Haircuts and other happenings

I took Mairead to get a haircut on Saturday morning and I was so anxious that she would hate it and freak out, but she was SO good! Seriously- she was perfect. T he stylist commented on it and wished all of her kids were this good. It was just a regular hair salon (I go there) so it wasn't really set up for kids, but she was awesome. I was beyond thrilled. Then, we went out to the parking lot and she found our car and said, "I see it! Right there!" She ran to it, looked back at me and said, "I happy.' I actually started to cry right there in the parking lot because she has never been able to verbalize that before and it was HUGE for her to do that spontaneously. I am just so proud of all that she is accomplishing lately. I know she is still nowhere near the speech, etc, of a typically developing 2.9 yo, but still, she is constantly impressing me. LOVE it. My heart just swells with pride for this kid every.single.day. Remind me of that next time she has a meltdown over nothing, will ya?


Mairead is super into play-doh right now and has these cookie cutter things in all different shapes. We started with a mom, a daddy, a Mairead, a Jack, and a Ben. I would have to make all of them and she would arrange them so they were all holding hands (are you kidding me with the cuteness?). I was trying to teach her the concept of family, so we added Nana and Grampy. SHE asked to add Jen, Mike, Christin, Brian, and Lily. Now, we have to make the whole family every time. For some reason, Lily's mom and dad (Katie and Steve) don't make the cut, but close enough... She will hold up the doh and say, "Make a Nana?"

At the dinner table last night, I asked her to tell me who is in her family and she named me, Dave, and the twins. I asked, 'who else?' and got Nana, Grampy, Jen, Mike, Brian, Christin, and Lily. I am SO psyched-- not only can she recall and verbalize all these names, it is very clear that these people are important to her... I pretty much tear up whenever she does it because I am so proud, and because I know that little brain and heart are working overtime and coming up with such amazing and sweet things. Love this kid!

Oh- I think Katie and Steve confuse Mairead. To Mairead, I guess Steve does sort of look like Steve from Blues Clues. Once, I asked her, "who's that?" and she said, "mailbox." Granted, that was a while ago, but I think she is still confused about the whole 'two Steves' thing, so she kind of skips over them!

The boys are doing well, too. No ER trips so far this week(knock wood), though Ben came close last night after falling and getting a bump and scratch on his head. These two are consantly in action. The physical therapist for the boys (also Mairead) recommended that we try hippotherapy for both Mairead and Jack. If you haven't heard of it, this is physical therapy that takes place while the child is riding a horse. The idea is that the motion of the horse forces the child to use his core muscles and leg muscles to support himself. I am very interested in it. There is a waiting list, though, so we'll see if Mairead makes it in time for her 3rd birthday (at which point she cannot participate in Early Intervention anymore). I think that both kids would enjoy it. Maybe Grandma can give them a few tips.

The boys are really turning into little boys instead of babies (a little sad for me that they are growing up so quickly!). Yesterday, I was changing Jack and I dropped the dirty diaper (just wet and already folded up for disposal) onto the floor. Ben toddled over, picked it up, walked over to the diaper genie, and put it in. I was FLOORED that he has already made that connection! I wish I had it on video- it was so funny to see him.I do think, however, that he is way too interested in diaper genies. He is always trying to open them. Why would you want to see what's in there?? Maybe I can train him to take out the trash soon!

As you know, Jack LOVES cars and trucks. Yesterday, he was playing with one and Ben came over and tried to make off with it. This is pretty common and Ben gets away with it since he can run away, and Jack doesn't usually fight back. This time, though, Jack put his hands on either side of Ben's waist and pretty much pulled him to the floor. Ben was shocked and started to cry while Jack zoomed away with his car. So far today, Ben has not tried to steal anything, so maybe it was a good thing that Jack asserted himself!

This past weekend, Lily stayed overnight with us so her parents could have a night out. Mairead is VERY interested in Lily and likes her very much. She was even giving her kisses and saying, "Oh, so cute!". At one point, Lily was in her crib going to sleep and Mairead gave her Special Bear and said, "here you go. Share." Now, Special Bear is NOT given away easily... even the boys have never been allowed to share him. Lily must be pretty special!

Jack and Ben were not big fans of sharing their seats and food with Lily. While my mom was giving her cereal, the boys were clamoring for attention and protesting that this baby was in their seat.

Lily didn't seem to mind.

The boys have been allowed to use markers a few times lately since they are getting better at not eating them. They got the hang of things pretty quickly and really seemed to like coloring.

In other news, Dave bought a new car this past weekend. He was in a minor accident a few weeks ago, but the damage turned out to be enough for the insurance company to total it out. We weren't thrilled about spending the money right now, but neither of us has ever had a brand new car before, so it is pretty exciting in that sense. We bought a Corolla- the exact same color as the Corolla I used to have-- and we are looking forward to saving money on gas. Plus, since Toyota has had some 'unfortunate incidents' recently, they were dying to give us a good deal. Let's hope this car lasts us a long time!

Hope all of you are well- thanks for checking in!