Good-bye to a little of my baby...

Daniel had the cutest names for Katie and Kristen. Katie was always Nee-nee - for some reason, we don't know where it came from! But from when he first started talking, this was his name for Katie. And when Kristen came home, she became Ki-ki (rhymes with Nee-Nee). She has picked up on this and it is what she calls herself - much easier to say than Kristen.

And this past week, Daniel has started calling Katie by her name. It is very sweet to hear him say Katie, but at the same time is very sad! He is growing up and turning into a little boy instead of my baby. He is also saying Kristen now, as well. Her nickname will stick for a while longer because she still says it.

Daniel is also pretty much potty-trained. He is SO proud of his "boy pants" and we have to watch out to make sure he doesn't show them off to the world...or anyone who seems interested. I always made a big deal of making sure Katie didn't say "butt." Sigh...one of Daniel's favorite things to say right now is "Thomas on BUTT," complete with a little whack on the behind. He has Thomas underwear, Cars underwear, and Bob the Builder underwear...along with many other "generic" selections. And he always knows just which ones he wants. Thankfully he is finally wearing 2T pants which are available with adjustable waist. Another favorite saying is "Pants falling!" This always makes me laugh.

The more he talks, the more I love him. His mind is as crazy and unique as the rest of our family. God knew what He was doing when He put him in our family. He loves music and singing and has better pitch at almost three than Katie did. He loves to "sweep wif me" and snuggle up at nap-time. I am treasuring each day I have to do that and pray that his sweet and loving heart stays the same as he grows up.

As his third birthday approaches, I think of his first mom in Korea. I pray that she has peace about her incredibly hard decision. We have been blessed with the biggest gift anyone could ever give in Daniel and we couldn't imagine our family without him.

Clothing: it's all the rage

My dear son is developing quite a sense of fashion. Not that it is particularly wonderful or sophisticated, but he has a definite opinion about what to wear. Today we were looking through summer clothes deciding what to keep and he has adamant that he did not want several outfits that I thought were cute. He is so cute about it that it is funny, at least right now.

The funniest part is listening to Forrest try to get him dressed. Daniel usually has a specific idea of what shirt and/or pants he wants to wear for the day. Forrest usually does a "grab whatever is on top" method of picking an outfit. Daniel gets so upset and tells him over and over WHICH shirt he wants - except it sounds like "shirk." I giggle for a few minutes and then go rescue the boys.

This week we were in Gymboree, because I had Gymbucks - yay! ;) I was looking the sale rack over and the kids were watching the movie. All of a sudden Daniel is next to me, grabbing my hand. "Come here, Mommy. Show you some-sing." There was a baseball shirt hanging just out of reach and he was in love with it. "Want zis one, Mommy. Me wuv zis one." Believe it or not, I resisted that plea...it wasn't on sale yet! Poor child...

Then, there is Katie. She is adamantly opposed to pink right now and orange is the color of choice. Anything that has a cute dog is okay, bugs and reptiles are better. So, of course we have to shop the boys section for those. She has a very funky and wild style, which I love but is hard to come by in a lot of stores. Animals that do not look correct are out, even if they are adorable, like the pandas on a recent Gymboree line.

And then there is my sweet moldable Kristen. It is so fun shopping with her because I will hold something and she will say, "Ki-ki? Me? Ohhhhhh, yes!" I am enjoying it while I can. And she will wear pink. And princessy, poofy things. Oh the joy!

It really is fun to see the personality of each child come out in what they want to wear. And like most things about life in our house...always an adventure!