Kellan is a mess...

Kellan is a mess. I mean in every way….an utter and complete mess! If he’s not whining, he’s crying and the whole time, he is talking….usually in Japanese…and always very, VERY LOUDLY. Poor thing, he’s not big enough to keep up with Jolon and not baby-cute enough to compete with sweet, Esme. Well, actually that’s not true, because despite the tears and tantrums, he is absolutely adorable. He has the fattest bum and chubbiest legs. He’s gotten taller, but he still looks like such a baby. His skin is so white and with his light hair and the tufts of curls behind both ears and a new curl cropping up on the crown of his head, he almost looks angelic at times. Almost. He really is a lot of work, but he’s getting better at controlling himself. The whining voice for example: all we have to do now is ask him to say it in a nice voice and he’ll repeat what he said in a nice tone. He’s getting a little better at using his “house voice,” though it does seem very hard for him to say anything without yelling. And when he gets in trouble, he’ll usually say TIME OUT, before we do. Like last night when he got bored at the end of the meal and dumped his milk on top of his head…..or when he kicked the swing yesterday while Esme was in it. He didn’t kick it very hard, but he immediately knew he was in for a long time out when he looked up and saw my face. Like most toddlers, he’s adamant about what he does and doesn’t want to wear, in particularly shoes. So on days like this morning for instance, when it’s raining and he wants to wear his Thomas the train shoes instead of his boots, Jan and Jolon know to just wait patiently by the elevator while I try to coax and cajole him into wearing the boots. Sometimes that works, and if it doesn’t then I’ll force the boots on him and pass him out howling to Jan who will hold on to him until something else distracts him. At night I’ll go in with Kellan first and read some books or tell him a story and then Jan will come a bit later with Jolon. I’ll leave and Jan will sing some songs until Kellan is asleep. In the past week though Jan has been trying to leave with both of them awake. He’s reporting some progress, but it may be a long road. I tried it over the weekend for the afternoon nap and after 20 minutes, I sent Jolon to the computer by himself and it then took me an hour to then get Kellan asleep. I was exhausted and very, very frustrated. So for the next few weeks Jan is completely in charge of their sleeping routine.

Despite all of the work, Kellan is the one who is making us laugh the most these days. And best of all, he’ll still give me a sugar kiss any time I ask for it.