The Next Phase

You see these adorable little faces...

They love each other.  I mean, full on face mask kicking and screaming kinda love.  She is so sweet when he gets out of the car for school.  "Love you Buddy".  She can't wait to go and get him from school.  She wanted to show Bubba her new Tinkerbell shoes when he got home.  He will sneak in her room and lay down with her(and as much as I want to get mad at him, I know that it is just because he can't stand to be without her).  They love taking a bath, big splashes while they are "wimming" around.  She gets him his sippy cup every morning and will wait for him to eat.  She wants to be right next to him all the time(even in the bathroom, which he isn't a big fan of).  He knows that she likes her pillows and will bring them to her.  She asks where he is if he leaves the room.  She watches Thomas even when she really wants to watch The Wiggles.  They play chase and giggle for hours.  He tickes her back and she rubs his hair. They really do love each other.

But, we are about to hit the next phase.  The "Callie hurt on me", "Bubba, did it", "No, Callie, No", "Mine", "Mine", "Mine" phase.  I babysit a lot and I have to say, I am not looking forward to the "telling" phase.  He touched me, he did this, she took my toy, etc.  I am also not looking forward to the "I am doing this just to annoy you" phase that 3 and 4 year olds seem to go through.  Everyone I know says 3 is the hardest age.  Not sure if that is because they just happen to have 3 year olds, or if they forgot how crazy the twos were.  I am trying not to dwell on the fact that I will actually have both a 2 and a 3 year old at the same time.  I am sure most of us only have the capacity to remember most of the phase that we are in. 

But, along with this phase comes the conversation piece I am enjoying so much.  Every day, our kids are communicating with us more and more.  I like that Callie can tell me if her belly hurts.  C can tell me that he sang "head and shoulders" and learned all about apples.  I like that their attention span is increasing to play games, and C asks for a story every night about the castle in his room.  I love that they can remember and anticipate things.  Callie is excited about her Elmo party, and C has already picked out some train plates for his.  I love that their brains are sponges remembering people, places, and things.  I like that I can ask how C's day was and if he liked something.  I like that they are getting better at letting us know about their emotions.  What makes them mad, scared(thunder), or and happy(dancing).  I like to hear them say funny things like...Mommy, wait a minute like they are adults.  I love when I am rocking C at night, he can tell me all about his day, but most of all that he loves his mama. 

With every new phase, there is the good and the bad.  So, until then...I am going to enjoy the good in our current phase.