A Long Post About My Little Ginger Snaps

I feel terrible because I haven't really been writing down the girls' milestones/cool stories and I want to remember them forever so I'm just going to give you a quick update (more for myself, but feel free to enjoy).

Peyton Jane- 29 months (I think....)

-Wants to eat mac and cheese and pizza everyday.

-Her first sentence of each day is usually food related.

-When she wants to hide something, she hides it in her diaper. Yes, she still wears diapers.

-Loves reading. She reads for about 3 separate 20-30 minute periods everyday. Yes, I can recite most of the books from memory, now. At least once a day she will insist that I put Loralie in her crib. Peyton will then fill the crib with books, hop in, and read. Loralie loves it. Peyton will read a page in Peyton language then turn the book around to show the page to Juju. So adorable.

-Words Peyton can point out: Piggy, Nope, Mom, Dad, Juju, Peyton

-Peyton loves puzzles but grows impatient quickly if the piece doesn't fit right away. Hmm...wonder who she gets that from...

-Does. Not. Like. Sharing. It is awful. I took her to the nursery in church and a little boy was down there and told his dad, "See! That's the girl I was telling you about!" I would be willing to bet that it has something to do with the fact that Peyton takes all his toys.

-Loves her sister more than anything else in the world (well, to be fair, I think Juju is on an equal level with books). She always wants to hold her. The other day I took Peyton shopping and left Juju at home. Peyton was heartbroken. The whole time she wanted to go back and get Juju. If I get Peyton out of her carseat before I get Juju, Peyton will panic until I have Juju. I think she gets worried that I'll just leave Loralie in the car or something. She just does not like being separated from her. Even when I put Loralie down for a nap Peyton will sneak in the room and say, "Hey! Juju! Wake up, please! Come play!"

-Will not be in her room without Juju because "it's spooky." When I find the person who taught her that her room is "spooky" I will give them an atomic wedgie.

-Tries to call herself "PeyPey" but it comes out "Popeye."

Loralie Noelle-7.5 months

-Sweetest, happiest baby in the world. Even when she is feeling miserable she isn't bad. A little ornery right before bed but is happy again once I cuddle with her and rock her.

-Has cute chunky cheeks.

-Started pulling herself up to stand on things a month ago. Sometimes this drives Peyton crazy so when Juju stands holding onto the couch Peyton will pull the lever that makes to foot rest fling out. Poor Juju.

-Not a huge fan of baby food at all. Don't even think about giving her the mooshy baby meats in a jar.

-No teeth. Her doctor thought she was getting some a few months ago because her gums are so swollen and you can see the teeth barely under her gums but....nothing. She drools and chews on everything.

-Likes to sneak up behind Peyton and pull her hair. I explained to Peyton that Juju isn't trying to hurt her. Her hair is just so pretty that Juju wants to touch it. Now Peyton will laugh and say, "Juju, thank you! My pretty hair!"

-She is terrible to sleep with because she is such a mover! Ack!

-Loves blanket forts. Peyton makes them for her:)

-Follows Peyton around everywhere like a little puppy. Sometimes if she doesn't follow Peyton fast enough, Peyton will pull her around by her leg. Loralie likes it. Mom does not.

-She used to say "mama" and "dada" but now she will only say "dada."
Me: Say Mama!
Juju: Dada
Me: No! MMMMama
Juju: MMDada!

-Last week when I would tell her "no" she would listen to me a crawl to something else. Now when I tell her "no" she gives me a big smile and does it anyway.

-Puts everything in her mouth. I pull an average of 5 foreign objects out of her mouth a day. Frequently, I pull a wad of carpet fibers from her mouth. She just plucks the carpet fibers and eats them...

-When she sees Chris walk to the bathroom she will follow him and sit right by the door until he comes out again. Chris thinks it is hilarious. I think it's weird.

-Does not sleep through the night. Last week I read something that said 90% of babies sleep through the night by 3 months. I died a little inside.

-Has the sweetest giggle and she always has something to giggle about.

Picture Fun With Peyton

Church attendance is not something I struggle with. Being able to get much from church in between Peyton's chaotic rants is something I do struggle with. For a while we could manage to keep her somewhat contained with a steady stream of snacks for her to munch on. Those days are over, mostly because "steady stream" somehow evolved into half a candy aisle and a box of goldfish crackers. We rely mostly on books now. They are effective about 25% of the time. I didn't want her reading just any books at church. I wanted her to think about our Savior so I bought several small pictures of Jesus from Deseret Book and put them into a little picture album. During church Peyton will (sometimes) quietly flip through the book and tell me about the pictures. It usually sounds something like, "Look! Jesus! Sheep! Boat!"

Well, sometimes there are other people in the pictures with Jesus. Peyton especially likes these. This is what happened last Sunday.

When she saw this beautiful painting by Greg Olsen she said pointing to Christ, "Look! Jesus!" Then pointed to the child and said, "And Popeye!" She honestly believes that is her with Jesus and you cannot convince her otherwise.

We flipped through more pages and came upon this picture by the brilliant Simon Dewey.

When she saw it she got so excited. She pointed to the Savior and said, "There's Jesus!" She then pointed to the baby, equally excited, and said, "It's Juju!" Again, you cannot tell her otherwise.

We flip through more pages and we come across another one by Greg Olsen (we love him)

Can you guess who she thought was with Jesus in this picture? Yep! She thought it was her mom. I have tried and tried to tell her it isn't me but she looks at me like I'm nuts and insists that it is.

After a few minutes of looking and talking about pictures of Christ, Peyton was ready to switch to another book. I began to listen to the speaker as Peyton quietly flipped through her new book. Before too long she exclaimed, "Mom! There's Daddy!" I looked to find her pointing to this picture...

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It is from The Blue Day Book by Bradley Trevor Greive. I absolutely lost it. I laughed and laughed and laughed. Peyton had a sneaky grin which made it even funnier. Oh man. I love that girl.

The Reason Peyton Will Be In Bed By 7:30 Tonight

Mondays are laundry day. They are the only day of the week we have to wash all of the blankets, towels, rags, clothes, and anything else that may have been soiled throughout the week. Today I even had to wash laundry from our vacation that was already clean because the doctor said it was necessary to avoid worsening Juju's rash (allergic reaction to something that broke her out and caused blistery things to pop up all over her poor body). This means that today I had 8. Loads. Of. Laundry. Blah. I didn't even bother getting dressed. I am wearing a pajama shirt and basketball shorts because I do not want to have to wash one more thing.

Anyway, our laundry room is located in the back of the apartment. To get there, I either have to walk around the building outside or go through apartment 1's hallway. I chose option 2 since I was in shorts and it was cold. Plus, none of those boys were home. Well, Peyton tried to follow me and I told her to stay in our apartment.

Did she listen? No. What did she do instead? She locked me out of our apartment. I banged on the back door and threatened and bribed but she wouldn't open the door. After a while I could tell she was long gone. I walked (with no shoes, mind you) around my house. In the snow and ice. What did I find when I reached the front door? Yep! She locked that one, too. I could hear my poor Juju crying. I was panicking because when Juju is upset Peyton sometimes tries to feed her paper because she knows Juju likes to play with paper. Thankfully, I have always been around to stop this. Not this time, though.

So there I was. Freezing on the porch. Then I heard Peyton cry. It wasn't the pouty cry, either. It was the "I'm hurt" cry. AGH! What's a mother to do!? Well, I was finally able to break into my house. On my way to save Peyton from her own shinanigan I found Loralie. Chewing up my husband's W2's. Ugh. They are ripped apart and soggy. Great. But, thankfully Juju was happy and not choking.

Then I saw Peyton running down the hallway screaming "Popeye's eyes! Popeye's eyes! OWWWW! Popeye's eyes!" If I were not so worried I would have gotten a picture because she was quite a sight. The front of her hair was foamy and completely slicked back and the rest of her hair was sticking straight out. She had managed to open the liquid hand soap by the bathroom and dump it all out on her head. She got it in her eyes and it was quite an ordeal for her. When I tried to flush it out she screamed, "You're hurting Popeye! Oww! No, please, Mom! Popeye is sorry!"

Sometimes I don't know what to do with that kid. Sigh. Things are much calmer now. At 6:30pm our last load of laundry is now in the washing machine and Peyton and Juju are laughing and tickling each other. I love those two.

Oh! Want to know something unrelated to laundry that makes me chuckle? Peyton can't play peek-a-boo with Juju because Juju cries. It terrifies the poor girl. Every time Peyton reappears Juju looks stunned and loses it. I don't know why because she doesn't mind when Chris and I do it. I guess they'll just have to stick to tickle games.

Guide to Understanding Peyton

Peyton was recently talking to somebody and they asked me to translate. She says so many things but she says them in her cute 2-year-old way.

Eye Beethee! = I'm Busy
Mowka Mowk = Chocolate milk
OWMENOWPAY! = L-M-N-O-P
Mock un sheesh = Mac and cheese
Beebee Peekos = Baby pickles = greenbeans
Pee Peez = Pretty please
See Po = Seatbelt
Buckleshouts = Brusselsprouts This one actually has many versions
Shub Ob = Sponge Bob (I loathe the awful sponge)
Bacootie! = Monster
Mine! = Aunt Emily
Bugga Bet = Big girl bed
Seex Nine Seex Seex! = One, two, three, GO!

I'm Busy!

Peyton stacked pillows and blankets in front of a stand then proceeded to jump from the stand into the pillows. When I asked her no please stop, she replied, "I can't, Mom! I'm beethee!"

Things I Say More Often Than I Would Like...

Peyton, we drink from a cup, NOT from the bathtub!

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Peyton, we sit on a chair, NOT on our sister!

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AGH! Peyton! We don't throw our poo in the trash can!

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What is stuck in your hair?

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Peyton, why is there an empty pepperoni bag/wrapper from half a pound of cheese/chocolate syrup bottle/empty gogurt box in your room?

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Please don't jump off of that! It is so dangerous! (As an alternative to jumping off of high things that scare me to death, she is allowed to jump on her bed...and sometimes my bed after her bath)

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Juju drinks milk, Peyton. Please don't feed her paper.

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You are right, Peyton. Pulling all of the leaves off of Mom's plant was not a good decision. (We discuss this monthly...right after the leaves grow back. Sigh.)

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Peyton Jane! Please don't lock me out of your room!

Peyton Must Have Weird Dreams....

This morning Peyton woke up in panic mode. She was screaming and the second she got up she sprinted to the kitchen. I had no idea what was going on. I followed her, thinking she would want something to drink. She opened the refrigerator and I could tell she was looking for something specific. Her eyes got big and I could tell she had found what she wanted. Did she get the milk? Juice? A cheese stick, maybe? No, she did not. She pulled out a bag of pepperoni. She seemed so relieved once she was holding it. She proceeded to march to my bed and lay down and request Little Einsteins. She had no desire to eat the pepperoni. She just wanted to hold it. And she did. For an hour. She snuggled it like it was her teddy bear until she fell asleep. I have no idea where her sudden desire to cuddle processed meat came from, but I'm sure glad it's gone!