I think Enzo has gone through a growth spurt, or I’ve been turning a blind eye to the fact that he’s growing – that they both are. All of the sudden his ankles are sticking out from below pant legs and while he remains skinny as a rail, we’ll have to go up a size to account for his legs being too long.  He’s growing in so many ways and it’s fascinating to watch him in this in-between stage. The stage where he wants to hold onto some of his baby/toddler-hood, but on the other hand he wants to learn how to read and figures things out so quickly. I was playing a video game with him last night and he was showing me how to do certain things.  He has a very serious and inquisitive mind and that combined with his… determination, shall we say? will take him far.

Phoebe is very much a toddler, and while she has her moments, I wouldn’t say her two’s are all that terrible. Does that mean we have drama coming in her three’s?  Perhaps. We’re at that stage where she changes her mind fifteen times in 5 minutes and everything seems to fall apart if we haven’t guessed correctly what she will choose. She has epic pouts and the other day she did the full-on fake crying with fists on her eyes. It was fairly hilarious. She’s also that stage where more often than not she does not wish to get dressed, or is okay about getting dressed, but not in those clothes – definitely not those socks, and let’s make a game of it. Most mornings we’re okay with it, and since I’m usually getting ready myself while Josh gets them dressed (unless one of them demands that Mommy do it) he can probably add child/alligator wrangling to his resume under Skills.

Parenting is a glorious, chaotic, exhausting and rewarding thing.

The weekend was busy and once again I’m reminded that children are way more easily affected by lack of routine and sleep then I’d sometimes like to think. They were up a bit late Friday night, which wouldn’t have been so bad except for the fact that Enzo didn’t want to take a nap on Saturday and even though Phoebe did, she was a tad more clingy than usual. We’re also learning that we really, really need to limit all screen time and come up with some household rules because it is becoming apparent that too much screen time is making children (and I think occasionally the adults) more prone to crankiness.  It was still a fairly productive weekend with some fun mixed in, though.  It’s funny how different Enzo and Phoebe are and how it becomes more obvious as they get older.  For instance, if I announce we’re going to get of the house and go shopping, Phoebe will get excited and want to leave immediately. Enzo, on the other hand will immediately say, “I don’t want to go shopping.”

He’d much rather stay at home with his Dad and snack and play video games or watch TV.  I knew that there had been too much time in the house, though, and made the executive decision to take us all to the mall.  It probably serves me right that the kids were full of energy and completely uncooperative and into everything. Thankfully most people were in a great mood and didn’t mind when our circus crossed their path.  We had one mom with teenagers laughing because she remembered those days (as I chased Phoebe down an aisle while Enzo went the opposite direction), and a couple of young girls were laughing at Phoebe’s antics as she attempted to outrun me a second time.  You’ve also go to love the limp noodle when you try to pick them up and suddenly you have a toddler laying on the floor at your feet.  At that point I had to laugh because we must have looked like a complete and total joke and like the most inept parents unable to control two small children.  There are just those days, though, you know?

Thankfully it isn’t always like herding cats when we take them out, so I suppose we’ll keep allowing them out of the house. 😉