little things

Life doesn't slow down at all during this busy season, so I'm trying to jot down a few things going on right now.

We bought Colter a potty chair- just in case he decides he's interested one of these days. 90% of the time he has a diaper off, he pees casually all over the floor like he has no idea what is even coming out. He has decided the potty chair is best used as a hat or for storing toys. I think we've got a while... He absolutely loves to be nude and calls himself "nudey man" During most diaper changes he'll start pulling at his shirt saying nudey man nudey man! The instant all his clothes are off, he bolts around the living room, jumps up on the couch and basically goes crazy.

We're working on getting Colter's big boy room all ready. Ben and I both say it's our favorite room in the house. The painting is done and the curtains are hung.We set up a really cool craft corner for him that he absolutely LOVES. He's been in the room all week and it doesn't seem like he even thinks about his other room! We spend most afternoons up in his room doing crafts. We tell Colter it's his "AWESOME room!" Every time he goes in it he yells "AWESOME!"

One of my favorite things he does right now is when he says "awesome" or "big sailboat." He gets totally red in the face and almost holds his breath while he pushes out the words.

Colter is more into trains and cars than ever. We bought him a cars mat recently and he loves to drive his cars around. He knows "red light STOP!" and "green light GO!" so he makes all his cars stop at the stoplights, crossings, and parking garages.

He's also obsessed with cranes. If he sees a crane, or thinks he's going to see a crane, that's all he talks about. BIG CRANE! over and over and over and over and over... no amount of distraction ever works.

Another favorite thing he's started to do is narrate about our day. I'll ask him questions like "did we go see a train?" and he'll totally remember parts from the day and will say things like "amtrak. LOUD. Crossing goes down. ding ding ding ding." It's so cool to see his little memory form.

He also listens and repeats EVERYTHING. I've realized that I say oh my goodness a lot because he was saying it quite often, totally during times that I would say it too.

Colter loves Christmas. He begs to turn on the Christmas tree lights every day, and he cries when the outside lights aren't on during the day. He gets so excited when it's time to light the candle in the lantern outside, and he LOVES looking at lights. Except he normally gets focused on a very small strand of lights and that's all that matters. He pretends to name the colors and it's the sweetest thing.

We had an ultrasound for little lady last week because I was measuring 1 week behind. Turns out she's still transverse (laying across instead of head down) and that is probably why i'm a little smaller. Of course I immediately thought of Saisha who was transverse and never turned, so we're praying thatthis little lady gets on turning! Madison is right in the 50th percentile for my due date- weighing in at a whopping 3 lb. 14 oz. The ultrasound tech could see some peach fuzz forming on her head. She said this is just when hair starts to grow, so we'll have to wait and see if she comes out rocking hair like Colter.

Colter is really into his guitar right now. I pretty much have to hide it when anyone comes over because every kid wants to play it. He used to hold the guitar straight up and down when he played, but now he's figured out the right way to hold it. He's always asking for "next song" or says "play a song." He really loves Christmas carols, but also likes a little ba ba black sheep and wheels on the bus. Sometimes he gets the urge to clap and he'll bend his knees, hunch over his guitar to keep it straight and then clap his hands really soft.

When Ben's parents were visiting, one night after putting Colter to bed we heard banging on a door upstairs. We bolted upstairs and found Colter had escaped from his crib. We lowered the mattress to the lowest level and he escaped again the next day during naptime- this time not as graceful. We took out the bumper and he hasn't gotten out sense. For a minute there I thought we'd have to transition him to a big boy bed before Madison arrived!

Ben did an awesome job with our lights this year. Every year we add a little bit more and start to come up with more and more ideas. I think we're Grizzwolds in training.