Spring time Sibs!

It's really true! I was driving home today and saw little leaf buds on every tree. Spring really is here!
The kids have been having some spring fun by going out in the back yard, planting seeds in containers and Spring "cleaning" both the garden and the house.

I missed Amalia's monthday post last month, but suffice it to say that the terrible twos come early around these parts. Amalia is now the same age Domingo was when she was born, and she is by far much clingy-er and more jealous than he ever was despite there being no new-born to compete for my time and attention. And not to take the comparison too far, but she is also much more prone to "tantrum" then Domingo ever was. I suspect it is partly due to the fact that he was much more verbal than she is and was able to talk things through at a much earlier age. But that doesn't account for it all. Amalia just has a much fiestier personality. Domingo has two modes, happy and miserable. He very rarely gets angry, and when he does its more like a flash and loss of control where he'll clench his teeth and fists and grunt or shout and then in a second, it's over. Not so with little miss tantrum-in-the-middle-of-Target. She has the perfect little angry Neanderthal face when she doesn't get her way or when she is frustrated, or generally displeased, which is more often than you might think. It is hard being a toddler with lots of wants, particularly with a mom who denies you unlimited cookies, power tools for toys, and doesn't even have her own ipod! (The fact that she at 21 months is perfectly able to navigate Chris's ipod touch blows me away!)
But despite her entering the terrible twos with gusto, she still has moments of unbearable sweetness. She hugs and kisses just about everyone she sees. She always says "Thanks!" when you give her anything, especially "yummyyummycheese."
She loves Domi even when he's making her life miserable: stealing her toys, demanding his story be read first, pushing her, tricking her, eating her candy, and basically paying me back for every mean thing I ever did to my sister and brother as a child, and there were lots. But there are really great moments between them too. Today I was changing her diaper, which she continues to hate, she said "Domi, Amalia's crying!" and he came over and said "It's ok Amalia, don't cry." It was one of those incredibly sweet exchanges that you hope for when you have more than one child. Of course it immediately devolved into snatching and grabbing of toys, but I captured the moment in my mind.
Here are some more Easter photos. The kids had a really great Easter in Morris, and who wouldn't with all that chocolate!