Updates

Alma is coming out of another round of extreme whininess.  For the last two or three weeks, we've been constantly reminding her to use "please" and a non-whining voice when making demands.  Because, really they are demands.  Endless demands.  Now that we are seeing an end to this cycle and the return of our charmingly lovely daughter, it feels just a little less like being bossed around endlessly by a tyrant.  Just working with a kid's request for assistance.

Alma is in the stage of endless questions: "how does gas work in the car?" "why do animals eat?" "why doesn't James always have poop in his diaper?" and on and on.  It's usually fun to see the world through her eyes through these questions.  Although I would happily give up the question "what is this part?" about the instrumental portions of the Little Mermaid album that we still listen to on a daily basis (Facts: We have been listening to that album at least once a day since we traveled to Pittsburgh in July 2012. She still has not seen the movie.)

She is also coming up with wild questions seemingly out of nowhere.  For example, one night Joshua was working late and Alma, James and I were eating dinner hungrily with very little conversation when Alma suddenly looks up at me and says in a very sweet voice, "Can I have a sharp knife to cut you, please?"  I was shocked and asked her why.  She answered that she wanted to cut me in half so that she could have two mommies, as if that would be the best thing in the world.  Um, I guess that is nice.

This might be one of the last pictures of Alma with longish locks.  She got a haircut today -- an inverse bob that ends up looking just like a regular bob due to her curls -- so that she won't be so hot over the summer.  It's cute!  Unfortunately, the hairdresser cut some short bangs into her side swoop.  We had just spent the last year growing out bangs because they are endlessly in Alma's face.  So now it's back to braiding the front of her hair so that he neck doesn't get a permanent crick from always keeping her head tilted.

Alma is still a terrific older sister.  Always including James in her play and sharing her toys better than we could have imagined.  It's helpful that he seems to have some respect for her things and she has a spot to put things that she doesn't want him to touch at all (a bin on a shelf that is just out of his reach).  The best is when they give each other kisses (not the cheek like normal kids but just wherever they can easily access of each other -- i.e. a knee, the other's back) and when Alma sings to him before he goes to bed.  She has a tendency to only become interested in things once he looks at them and then it is a race to see who can grab it first.  That usually ends with both kids crying and my nerves on edge.  (Obviously still working on finding a good solution to that constant dilemma ... )  Overall, we are doing fairly well with the transition to a family of four.  It's getting better and better as the kids get older and we figure things out more.

James is a bit of a character these days.  He makes us all laugh with his antics.  He loves to pretend to eat things by going up to them (or pretend to grab them with an outreached hand) and saying "ump" while making an open-mouth gulping motion.  He is eternally getting Alma to join him in eating shrubbery while we are on walks.  He also pretends to eat the couch, birds flying in the sky, Alma's feet, pictures of food and anything silly that will make us laugh. After the above photo was taken, he shoved the entire bunch of lilacs into his face to pretend to eat them and make me laugh.

He is still also our "360 kid" but certainly leans towards being a perfectly happy self-entertaining toddler.   People often comment to us about how easy-going and joyful he is.  I took him to a meeting at City Hall that lasted 45 minutes and he was content to sit on my lap the whole time and listen to the conversation.  The group was amazed at how chill he was and I was grateful that we caught him at a good time -- just up from a nap, well-feed and able to access my belly button for comfort (I know, weird -- but useful!).  I think that going to Mass each week has really trained the children to sit patiently and enjoy the environment.  Plus we are blessed to have a second generally chill kid.

And he is ... except when he isn't.  Ha!  When he isn't happy with something, he is very insistent but not always with the capacity to vocalize his needs.  He is super happy or laid back for 95% of the time (i.e. putting him down for a nap or bedtime is just a struggle to get a hug from him before he wants to get into his crib to wave, say "bye" and blow kisses as you leave the room).  We have found that playing with balls (throwing them, chasing them, kicking them, even just walking around while holding one) is generally the solution to most things.  Or holding my belly button. 

His signing has grown so much in the last month and that really helps with communication.  Plus, he really is using it to tell stories.  When I ask him in the morning, "do you want to go swimming?" he will tell me "kick kick kick ball!" both through sign and with his versions of the words.  (Not shockingly to this still-ball-obsessed little guy, he loves the balls at the pool better than the actual swimming.)  His sign for horse (the letter "h" on the side of one's head like a horse ear) includes the clicking horse one might make when telling a horse to start moving.  His sign for cat (index finger and thumb making whiskers on one's face) ends up being pulling his own hair, which is cute but also looks a little crazy when he is also meowing.  It is all of these little sweet things that he does that makes my heart burst with love a million times a day.

While we all think that the nickname Bubby has mostly passed through our system, we all seem to call him Jamers these days.  It originated from Alma's British friend who calls her Almers; Alma then translated James's name to Jamers.  It will be fun to see what sticks as a nickname for both kids.