Chatterboxes

Jack and Cullen are inching closer and closer to being three years old! They’re growing up so fast and changing so much all the time! The main thing that changes right now is their speech, they’re learning and saying new things every day! They’re speaking in full sentences now. And in September, they started asking lots and lots of questions. We’re officially in that stage now! They don’t ask why questions yet, just lots of “What dat thing there?” “What Mommy doing?” or “Where Daddy go?” They usually say ‘yeah’ instead of ‘yes’ now.

They also started using the word ‘I’ to begin sentences, but instead of actually saying ‘I’ they say ‘my/mine.’ As in, ‘Mine like candy.’ Their most commonly used phrase recently is, without a doubt, “No! Mine do it!” They want to do absolutely everything themselves! From putting their clothes on, to helping me out with chores, to turning the lights/tv/appliances on and off…. The only problem is that they often don’t know how to do what they’re asking to do. And since there’s two of them, they’re constantly arguing over who gets to do what. I have to keep a running tally in my mind of who got the privilege of shutting the front door last time or who got to put the Bible book back on the shelf last night. And they never forget anything. If I accidentally forget one of these hugely important details, they let me know by melting down into a fit of “Noooo! Mine wanted to do it! My turn!”

They also stutter a lot. They’ll sometimes say the same word over and over 20 times until they finally get out what they were trying to say. It started right around the time they started using longer sentences and it’s slowly getting better so I’m assuming they just need some time for their speaking skills to catch up to their brains.

They tattle on each other... a lot. Jackson will often tell me that he obeyed but Cullen "no obey." Same with Cullen, he likes to tell me when Jackson's breaking the rules and point me in the right direction toward his brother. I definitely sense a tone of satisfaction when they tattle. Uh oh.

They love talking on the phone or over Skype with our families. It’s like show and tell for them. They scrounge up every single art project, new toy, new library book or really any random household object (their potty chair, Mommy’s coupon folder, etc.) to proudly display. They show off their jumping skills or how fast they can run. They talk about pre-school, what they did that day, what they ate for breakfast… they’re little chatterboxes!

Basically, they just have me laughing all day. Here are a few of the funny things they’ve said recently:

As we’re walking into Target:

Jack: My go to the red store?

Me: Yep, we’re going in there. It’s called Target, Jack.

Jack: Oh, Target. My like that store!

Ahhh, a boy after my own heart.

After getting a candy for peeing on the potty, Jack ran over to the TV where a Thomas movie was playing, held his candy up to the screen and shouted, “Look Thomas, mine get a candy!”

Brandon: What did you guys do in church today? Did you read a story from the Bible book?

Cullen: Yeah

Brandon : What was the story about

Silence

Brandon: Was it about Jesus?

Cullen: Yeah… Jesus… on the fire truck!!

Brandon: I don’t think Jesus ever rode on a fire truck. Are you sure?

Cullen: Yeah, mine sure.

Me: “What do you guys want for breakfast?”

Jack: “Pancakes, oatmeal, cereal, eggs, cantaloupe and…. bananas!”

Me: “That’s a lot of food! Why don’t you guys pick one thing.”

Cullen: “NO! My want all of it!”

We’re potty-training right now but they were wearing diapers when we left the house at first. But the rule was, they were supposed to tell me if they need to use the potty. Well, I caught Jackson pooping in his diaper and I told him he needed to go sit on the potty. He frowned, waved me away and said “No Mommy, I go just a little bit of poop in my diaper right now. Ok? Go away.”

Cullen got a lollipop for dessert the other night. After completely finishing it, he set the stick on my plate and said he didn’t like it. So we had a little fun with him.

Cullen: Mine no like it

Me: Really? Because it sure looks like you liked it. You ate the whole thing.

Cullen: No like it

Brandon: Oh ok, would you like me to get you another one so you can see if you like it better?

Cullen: Yeah, mine want another one.

They’ve started asking to pray at bedtime, this is a pretty typical prayer for them: “God. Jesus. Mommy. Daddy. Train Station. Jackson and Cullen. Fire Truck.” Other people who sometimes get honorable mentions include Grandma, Grandpa, Scott & Ashlee, Nana, Renee & Jon, Rachel, Violet, Anna, Patrick and Teddy (the neighbor kids) and race cars.