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!

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.

Reports on Dylan

Tonight he let out enough spit to fill a cup except a cup wasn't near. Nope, only me, down the chest into the bra between the boobs. Nice Dylan. Nice.

His hair is balding pretty badly-nice chunks are missing from the back and both sides.

During belly time his legs go crazy like he is scaling a wall, only he is horizontal and not getting anywhere. Maybe he will be an early crawler.

This child can eat. I feel that I'm still on an every hour type of feeding schedule when he is awake. Which is ok since he is stocking up for his long slumbers. He can sleep for a solid seven hours or more at night! Can someone say 'AWESOME'.

We are emptying his closet to make room for the 6 months or larger attire. I'm not going to get too comfortable with this size as some brands he could use 6-9 months for sure!

He has a Heames butt and not a Patterson one! ha ha ha....

Father Daughter

Kaitlyn looks like a mini girl version of Steve.

Umbrella madness

If you give a child an umbrella, she will want to be out in the rain. When you take the umbrella away, an episode of screaming and floor kicking will occur. Yes, this was Kaitlyn's reaction. Let's just say the umbrella has found a permanent home in the back end of my car where she cannot find it...at least for another year! It's too heavy for her little hands and with her fierce independent streak, it becomes a ticket for frustration.

The sleep drama has come to an end. I crashed the other night after bartering with Kaitlyn to slumber for over 3 and 1/2 hours. Fortunately she did eventually end up falling asleep in her toddler bed, but it was 12:30am. By naptime the next day I had Steve put her crib back and right to sleep she went. This week has really been a bad dream. I don't recommend reacting the way I did for anyone who encounters their child for the first time straddling crib railing. It's not like she is going to get really hurt if she did fall. We have a great carpet and she is quite the adventurous gal. Once she does climb out, falling or not, she'll be ready to do it again and again (assuming we aren't there to intervene and correct the behavior). At that point, when it becomes repetitive, we will bring out the toddler bed and handle it all differently! I'm truly grateful she is back to her old self. I forget how little she really is...only 20 months. Going from a crib to a toddler bed or any different sleep environment can prove to be too much change. Add a younger sibling to the mix and you are really signing up for DRAMA.

Floor or Bed? Which will win?

She was crying, screaming, screeching and hollering 'Mommy'. It wasn't an unfamiliar gig, one that is indicative of a poopy diaper. We had placed Kaitlyn down for quiet time in hopes that she would actually get some shut eye. Typically she plays in her crib for a good hour before the silence of sleep follows. It's a blessed time of day. Occasionally she lets out this cry-scream after playing for sometime which translates into an obvious call for a diaper change as the stench becomes quite alarming. So, yesterday, when I heard the crying, screaming, screeching and hollering 'Mommy', I figured it was for the same drill. I was comfortable with the idea that I'd eventually get up to change her diaper, but by no means was I in a rush...afterall, this quiet time is really my only respite in my day to regroup and quite possibly nap myself. Dylan was in my arms as we approached her room. No diaper smell. I opened the door...

Miss Kaitlyn Marie was stuck straddling her crib railing. As if riding a horse she was arched forward holding on for the ride of her life. She was not scared only stuck. Once I got her she was headed for the door. My tomboy in the works is a real dare devil.

I wasted no time. Last night we converted her crib to a transition bed, the kind that still utilizes the crib mattress. She eventually slept after she explored everything on her dresser. When Steve went in the room to soothe her-as she was clearly distraught-he found the carpet and her covered in baby powder and the hand sanitizer in her hand. Surely if we waited any longer the hand sanitizer would be found as paint upon the wall and quite possibly her dessert.

Naptime today was a new story. When the silence hit I checked on her and found her smack center of her room, fast asleep ontop of a few books and half of a blanket. I picked her up and placed her in her bed hoping that when she does wake up, she feels its comfort. Night two and it's 9:42pm. Kaitlyn was tucked into bed around 9pm and for the past 40 minutes has been haggling me at the gate of her doorway. 'Mommy, I love you,' she hollers out. She distracts herself with books and toys and then hollers out again. When I come to the doorway, she goes right to her bed and crawls in. Not the last time; she went right to her bed but slowly started walking back toward me in her classic mischevious fashion, staring at me every step. I asked her if she was going to sleep on the floor. This stinker promptly buckled her knees and fell to the floor, lying on it as if she was asleep. She is a true comedian.

At this point I have walked away. She's not crying. That's the good sign. My hope is that she will wear herself out and by 10pm the true silence will hit. Only curiosity, will she be in her bed or on the floor?

This and that..

Dylan on a stroll.

Storytime with Great Grandma.

'I want to be just like Chillin Dylan.'

Evidence of first hair cut.

Being a girl...