Fading Memories

As Austin danced shirtless around the living room I got a bit sad looking at his lean frame. Gone is my cuddly little two year old. Olivia is following suit: I figure we've got about a year left before her toddler years are only a memory. Pierce will be six months old this week. Why does it all pass so quickly? My only choice is to enjoy each moment and treasure the now. 

Since my memory decreases in proportion to my lack of sleep, I figure I'd better record some of my favorite moments while they are fresh. 

Austin is so funny. Today he was "playing" his violin. I told him I'd give him a dime if he learned how to play the first part of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. He was so excited to earn money that he actually learned it tonight. However, he spent 80% of the time dancing around the living room singing about practicing and only about 2 minutes playing his violin. Life is one big musical for this boy (remind you of Nathan?)--at any moment he is likely to break into song and dance. 

Austin feels things passionately. When we were at a movie theater watching Tangled, he didn't want to hear the witch getting mad a Rupunzel so he covered his ears, sank back into his chair, and started singing very loudly. While watching Beauty and the Beast at home, I often find him hiding behind the couch when the Beast is about to loose his temper. 

Austin is also turning out to be a great builder. He loves Lego type building blocks and creates intricate walking sticks, push up bars, vacuums, and an occasional jet. 

Olivia. I sure hope Olivia isn't the girl on the playground who picks on people. I'm just grateful that she probably won't get picked on. Her current favorite colors are blue and green. She doesn't like girly things and wants to look handsome. She's already put in a request to have a spider-man birthday cake--what? I suggested a pink strawberry cake or a princess cake; both ideas were replaced by either a spider-man cake or a How To Train Your Dragon cake. However, you'll notice she's wearing her favorite pink shirt in these pictures and I never see her without a baby doll so she still has a bit of girliness left in her. 

One of my favorite toddler memories of Olivia is a phase she went through where every time she left the room or walked up the stairs she would wave and say good bye to me. She acted as though she were leaving for work. Liv often has a business-like attitude; she's very focused. I have to hide all kinds of wipes in my house because she'll go through a whole container in a cleaning frenzy. 

Our most successful teeth-brushing sessions are when I pretend to be a dentist. I introduce myself as Dr So and So and ask her how her teeth are doing. She's a terrific patient when she can stop talking for a split second so that I can actually brush.  

Austin and Olivia play so well together. Olivia's room daily turns into an imaginary forest where they play house, hunt food, protect Austins stuffed animals and spider-man figurines, and take care of Olivia's many baby dolls. 

Pierce is getting stronger, spinning and rolling all around, and learning to scream in the middle of the night. I'm not talking about crying out, or even crying loudly, he screams in a high pitched shrill that scares me until I run into his room and find him totally fine and swaddled in his crib. Although he's raising the dead (me) at night, he's the model baby by day: content, engaging, curious, and smiley.