2 Day 2's Update

William before Daddy is Special Day at school (Feb '15)

Before picture day at school in September

I haven't had an update on school in a long time, so here it is! It's been a very fun year so far. William is learning so much. He's always singing a new song, he knows his colors, shapes, learning the alphabet, counting to the teens, saying "Grace" before meals, and so on. He loves his teachers Mrs. Langholz and Mrs. Kest. He talks about them all the time and always asks what they're up to when he isn't in school. He talks about his friends and says he plays with Davis, Lola, Mason, Trinity and Natalie the most. He's bringing home lots of great artwork. I've been told on a few different occasions that he concentrates very hard on his art and follows direction very well. We had his parent-teacher conference in January and he got rave reviews. He is a great listener, picks up toys, and plays well with everyone.

Fall Festival was in October and what a fun event! It's a blast. There are firetrucks, trains to ride, jump houses, farm animals to pet, cotton candy... the list goes on. We really have a wonderful time. William had a blast last year and this year had even more fun. He's a huge fan of the jump houses and of course, the candy.

3 of us at the festival

Train rides

Firetrucks

Duck petting

Bunny petting

Fun with Daddy!

His class had a Halloween Party and a school wide Halloween parade in October. It was HYSTERICAL watching all the kids in the parade. William was Mickey Mouse and when I walked him into school, he was so excited to yell out everyone's costume. "Mommy, look! It's Chase from Paw Patrol!" Then he'd tell everyone, I'm Mickey Mouse!

William in the Halloween parade

William's class all dressed up

Not so sure about Davis the Ninja Turtle

Decorating pumpkins at class party

The Christmas Party was funny because the craft was decorating Christmas cookies. I wondered how that would go... haha! William dove into his cookie and frosting was all over him, and other kids were piling the frosting and sprinkles on like crazy. They are so funny to watch.

William has his Valentine's Party next week.

Today was Daddy is Special Day and Matt had a chance to go into William's classroom to do a craft and pet some really gross animals that Mommy would have ZERO interest in (tarantula, snake and alligator). I hear they made Valentine's too - hopefully one for Mommy :)

Art is Fun Day is coming up this spring and the book fair. Then William will do the Oodles and Doodles summer camp when school is over for two weeks at the end of May. He loved it last year.

William is signed up for 3 day 3's next year. The majority of the weekdays he will be gone in the mornings! It makes me want to cry! Don't be surprised if Mommy is letting him skip school next year every now and then... I like to be with my little buddy, but I am so happy that he loves school so much. What a great experience for him and we love hearing/seeing all the new things he's learning. Keep you all updated on the remainder of the year!

Grace is now closer to 18 months

Is it bad this just makes me laugh? Woo hoo!

The 15 month post for Grace is now the "nearly 17 month old post/closer to 18 months post (aka nearly 1.5 years old)!"

Smiley girl

"Cheese!"

Grace is such a ball of energy and I hear it over and over again: "Grace is SO busy." I don't really know what "busy" means, but I do know she shouldn't be left alone. Otherwise she will climb to the third level of the shelves in the playroom closet and get herself stuck there. Thankfully, William came and got me. "Mommy, Grace is stuck." Then, I've brought her to open gym time and I've had other moms that don't know us, ask: "She isn't your first, right?" Ha! Is that a compliment? I think so! I'm glad Grace isn't a shy girl. I like that she's out there, getting at it! She runs in a crowd smiling and waving at strangers. She didn't have a problem pushing the older boy that jumped in her way at the open gym time. The slide at the playground didn't present a single worry in her mind, and down she goes! 

Jump, jump, jump!

William: "Grace you need your bow! Come back!"

At the same time she is mellow. She's flexible and she's happy to go anywhere and do anything. She loves a great time. William makes her laugh so hard and she loves to join in the fun when she sees big brother doing something funny. It isn't hard to get her to try something new either.

Now that you took a picture, I want to climb.

What's William doing?

She's so smart. I can give her so many instructions already and she listens. Some of her claim to fames: Go find Pinky (her bear) and off she goes looking for the bear. Go find your shoes and off she goes to the mudroom to find a pair to bring back to me, then sits down and puts her foot up. Sit down and let's change your diaper and she lays down on her back and puts her feet in the air. Throw the trash away and she will go to the kitchen island, open the drawer, put the trash in and close the drawer (this is the most impressive and something I think took William until 20 months to do! Must be a girl thing ;) Let's go eat and she RUNS to her high chair and climbs up. Let's take a bath and she runs for the stairs to head upstairs. She's also saying words like ball, thank you, no, hi there, airplane, dog, baby, mama, dada, all aboard, water (wa-wa), all done, bye-bye and cheese, and also repeating lots of words we say too. A favorite thing to do right now is say "Shh..." and she raises her finger to her mouth. 

Loves the rocking chairs.

Yells "cheese" as soon as a camera appears.

Saw teenage girls and wanted to join their fun.

Goofy girl

She dropped the morning nap probably three weeks ago. It had been sporadic for the month leading up with her occasionally sleeping and then some days she'd just hang out in bed jumping from one end of the crib to the other. I gave up trying and when William is at school bring her to do something fun. We've been going to the open gym on Friday and it's been really fun to get the girl time. Poor thing has been following William around every where and now we can do something she'd like to do. Don't tell William though. He'd be pretty jealous to know she's been at the gym! He loves the gym time too.

Eye protection for the fearless one

Favorite toys are probably the airplanes and cars! I see her flying the airplane in the air and making flying noises. Then she will crawl along the ground with cars, also making car noises. She loves wearing shoes and is always bring a new pair over to me to put on her. She's very good at kicking her soccer ball too! She runs and kicks it, keeps running and kicks it again. Quite athletic!

She is giving hugs and kisses when asked. But usually laughs when you try to give her a kiss. She thinks it's hysterical and doesn't exactly dive in sometimes (unlike William who is constantly asking for hugs and kisses ha!). She likes a good open mouth kiss - so funny! It's the sweetest at night when we tell her to say goodnight to William. She runs over to him and they both hug each other. William gives her a kiss on the forehead and she loves it!

William tries for a hug and Grace of course laughs and plays
hard to get!

She loves to eat avocados, bananas, bread, cheese. She really isn't a HUGE candy/treat fan. She will eat it - don't get me wrong, but she doesn't seem to DEVOUR it like William. We ordered chocolate chip pancakes at breakfast a couple days ago and she literally made the most disgusted face when she tasted it. But a plain pancake or a pancake with blueberries in it is delicious to her.

Carbo loading

Stair climber

Loves her sparkle shoes

Yummy dinner?

Getting longer

Loves her Pinky bear

Oh hayy!

Laughs all the time

Climber in action

As you can see from several of the pictures, Pinky is still her favorite. She's grown very attached to her white blanket too. William has the exact same one in green. I will check on her at bedtime and she will have the white blanket over her head and she's passed out. She loves to cuddle with it.

I signed up Grace for 2 day 2's in the fall. I can't believe it. She still seems like my little baby, but she's getting big fast. Her hair is getting fuller and longer. I can't wait to braid it! She has a mouth full of teeth and she's getting taller - I'm buying 2T clothing for her now. She will start swim lessons at the end of March. Lots going on for Miss Grace! Nearly 1.5 years old!

Keep up the good work, little lady! You are the happiest, prettiest little girl and we love you bunches and bunches. XOXO!

Pretty girl!!

William's 3 Year Wellness

We had William's 3 year wellness visit this past week with Dr. Middleton. He had a great check-up! And lucky duck didn't need any shots. This visit was the first time William did most of the talking. Dr. Middleton asked him how old he was and what he did for his birthday. What type of cake he had for his birthday. William told him about his Lightning McQueen car that he brought along for the visit and that he likes Buzz Lightyear. He also talked about the car show he saw at Disney last weekend with Daddy where the car split in two and there were fireworks. It was very sweet to watch. 

Photos from the visit: drawing a snowman
and then a lollipop for a good visit!

Dr. Middleton said it's time for him to see a dentist for the first time and that he's reminding all parents of 3 year old kids that even though a 3 year old seems more "responsible" because they talk more, that we need to remember to watch him at all times. Accidents still happen and because they talk a lot more doesn't necessarily mean their judgment is dramatically better. He said he can tell William is not necessarily an impulsive type and was impressed that William was sitting nicely on one of the chairs before he came into the room. 

The stats were impressive. William grew 5" over the past year! That is definitely the reason I feel like he's always getting new clothing. Dr. Middleton said he hopes kids grow 2.5" over the year and so William surpassed that mark. He's in the 99% for height. His weight is pretty high too. 

Height: 41" (99%)

Weight: 36 lbs (86%)

Health wise it's been a good year. Some temperatures here and there, colds here and there, but overall nothing too bad. We don't go back until he's 4 years old.

Keep on growing, William! Great check-up!