19 Month Update

This summer is flying by! Ethan and Mia are keeping us plenty busy. The kids are starting to fight more and more. I don't know when to step in and when to let them work it out themselves. They are both pretty equal as far as fighting. Mia is quite strong and determined despite her size. Ethan can be gentle with her, at times, and lets her get away with stealing toys from him. Mia wants whatever Ethan has. Sometimes he'll give in and sometimes there's a big fight. I had a bowl of cereal the other day and both kids wanted some. (They're little vultures!) Mia had all ready staked out her spot when Ethan came over for a bite. She pushed him hard enough to knock him over. He weighs 8 pounds more than her so she pushed really hard. He didn't cry or anything. He gets up, walks over to Mia, and gives her one giant push. Mia went FLYING. She screamed bloody murder! There's also scratching and biting going on. They were fighting over a toy and Mia scratched Ethan's back all up. Out of the corner of my eye, I see Ethan chomp down on Mia's foot.

The temper tantrums are in full swing. They actually don't bother me too much. I've learned to ignore it. They get over them much faster if I don't pay attention. The thing that tends to get on my nerves is the whining. It drives me crazy, especially when they follow me around the house while doing it. Mia's my whiner. Ethan does it to, but not quite as much. I need to work on my patience when it comes to this!

Our kids are SO picky. They're junkfood junkies! They've learned really quickly that junk food tastes much better than healthy stuff. Ethan has a huge sweet tooth. Mia likes sweets too, but not as much as her brother. They both like french fries, anything chocolate, peanut butter & jelly, cereal, brown sugar pop tarts, juice, they LOVE pop (but hardly ever get any), donuts etc. Mia's favorite food is fruit, by far! Basically, they like anything that's unhealthy for you. Meals have become a struggle. They hardly eat anything when we sit down. They like to throw all of their food down to Elsa. Elsa sits right next to them, too. She's learned quickly where the food is at. Elsa has gained quite a bit of weight in the last few months. Even the vet said she's getting really round! I bought some pediasure for Ethan and Mia. They really like it, but it's kind of expensive so they've been sharing a bottle of it per day. At least they're getting most of the nutrients they need this way!

Ethan is still climbing all over the place. It's getting worse and worse! Nothing is safe anymore. He can reach everything with the help of a chair. He hasn't pushed a chair over to the counter yet. We're in trouble when he figures that out. He's a stereotypical boy. He excels in motor skills and is behind his sister in language skills. He has added "dedta" (Elsa) to his vocabulary. Ethan talks a lot but we can't understand what he's saying. He's getting really good at throwing objects. I've had a few toys come flying at my face. He doesn't do it on purpose, but it still hurts none-the-less. He's got to work on his aim! His favorite thing to do is to go outside. When I tell him we're going outside, he usually grabs his shoes and runs for the front door. Ethan has started not liking things on his hands. If he has food or cat fur on his hands, he runs over and shows them to me so I can wipe them off. I hope this doesn't become an obsession!

Mia is still my cautious one. She hardly ever gets hurt. She would rather watch Ethan climb all over the place and get the bruises. Her vocabulary has really exploded in the past couple of weeks. She can say, "ella" (Elsa), "all gone", "uckie", "bu" (bunny), "tickle tickle", "more", "hot". She has started repeating things that I say. I guess now is a good time to stop swearing! :) She also loves going outside. She thinks it's a big game to run for the road. She makes sure we're looking at her and darts for it. What a stinker! This has gotten her put inside many times, but she still continues to do it. I guess she gets her stubbornness from me. She continues to love Riley, most of the time. She likes to kiss her and stick things in her mouth. She tried giving Riley part of her granola bar today. How sweet! Except that it was made of peanut butter and she can't have it yet!

Going down the slide.

Cute picture of Mia, freaky picture of Rusty.

Playing with the baby gate. He tries and tries to figure out how to unlatch it. It's hard for adults to do, so I don't think he'll figure it out.

I bought them a potty chair. I know, a little ambitious. They like to sit on it, but have no interest in actually using it.

He loves putting the stethoscope around his neck.

Playing in the sand box. The best $100 we've spent!

Ethan dumped wet sand all over Mia's head and body. She screamed bloody murder!

Trying to get inside.

Nice and dirty. She had a good bath after that!

Here's right after it happened. It was pretty funny, but not to her!

Checking out the potty chair for the first time.

Don't know what to think of it. It plays music when they potty in it.

Playing in the pool for the first time. The water was ice cold, so they didn't stay in too long. They liked it though!

This was one of my dresses when I was a little girl. I'll scan my picture of me wearing it one of these days!

Just hanging out on our changing table.

Just hanging out on the table.