Hannah is 21 Months! It's Summertime!

Dear Nathan and Hannah, 

It is just so neat to see you guys be able to play more together. While Nathan, you are not the most gentle person, and Hannah, not the most forgiving, for the most part, you two love to giggle and play together. Hannah was showing some  a lot of interest in skating, so we got you your own skates. After strapping them on, you are able to walk around so well on carpet! 

When you first saw the skates, you pointed at them excitedly and said, "skates!" 

 And here you are trying them on for the first time.

 The next day, both of you skated around upstairs and at one point, Nathan was saying, "let's play roller derby." As you can imagine, a quick, "Noooo!" shot out of my mouth immediately.

On Tuesdays, we continue to attend soccer class. A friend, owner of Wild Blue Photography captured these shots from class. Here are a few of my favorites! 

It's been raining a lot this week. Some days it pours all day, some days we get a short sprinkle and then the sun comes out, but regardless, it's been humid and cloudy. One day after coming home from the grocery store, as I was unloading all the groceries, you two ran out to play in the driveway and started to splash in the puddles. 

 And afterwards, we came home to have a nice warm yellow lunch. I love watching you guys eat.

Nathan, you've been a bit more independent with breakfast these days, as in pouring your own cereal. But most of the time, your eyes are a bit bigger than your stomach and you end up pouring too much. Of course when I ask if you can finish it, you always say, "Yeah, I'm HUNGRY!!"

 Today was your last day of school. We stopped by Chick-fil-a this morning to take advantage of their free breakfast Wednesdays this month. Nathan was a bit disappointed that there was no ice cream involved at the end of the meal, but you quickly got over it because you guys were going to have a party at school.

 Your teachers love you lots and you have learned so much this year. You know your numbers, body parts, and colors in spanish. You know the lower case letters and the sounds that they make, along with the days of the week. You can also write your name in upper case letters, and cut straight and curvy lines with scissors. On Monday, the class put on a little performance where you guys sang many of the songs that you learned this year.

 Afterwards, all of Nathan's friends and little siblings ran around outside. Enjoying the final moments together before you all go your separate ways.

Hannah's nap schedule is back to normal. Last week you were fighting naps, crying and fighting before every nap, but every time you would fall asleep after about 5 minutes of complaining. This week, you are back to normal. I find that as long as I put you in your crib around 1:30, you'll take a good 2+ hour nap. During this time, Nathan and I still have quiet time in the office.

Well, summertime officially starts now. We have lots of friends, who like us, have no plans on traveling, so we'll have lots of playdates and fun together before the school year starts for both of you.

I love both of you so much and cherish all these moments we share together.

Love,
Mommy

Week 91: Pirate, Playgrounds, and Playing

Dear Nathan, 

This morning was dress like a pirate day at school. You were totally able to rock your 24M PJ pants to pull of this look. I'd have to say it's a cute look for you. Plus, Daddy's parrot added a nice touch to the ensemble. 

 On Most Wednesdays, your friend Michael comes over to play. You guys play very well together, but when his big brother is around, three is a crowd and someone's feelings always get hurt. Hannah also loves to follow Michael around. Since he's the baby in the family, got a bit annoyed when Hannah kept chasing him and giggling.

 The weather has been simply amazing. On the humid side, but temps have not yet reached 90 (knock on wood). So we've spent a lot of time outside.

 I took this picture to compare the sizes of you two. Hannah is quickly catching up to Nathan.

 And for how much Hannah likes to swing on swings, you have quite the serious face while swinging. Perhaps that's when you contemplate deep thoughts about the universe...

 On Friday, we had a MOPS play date and had more fun times at the park. After most people left, we hung around with another friend and just played at the sand volleyball courts for awhile.

On Saturday morning, we went to Zilker park for a children's maker festival. We hopped on the zilker zephyr and both of you had a great time waving to bystanders.

 We attended to event, which ended up being a small demo of a summer camp. There were a few activities that you both were able to do.

 On Sunday, we went out to eat at Freddie's. This was a bit different than our normal circulation of family favorites, but you guys sure enjoyed the cold treat afterwards.

 On Sunday, some of Mommy and Daddy's friends came over for dinner. Below is Kat. For some weird reason Nathan, you always eat your green beans when she is around. So, this pretty much means that they have to come over more often.

 Hannah, you are always so cute when you eat. You are such a great eater, I never really have to worry about whether or not you are eating enough variety. You are cool with taking a bite of cupcake, followed by a bite of carrot.

 Yesterday, we had a chinese farewell party to two people in the group. One of the ladies leaving is the reason we now have so many Chinese friends. As I get to know more of these women on a deeper level, I've come to respect and admire all that they've accomplished. I'm glad that I have these women to walk the walk of preserving and passing along the Chinese heritage to our children.

 Of course, it's not a party unless you have a sea of shoes by the front door.

 For the most part, Nathan, you don't throw many tantrums unless you are tired, and need to sleep, which is almost always the case on Tuesdays when you have soccer practice. In this picture you are crying because you found out that your lightning mcQueen bandaid is not recyclable and must be thrown in the trash. Seriously. That's it. Apparently your concept of recycling right now consists of the recycling truck taking away the recyclables, washing everything up really good and then it's ready to be used again. I don't know how many times I've tried to explain to you how the recyclers shred or melt down the things we recycle and make them into new things. I guess it's just too much for your little 3 year old brain right now...which is just fine.

This past week Nathan has also been a bit preoccupied about death. We read about how the dinosaurs died after a giant meteor hit the Earth and one thing led to another and suddenly I'm suddenly trying to explain how when the sun does finally explode, everything on Earth will die and go to heaven, but that explosion won't happen for a long, long time...after we all die. Yep, pretty much just dug the hole deeper.

There were two specific moments that made me realize that Nathan really understands the concept of death. One happened one day when you smashed a little ant and with a sad look on your face, you said, the ant is dead, it went to sleep forever.

Another moment happened in the car when you suddenly blurted out after a long moment of silence (which doesn't happen often), "I don't want to get old. I don't want to die." For awhile after that, you were even a bit reluctant to go to sleep, fearing that you will never wake up. Luckily, we talked you out of that pretty easily.

I tried to put a positive spin on this and talked about all the ice cream that we can eat when we go to Heaven and how everyone will be nice and we will all be happy with Jesus. I'm trying to be sensitive about this because for the longest time as a child, up to pretty recently, I've feared the uncertainty of death. I don't want this fear to weigh you down like it did me.

You are a very positive and insightful boy and I know with prayer and the help of God, you will work through this and your faith will be stronger.

Man, I guess this is when parenting becomes difficult in a different way. Now that you are more independent, can dress yourself, feed yourself, new things come up. But I'm excited to be there for you as both of you develop and grow into adults.

Love,
Mommy.

Week 90 Elvis Loving Kids are Back to Normal.

Dear Hannah,
So this craziness that you've been through is about over. You are basically back to your normal self. You were working through a growth spurt, just like Nathan did around this time. In this case, I'm so glad I've been using your week-ages to keep track of posts, because this has helped me anticipate any tough times ahead.

Hannah still loves to play with the neighbor kids. When you leave the house, many of them get so excited and yell, "Hannah!" and that in turn makes you squeal with excitement.

 In addition to playing, you've picked up on a lot of big kid things. Like trying to ride a tricycle,

 skipping rope, and even playing with nerf guns. It's pretty cute watching you imitate the older kids.

 You still love to blow bubbles and often will point to the patio and say "outside, bubbles?"

 You are also getting pretty good at riding a scooter, except when the scooter goes too fast and your feet can't catch up.

 This morning, while Nathan was at school, you asked me to put on Nathan's skate. To my surprise, you did really good on the carpet and was able to walk/roll around awhile.

 And look at that derby stance!

Nathan,
I know you are getting pretty happy to have a sister who can finally play with you. You guys like to play pretend and below, you guys are pretending to sleep while you rest from jumping on the bed.

 One of our favorite things to do is to turn on some upbeat Elvis and dance on the bed. All I have to do is turn on some rock and roll and both of you are squealing all the way to our bedroom.

And you guys are getting better at sharing the stroller too. (The secret is to crowd the stroller with more babies and both of you are happy. 

 On Saturday we went to the annual Touch a truck event. Nathan excitedly ran from one truck to another, while Hannah, a bit overwhelmed with all the honking, hung out in the stroller.

 On Sunday, we went to the Thinkery and spent most of the time in the water room. Nathan was pretty excited to be tall enough to play with all the things.

 And Nathan is no longer afraid of hand dryers!

 This picture shows just how much silliness Hannah has picked up from Nathan. Now when we prompt you to say "cheese!" Hannah sticks her tongue out.

 Sometimes Hannah also gets herself in awkward situations and you don't really help her out.

 But she still loves mimicking you in everything you do.

 Most evenings, we've been able to eat dinner early enough to go out for a bike ride through the neighborhood before bath time. It's a lot of fun for everyone and it's something I look forward to doing.

I simply love spending time with you guys and cherish every one of these moments, because I know that soon, you guys will start soon and these carefree days will become days of the past.

Keep playing!
Love,
Mommy