Don't you ever grow up Part One

Working with the "update" theme I thought it was time to also fill you in on where Lancelot and Little Lady are these days. I'll update on Lancelot first.

-Lancelot is now 18 months old and continues to be our friendly monster! He was up to 32 pounds but dropped around 6 pounds while he was hospitalized. He is recovering it quickly though and is already back to 30! It sounds like a lot but he actually isn't really chubby at all, he's just tall and sturdy! He wears size 2T or 3T in clothing and size 3T-4T in hats, socks, and mittens. I think he's about 32 inches tall right now. He is in size 9 shoes! Prince Charming likes to joke that Lancelot's size comes from him but in all reality we have no idea how we landed such a giant! Prince Charming is on the smaller side for a guy and I am tall for a girl but nothing crazy. Most of our extended family is on the smaller side as well. The only exceptions are a few random people on my mom's side and then several on my dad's side so I guess that's where he gets it!

-Everything on him must be muscle because we are continuously surprised by this kids strength. At a year he could already crush a pop can with his hands! This has been a real challenge in the parenting department because of course Lancelot doesn't understand his own strength at all yet and most people do not expect a toddler to be able to out maneuver them...but he can. When he was in the hospital it took FIVE adults...using most of our strength...to hold him down whenever they needed to take blood or do procedures. He is the incredible hulk!

-He now has a large vocabulary and tries several new words almost every day. For the most part he still only uses one or two words together at a time but every once in awhile he'll pull out a complete sentence. The other day he was becoming frustrated after jabbering to me for almost a minute about something where the only words I could make out properly was "daddy" and "ball". Finally with a look of exasperation he said, "Where did Daddy put it!?".

-He is a momma's boy and loves to cuddle with me which is something I am cherishing knowing that he is my last baby. He doesn't like to cuddle much with anybody else...although his sister and a few choice friends do get hugs...but he is almost always up for a cuddle with mommy. It is one of the few times in a day where I see his quieter, more gentle side. Most of the day he is the Energizer Bunny just getting into one type of trouble after another...but now and then he'll come to me with his arms outstretched and say "Up Mommy" and I'll get a few sweet seconds of snuggles.

-Besides mommy his two favorite people in the world are his sister and his Pappa. When he was in the hospital I think one of the hardest things for him was not seeing Little Lady. He talked about her constantly and the one time she was actually able to visit he lit up like a Christmas tree and screamed with happiness!

-He still loves anything to do with a ball. Hockey, golf, football, soccer. It doesn't really matter as long as some type of ball is involved. The first thing he will go for in a play room is the balls. He is thrilled to see them on tv or video games and basically anywhere one might pop up. He has some kind of radar for them. I won't even notice there is a ball around but you can guarantee that if there is one within the boundaries he is allowed to roam...he will find it.

-His second favorite thing is cars and trucks. He loves to shout "TUCK!" every time he sees a truck when we are driving and is able to turn almost anything into a vehicle complete with sound effects. Yes he is ALL boy. I marvel at this sometimes. When Little Lady was a toddler she was the most girliest little girl you could ever meet (still is) and people would often tell me it was because she spent all her time with me and I am so girly. Well if that reasoning were true then Lancelot should be an extremely feminine little fellow since he not only spends all his time with me but now there is a second girly girl added to the equation! But no, he is all snakes and snails and puppy dog tails.

-Which brings me to his third love. Puppies. Little Lady always liked pets but really she could take them or leave them. Her attitude was, "Sure they're cute to look at but there are much more fascinating things to find". Lancelot on the other hand thinks puppies really ARE perhaps a boys best friend.

-Lancelot also loves drums and any music with a beat. He usually watches in complete awe whenever somebody is drumming. He especially likes a visual component to music...like watching music videos.

-A few other favourites: Sesame Street (specifically the Old Spice parody commercial on YouTube or anything to do with Grover or Elmo), "DuhDuh" or in other words Dora, Handy Many/working with tools/helping daddy work with tools, Hide and Seek, everything sweet, popcorn, chicken, pasta, cheese, apples, dancing, and balloons.

-I used to say that Little Lady was high maintenance...and she is, emotionally. But I had no idea how easy I had things physically!! Lancelot is much more even keeled emotionally but in other ways he is every bit as high maintenance as his sister....maybe even more! He gets into everything. And that's not exaggerating. I mean it. Literally. Everything. You can not take your eyes off this kid for one moment. You turn your back and he's climbed inside the stove, you walk into the other room for a moment and you come back to find him in another room...eating toilet bowl cleaner! He has climbed the ladder to our tree house, mastered child proof locks in order to eat dish detergent, climbed shelving, jumped across an entire room to hang by his arms off the bathroom vanity in order to play with the soap, ...the list goes on...and on. He is so tall, strong, and determined that he just keeps going til he figures something out, opens a door, unscrews a jar. Little Lady might have tried but most of the time she would just burst into tears the moment it didn't work immediately. Lancelot on the other hand will just do it over and over until he figures it out. Prime example: He likes to climb on the dining room table to play with my centerpiece. Sometimes I will pull him off ten times in a row and block his strategy, but that won't change a thing...he'll just find a new way to get back up. He won't fuss or cry that I've taken him down, just immediately look for a new strategy. Or just yesterday, he wanted some bubbles which I said we could play with later. I put them at the back of our counter where he couldn't reach. So he went and got his stool. Still couldn't quite reach. So he went and got one of his books, climbed on the stool, lined the book up with the bubble container, "curled" the book across the counter top so that it knocked over the bubble container enough that he could reach it, then happily claimed his prize! The determination is phenomenal, it is only matched by the challenge this creates for parenting!

-He is still on the bottle for night and nap time. I know I should have him weaned. He does drink from normal cups or no-spill cups already the rest of the time. But the bottle is one of his comfort objects and with the many times he has been sick or in the hospital I just haven't had the heart to remove that comfort yet.

-He has been showing an interest in potty training for the last couple of months and has gone on the potty quite a few times already and definitely gets the concept. I don't know if I want to pursue it yet but I do let him go whenever he wants. Since he is already in size 6 diapers (Little Lady never wore anything bigger than 4!) I should probably start pushing the potty idea but I'm just not sure I want that hassle yet.

-Tonight as I write this post he is sleeping in front of our Christmas tree (it is our tradition to have a sleepover on our Christmas Eve), hopefully dreaming sweet sugar plum type dreams. He is so excited to open presents and was thrilled tonight when he got new superman pajamas and slippers to go to bed in! Of course he wanted to open all of his presents at once. Hopefully the kids won't wake us at 4 in the morning ready for Christmas to start!