Notes on Chase and Siena

If you're taking notes on Chase and Siena, this is what you need to know:

Chase:

-His new favorite colors are "white and green" (previous favorites were "red and purple", then "green and pink"... not sure why he always has to have two)!

-He can tell time... I mean, he can actually read an analog clock, no problem! Unfortunately I can't take credit for this, it's all because we bought one of these a while back. If you remember, we bought it because Chase was waking up too early every morning... I never actually thought that he'd learn to tell time with it!!

-He's been going to "swim school" this summer 2 mornings a week. It's just group lessons through the YMCA but he really loves it and has learned so much! He was already pretty good at swimming, but he's definitely improved his endurance and technique. He can now swim the width of most pools, and almost the length if he stops and rests for a second every once in a while. With the class, he's learned to dive, float, and do the backstroke.

-As of now, he's not going to be going to preschool this fall. I had enrolled him at a new school, thinking that it would save us a little money since his previous school was SO expensive. But then this new school raised their rates too, and I just couldn't justify spending that amount of money on "school" that I'm not even really sure that we need. Part of me actually felt lazy at times for sending him to school at such a young age... I sort of felt like I was paying for daycare that wasn't necessary. I do think he learned a lot there, and he definitely had fun, but we've enjoyed the time at home together all summer and I don't want it to end. Starting next year, he'll be in school 5 days a week for the rest of his childhood, and time is zooming by way too fast for me! I want to enjoy every minute with him and Siena. I was worried that Chase would be disappointed to not be going back to school, but when I asked him what he wanted to do, he said, "I want to stay home with you and Siena!" So that's that. I think it'll make me into a better mom in the end, it'll force me to take more responsibility for what he's learning, and it might even make me get a little crafty! ;) Plus I do have a couple of good ideas for some little classes that he can do for fun once a week. And he'll still see his friends plenty because we have lots of playdates with them.

-The mess in our house is starting to overwhelm me. And by that I mean the TOY mess. I simply cannot keep up with the playroom or Chase's room. He can destroy both of them in a matter of minutes and he's simply not interested in cleaning, ever. Here's a picture of his room:

And the playroom, and this one was taken after I had already been cleaning for 30 minutes!


-Chase is definitely experiencing the "terrific three's" right now! We've had our fair share of temper tantrums in the past 2 weeks. We're just trying to figure out who's in charge around here, that's all. Actually, I know who's in charge, but he's not so sure! Here are some of the things he's pitched a fit over:
1. Not wanting to play in the "waterfall" pool with his friends, he wanted to go to the "big pool" instead.
2. After I made him a bowl of cereal one morning, he decided he'd rather have a waffle, and wanted to pour the cereal out.
3. Refusing to pick up his Mega Bloks before getting out some different blocks.

Reading all of those things makes me think: wow, what in the world was I battling over... it's such trivial stuff! But it's just one of those things where you say "this is how it's going to be," and then your 3 year old decides he wants it a different way, and after about an hour of screaming, jumping, tears, and even some drooling, you just can't back down at that point! Know what I mean? It's heartbreaking and I just quite haven't figured out how to deal with it yet. I've tried comforting him, ignoring him, reasoning with him, time out, everything! I still don't know what the best strategy is when it gets out of control like that.

-Okay, having said all of that, what I want to say now is that I'm really enjoying life with Chase. He's my little buddy. It's fun that he's at an age where we're actually friends! We have real conversations about things, and we play games together and laugh together. I love his sweet little voice, his observations about everything, his millions of questions, his manners and his mannerisms. I don't love the temper tantrums, but those will be over soon enough, right?!

Siena:

-The girl loves to dance! She sways back and forth whenever there's music playing. I can't wait to take her to the little toddler music class at Sprouts!

-She also loves to talk, talk, talk... such a girl! Always chatting about something, although I have no idea what she's saying! She even likes to talk on the phone, and picks up just about anything that resembles a phone and starts talking into it!


-She hates to have her diaper changed! I mean, she really, really hates it. And that makes me hate to do it because I can't stand to see her so unhappy!

-She likes to read books to herself, but doesn't like to be read to. Isn't that weird? We absolutely cannot get her to sit still and listen to even 2 pages of a book, but she'll gladly sit on her own and flip all of the pages and "read" it to herself!

-Siena's a "big drinker!" Watch out for this one! She can chug a sippy cup of anything in 2.3 seconds!! It's crazy for us because Chase has always drank so little and we're used to only filling cups halfway... but Siena wants a LOT to drink!

-I think she really loves me. She crawls over to me, climbs into my lap and puts her head on my shoulder. When I'm holding her, sometimes she'll pull her head around so she can see me, looks straight into my eyes and gives me a huge grin. And sometimes an open-mouth kiss!

-I'm afraid that she loves her daddy even more! She's such a little daddy's girl right now. She won't even say "mama" anymore... it's "daddy daddy daddy" all the time!! She reaches out towards him constantly and just lights up when he walks in the door. Same with Chase. She just adores him and will even say his name "Chassssse" with a big toothy grin!