30 Months

My children are 30 months old! Two and a half years have gone by since they were born...crazy!!

They are walking, talking, playing and eating machines now, with so much personality!

Every day when I go through the guide on the TV, I see a show called "30 for 30". So, I'm going to attempt to list 30 facts or anecdotes about my kids in honor of their thirtieth monthday.

1. Kyran weighs about 25 lbs, and Karyssa is about 27. My 4-year-old niece, KK, only weighs 30. How's that for catching up?

2.  They are both in 18-month clothes, although Kyran can still wear 12-month shorts. 

3.  They love music (or mucis, as Karyssa says) and dancing.  They love to have "dance parties", dancing along to the radio, our iPhones or the Wii Just Dance game. 

4.  They have mastered all of their sounds except the combined S sounds, so spoon sounds like "poon" and snake sounds like "nake".  They can and will repeat everything we say, including very gallant attempts at supercalifragilisticexpialidocious!

5.  Karyssa can walk, run, jump and kick.  Kyran can walk and kick, and is working very hard at running and jumping.

6.  Kyran still has physical therapy once a week, but his occupational therapist is now only coming for once a month follow-ups (more on that later).

7.  Karyssa is going through a very fearful stage.  She is afraid of mascots, singing toothbrushes (and now any toothbrush), vacuum cleaners, pools with vacuums in them, blenders and several other things.  If anyone has suggestions on how to deal with these fears, I'm all ears!

8.  They love babies!  Especially Karyssa.  She has now held Leo and held and fed Autumn! 

9.  They love to read.  They really like Dr. Suess or any rhyming books, and have memorized several words and phrases in most of their books.  It's going to be hard to tell when they're actually reading one day, since they recite so much from memory already!

10.  They wear size 3 Pampers Cruisers during the day, size 4 Pampers Baby Dry at night and medium swimming diapers. 

11.  We are not officially potty training, but both have used the potty.  Karyssa will use the potty, and loves getting treats, but refuses to wear her "big girl underwear".  I'm not going to push it, because I want her to be comfortable.  She goes through stages where she tells me she has to go a lot, but now is not one of those stages. 

12.  Karyssa is fun sneaky.  She'll turn around and look at me with a mischevious smile on her face before she does something sneaky.  She gives herself away, but that's part of the game to her. 
13. Kyran is sneaky, sneaky, sneaky.  Kyran will wait until the second I leave the room, and then make a beeline for whatever it is he's not supposed to touch or climb on. He's going to give me some heart attacks, I think.


14.  They LOVE to sing!  They know the words to so many songs, and they sing them randomly throughout the day.  The other night, we were in Walmart.  (I could go on for days about how much I hate shopping with them in Walmart, but that may have to be another post.)  Well, the double carts they have there (when you can get them) have seats that face each other.  Perfect for kicking, hitting, etc.  I bribed them and told them if they were good, they would get a surprise.  That worked for about 15 minutes.  They were singing songs with each other, including Ring Around the Rosie and a couple of others when I noticed that they were doing...the Hokey Pokey!!  They have only done that once with me, three months ago, and once at church a couple of weeks ago, but they knew all of the words!  I was amazed!
 
15.  They also started "cheering" when they were in the cart.  Karyssa would say "Gimme a Y", and Kyran would repeat.  Then she'd say, "Gimme a B", and he'd repeat.  They did this for several letters, and again I was amazed.  I have no clue where they got this (and they certainly weren't spelling anything), but it was so adorable!
 
Whew, halfway!
 
16.  Karyssa can sing her ABCs.  She doesn't get all of the letters perfect, but she gets the tune right and most of the letters.  Karyssa can count to 10, but still usually skips 4. 
 
17.  Kyran fills in a lot of the letters in the ABCs when I sing it, and sings the last part very loudly.  He can count to 14, but usually skips 10 and 12. 
 
18.  They play for about an hour when I put them down for their nap.  I don't mind because they're contained in their cribs, so I know they're safe, and they're having good bonding time with each other with no threat of fighting.  It also gives me a little more time during the day to get things done.
 
19.  They wake up happy.  Always.  (Well, except if Kyran is having tummy issues or nightmares.)  I love hearing my sweet babies laughing and talking to each other in the morning and as they wake up from their naps. 
 
20.  They eat almost anything.  Even pickles, which I won't get within 20 feet of.  We're slowly working different fruits into their diets.  Right now, they both eat bananas, grapes and prunes.  Karyssa will eat strawberries too.  They will lick apples and oranges, but don't like to bite them.  It's a slow process, but it's coming along.
 
21.  They still have not had juice or hot dogs.  I've said when Kyran learns to chew his food properly, I'll give them hot dogs, otherwise, they petrify me. 
 
22.  They love to talk on the phone, especially to do Facetime on the iPhone with Aunt Tammy, Uncle Carey and Molly!  They have calculators (which they call calculators, perfectly), but they pretend they are their phones.  They will take just about anything, put it up to their ears and have a conversation with "someone", usually Mercy, Banner, Daddy or Grandmommy.
 
23.  Kyran eats quickly, like his mommy, and Karyssa eats slowly, like her daddy.  It's amazing to me that they can have the same food, plate and utensils, and end up looking so differently.  Karyssa is usually incredibly neat after eating, with just some food around her mouth.  Kyran has food on his hands (he usually ditches the fork or spoon after the first few bites), his face, his clothes, his forehead and his hair.  Cleaning him up is really a job!
 
24.  They are still in high chairs for meals.  We're waiting until they stop flipping their plates over or pushing the food they don't want off of their plates before we switch them over to their booster seats.  Having the removable trays is just too convenient right now.
 
Almost done...
 
25.  They are also still in cribs.  We're waiting until they either start crawling out or turn three, probably, before we make the big switch.  I like cribs.  They're good. 
 
26.  They are so sweet and compassionate (usually).  If I groan, cry, say ouch, cough, hiccup, or yell at someone in traffic, they always ask, "Are you ok, Mommy?".  If I cry, they will pat my back and say, "It's ok, Mommy.  Don't cry anymore" and pucker up for a kiss.  If I hurt myself, they will kiss my boo-boo.  Oh how I pray this continues! 
 
27.  They have amazing memories.  For words, song lyrics, faces, names, things that have happened, movies.  You name it, they remember it!
 
28.  A kiss from Mommy or Daddy will fix anything!  I especially love it when Kyran falls, looks up at me with his big brown eyes and says, "Mommy, kiss my bottom." 
 
29.  They love toys and they don't distinguish between "gender-specific" toys.  Kyran will carry a purse as quickly as Karyssa will play with a truck.  They will let you know if you hand them the wrong plate, cup or spoon, though.  Colors and characters are very child-specific!
 
Last one, let's make it good...
 
30.  They love each other so, so much.  Yes, they fight over toys, and occasionally hit each other, but it's obvious how much they love to spend time together, and the bond they're creating is astonishing.  I love how they talk to each other, and how they understand each other without talking.  How they will hold hands, dance together, hug, kiss, pat each other's backs and just laugh together.  They play at home, in the car, at church, in their high chairs, in bed, anywhere.  There is no limit to the love they share, and I hope it stays like that forever!
 
Done!
 
Ok, so, I started this post on Tuesday.  This took a lot longer than I thought it would, but if you've read the whole thing, you know more about my kids and you've shown how much you love them.  It's still so hard for me to believe that they're not babies anymore.  They're still so small, but so smart and so much fun. 
 
Thank you, Kyran and Karyssa for the last 2.5 years.  They have been amazing!  I love you and thank God for giving you to your daddy and me!