I am blessed with awesome kids!

Disclaimer:  I am not trying to say your kids are anything by posting this.  It is not a "my kid is awesome and yours are not" kind of post.  Please don't be offended.

With that being said, I want to say the reason for this post is sometimes I need to repeat this to myself, sometimes many times a day.  I want this post to look back on when I get to a really "tough" day.

Trust me when I say there are days when Noah simply will not listen to one thing I say and he is insistent on running around naked, peeing on everything in sight and screaming while Emilee screams and cries along in unison.  And of course, that's the day I need to get errands ran, chores done, and about a million other things to do.  I end the day thinking I have 2 demon children that I will never be able to control.  Either that or I feel like I've failed as a mom.

BUT, those days don't happen that often.  And there are so many good things that both my kids do, I just have to feel blessed by them.  Especially after what happened in Newtown, CT.

Let me start with Noah.  His potty training has come leaps and bounds from where we started.  He consistently tells us when he has to go pee and poop.  Last week I even caught him getting up from naptime, going pee, flushing, washing hands, etc all by himself.  When I asked what he was doing, he just said all nonchalantly "I had to go potty, mom".  Well, of course he did...LOL.  His language skills are amazing.  He will tell us whole stories of things that happened at daycare or at home, sometimes even something that happened months ago.  He is so smart.  He knows what makes things work and when he doesn't, he is insistent to know how they work.  He is very kind and helpful.  I don't know too many times he has asked to help, but if I ask for help, he's right there.  Whether it's making cookies, cleaning up the dishes, taking care of sister, doing laundry, etc.  Every morning at daycare, he insists on carrying the milk in for Emilee.  He is also very loving.  I can't tell you how many times he kisses his sister in 1 day.  He also always says I"m sorry or Bless You to other people, even those he doesn't know.  I'm amazed at his physical strength and courage.  This is one of the most amazing feats only because Noah is so small, but he has never let that hold him back.  This kid will climb and jump off just about anything.  I'm just in awe of how he'll jump right in with 5 or 6 year olds and the physical things they do.  He is also learning to ride a 2 wheel bike (balance bike) and he can almost do it without using his feet all the time.  He will definitely be ready for a regular pedal bike by next summer.  I know I'm not the only one that thinks these things either.  He is in the 3-4 year old class at school and has been since the beginning of the summer.  He fits right in there doing all the same developmental things as the rest of the kids.  One last thing to mention is his cleanliness.  Most kids his age eat a meal and it looks like half of it ended up on the floor, the other half on their clothes.  Not Noah.  He will eat and if anything drops on the table or clothes, he requests a napkin to clean himself RIGHT AWAY.  As of today, he eats on a regular plate with regular silverware and a regular cup.  By the way, I love that we can just leave the house with him, no preparing by bringing special food, diapers, special silverware, etc.  He's just like a mini-adult.

Now for Emilee.  She isn't quite as old as Noah so I don't feel like there's as much to brag about with her, but I feel confident in saying she will be right behind her brother.  At almost 9 months old, she is a pro at crawling and she is just about ready to start pulling herself all the way up.  But best about her is her temperament.  She is just so content to sit and watch everything that goes on around her.  When I put her down for naps or bedtime, most of the time I just lay her in her crib, wide awake.  She may toss and turn or crawl around for a bit, but then she'll fall asleep.  She loves her solid food, but definitely enjoys the more solid/whole foods vs purees.  We've been a lot more lax about the foods we've been giving to her especialy after I've read some articles about how waiting 4 days between foods and waiting to give certain foods until certain ages isn't necessarily right for most kids, in fact, doing just the opposite can help them like a wider variety of foods.  So just about anything we eat at dinner, she gets in small bites.  She is really started to like her toys and be able to push buttons and see the reaction now too.  She's definitely starting that "mental learning" phase and it seems like once that starts, it won't stop for a little while (since Noah is still in that phase).

Overall, I'm so happy and blessed with my 2 kids.  Some days are so overwhelming, but I wouldn't have it any other way.