What the Kiddos Are Up To

Rachel:

Rachel is still my fiercely independent, energetic, sweet preschooler.  She is intelligent and loves learning.  We are probably homeschooling her for a couple years and then will reevaluate.  We started this year with preschool so that I could get us both in the habit and establish a routine.  She loves school and learning.  She is one smart cookie, picks up concepts very quickly, and is quite articulate.  When I gave her her preschool pretest earlier this year I was surprised how much she already knew.  This year we are using ABC Jesus Loves Me.  It is a bible based curriculum that includes pretty much everything I need.  I like that I don't have to pull together materials from multiple sources. 

She loves to dress herself and I am learning to let her even when things get a little crazy for my taste.  My style tends to not stand out.  I wear a lot of darker solid colors and tend to accessorize very little.  Rachel loves bright colors, especially pink, mixing prints, and hats/crowns.  We do talk about how to match clothes in terms of colors and patterns and there are some rules like clothes must be weather and venue appropriate.  For example I was raised you dress up for church, and so Rachel follows the same rule.  Dresses/Skirts for church.  You do it because you love and respect God.  You bring him your best.

Rachel just finished up a six week gymnastic session.  She loved it, and we will continue the class in January after the holidays are over.  She does a great job trying to do everything and listening to her teacher.  We figured gymnastics would be a good fit for her because she is high energy, loves bouncing, somersaulting, going upside down, swinging, twirling, running...

Joel: 

Joel is just about 5 months.  He is improving his muscle tone and is now able to lift up to his hands on his tummy and hold himself upright with minimal slouching when being carried.  At his last well baby we found out he is pretty weak in his upper back/shoulder muscles.  He has been working out with extra tummy time.  We got the jumper down for Joel, and he loves it.  Within the last couple days he has figured out how to jump in it.  The toys are also fun to spin. 

Joel is a social guy.  He loves people and hates being alone.  He has learned the crib means he will be left alone to nap and now if I put him in it for a minute or so to say wash my hands after a diaper change he almost immediately screams.  Needless to say nap time is still challenging.  Other than the whole nap and crib thing he is pretty happy and mellow.  It is still easy to make him smile and laugh.  Sometimes all we have to do is look at him and we are rewarded with a big grin or a little giggle.

Well, that is what the kiddos are up to.  I hope you enjoyed the update.

Life at 4 Months

 Life at 4 months is pretty fun for Joel.  He loves to suck on his fingers, put toys in his mouth, grab anything and everything within reach, and play and hang with his family.  He sleeps 11 hours straight at night but naps are another story.  He gets lonely and wakes up sad after about 30 minutes at best in his crib.  When we go in to pop his binkie back in his mouth he grabs our hands as tight as he can, closes his eyes, and drifts back to sleep for another short while.  Some days I count going up and down the stairs multiple times over two or three naps my exercise.

Joel's Stats:
Size 3-6 month clothes
Size 2 diapers
Weighs 15lbs 7.7oz (48%)
2 feet 1 inch tall (70%)

Yes, life at 4 months is pretty great and exhausting.

Apple and Pumpkin Picking

We headed up to Apple Ridge Farms and Denver Dans in Apple Hill again this year.  Rachel got brave this year and petted the goats and donkeys.  She even asked to feed the goats.  She loves to talk to the animals, telling them what she is up to and that they should come over to the fence and see her.  I think if we let her she would spend all day with the animals. 

After taking some pictures in the cutouts and seeing the animals at Apple Ridge Farms.  We headed over to their pumpkin patch.  Yes, the pumpkins are a little bit more money than at the grocery store, but we decided we were paying for the experience and made sure to get our moneys worth making Rachel walk through the whole little patch to find the perfect pumpkin.  To her the perfect pumpkin is the current one she has found, so Brian helped to pick out the final pumpkin. 

After pumpkin picking we went to pick apples at Denver Dans.  The apples were a little sparse this year making apple picking a treasure hunt.  We managed to find enough apples to make apple butter and have some just to eat.  Brian lucked out this year because the Granny Smiths were ripe, and Granny Smiths are his favorite.  It was a day full of fun and we all enjoyed a good nap when we got home.

Pink Bunny Parachutes

Baby Giggles

A Very Hungry Party

We had a Very Hungry Caterpillar play date party to celebrate Rachel's 3rd birthday.  I love the Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle, and I had a great time decorating for this party.  We had caterpillars lining the walkway, a giant caterpillar made from balloons (we forgot to take a picture of this before taking it down), and a birthday banner.  The food was things the caterpillar ate.  We served  apples, pears, plums, watermelon, salami, cheese, and pickles.  Since we were having cheese and salami I also included crackers.  Like in previous years I made cupcakes for Rachel's birthday.  I think cupcakes are a great way to go for kid's parties because they don't require cutting and serving.  I made the caterpillars for the cupcakes using  m&ms for the body and chocolate frosting for the antennae.  It was super easy and super cute.

Since the party was a big play date I didn't plan any games.  Planning and executing organized games is not one of my strengths. We did have lots of fun toys to play with.  Rachel's friends could run around inside or outside.  Outside we had all her backyard toys including chalk, slide, sand table, and water table.  Inside her kitchen, play doh, and dress up box were big hits.  I love seeing how she has blossomed over the years.  She is so sweet and good at sharing her toys and taking turns especially when given gentle reminders to make sure her friend has a turn.  She really enjoys playing with her friends.

 

By the time the party was over and we cleaned up I think we all felt like Joel.  We all had a lot of fun and felt blessed by all our friends who came over to help up celebrate our special little girl.

Almost 3 Photo Shoot

We had grand plans to do Rachel's 3rd birthday photo shoot at Capital Park, but the weather had other plans.  It rained almost all day.  In between showers we dashed down the street to the park instead.  We got some cute photos and a little play time in before the sky opened up again.  Here are some of our favorites: