Growing up too fast!

If you've checked out the video on the kids' site, you've seen my little Dumplin scooting already. I call it the inchworm scoot. She is pretty good at rolling and scooting wherever she wants to be now - thank goodness it is still very slow at this point. She is working on sitting now, but prefers to stand, so she doesn't practice it much.

I remember with Kyle I was so excited and even a little impatient for whatever skill he was learning. I think a lot of that had to do with me trying to do things around the house and thinking, "As soon as he can sit everything will be easier". Until he sat and then got frustrated with not crawling and then everything would be easier when he crawled, or cruised, or walked, or whatever. There was always something just a few weeks away that was going to make everything better. But with Katelyn, it's more like, "Oh my gosh, she's scooting! She's not supposed to do that yet, is she? Is she really six months? Oh, I don't want her to be sitting, already!" She's growing TOO fast!

Kyle is learning things at a rapid-fire pace as well, but it's not as apparent, of course, since it's all brainy sequences like language development and critical thinking. He learns new words every day, and talks, talks, talks, all the time. He sings goofy songs and still loves to play with Katelyn for a few minutes at a time all day long. He did the old "trip and fall" comedy routine for her last night and had her laughing over and over again. It's funny to me that even a six month old gets the trip and fall humor!

Kyle's voice is heard

Okay, Kyle has been climbing all over me during this last blogging session, so I'm giving him a chance to say something to everyone. Kyle...

Daddy, Mom, and Katelyn. And me! I want to play on the computer. I want to play games with Melissa. Can I play games with Melissa? (No, Kyle, Melissa isn't here today. She's coming next week.) Okay, then I'm done.

Kyle has toy troubles...

Okay, so I've been singing praises at how well Kyle has adjusted to having a little sister around. He really loves her so much that it still amazes me to watch him with her. At most, he is sometimes a little too rough with her, but he still loves playing with her, kissing her, and trying to make her laugh. However, she is now rolling around a little and starting to play with things other than little ringed teething toys, and Kyle really likes all these toys. For instance, there are some large, 4x4x4 soft cloth blocks that he Loves to throw around and play with, and of course, we've brought out the classic rainbow rings on a stick toy. Both are clearly baby toys, but when I put Katelyn down on the ground with a few of these things scattered around her I keep catching Kyle pushing the rings or blocks away from her, saying, "No, Katelyn, these are mine." To his credit, he does then run off to find a teething ring, handing it to her with a jaunty smile, "This is for you, Katelyn!"

So this morning, I had to remind him that some of the toys had to be shared with Katelyn. I don't want to get too much into "this is your toy/her toy" thing or "baby toy/big boy toy" (unless there's a safety issue) or I feel like I'll be battling him a long time about every toy in the house. I also have to remind him to be gentle with her. Since she's moving and doing so much more he just doesn't get the whole "gentle" concept anymore. He likes to pat her belly and give her face 5's (like a high five, but on the face instead). If he sees her rolling to her belly to move closer to a toy, he likes to run over and try to flip her back over so he can save "his" toy!

Kyle otherwise is a little sugar dumpling. He still has tantrums periodically but they're normally pretty easy to quell now with little threats (Kyle if you're going to cry then go to your room, OR do you want a time out?). I can't believe how much he talks sometime. A friend of Jeff's told him about a year ago that you spend all this time trying to teach them words and little sentences and waiting for them to talk, and then when they do you just wish they'd be quiet some of the time. Well, that's Kyle right now. Jeff took him to a baseball ball game recently with another kid, 4 yrs old, and apparently Kyle just talked non-stop in the car, to the point where the other kid complained he was talking too much!

Katelyn's Tooth

Hurray for Katelyn! Her first tooth finally arrived this past Sunday! It was her front, lower, right tooth, and the left one erupted today as well. So she's a two tooth baby now! She's still teething and chewing like a little madwoman, though. Also, her finger and hand coordination gets better every day. She is rolling around on the floor like crazy trying to get to things on the big towel we lay on the floor for her (cuz she still spits up quite a bit). She now can sit up with a little help, since she doesn't quite have her balance yet. Unfortunately, she wants to be up on her feet trying to stand most of the time I try to make her practice sitting.

Everything is just moving way too fast. I keep looking at her and thinking, this is it - no more babies, no more 3 month old, no more 4 month old... Jeff and I thought Kyle went fast, but Katelyn is just speeding by so fast she'll get a ticket! Hey, slow down everyone, everything! All you long time parents out there - does life go by faster and faster as you get older, or is it just the 20 years you spend rasing kids? When our kids leave the house, will our lives suddenly slow down again?