18 month // 4 year UPDATE

I feel like this is a big one.

My tiniest human is not even a baby anymore. She forms sentences, eats with a fork, walks up the stairs, rides a tricycle... It's official I have two "kids". And my first born... is... FOUR. When did this happen? I HAVE A KINDERGARTEN-ER. I am buying backpacks and lunch bags. Who am I, an old lady? Life is too fast.

So what's new in their lives?

Here's Oliver at his first ever SUMMER CAMP!

Well, we've been busy. We've only just returned from a fantastic cottage trip and already we're embarking on another this coming weekend. But before that we have a number of fun things planned, to celebrate Oliver's birthday.

Tonight Oliver has an exciting dinner date with his Aunty Angela. I hear he's requesting hamburgers.
Tomorrow Oliver is having dinner and a movie (Minions I think) with his Uncle Curt & *new* Aunty Jen. Their wedding is next weekend and my kiddos are the ring bearer and flower girl (heart attack now).

A bug bite sent Ollie's hand to Hulk-size

Then Saturday is Oliver's big birthday party. He asked to have the theme "Home Alone". To any other parent this might have been a concerning response, but we know how obsessed he is with this movie. We actually have a rule in the house you're allowed to say "ass" if it's in reference to "come and get me you horse's ass" from the movie. You're also allowed to say "shut up" if it's in Bugs Bunny's voice like "ahhhh shaddap" or if it's for the song Shut up and Dance with me. We OFTEN use references like "KEVIN!", "Aw, you're cookin' Frank", "You've been smoochin' with everyone", "Keep the chance ya filthy animal", "I made my family disappear!" and "I'd rather kiss a toilet seat!" So we'll have a nice big group over on Saturday and play some games, eat some food, the usual.

An early birthday gift Ollie got - a playground! (Photo taken by him) 

Oliver has been a good little, bad little boy lately. When he's on-point he is fantastic. The best son you could ask for. A charmer, a genius, a sensitive soul... five star in every way. However, if he's ticked off about not getting his way and/or tired and/or hungry, he is diabolical in a way that four year olds ought not to know how to be. Examples of things he's done out of anger: peed in a basket of clean laundry and hidden it away so I didn't notice while it was still wet (luckily the smell gave it away - REWASH ON SANITIZE MODE PLEASE!), stolen Calvin's ipod and hidden it in his room, put moisturizer on my toothbrush when I wasn't looking, poured his ice water into the last 2 inches of my hot coffee just before I went to sip it, and yell "I hate you bad mommy." So, we are certainly not without our challenges, but honestly, I was prepared for the hard days and the good ones make it worth it. In general he's happy and wonderful, but for about 15 minutes twice a week, he's just too smart to be left alone.

The blue slurpee a friend shared with him at baseball didn't exactly dye his tongue the way he hoped

Dakota daydreaming in a swing

Dakota is acting more like a two year old in every area. She runs at top speed, she talks so well, she sings just beautifully (nothing else in this world can break my heart more, it is the sweetest sound and she'll crack a smile if she notices you looking, oh mercy I need a video of this to watch on repeat daily)... She also sleeps and eats like a professional. Allow me to explain her typical day:
8:00am: Dakota wakes up, she cries out for me to come get her and is holding her pink blankie up by her face.
8:05am: Dakota eats 2 scrambled eggs, 1 cup of blueberries, an almond milk smoothie and a cup of water.
9:45am: Dakota eats 2 slices of white cheddar, 6 brown rice Triscuits, a handful of halved grapes and a spoon of peanut butter.
10:00-11:30am: Nap
12:00pm: Dakota eats 1 cup of whole wheat pasta with 3 strips of cooked chicken, a pile of green peas, half a banana, and 1 piece of whole wheat garlic bread, and drinks a cup of water.
1:45pm: Dakota eats the other half of the banana and a can of dill-flavoured tuna.
2:00-3:30pm: Nap
4:00pm: Dakota eats an almond granola bar and a handful of cranberries.
5:30pm: Dakota eats a whole pork sausage (chopped) and 2 servings of eggplant casserole, and a side garden salad with dressing.
7:45pm: Dakota eats a bowl of brown rice krispies and a peach yogurt.
8:00pm-8:00am: Sleep

I'd honestly like to see this plugged into a nutrition analysis. The girl is a tank for her age.

I love this, Oliver is using the pretend gun and Dakota's like "Hey any quarters in here?"

Edited to add: I plugged it into a calorie counter and got 3,444 calories for the day, although it's definitely wrong because it calculated a cube of cheddar cheese at 1,500 kcal and a Tablespoon of peanut butter at 700 kcal. Online it says her age group needs about 1,000 per day although I don't agree with recommending a number of calories for a young child.

Either way, it's recommend they get the following:
Grains: 3 oz
Veggies: 1 cup
Fruits: 1 cup
Milk: 2 cups
Meat & Beans: 2 oz

So looking at that...
Grains - Triscuits, pasta, garlic bread, granola bar, rice krispies  (5 svgs)
Veggies: green peas, egg plant casserole (with tomato sauce) x2, garden salad (4 svgs)
Fruits: blueberries, grapes, banana, cranberries (4 svgs)
Milk: almond milk, cheese, yogurt (3 svgs)
Meat & Beans: almond milk, peanut butter, chicken, tuna, sausage (4 svgs)

So... we're doing great! Haha.

We found a sweet hammock outside of a taco truck in downtown Huntsville, it was right on the water

The three of us accidentally wore matching outfits to the mall near Toronto