"I'm a big kid now . . . "

As you may recall, I recently mentioned milestones. We seem to have been hitting a lot of them lately.

Zander is completely out of diapers during the day (he still wears them at night of course), and there seems to be an increasing amount of time between accidents (we haven't had one for a few days now). Zander has also transitioned to a regular twin bed AND he has remained in the bed ALL NIGHT a few times now. He is also learning how to dress/undress himself, and he is almost completely done with sippy cups. He has even recently learned how to wear flip-flops with no strap on the back, which as you mommies and daddies out there know is an acquired skill. And, today I left Zander with a friend for a few hours because I had to be class mommy at Charley's school, and it was the first time I left him without "sneaking" out. He didn't bat an eyelash when I left, nor when I returned (he was WAY too busy playing with toys and friends), and the report was that he was a good boy and even went on the potty in this new place. He is becoming such a big boy.

Yesterday, Charley showed a renewed interest in trying to go to bed without a pull-up on. We tried this a couple months ago, but the results weren't consistent enough to stick with it . . . she had a ton of accidents and even slept through a lot of them. However, she recently demonstrated the willingness and ability to get up out of bed and use the bathroom at night, so tonight we are going to give the whole thing another shot. She also participated in her first sleep-over when we were in Montana without any major incident. She is also wanting to take care of her own hygiene needs (washing herself, brushing her hair and teeth, etc.), and she is constantly wanting to "wear her hair down" like a big girl. She has also become very opinionated about her outfits, and tends to want to wear dresses more than anything else. She is becoming such a big girl.

I also see them growing in their own sibling relationship. There is really very little doubt that they are best buds. This is a pretty frequent occurrence these days . . .

They keep each other pretty entertained most days, and rarely do they play without the other one around. Don't get me wrong, they fight like cats and dogs quite often, but within minutes of fight resolution, they are back to being best buds. They are much more expressive with their feelings for each other lately, and they often give hugs and kisses and exchange "I love you's" completely unprompted. When they are not together, they are constantly asking about the other and making sure they get to see each other soon. In fact, today at preschool, about two hours into class Charley declared, "Boy, I sure do miss Zander."

In all honesty, I'm loving where we are at right now with the kids. Not only do I love this age, but everything seems to be getting easier and easier as time goes on . . . running errands, traveling, eating out, taking hikes, camping, going to the beach, and even spending lazy afternoons at home. I feel like a haze is lifting and I can finally relax again once in awhile, especially living here in Hawaii. Now if I could only figure out how to freeze time . . .