Time flies...

...when you're having fun with your littles!

Can't believe I last posted in March! Here are a few recent pics from Sept! We celebrated S's half birthday on September 1st with the caboose cake from his train party in March (which froze and thawed perfectly and tasted great!). It was the first "half" celebration for us, but now he's really got the jist of saying that he is 3 1/2! Preschool is going well. He was much more leary of the whole thing this year as opposed to last year at PDO, but after the first two days, he warmed up to it, so much that he wanted to go even though he was sick two weeks ago! He is loving writing letters, spelling words, listening to long stories in books, telling stories, painting, cutting, building, playing games, etc. He is our activities director, as he always has ideas of what we could or should do and likes to suggest them frequently. He has recently shown a soft spot for his little brother that is heartwarming (and new) to see. He likes to help him reach things, open things, and stay safe. S also like to be a helper to mommy as well, which I appreciate and encourage.

J is doing great, at just over 18 mos now. Still a bit shorter in stature than big brother was at the same age, but that doesn't phase him and only means rolling up his pants this fall and winter will be our norm. He is recently showing a few talents he once kept hidden, such as knowing where all the shapes go in the Tupperware shape sorter and knowing where puzzles pieces go on puzzles that are for age 3 and up! He LOVES reading books now (YAY!) and will chatter away about what's happening in the story (in his very own language, of course). But while he does chatter in baby talk, he also is saying multi-word phrases now, like "thank you", "here you go", "I don't know", "let's go", etc...obviously, things he hears often around here! His walk has transformed into a run. He continues to ADORE big brother and all that comes with him (ie. a whole other room full of big boy toys). Still a great sleeper, he takes one good nap a day (2-3 hrs.) and sleeps 12+ hrs. at night. We think he might become a chef someday (fine with me!), as he is mesmorized in the kitchen when I'm making a meal. He'll just stand transfixed while I chop veggies in the food processor. And not only that, but he is absolutely in love with eating...and pretty healthfully, I might add. Don't try to give him ice cream or rice krispie treats (he very recently batted my hand away when I tried to offer those treats to him), because he much prefers raw baby spinach, steamed broccoli with EVOO and lemon, or steamed green beans and onion with EVOO! And he nevers turns away fruit either. Meat isn't his favorite, but he does eat it. His happy eating is God's grace to us, since S is about as picky as they come!