Drawing

Both kids have really gotten into a coloring and drawing kick the past few months. They went through about a month's period of coloring non-stop, which was great! Now they both love to draw. About a month ago, they both drew these pictures and I was so proud of them. The colored pictures are Jacob's (one is a duck and the other was his first ever drawing) and the other is Bailey's drawing of herself on paper. Both have come a long ways since these were done. I love seeing their creative minds at play!!

Bailey's New Hairstyle

Now that Bailey's hair is long enough to put it up, I quickly figured out that it is a lot harder than it looks! Her hair still wants to naturally pull forwards and into her face so it has to go up in some fashion just to stay out of her eyes. I do a lot of little ponies on top of her head and can now do pigtails and ponytails and get all of her hair into them. My hairdresser showed me a more creative way to change it up and it's fun! It's sort of the topsy-tail style from when I was a kid.

Drums

This post is a special shout-out to Uncle Dallas and Aunt Teressa for their Christmas gift to Jacob - a drum set. Both kids LOVE them, but we had to remove the cymbal from it because it was just too much for mom and dad :)









Video

Happy St. Patricks Day

My two favorite men dressed as twins.

Valentine's Day 2012

The kids posing with their new stuffed animals from us for Valentine's Day.


Jacob with his dozen roses for us - cute idea!


Sweet Bailey

First and Only Snowfall

The only somewhat sizable snowfall that I remember getting all winter was during my birthday weekend. Sharla came for a surprise visit and we took the kids sledding to our neighborhood park. Thank goodness I decided to take my camera because that was the only time the kids played in the snow all winter (if you call it a winter!).







Note the ice crystals on Bailey's eyelashes

Jacob at 4 Years Old

Now that Jacob is almost 4 1/2 years old, I figured I better write about him at the four-year mark. He continues to amaze me. He has a lot of personality and is really beginning to mature into a little boy. He is very smart and is beginning to express himself creatively. The clumsy little toddler is becoming a more coordinated, competitive boy. He reminds me of a little Dan each and every day.

He is obsessed with anything to do with numbers and is already doing calculations in his head. His thing right now while we are driving is to compute what place we are in at a stoplight. The competitive spirit comes out and always wants me to be "first in line" or pass a slow car. Sometimes I think that MarioKart is real to him! He also asked Dan and I one night how old we were (34 and almost 35). He then got a thoughtful look on his face and said "so when Daddy is 45, Mommy will be 44... and when Daddy was 15, Mommy was 14." Really?!! I figured right then and there that math will likely be his strong subject in school like his parents.

Here are some highlights:

*He is extremely curious and likes to ask lots of questions about everything

*He continues to be very particular about most things and needs his routine

*He is very stubborn and can have a hard time in new situations adapting

*He is sweet and absolutely loves his sister

*He is ultra competitive and can turn almost anything into a competition

*He recently figured out how to swing by himself (victory for us!)

*He has an arm on him and can throw a ball and frisbee pretty well

*He can turn on the TV and operate the DVR with no problem, which serves us well especially during those early morning wake-ups

*He is really good at the Wii and could play it all day

*He is getting better at pretend play. He loves to fly his toys all over the house. He also has gone from having his own house, to his own fleet of airplanes, to a farm. Lots of animals live at the farm and he talks about it almost daily.

*He gave up his naps at home last summer, but still takes one at daycare, although that will likely change soon since he has a bit of insommia falling asleep at night.

*We still struggle getting him to listen to us at times, particularly in public situations

*He is still high energy and gets very wound up at times, which is hard to bring back down

*He doesn't like to get messy and flips out when he gets something on his skin

*His coloring is very good and he stays in the lines and is starting to color with more appropriate colors for the picture

*He recently began drawing, although some of it isn't recognizable