Abby in pink, Lydia in purple
Abby on the left, Lydia on the right--in December
Abby
Abby loves all things baby. Baby Kezzie, of course, tops the list--perhaps tying with Abby's "baby hat," which she wears practically always and everywhere. She loves her baby doll and "ha-ha" (monkey--the name is an approximation of the sound a monkey makes), and requires them tucked close to her and covered with her when she goes down for nap or nighttime.
Abby in her "baby hat" and beloved pink coat
Lately she loves to try on too-small socks, shoes, and other clothing items simply because they're "baby" things. ("Oh, that doesn't fit you anymore, Abby," I've said without thinking. "That's for babies." And then she desperately must wear it!) She also likes to imitate baby sounds/voices. Usually this is a somewhat obnoxious crescendo of squeals and screeches, sometimes accompanied by waving of the hands. When I've asked her to stop, she explains, "Baby!"
Abby and Josiah
Abby also likes to have her baby doll or "baby" duplo girl nurse ("noatz," as she says)--but from Mama, not from Abby. She claims every night that her baby doll has gone "poo-poo." She tells me over and over (usually when I'm singing the bedtime songs) until I acknowledge her and tell her to change the baby's diaper. Then she flips it over, pulls up its skirt, and pretends to change it. Usually she discovers Baby has not actually pooped--"No. Pee-pee!" she says. (This is a reflection of what often happens with Abby herself. She claims to have pooped and starts to unzip her footed pajamas. I check her and find she has not, in fact, pooped at all. Then she defaults to "pee-pee"--and perhaps has a slightly warm spot in her diaper, but it's usually miniscule.)
Abby in the foreground
Both girls are more interested in clothes at this age than Josiah was (I don't recall him showing much interest in what he wore until fairly recently--since turning three). They point out "dots" and "flowers" etc. on their clothes (and on mine). They know and use the word "pretty." Abby has a clear fashion sense of her own and wants to pick out all her own clothes each day. (I don't always let her do so, which often results in tantrums!)
Lydia is our accident-prone girl. Two days ago, for instance, she face-planted in the grass when going down the kiddie slide. (None of them like to go down normally on their bottoms these days. They have to try all sorts of daredevil antics--pushing each other, jumping/walking/running down, going down backwards or face-first, etc.) She's got some scabs on her nose and upper lip from that.
Lydia after "helping" Daddy plant trees two weeks ago
Yesterday she ran into the edge of a trellis and knocked herself flat on the patio; from this misadventure she got a black eye and a bruise on the back of her head. And she scraped up her knees when she stumbled while trying to run away from me pants-less. Today she fell off a stool and hurt her knee. I gave her some frozen pearl onions to hold on the sore knee but a couple minutes later found her chewing through the bag instead. A few days ago she bit through her tongue on a fall, and I think she has the most chipped teeth of all three of them.
Lydia with nose wound in early December
Lydia has reclaimed "No way!" as her signature phrase. For some reason Abby has pretty much phased it out of her vocabulary--but it's going strong in Lydia's! Both girls have amped up the defiance lately and often yell at us or blow raspberries or spit--earning some apple cider vinegar on the tongue.
The girls' height and long feet are a stark contrast to Josiah. We overheard someone at church asking if the kids were triplets--the first we've heard that (but probably not the last)! They certainly don't yet look like triplets, but the girls are above 90th percentile in height, and Bud is somewhere in the 50th or 60th. Abby and Lydia stand about a head taller than the other little girls around their age at church (but lag behind them in speaking skills). The girls' feet are long and fairly narrow--unlike Josiah's short, wide feet (inherited from his maternal side, no doubt). They're wearing shoes now that he wore this time last year.
Abby climbing up the fort ladder
Abby gets her mouth around increasingly more difficult words--"cucumber," for instance. It sounds cumbersome for her little mouth, but she manages all the syllables and usually makes it clear enough for me to catch the meaning the first or second time. She also pairs words more often than Lydia, and often tries to imitate a whole phrase or sentence. She'll attempt to say anything we ask her to. "Sit down," "lay down," "get up," "container," and "buckle" are part of her newer repertoire.
Abby on the left, Lydia on the right
Perhaps Lydia's favorite two-word phrase is "bad guy" (or "kitty-cat," which she says "dee-dat"). We saw a man walking ahead of us on the sidewalk the other day, and Lydia pointed and cried out, "Bad-duy! Bad-duy!" Josiah asked me, "Why does Lydia think all good guys are bad guys?" I laughed--she certainly does identify an inordinate number of toys, storybook characters, and real-life people as "bad-duy." Today she refused a book I offered her for naptime because of what she believed was a "bad-duy" in it. She often points out a strange-looking or slightly-less-happy character as a bad guy in a book. And all the kids love for me to draw them bad guys (Abby likes bad babies)--with telltale angry eyebrows.
Josiah invited the girls to cuddle with him on the couch the other day
It's interesting watching the interplay of competiton and cooperation between the girls. We have one little wooden bike they like to ride--just one. Earlier today Lydia asked to put her shoes on in order to go outside and ride it--"Bike! Me! Bike! Me!"
Well, Abby heard this and rushed to slip crocs on (quicker than waiting for Mom to help with other shoes) and bolted for the bike. Of course, Lydia screamed and cried about this usurpation: "Abby! No no! My bike! Me!" (She still pronounces Abby's name "Ah-bee" most of the time. I love it.)
Other times I find the two of them happily pushing each other on that very same little bike--even taking turns without me enforcing time limits.
It's also interesting to see the girls' interaction with Josiah. Sometimes all three play happily together. Sometimes all three fight. Sometimes Josiah entices one girl to team up with him on the other. Sometimes the girls chase Josiah around, trying to bite him . . . Sometimes Josiah tries to incite one girl against the other (just for kicks? to see them get in trouble? I'm not sure yet). Sometimes one seems to be his special buddy. (The pictures above show Lydia's admiration for Josiah!) Usually the girls go along with the games he proposes and want to do what he does--he's pretty cool overall! But interactions change day to day and even minute to minute.
