Mass Hysteria

So it's 6pm and I just informed Matt that I've reached that point in the day where I will no longer be useful. Now that I'm in the home stretch with this pregnancy, the fatigue and ever-increasing lower back pain reach the breaking point somewhere around dinner time. More and more I've started taking naps with Max during his morning nap, which pushes useless-time back to just after bedtime. But it seems like life is just getting busier, so naps aren't always possible.

Anyway, I thought I'd take a moment to write a post instead of, I don't know, pack. Or sleep.

Today is Sunday, and like every Sunday, we had a plan to get to Mass that was fast and efficient. And like every Sunday, it fell apart at the seams. The Church we attend most regularly, Ascension, is a 10 minute walk away, and the plan was (and usually is) for one of us to go to the early Mass - 8:15am with one or two kids, and for the other to go to the 11am Mass with the remaining children. Today it was going to be Matt & Max at 8:15 and me with Karol and Patrick at 11.

But Daylight Savings Time happened. So the kids I've finally got trained to sleep until 6 now slept past 7, as did Matt and I. By 7:45 it was evident that nobody was going at 8:15.

Well that's okay, Matt and Max can go at 9 at Holy Name, but Holy Name is a 20 minute walk, so Matt would need to be ready by 8:30 and considering he hasn't even had that pivotal first cup of coffee that starts the morning ritual timer, that is unlikely as well. On top of that, Max really needs to start his morning nap around 9:30-10, and that window will be completely shut by the time they'd be home - or worse, he'd fall asleep really late in the stroller and throw his whole routine off, which would take me at least until Wednesday to straighten out again.

Okay, then I guess we'll all just go to 11am. But Max probably won't wake up until 11, and I hate being late to Mass (or anything, really), so that's a no-go. Maybe me and the older two can go to 11 at Ascension, and Matt can take Max to Holy Name at noon? That would work, except the kids need some playground time today since they were stuck inside all day yesterday, and I can't really do a playground trip with more than one by myself anymore, so we'd have to wait until Matt's back at 1:20pm, then eat lunch, then go out to the playground - but everyone needs to nap no later than 2:30pm, so that leaves about 3 minutes of actual play time in the park after eating, suiting up and walking there and then walking back and getting ready for naps. AAHH!

So then we formulate plan C (or is this D?). 'Okay wait, I promised the kids yesterday we'd get ice cream, so let's have lunch ready for when Max wakes up at 11, go to noon Mass at Holy Name (which is fortunately right across the street from the cheap cone place and a nice playground) and have ice cream and play until 2:15 or so.'

And my plan would have worked, too, if it weren't for those meddling kids. Lunch was ready and the kids were dressed and shoed when Max woke up, but then a couple of them decided they didn't feel like eating. I informed them that I wasn't buying ice cream for anyone that hadn't eaten their lunch. Karol's attitude toward eating turned on a dime, but apparently Patrick isn't motivated quite as much by treats because at 11:45 Matt was frantically begging him to finish his food so we could go.

And then everyone pooped. Or at least the preschoolers. "I don't care if we're late, we are going to noon Mass!" I say. "Did someone kidnap my wife and replace her with you?" my husband says (remember, I would usually rather not go than be late to pretty much anything). So at 12:05 Karol, Max and I were waiting at the base of the staircase for Patrick to finish his 'work.' At 12:15 we are walking at a brisk pregnant pace (which is medium-slow for us normally) to Mass at a Church 13 blocks away.

I think we got in after the homily, somewhere around the Our Father/Sign of Peace time frame, slid into the almost-last pew as surreptitiously as possible with three tots. I spent the rest of Mass recovering from the walk to the Church and trying to keep Max from babbling loudly and falling off the kneeler and into the wooden pews, and getting out Karol and Patrick's Mass stuff (mostly coloring pages and handwriting sheets that currently have a Lenten theme). I think Matt is actually trying to pray and be Catholic - he's kneeling and standing at the appropriate times and everything (I've been playing the pregnant card on that for the past few weeks).

Then it seems like we've been there maybe 8 minutes, it's time for Communion (caught me off guard because I haven't heard a word of anything the whole time) and then boom, people are dashing out the door already. Usually I coat the kids up as soon as we get back to the pew since it'll take us until the end of the recessional hymn to be ready anyway, but I figured since we just got there we could hang out for a couple minutes and chill.

But now Karol and Patrick don't want to leave. "I didn't get to do anything!" Karol cries, referring to her coloring and handwriting pages. I quietly whisper "ice cream!" and she quickly packs up and heads to the door.

Ironically, no matter how late we are or how much the children misbehave, we always get several people coming up to us to say how adorable our family is because they miraculously turn into angels when it comes time to walk down the aisle for Communion. And Max was exceptionally cute today - he somehow managed to cut our whole family ahead of two people with his cuteness alone.

The rest of the day, ironically, went basically as I had outlined it - ice cream, playground, smooth segue into naps, and Karol even completed her kindergarten (homeschool) reading program.

So why is Mass always so difficult? We have a pretty good system for keeping the kids calm/occupied once we're there (although that's taken years, and Max is still in uncooperative toddler phase). We've got a good system for getting the kids out the door - it works Monday thru Friday relatively well. Maybe it's because Sundays are a later start and the kids get to have some play time before Mass? Is it because there's always a fall back - some other Church that has a Mass an hour later - so we take the time table for granted? Is it because really I'm dreading the whole experience anyway, so karma just makes it as bad as I already expect it to be?

Patrick

Yesterday was Sunday, and we spent a large chunk of the day in a (rented) car, headed back from a fun weekend visit with Uncle Joe and Aunt Judy in Maryland. You'd think this would be torture and, while 5-6 hours in a car with 3 car seats crammed in the back is not my idea of a party, it wasn't nearly as bad as it could've been. I have 3 amazingly laid back kids (although Maximilian is becoming something of a bossy-pants, like his sister) and one of which I was most especially proud of yesterday.

I've always said that Patrick - my first boy and middle child - has a naturally kind-hearted, giving spirit, and never was that more obvious than during yesterday's car trip. When Karol or Max wanted a drink, he would offer them his before I could even respond. When we ran out of cheese sticks and Max wanted more, Pat gave him the rest of his, without even being asked. Patrick is the type of child who will hold hands with his baby brother to help him calm down for a car-nap.

At home, I know I can count on him to take things to other family members if I ask, to wipe up a spill or pick up things. And if someone drops something, he'll actually get upset if they don't let him pick it up for them. Not angry upset, but the kind of upset that makes you feel so sorry for him!

This is extremely ODD behavior for a 2 year old!

Back to yesterday's car-ride, Matt and I were so impressed with Patrick's loving behavior that Matt pulled him aside before bedtime and gave him a couple of M&Ms (a pretty major treat at our house) for being so helpful, kind and well-behaved on the trip and told him how proud he was of him.

All of my children have obvious God-given traits and talents, but I don't know if anything stands out more than Patrick's amazingly kind-hearted personality.

Max Walks!

It has happened! And totally out of the blue. Earlier today, just for something to do, I said "hey let's practice walking," and handed Max to Matt then sat a few feet away on the floor. Considering we had never played this game before, I wasn't expecting much. Much to our surprise, however, Max took off from Matt's fingers and took a good three and a half to four steps all the way to my outstretched arms!

We were shocked! After doing it again a couple of times, Max was over it and moved on to other activities.

I'm so glad Matt got to witness his first steps.

Go Max!

Missing the Baby Gear

I'm getting way too attached to the kid's baby gear.

It's not that I'm afraid I'll miss it. I'm afraid the kids will. Do they really have an attachment to these things? Or am I projecting that on them? Being too attached to 'stuff' is the opposite of what I want to instill in them, but I don't want to inadvertently rip something away from them that they feel emotional about, either. With the move coming up, a lot of things are going to change.

It's really getting hard for me to come to terms with giving up our lovely apartment, but only because of the convenience it affords. I know I'll be fine emotionally. But are the kids going to miss it? I remember growing up in two houses - and the second one was my grandparents' house before we moved there, so it was already 'home' to me. I can't imagine what it would be like to up and move to a whole new city.

On the other hand, Karol and Patrick are still very young - Karol's not even 3 yet. Will she even remember? I have no idea. And who knows how much we'll end up switching apartments in NYC, as the family (and hopefully the income) grows.

So why am I feeling this way today? Well, it doesn't help that it's a gloomy, crappy day overall, but I'm thinking about selling our double stroller. It's a monster of a stroller, and has served us very well. But now I'm looking to trade it for something smaller and more maneuverable for the city. And with Patrick walking really well already, we probably won't need a stroller for every trip in New York. Plus I don't really like the idea of having them locked up and lazing in a stroller for extended periods of time while I wheel their butts around. So I want something light-weight, easy to fold and easy to get around on skinny sidewalks.

But that means I'll need to sell ol' reliable. It's been like a second home for all the lovely long walks we take in Arlington...but am I the only person who's really getting sentimental about it?

We might go stroller test-driving at Buy Buy Baby this afternoon after work (I'll probably actually buy it used) to see what brand/model works best. I figure I'll be wearing Max for the first 6 months or so. I'm looking at the Jeep Wranglerthe Combi Twin Sportand the City Minibut who am I kidding? Should I just skip straight to the Triple Threat?

Good Times in the Bath

Karol and I wrapped up the evening (a terrible, nothing goes right type of day today) with a mommy-daughter bath, complete with facial masques, tea-tree oil foot scrubs, and an intense game of 'Spuh-LASH!' which is a lot like catch, but without the catching.

Luckily the rest of the night went smoothly with no tears from either toddler at bedtime. Unfortunately, Matt will be up late tonight working on one of two final papers that is due tomorrow at noon. I will be SO glad when he is done with all of this on WEDNESDAY.

As for me, I've been done with class for a week or two now (yay!). Now I'm going nuts about packing, going through the kids' clothes and weeding the outgrown and winter weather gear from their drawers for storage, and making big piles of random stuff to be donated. We are going to be losing a lot of space with the move to NYC (oh yeah, and adding a kid) and the extra stuff just isn't getting out of my apartment fast enough for my taste.

It's 9pm, and I think I'm going to go to bed. That's actually a little early for me. I'm hoping tomorrow starts off a little smoother than today did, but I'm not looking forward to Matt being MIA while he crams on final projects the next three days!

Stream of Consciousness Post about Montessori, The Kid's Development, And Moving

Saturday was a crazy day. We went everywhere. We were in and out of the car like crazy. All in anticipation of a rain storm that never happened. But we were able to pick up a lot of new tools and supplies for our Montessori-fying the apartment quest. Between a 'liquidation sale' on the edge of DC's bad side, Ikea and Home Depot, we were able to get some serious deals on some makeshift Montessori stuff.

The most important thing we purchased this weekend was by far the kid-sized table and chairs from Ikea. The kids are loving it so far. Saturday and Sunday were both full of test driving some of the new stuff. I'm starting to feel more confident that this idea is going to work.

And in order to facilitate the New World Order in our family routine, I've kicked off a mad Ebay/Craigslist sell-athon. With the move to NYC fast approaching, we've been meaning to downsize anyway, and the sooner it happens, the better, I think, because this belly isn't getting easier to deal with.

Speaking of which, I have got the worst heartburn in the history of the world. It is bad. It starts around 4 o'clock and doesn't let up. Doesn't matter what I eat. Doesn't matter how I sit or sleep. There's nothing I can do but deal with it and pop the Tums like candy.

Mission 1 with Karol is going to be teaching her some preliminary skills - basically teaching her the Montessori Method procedure for approaching (school) work. This is stuff like, how to get out and unroll your mat before you start an activity, putting an activity away before taking out a new one, carrying trays properly so things don't topple, etc, etc. She's very quickly picking up on practical life skills like pouring water or milk from a pitcher into a cup. She and Patrick are both drinking out of a regular cup at dinner time (teeny tiny ones). They are also obsessed with tasks like handwashing and teethbrushing because it means they get to stand at the sink and 'play' with water.

Patrick's big lessons are going to be things like stacking blocks, nesting blocks, and beginning to learn to count. He's in an amazing language boom right now, picking up words faster than I can keep track. Just this weekend he probably said five or six words we hadn't heard him say before, completely out of the blue.

He's starting to show an interest in the potty too, although it'll be a while before he is even tall enough to sit on the training potty. He totally gets that the word 'pee' is associated with it (that's one of his new words!) and likes to pretend-pee by sitting on the edge of the potty and bouncing.

Speaking of bouncing - Patrick has a hilarious morning ritual. Typically Karol will wake up and be talking to herself or calling for Mommy or Daddy in the morning when Matt and I walk in. Inevitably we hear a bright "Good morning, Mommy/Daddy!" from Karol and Patrick starts jumping/bouncing on his bed, with a smile from ear to ear like he's so thrilled to be starting a new day. It really is a great way to start the day and puts a smile on my face every time.

Meanwhile, on the apartment hunting front, Matt is scouring the market for the (probably impossible) perfect apartment. It's almost hilarious that he's trying to find an apartment that would be cheap even here in the most expensive neighborhood in Manhattan. I have a feeling we'll be living in a shoe box at this rate. Which brings me back to the need for downsizing our stuff.

So far I haven't had a whole lot of success, but this is just the end of Day 1, really. Still, when I posted like 8 things on Craigslist this morning, I was hoping to have at least 1 less thing by the end of the day. Although there have been a couple of bites, nothing solid yet.

And books! We've got more books than the closest branch of the public library, I think. I looked into donating them to the library today, and - it figures - they just had one of their bi-annual book sales and therefore aren't taking new donations until May 10 or so, so I have to stare at these boxes that much longer, I guess.

My next downsizing task - which I plan to attack as soon as I'm done with this post, since Matt's at school until late tonight - is the White Thing. Really it's a white Rubbermaid rolling 3-drawer filing tower that I've had since college. But we've always just called it the White Thing. And now it's in our bathroom. Pretty soon it will be empty. It's already for sale on Craigslist, although Matt thinks it'll probably have to be given away (guess I'm okay with that), but it's worth at least a shot at selling it. I'm checking my email like mad, just to see if there are any new takers on our unwanted stuff...ugh.

Montessori Mommy?

I'm back to reading Montessori from the Start: The Child at Home, from Birth to Age Three and back on a Montessori kick again.  I think I wrote in an earlier post that we found exactly the right school for our kids - it's a Catholic Montessori preschool - and last month we were finally able to go there for observation.

I'm even more convinced that this is where I want Karol to be next year, but alas, there's no space available.  Well, Sister Lucy, the lady that runs the place, said they may have an opening depending on if one family moves...so we're keeping our fingers crossed, but won't be surprised if it doesn't happen until the 2011-12 school year.

So what do we do until then?  I really don't see the point in sticking her in a different preschool for a year and then switching.  That just seems like it would cause undue stress for all of us.  So I'm seriously considering teaching her (as best I can) from home, in the Montessori Method.

Of course, it doesn't seem fair at all to put that kind of time and effort into Karol and not Patrick, who's nipping at Karol's heels right now, developmentally speaking.  But he's in a totally different sensitive period, so the work he should be doing is totally different from what Karol is on.

Oh, and let's not forget little Max (that's Fetus Plomin's new name, now that we know he's a boy for sure)!  I have the chance to start from the very beginning with him.  But just taking care of the basic needs of an infant is enough work for one mom.  I'm already depriving the poor little guy of much needed sleep (for mommy) most nights in order to research Montessori homeschooling, apartments in NYC and preschool options.  Do I really think I'm going to be able to teach all my kids at the same time all by myself?

Well, yes.  I guess I do.  My plan?  Be prepared well in advance.  I'm going to have to tackle this 'stay at home mom' thing (makes me cringe to type that) with a strategic campaign plan.  That's why I'm so glad I discovered this awesome blog, Wanting What You Have.  It's written by a professional 'housewife' (cringe) who's come up with what she calls a Home Management Guide.  It is the greatest idea ever.  Not that its a new one.  Basically, it's a business plan for the home.  I've already started building mine.  I've got two whole sections done, and I'm totally stoked about it.

I'm doing mine a little differently, though, since, well, every household is a little different, and in our case, a lot different.  I'm planning for all my Montessori tools and research to be a huge section of this binder.  I think I'm going to come up with a different name for mine though.  Something like, 'Jillian's World Domination Strategic Campaign Plan.'  So far I've got all my work schedules done, pretty similar to how Heather does it, and a cleaning section.  I'm going to add a food section, but I still don't really know enough about cooking yet to put it together, and Matt's in charge of the groceries right now, so I'm at a loss for a price book (I'm just going to take over his).  The Montessori section I'm going to start building tonight right after I write this post.  As for the World Domination-specific sections, that's classified, sorry.

Happy and Healthy Babies - All of Them!

Today was a 'big' day for the DC Plomins.  Bright and early this morning the whole family trekked up to our old stomping grounds, Silver Spring, for a round of doctor's appointments.

Karol - not surprisingly, Karol got a gold star for verbal ability.  The doctor was floored that she was answering questions like "how old are you?" and "are you a boy or a girl?"  I guess those are questions a 3 year old may be able to answer.  She was also impressed with the 6-word sentences she was uttering -but Matt and I know she can easily do 15-word sentences and more!
She's an expert at jumping, but hasn't mastered walking backwards yet - although that's another 3 year old task.

Patrick - Patrick is right on track developmentally, and doing especially well in the walking/climbing arena.  He's off the charts for both height and weight and a very healthy growing boy.  Patrick's language is seemingly ahead of schedule, too, but of course he was too shy to talk to Dr. Fishman at all.  He did manage a 'high five' though.
Patrick got a whopping 3 shots, one of which being the chicken pox vaccine.  The good news is that he won't need any at all at the 18 month check up.  I'm hoping we can squeeze that one in before we have to leave for NYC in July.

Baby #3 - Mommy and baby got a check up today, too.  I'm doing fine, of course, and New Baby Plomin has all the major organs and limbs and whatnot that they check for in the 20 week ultrasound.  And of course we got the opportunity to find out what we're having.  And, as I've been predicting since day 1 - the ultrasound confirmed we're having a boy!  Karol and Patrick are excited to have a baby brother and Matt and I are excited to use pronouns like "he" instead of "it" when referring to "him."

Measurement-wise he is still on track with his original due date of Aug 10, give or take a couple days.  I'm betting he'll be quite an average size, weighing more than Karol did (7 lbs 9 oz) and less than Patrick (9 lbs 3 oz).  It'll be 'fun' to get to know all new doctors just a month before he's born to deliver him in NYC, but we're getting closer to figuring out who that will be now.  Or I should say, Matt is.  I've put him in charge of finding the doc, the hospital and an apartment in NYC.  We'll see how that goes.

The apartment search is still pretty passive - it's still early - but we've got some feelers out.  We're still pretty focused on the West side, hopefully somewhere in our between the West Village and Upper West Side.  I'm not really thinking about that now, though.  For right now I'm just looking forward to tying my shoes without straining and meeting my new little boy, and thanking God we are so very lucky to have such beautiful and healthy children.

So that's the update for now!

Back Home Again In Indiana Without the Babies

Well I’m sitting at the airport, trying not to get sucked in by all the Maryland Crab paraphernalia, missing my kids already. They napped all the way to the airport, and no matter how you explain it, it’s hard to tell if they really understand. Just a couple of hours before we left I was seriously toying with the idea of taking Patrick with me. He’s still young enough to be a lap child, after all. But that would just make things more difficult than they need to be, and the last thing he needs is to have his routine disrupted.

Getting from the car to the gate literally took about 5 minutes since I checked in online, don’t have any bags to check and there was no line in security. Seriously, zero people in line. The TSA guy had to wait for me to get my ID out because I just walked right up to him. So, no kids, no typical airport hassles…I anticipate having a lot of free time.

Usually that free time would be eaten up with talking to Matt until he got home and I took off, then talking to him again from landing to destination number one. But like an idiot, I left my phone charger on the table and my phone battery is barely half full, so it’s off until it’s time to tell everyone I landed safely. That’s a very important call.

I brought Atlas Shrugged, which I’ve been wanting to read for about ten years now (it’s an intimidatingly thick book – and yes I’m aware I just made up that adverb). And I thought I could get some serious blogging done – yay! Since I can’t get online though, I’m avoiding doing any ‘professional’ blogging for now. I thought I’d write an update to the family blog instead. Because that’s what’s on my mind right now.

So here’s an update on my lovely babies.

Let’s start with Karol. She’s pretty much full-grown now. She has a shoe addiction that’s starting to rub off on Patrick. She’s obsessed with organization, which I hope will rub off on Patrick. I stopped trying to gauge where her verbal skills are, because they are so off the charts it’s impossible. I’ve known five year olds with less grammar and diction. The really great thing is to hear her correct herself, as in, “Mommy, I bringed my…I brought my banana!” I mean seriously? Irregular verbs? Like I said, I’m pretty sure the ‘books’ declare your kid as A-OK by the time they’re doing that. So we’ve moved on to watching Patrick.

Patrick, I must admit, I was worried about in the very beginning. Maybe because all the books say that communication and language skills are harder for boys to build in babyhood because of the way their brains form differently from girls. Maybe it’s because he didn’t coo and gurgle and make as many baby sounds in the first few months. And unfortunately being the second kid, I always fear we’re not talking to him enough, reading to him enough, and that sort of thing.

But recently Matt and I have been looking back and comparing his skills to where Karol’s were at this age (I know, I know, exactly what you’re NOT supposed to do!). Apparently my kids are genetically programmed to be fascinated with dogs starting around age 1 because that’s what Karol did, and that’s precisely what Patrick is doing. He is getting interested in books, but only really wants to sit still for books about dogs. He really gets into them, and then makes us read the same book over and over and over! Right now he’s stuck on Harry the Dirty Dog, Where’s Spot, and I’ll Teach My Dog A Lot of Words. I plan to take the kids to the library soon to expand the selection.

Patrick is picking up ‘baby signs’ left and right, as well. He’s been able to do ‘eat,’ ‘milk,’ ‘all done,’ and ‘more’ for quite a while, but recently he’s picked up ‘bath,’ ‘book,’ and ‘socks’ – and of course ‘dog!’ We haven’t put a lot of energy into teaching them to him, but in my experience with both Karol and Patrick, it you wait until they show an interest in those things, they learn very fast. We simply use the signs when appropriate, and then try to reinforce with the videos.

Patrick’s motor skills, too, are growing by leaps and bounds. I don’t take for granted that there’s anything he can’t do anymore. He can climb the furniture, open doors, ‘swim’ in the bathtub, and kick a ball. All pretty astounding at the tender age of 13 months, if I do say so myself.

Then there’s baby X. We still don’t know if he’s a boy or a girl, but I’m calling him a boy for now, that’s just my guess. He’s pretty laid back right now, and doesn’t say much. According to BabyCenter.com he’s about the size of an avocado.

Well, at the beginning of this post I was at the airport in Baltimore. Now I’m in Indiana. So that’s it for now.

Taking A Trip Without The Kids

So I'm leaving my entire family for the first time. I'll be flying home to Indiana to pick up my TA-50 (loads of Army gear that was issued to me years ago) and returning it to my old unit in Darien, IL, just south of Chicago. I leave tomorrow afternoon, and come back Monday afternoon, if all goes well, and I'm already stressed out about being so far away.

It's not that I don't trust Matt to take care of the kids for a couple of days, but that I'm going to miss them like CRAZY. Hopefully this time will pass quickly, and I won't lose my mind in the process. Maybe I can even take a book or something for the plane ride, wouldn't that be something? I can't remember the last time I read a book for fun. Maybe I can spend some time writing for my other ("professional") blogs. Who knows...

The up-side is that this will be a great opportunity to hopefully see some people I haven't seen in a while and hang out with my family. Maybe I'll even get to see my niece and nephew a little bit!

I'll let you know how it all turns out, I guess.

Boys Stink

When my younger brother Will would have a friend or two over and they took over the living room with their sleeping bags and video games, it was only a matter of a few hours before the room would have a distinct smell of boys. And not a good kind of smell.

Apparently, this stinky phenomenon starts at around 9 months, and never goes away. Patrick sweats like crazy when he's sleeping, and after I transferred him to his own bed last night, I was hit by that icky boy odor smack in the middle of my bed.

Here's what is so confusing: Karol sweats just as much as Patrick ever has, but she's never stunk up the room the way that boy can. What physiological trait do boys have that makes them so noxious?

It's grossing me out, and making me reconsider my dream of having lots of boys.

This post by Manic Motherhood is the only thing keeping my hope alive that one day Patrick will stop stinking. At least some of the time. Until then, I'm bathing him in the strongest lavendar scented Johnson's baby shampoo available.

Karol's Development Right on Target...

I just finished reading through a Baby Center update on where Karol should be right now. Developmentally, that is.

"As your toddler becomes more self-aware, he'll likely want to do more things for himself. Setting limits is important, of course, but you can let your toddler take the lead sometimes, like choosing which clothes to wear (even if it means he leaves the house in mismatched colors), wetting the toothbrush, or turning the bathroom light on or off. By encouraging his independence now, you'll help your toddler grow into a confident preschooler down the road."

For Karol, she's definitely picking a lot of her own outfits (which is fine except when she wants to wear a winter sweater in July), feeding herself with a fork and spoon, and did I mention she can work the DVD player all by herself? I swear I'm not a TV-is-the-babysitter parent, but Karol's trying to convince me to be.

"Now that your toddler can communicate using both words and gestures, you can expect him to become quite bossy. Mostly he's experimenting with how his ability to communicate affects the people around him. Some children go through a standoffish phase around this age. They have many feelings but they can't always express them with words."

Karol's taken to pushing away peers. She must need her personal space. She does this to Sarah during the day and I've even seen her do it to children on the playground. I'm a little worried that she's exhibiting (her mother's) anti-social behavior, but I guess maybe it's too early to tell. If her kindergarten teacher wants to hold her back for being anti-social, I guess we'll know. On the flip side...

"Your toddler may delight you and a few other special people in his life by showering you with affection. He will freely hug and kiss you, and (usually) come to you when called. He doesn't totally understand what it means to cooperate, but he recognizes that it makes you happy when he does. He may even be willing to help with some chores, such as putting away books and toys when you suggest it."

Karol has started showing affection to Patrick, especially, and to Daddy and Mommy as well. She's wonderful at saying "I luff you too!" Patrick loves to collect his 'sissy kissies' and he's a great hugger, so every once in a while I convince them to get together for a hug and smootch.