{our kids are smarter than us}

today we went into tucson to take the kids to the pima air and space museum (i like to refer to it as the airplane museum). justin has been wanting to take ian again, but between the holidays, moving, sicknesses-it just hasn't happened yet! so today was the day! you would have thought we were heading the disneyworld! (not that the kids know what that is yet, but still!) it was so much fun :) the first time justin took ian wasn't 2 yet (23 months to be exact) and he was very timid and not sure about it all. justin said he clutched to him pretty much the entire time. boy, was this a different experience! he was off and running.... "look at dat airpane!" "look! a hahdudadah (helicopted)" "look! a BIIIIG airpane" (etc....). it was love! he wasn't scared of anything and wanted to know what everything was. luckily, his dad is full of information on aircrafts. i loved it all-mainly taking pictures and watching all the joy on that little boy's face. and have i mentioned that cecilia loves her brother? b/c she does. she sees him super excited....then guess who else is excited?!?! they both behaved really well-we were very impressed. ceci actually was wanting justin to either hold her or hold her hand most of the time (which sadly, doesn't happen too often, so he was eating it up!!!!) the highlight of it all was seeing poppy's airplanes. ian is in love with his poppy. he is in love with airplanes. knowing that poppy flew (flies) airplanes is pretty much the coolest thing for that little boy! {uncle wink also flew super cool airplanes, but all we could find was a super cool model of one in the gift shop.....fail, airplane museum, fail} it was a great day!

on our drive to tucson, however, justin and i had a gooooood laugh....here's the scenario:
ian is sitting in cecilia's car seat b/c he has a new obession with it. (don't worry, they both fit the requirements of safety for both car seats). we walk near my car and he says "no want neenan's car seat. sit in ceci's seat." and being the awesome parent that i am, i (we) usually let him. i think ceci likes being in ian's better anyway-she usually fights getting in the car, but recently she hasn't. (gotta pick and chose the battles, right?!)....okay, anyways-that was a little bit of rambling....back to the story. we were in the car, ian was behind me in ceci's seat (that has a cup holder on both sides of him in the seat) and he starts banging his (toy) airplane on his cup. we tell him to stop. he doesn't. he does it again. we threaten to spank. and to him that's a big whoop-we're in the car.....{another side note: ian is not terrible. BUT he is getting into the terrible twos...very defiant, mean, stubborn, careless, etc (mommy moment: he is being all of these things, but is still so sweet while he's doing it. haha) -so basically... he's been testing us lately} so he stops for a little bit, then bangs the airplane on the cup again. i turn around and tell him that we aren't going to be able to go see the airplanes if he does it again (and yes, for those of you counting, that's 3 warnings-past my limit). what does this little boy say? "no see airpanes. my want to go home" we say: 'really? you don't want to go see the airplanes?' "no, my want to go home". us: 'okay well, then you will have to sit in the car and we'll take ceci to see all of the awesome airplanes and helicopters'. ian. "then go home". yup, he just outsmarted us. we tried to hide how amused we were by this, but we held off for awhile.....sadly, this isn't the first time this type of situation has happened. i would say at least every 2 days, i'll threaten to take something he loves away from him (so he can earn it back), and all of a sudden he wants nothing to do with that toy or activity. smarty-pants.

(if you didn't gather-when ian talks instead of saying "i want a drink", it's "my want a drink". pretty darn cute if you ask me.)
more mommy brag moments: this kid pays so much attention that one day i told him "be soft to molly (our cat), pet molly soft" and he said "my pet molly softly". he just out grammared me......he copies pretty much everything! we sing a song-he sings (ish) the words back. we have a conversation-he repeats. he makes a joke of it and knows he's being funny.

cecilia has been so happy lately! she's been loving her some daddy time and mainly getting to go outside. she insists on having shoes on. doesn't matter to her if they match or not, as long as they are on her feet. if she wants something, she'll just look at it, sort of grunt and nod her head to let us know that 'yes, i want that'. she does please-says it and signs it when she really wants something. she loves anything noodle. she is a noodle eating machine. if she doesn't want something, she just casually pushes it away and says "no". very matter of factly. she loves bracelets and purses. she put them on her wrist and immediately says "pretty" (more like pre-ie) and some of her words sometimes squeal. we have quite the girly dramatic girl on our hands. she loves her brother and wants him to be happy.

cecilia pays so much attention to what we tell ian-the other day this happened: (now remember that ian isn't the best sharer and a typical big brother....) cecilia had one of ian's toys (don't remember what...) and ian came and grabbed it from her. she looks at him, grunts, nods her head (as if to say 'yes, that is what i want') and says and signs "please" and keeps nodding her head. this is where i was in shock: a usual situation at the lockwood house: ceci takes a toy out of ian's hand/grasp/general area (and wouldn't you know, that was the one toy that he was about to play with so obviously needs it back immediately!). ian then jerks the toy out of her hands. we always tell him he can't do that. if he wants to toy back, he just has to say "can i have that toy back, please?" and he'll ask. before he gets the chance to finish asking-cecilia's already given him the toy back and looks so please with herself. (another side note-this is just one scenario of how it's handled-sometimes he doesn't get the toy back at all b/c he was rude). ....back to the story-i was in awe of the fact that ceci didn't just grab the toy back out of his hands-which she normally will do, but that she calmly stopped and asked please. ahh happy mommy!

these little babies are growing so quickly, it's awesome and sad at the same time! ian is getting so much better at going to the potty. he wear big boy underwear during the day (while we're in the house), or pullups if we go out and about. he knows that he still gets a diaper at night, so it's not a battle. for the most part, he's over the diaper business. he has accidents, but if we remember to sit him on the potty every 1-2 hours, he almost always goes and stays dry! we're pretty excited about it!

i hadn't been on pinterest in a couple months now. i was pretty obsessed there for awhile. i still think it's one of the most genius ideas ever! anyway, last night i logged on and was browsing some of the "kid" section stuff and i came across a blog of a mother whose 2 year 8 month old son died this week. this sweet baby boy was born with a skin disease of some sort (i hate that i can't remember what it was), but it would blister, swell and not really improve. it was so sad-her son (tripp) was in so much pain and misery. reading her blog i was so inspired by her strength and faith. she was helpless-couldn't do anything for this sweet boy. she held him in her arms the morning he went to heaven. i usually stay away from stories like these b/c they scare the ever-living-daylights out of me. i can watch criminal minds about all these crazy serial killers and not be super phased by it. i don't stay up to date with the news or anything of that sort b/c i feel its' too depressing. which is the same reason i usually avoid real-life situations where families struggle with the health of their child (or loved one)... it's an unbearable thought. i know that God doesn't give us more than we can handle, and reading this amazing mother's story made me appreciate so much more-what i already appreciated the most in the world. i am so blessed to have two bright, beautiful, smart, perfect angels in my life. they make my world go around. we pray daily for the health and happiness of our family and friends and those they love. now i pray for this mother. i pray for all parents, grandparents, sisters, brothers, cousins, aunts, uncles, and friends who have heavy hearts. who have children with illnesses-curable or not. for their strength. for them to find peace with the situation. for the pain to be lifted. and for their faith.

....i'll be uploading pictures and videos soon :)