another child as much as I love my daughter?' It's an incredible mystery, but I'm living proof that you can love two children. Each child pulls a unique love out of you-love you never fathomed existed.

A few other highlights to note:

Dylan doesn't take his eyes off your food when eating. He's already got a huge appetite, makes me concerned for future grocery bills.

Kaitlyn has developed a love for reading and often storytime is no longer me reading to her but her reading to me.

Kaitlyn's cell phone bill could be shocking if we don't get the right plan. This girl is found regularly talking on her hand phone (hand up to the ear as if a phone) to all her city and country friends. She pauses as if listening to what they are saying back to her, she makes hand gestures and even says things like, 'Yeah', 'Oh', 'Hello'...My little ham!

Dylan sings to us in the morning. Every morning.

His torso is extremely long, his feet and hands are huge and his overall build is rock solid. He doesn't enjoy anyone other than me as of late. Even Grandma and Nana have found his outbursts of tears quite unconsolable. Mommy to the rescue-and you can imagine how that makes Kaitlyn feel...

Jealous. Kaitlyn is often jealous and it comes out in her behavior. Whether a repetitive high pitched scream or a shouted 'NO', she lets you know that she is not cool with what's going down. Did I mention repetitive?

I've been losing hair, so much that I recently read an article saying if I was to count my hair loss daily for seven days, then take the average, if it was over 100 lost strands I could have a problem. Well, I will tell you what, I must have a problem. First there is no way I could count the strands. I find them inside Dylan's mouth, coming out of Kaitlyn's hair, on burp cloths and bed sheets, in the children's bath and everywhere in between. I'm waiting for the moment when I'll find them in something I've baked for Steve's ER. I'm sure that will be a fun discovery!

Until next post-realizing it may be for some time...be well.