Kiddo Update

Jill

• It is adorable to watch her try to copy everything her big brother does, chasing after him and repeating things he says.
• She can be an absolute sweetheart when she wants to.  If someone gets hurt, she's quick to offer a hug and a kiss.  Sometimes she will just kiss me all over for no reason -- on the eyes, on the cheeks, on the nose, on the arms.  She also loves to kiss and hug the new baby (i.e., my belly).
• She can also be an absolute stinker when she wants to.  She'll grab her brother's toys from his hands and then hightail it out of the room with him hot on her heels, rushing to hide behind me for safety.  One time, he got really upset because she bumped into him when she walked past him.  I thought it was an accident so I scolded Aaron for overreacting, but then Jill laughed and announced, "I push Aaron!"  She also does this thing where she'll put her open mouth on my arm and bare her teeth like she's going to bite me.  Then she'll stop and look up at me with a grin and say, "I bite you Mommy?"  When shake my head in warning, she grins and pretends like she's going to kiss me, only to stick out her tongue and lick me instead.

Aaron

• Aaron is potty trained!  Well, mostly.  We still rely on diapers during naps and at bedtime.  But during the day he is exclusively in mickey mouse or superhero underwear.  No messy accidents, but still the occasional (and sometimes not so occasional) leakage issue, mostly due to distraction or not wanting to take a break from playing.  But for the most part he's doing great!
• He has a strangely aggressive gag reflex.  Strong smells make him gag violently, including his sister's dirty diapers, and on occasion, his mom's morning breath.  We're thinking medical school may not be in his future...
• He is obsessed with the color green.  We use it as an incentive to get him to do almost anything.  Green food coloring makes all foods seem delicious (except, somehow, for vegetables...weird), green cups lure him to the dinner table, green M&Ms and green undies help motivate him to use the potty, and so on.

12/24: Bare midriff and leopard print already?  She's not even 2!  Should we be worried?

12/24: Apparently we have multiple reasons to be worried.  Yes, that is a diaper on his head.

12/25: What do you mean there's no pool?

1/4: Screen time

1/10: Having fun at their buddy Joseph's birthday party

1/17: Making a snowman with Oma!

1/24: Jill has finally started to let me do things with her hair.  Sometimes she'll even request that mommy put in "ponies."  I am more than happy to oblige.

1/26: She's got her daddy whipped

1/30: Enjoying a rare "warm" day outside

1/31: Obsessed with her babies!

2/5: Is this a good omen?  Or did the butterfly just mistake me for an enormous ripe fruit?

2/7: Always time for a story

2/9: Goofy girl

2/9: Best part about making banana bread: smashing the bananas!

2/11: Not sure which is more impressive, that he built a tower using every block, or that he prevented his sister from knocking it over!

QUOTE WALL/MEMORABLE MOMENTS
-Jill: (standing up in the bathtub and grabbing her crotch) "Where's my penis?  Where's my penis?"
-Me: "You don't have one honey.  Only boys have penises."
-Aaron (confused): "Girls don't have penises?!"
-Me (matter-of-factly): "Nope, only boys do."
-Aaron (with deep understanding): "Girls only have butts!"

-Me (reading Aaron's underwater ABC book): "O is for Oldwife fish."
-Aaron: "But we don't want old wives, right Mommy?"
-Me: (heavy sigh)

-Aaron: "Mom, what are you eating?"
-Me (lying through my teeth to hide the fact that I just snarfed a bite of cookie) "The rest of my sandwich!"
-Aaron (sniffing): "Mom, I think you're eating candy."
-Me: "Nope!"
-Aaron: "Mom, I think I can hear chocolate!"

(On one of their favorite cartoons, Daniel Tiger, Daniel sings a song about how important it is for playmates to "find a way to play together" -- here is Aaron and Jill's version)
Aaron (singing): "Find a way to plaaay, to-NOT-gether!"
Jill (singing along): "Plaaaay together, NOPE!"

-Aaron: "I'm three!  And next year I'll be four!"
-Chris: "Aaron, guess how old Mommy is...thirty-four!  Is that old?"
-Aaron (nodding): "Thirty-four means pregnant!"
-That's right, pal.  Incidentally, so does thirty, thirty-one, thirty-two, thirty-three...