Lydia's growing up!

This morning Lydia told me, "that baby is clever."  She said that right after she informed me that there were s's all over sister's blanket.  Three of them to be exact.  Yesterday she said, "the witch didn't have any energy because she was eating bad food."  Over here our identity's are ever changing, but currently Jon is Poppa Pig, I am Grandma, Lydia is Alpha Pig and Sophie is Red.  For those of you unfamiliar with Super Why we totally recommend it.  It's fun and educational, and if you wonder what kids shows are really teaching kids, this is one you can trust.  At least we do.

Previously Lydia was Tod the Fox.  Only when she'd introduce herself it sounded more like "Tod the box."  We're working on that F sound. And believe me when I tell you that she'd really introduce herself that way.  To anyone that wanted to know her name; from people at church to total strangers at the grocery store.  "I'm Tod the Box."  Jon was Chief, I was Vixie and Sophie Copper.  The fox and hound from the Heiselt cousins were an immediate hit.  Well, maybe not immediate, but it sure didn't take long for Lydia to warm up to them and decide that they were hers and that she needed to take care of them.  In the past couple of weeks I've watched Lydia put her animals down for naps in the wicker baskets in our bookcase day after day after day.  She'd give them blankets and know when they were hungry, and tell me they were crying and that she needed to take care of them.  I asked her if we should check on them and she said that "their whomidifiers and monitors are on.  So they should be okay."

The other night Lyds kept herself from falling asleep by singing, "Everbody Wants to Be a Cat" from AristoCats.  It makes me wonder if that's how she keeps herself up on the night's she doesn't fall asleep right away.  By whispering songs or telling herself things she doesn't want to forget or simply has going through her mind.  I've also heard her whisper and  repeat "Mom.  Dad.  Sophie" on another occasion.

She just started deciding what Sophie wants.  We were playing in the snow at the park yesterday and she got up on the equipment and found two steering wheels side by side.  She told me that Red wanted to drive one.  So Sophie and I hopped on the playground equipment and Sophie got to steer us around.  I'm pretty sure that that was only the beginning.  I love it.  Eventually Sophie will be able to tell us what she wants, right?  And until then, we have Lydia to help us out.  The not as lovable moments have come as soon as Sophie starts crying.  As soon as she does Lydia starts repeating, "it's okay baby, it's okay!!  It's okay!!!" While simultaneously bursting into tears.  Something about seeing a little person cry really upsets her.  I imagine that's true with lots of little kids, but I know that seeing me cry does not set Lyds off.  Thank goodness.

Last Friday I tended a friend's two little boys. It was really fun and I really enjoyed watching Lydia interact with someone her own age.  I was warned that this little boy might give Lyds a run for her money and that if he did start crying it was absolutely not Lydia's fault, but was sure that no kids are as sensitive as my own.  While I was trying to get Sophie down for a nap I heard crying and went to investigate.  What I found surprised me.  At least a little bit.  The little boy was crying, telling me that Lydia wanted him to eat dinner, but he didn't want it.  Lydia had been busy in her kitchen making a sandwich and had interrupted the farm fun to feed her new friend.  Surprising that Lyds would be making food in her kitchen?  Not even a little bit.  Surprising that she hit it off so quickly with her new friend?  Definitely.  She hasn't stopped talking about giving him food and how he cried, but it was later in the afternoon when all four kids were crying that things got stressful and I just couldn't spread myself around enough.  Sophie had had too many distractions and refused to fall asleep even though she was desperately tired.  The two month old just needed his pacifier.  And the two year-olds??  I'm pretty sure that even they couldn't tell you why they were crying.  They just were.  It took some time to comfort and console, but after a few good books everyone was sleeping.

I love Lydia's enthusiasm for caring for her animals.  I love that she cooks in her kitchen and helps me in the kitchen too.  I love it when she uses new words that she may or may not fully understand.  And I really love that she's aware of her sister and watching out for her.  For the most part anyway.

Christmas Magic

I started this post in early December... and am just now getting around to finishing it...

This morning we pulled the tree up from downstairs along with all the other Christmas decorations.  It snowed enough last night to coat everything outside and has continued to fall throughout the day blanketing everything in sparkly white.  Perfect weather to deck our halls.  As soon as I removed Santa from his wrappings (a gift from Grandma Duse, Jon's grandmother) Lydia immediately lost all enthusiasm and declared "I don't like him.  Not one little bit."  The Cat and the Hat is a regular read around here.  This Santa is bigger than Sophie and nice and soft.  He has batteries and reads The Night Before Christmas, but not this year.  Lyds would not have anything to do with him.  Sophie, on the other hand, couldn't get enough of this stuffed Santa!  She hugged him and jumped on him and wrestled with him until he was no longer available because he was forced to find a new home, back in the basement.  He'll reappear next year and we'll look forward to seeing what sort of response his presence brings.

Sophie's new best friend

Lydia keeping her distance

Lydia loved the decorations we hung on the tree.  Both girls loved the nativity set and wanted a sheep of their own.  The candy canes were super exciting and Sophie wanted nothing to do with her green beans (a veggie she's not very keen on to begin with) after Lyds shared with her an open peppermint candy cane.

The holidays were magical and memorable and we're still talking about them.  We loved having family over and especially enjoyed interactions between little cousins, although we could do without spreading germs... Sorry Milo!!  We really can't seem to get together with the Israelsen's without making each other sick. :(  The dancing cat from Grandma Frazier was terrifying to begin with, but before long Lydia was calling herself the Dancing Cat and singing AristoCat songs.  The girls loved their ginormous stuffed animals and I loved watching Lydia try to drag her horse up to bed with her.

Personally I wish that I could carry Auntie Abby around in my pocket as my personal trainer and I know the girls wouldn't object to having her around.  Jon felt the same way.  Lydia made a new best friend in Paul and could not get enough of him.  One of my favorite moments with Lyds was hearing her say, "Where'd the dude go?" in her sweet little voice.  Was she referring to Paul?  We concluded that she'd heard Paul call Milo dude and picked up on it right away as she does so many other things.  Playing the Loser game with Sarah and Paul was awesome, but I think I enjoyed watching Sarah gamble in Farkle even more.  Vegas would not be good to her or for her.  New Year's Eve with the fam was fantastic.  Uncle Jarom read How the Grinch Stole Christmas and we sat around talking for not nearly long enough.

The owl rocking chair Jon made for little Leila was one of my absolute favorite gifts ever, but more on that later (in another post).  Earlier in December we came home to find this beautiful Nativity parked in our front yard with a light shining on it.  A gift made by Grandpa Frazier and one we look forward to displaying each year. The church bags Aunt Lizzie made the girls are genius and hold the cute and creative puzzles Aunt Stacey made for the girls perfectly.  I loved that Sophie had stranger danger moments, but not always.  Sometimes she'd be doing great, and then you'd laugh too loud and immediately pay for it.  Moving Jarom and Brittany into the parent's basement was definitely good times.  So glad Brother Jon didn't get the Stott's car stuck in the snow too horribly and Lyds warmed up to him pretty quickly.  Although I wasn't there for it, hearing about the epic sledding adventure was riveting.  Seeing all the bandages on little Juicy's hands and Abby's torn jacket made it all the more real for us.  Lydia loved sledding with her Frazier cousins and probably would have stayed outside all Christmas Eve if we'd let her.  I'm glad that my Jon and Derek got to have their Halo adventure and we loved the visits to Amber and Isaac's and Will and Summer's for delicious breakfast foods.  I believe Uncle Tophe made it through the holidays with his title of Favorite Uncle still in tact.  And visiting Grandpa Andrus was a treat as always.  Is he really 92?!

Lydia has written a story inspired by her little sister and a princess book she got from her Aunt Cathy.  She holds the little book as she says  "Once there was a baby who liked to steal things.  But then she changed her mind."  Based on a true story. ;).

We're "cleaning up Christmas" on a daily basis.  In fact, every time we tidy anything up, we're "cleaning up Christmas."  Which reminds me, Lydia has been saying/doing some super awesome things lately, but this post is already much longer than I'd originally planned, so those tales will have to wait for another day.