Should I worry?

So these 3 pictures posted on my last blog led to a few comments, that led me to start worrying.

First of all, look at how Tony is sitting in all 3 pictures. Cute right, well apparently it's not good for kids to sit like this, or "W-sitting" as they (the developmental police) call it. Something about putting pressure on the hips, shortening of the muscles, disruption in the development of hand preference, improper trunk rotation...blah blah blah. Seriously do I have to worry about this and correct him whenever he sits this way? I don't know, seems a little extreme to me, but I will watch him and see if he is easily persuaded to change positions. Any thoughts or opinions on this one????



And in this last picture you see Tony still has his pacifier. Yes he is almost 2 and a half years old, but he only gets it in bed, not anywhere else in the house and not even in the car. So I thought I was doing pretty good, but is that good enough??? I decided I would try to break the habit this week since I have a week off work. Today at nap time I told him I couldn't find it and it was an all out crying episode. I finally gave in and let him get up, thinking he'd get tired and eventually fall asleep without it. By 4 O'clock I was ready to give him the paci back, this boy needs naps still and if giving up the paci means giving up naps, then I AM NOT READY YET! So when should you get rid of the pacifier? I think 3 is the universal answer, so I'm good to go for a little bit longer.

February Pictures

My little kids are growing up so fast. It is finally getting easier these days. They can almost play together. They are definitely siblings, you can tell by looking at them, but in many ways they act a lot alike. Although they definitely have personalities unique to them. Take Bella for instance. She loves to eat, she used to be a great eater, she still loves to eat, but she doesn't seem to eat as much anymore because her stubborn independence gets in the way. She refuses any type of assistance. If you come at her with a spoon she starts flapping her arms in distress. She hasn't mastered the spoon yet either, so I've learned if it isn't finger food, don't bother, cause she wont let you feed her. She also has a tendency to cram her mouth completely full of food before she starts chewing and swallowing.

The other day I bought bowls that suction to the table in hopes to teach her how to eat with a spoon, but she was smarter than me cause she ate the spaghetti O's with her fingers, and then picked up the bowl and dumped it when she was done. So much for suction!
She makes such a mess when she eats, and then she puts her hands all over her face and hair. Look how sticky her hair is in this picture taken right after breakfast. Todd says we need to put a helmet on her when she eats, and it's best to strip her down first too, otherwise the whole outfit has to be dunked in shout before washing.
Tony always sits like this when he plays.
Bella is such a happy girl, just like her brother. They both also loved this toy, Tony still gets in it sometimes. Mostly whenever Bella is in it, he wants her to get out so he can get in.
Bella doesn't suck her thumb, I don't know why she is in the picture but it's so cute!
In case anyone was wondering, cribs are strong enough to hold adults too.
One day, I was busy doing something and Tony wanted my attention, so to distract him, I handed him the bag of trail mix and told him to pick out some M&M's. He quietly disappeared and I forgot about it until a few minutes later when I hear him in Bella's room (who was supposed to be napping). Oh and you can't see it in the picture, but Bella had chocolate all over her face, so he must have been feeding her M&M's too.
How could you be mad at this face though? He was only doing what I told him to do. And he was sharing with his sister!
His grandpa got him a new John Deere hat at a farm show... Looks like he will need to grow into it a bit.
They play together almost, more like side by side play.
They finally got too big to put in the kitchen sink. Bella started trying to stand up and it was getting to be to hard to contain them, so they now get to bathed like normal kids... in a tub.

They like to be in each others cribs together too.
And yes, Tony still has his pacifier, but only in the bed. It's a lot harder to get rid of than I thought. I'm just glad I took it away during the day early on before he could talk, I should have just gotten rid of it all together then. Oh well. Bella doesn't use one, so I only have to break one kid of the habit.
"Mom what happened to my cake???"

Katya was not happy when she found out that while she and her friends were busy playing at her birthday party, Tony spotted the cake, pulled up a chair and then demanded a fork. "Fork mama!" he yelled louder and louder and more persistently each time. Finally Rachael decided we could sneak a piece from the back that wouldn't show in the pictures when Katya blew out her candles.
Here he is getting his way.
Bella in the foam pit with me. Katya's birthday party was at a gymnastics gym.
Bella looking at herself in the mirror.
Monkey see, Monkey do.

Today I did something crazy. I woke up at 5:00 am to go to an early morning step class at the YMCA. With Bella's upcoming first birthday and me still having a few or more pregnancy pounds to lose (which I am determined to do before she turns one) drastic measures have to be taken. I am not a morning person, but on the bright side, I got home shortly after 7 and the whole house was still asleep. Ahh, some quality quiet time to myself. What to do... well I really should have cleaned out the fridge cause something in there stinks, but I could probably do that later with kids awake, computer time is much more difficult with awake kids. Plus it's my mom's birthday, and she loves it when we (my sisters and I) blog, and since I didn't get her birthday gift to her on time, this will might brighten her day. Happy Birthday Mom!

Chocolate World

Today we went to Hershey's Chocolate World. They offer a free, 12 minute ride through a simulated chocolate making journey. We were the only ones on the ride (slow season I guess), so we rode it twice. Tony got a kick out of it! I even thought it was interesting and entertaining, I didn't realize what a process it is to make chocolate.

The 3D movie was out of service, so other than shop in the HUGE gift shop, (Rach your kids would have LOVED this gift shop) there wasn't much else to do there. And other than the gift shop it turned out to be a pretty cheap day too. I was disappointed that they didn't sell clothes in little kids sizes, they had a T-shift I wanted to get for Tony that said, "I traded my sister for a Hershey Bar!"

Here are the pictures from the ride:

Hershey kisses

Chocolate Syrup bottles being filled

Reeses Peanutbutter Cups

the singing cows... informed us the milk makes chocolate Moootricious!

After Chocolate World, we came back to the hotel for nap time. (Nap time really messes up your day, but it cannot be avoided with our kids.) We planned to go to the zoo after they woke up, but it was nearly 3:30 when they woke up, and the zoo closed at 4:30, so we went shopping instead.

They have an outlet mall here (no sales tax!) and I was hoping to buy myself a few things... instead I bought a bunch of stuff for my kids. Why does that always seem to happen? Then back to the hotel for a swim in the pool, which seriously was the highlight of the trip for the kids. We think we could have just gone to a hotel 5 miles from home and they would have been happy!

We have eaten all our meals in our hotel suite, (it's just easier that way) and thankfully there are some really good restaurants within walking distance. Todd and Tony are picking up dinner now, and Bella is trying to go to sleep for the night.

Tomorrow is the big drive home... hopefully the kids are just as good on the way home as they were on the way here!

The Sweetest Place on Earth!

Yesterday when I came home from work at 9am Todd announced that he and his dad were going to a farm show in Hershey, PA to see some demonstration/explanation of a new fertilizer they may want to use this next farm season. I said they should take Tony, he loves chocolate and how fun would that be to go to the Chocolate factory and see how they make chocolate.... and somehow that turned into let's all go to Hershey! I made a few phone calls and did some rearranging of my work schedule so I was free the rest of the week, and Todd, me and the kids loaded up and were on the road by 2pm. (When Todd's dad found out the whole family was going, he decided he'd stay home. I can't imagine why he wouldn't want to ride in a car with 2 little kids for 9 hours :)) Anyway, we got in late last night and this morning we went to the farm show. I say morning, but by the time we got up, got dressed, ate breakfast and got to the show, it was nearly lunch time. So today was Todd's day (at the Farm Show) and tomorrow is for me and the kids. We are going to the Chocolate Factory and I can't wait. I hope it is fun for Tony, I know Bella could care less, but with Tony's love for chocolate, I really hope he gets excited and understands it all. Well as much as a 2 year old mind can!

Here are a few pictures from the farm show.

Tony had to crawl up and into every tractor there! He didn't seem to mind being there, so long as he was on a tractor.
Bella trying to take a nap, and smelling her blanket. I don't know why, but both my kids do that, they have their favorite blanket that they must have in order to sleep, and they smell it for reassurance that it really is their blanket.
Well she couldn't sleep I guess the farm show was so exciting she didn't want to miss a thing. I finally gave up on the nap let her out of the stroller to get some exercise too.
I was so impressed that he could get up in the tractor all by himself, that when he did it the second time I got my camera out to record it and some guy decided to start talking to me right when I was taping it, it was so annoying. I didn't talk back to him, hoping he would realize what I was doing and stop talking, but he didn't. Just kept on talking.... that's a farmer for ya!

If tomorrow is anything like today, I will have some down time during nap time to blog about the Chocolate Factory!