Precious Little Memories

Warning: Long Post

As Jack and Cate get older, I find myself wanting to hold on to each and every little moment of their lives. I want to remember forever how they sound, move, and act every minute of every day. While I know that this is a complete impossibility, I try to etch in my mind those precious little memories that I know I can remember forever. Maybe including them here will help me hold onto them longer.

Jack talks up a storm now. For a kid who didn't really talk until he was almost two, he is using complete sentences 90% of the time and is learning new words every day. I try so hard to incorporate new words and phrases into our conversations each day and to point out each and every little thing I can so that his vocabulary will continue to grow and grow. Unfortunately, I can't shelter him from the influences of the other kids at school (yes, already), so lately, when someone does something, well, stupid, Jack lets that person (or movie character know.) "That's STUPID" has become part of his vocabulary, and I definitely correct him, but what's most impressive to me is that he says it at the right moment EVERY time. There are many other little phrases that I absolutely love right now. "I love you too"...even when he's the first to say it, "Cows!" when we're driving down our road, "that's okay, it's just the floor" when he spills something, "look at Cate," when he sees her doing something I've asked them not to do, "Cate did it"...this one is new to his lexicon, "night night, Mommy" when I tuck him into bed at night, "just a minute, I gotta go get my key, I'll be right back" when he's pretending to need to go to the car. There are just so many things I want to remember him saying in that precious little boy voice.

Jack is also super cuddly. When he wakes up at an ungodly hour (usually around 4:30 or 5:00), he comes into our room and climbs into bed with us. He snuggles up under my chin and goes back to sleep, and he's just so sweet. He still loves to read books, and his favorite is still Goodnight Moon. His eyes light up when he finds it after it's been buried somewhere in all the books. He really loves music and to sing and dance. He's gotten to where he really wants to sing by himself, so he'll tell me, "no, not you, Mommy." Then he will sing the song by himself. His favorite song to sing is "The Wheels on the Bus." He loves dancing with Cate. They dance to The Fresh Beat Band music in the living room and just giggle and laugh. Such sweet memories.

I think more than anything else, though, Jack was born to be a big brother. He has the most loving and giving spirit with Cate. He freely shares with her (most of the time), loves on her, hugs her (sometimes smothers her with hugs), kisses her goodnight, and gets very mad if he doesn't get to wake her up in the morning. He is really sad when he offers her something and she turns him down in her moody little girl way. I hope Cate realizes one day just how lucky she is to have a big brother who has loved her from the moment he met her.

Cate is my strong-willed little girl. She can be sweet and cuddly one minute, and screaming and swatting you away the next. I suppose that comes with the territory of being a girl, but I'm actually happy to see that she doesn't get pushed over by her brother or kids her own age. We've heard several times from her teachers that she is very "strong," to the point that she has actually dragged a little boy out of his chair by his shirt. I don't want her to be mean, but I want her to be able to assert herself and it seems like she won't have any problem with that.

She is also beginning to talk a little bit...but just a little. I think she is going to be like Jack. She won't talk very much for a while, but when she decides to, she will add words and phrases at a very quick rate. Right now, she says "momma," "dada," Jack Jack," "CaCa," "shhhh," "buppy,""Nana," and "Papa" and I can get her to say a few other words on occasion. She uses the sign language they're teaching her at school every once in a while, but really, she prefers to grunt at this point. She has a pretty deep, raspy voice for a little girl,which I love and always secretly wanted for myself, but she has the sweetest giggles and laugh and uses them sparingly so they're that much more special when you hear them.

She is definitely our dare devil. She doesn't hesitate one bit at going up or down stairs, and she LOVES the 8 foot slide on our fort in the backyard. She runs around with the dogs and eats dirt and all of the things any kid should do. She is learning to walk backwards and is beginning to figure out it's fun to run away from Mommy and Daddy in the store. Great.

She, too, loves to read books, probably more than Jack at this point. Her favorite is a black and white book called Smiles and she can name all of the pictures in it because we look at it over and over. She also really likes Brown Bear, Brown Bear just like her brother did. She has discovered her dancing moves and bounces, claps, and bops her head back and forth to just about any song she hears. She is just too precious for words. She gets very excited when we sing songs, especially the ABCs.

Cate is not nearly as cuddly as her brother, and that probably has a lot to do with the fact that she has been putting herself to sleep since she was about 5 months old. I didn't rock her nearly as much as I did Jack, and in retrospect, that makes me a little sad. Now, she really doesn't want to be rocked or snuggled for any amount of time. I don't regret helping her develop good sleep habits, though, as I think she sleeps more soundly than Jack ever has.

She's not a cuddler, but she is a sweetheart. She blows kisses, gives hugs, makes "sweet eyes," (big cheesy grin), and lets us love on her MOST of the time. She does have a certain look, though, that basically says "leave me the heck alone." I call it her "Lola look" because it reminds me so much of my grandmother's glare. Once, when I told my grandma I was going to be teaching, she told me all I needed was to glare at the kids and they would listen. She wasn't entirely wrong. Cate has definitely inherited "the glare."

So many little things to remember about the kids right now, and tomorrow, they will just add more. As my husband says, I wish we could make clones of the kids every year and keep them in the closet. When we wanted to play with two-year-old Jack or one-year-old Cate, we could just pull them out and play. Alas, that is not how God planned it for any of us, and so we will hold on to the precious little memories from this moment and look forward to the new adventures down the road. I still have a hard time comprehending how it is I deserve such wonderful blessings. My heart is very full.