Nathan is 4!

One of the first things you said as a 4 year old was, "I don't want to put my own diaper on." Apparently, Daddy told you that once you turned 4, you would have to put on your own diapers before bed. Well, that day came soon and you remembered. It's ok, we'll keep putting on your diapers before you go to bed, but the deal about trading a dry diaper in for $0.10 in the morning still stands. 

As an official "big boy" you now really love to be more responsible. You have totally stepped up as far as following through on what you say you are going to do (except for putting your shorts on, that you always seem to forget to do.)  

You've got a great attention span and I really enjoy playing games with you in the afternoon. You love listening to superhero books and you get to play plants v. zombies once a week. You can actually pass the levels by yourself! 

You and Daddy put a litchi seed in the soil about a month ago, so we now have a litchi sprout growing on our patio. You are really excited about it and you tell almost everyone about it. We hope to be able to get out in our backyard and garden soon. 

Well, for your birthday, you asked for a watch and a nerf gun. You are not getting a nerf gun. 

We did just a simple family celebration at home and you brought cupcakes to school. 

On your birthday, I read back to the posts that I wrote during the first few weeks of your life. Some things I have already forgotten, some things I still remember as if it happened yesterday. Can't believe you were once this small. 

And now, you are a big strong boy. We let you open the package yourself, because you wanted to. You persevered for awhile and then proceeded to use your teeth to rip open the package. It was pretty hilarious. 

Last week when I asked you who your favorite superhero was, you replied, "The Hulk, because he's so strong." I asked you again last night, and you changed your mind to "green lantern because he wears a ring."

Anyways, you told me that you wanted to bring chocolate cake with chocolate frosting and chocolate sprinkles to school for your birthday. I didn't know you liked chocolate that much. 

For fun, I decided to make some marzipan and molded some hulk fists to top the cupcakes. Even though most of the kids in your class would've have appreciated them, it was something that I enjoyed doing. 

 On your actual birthday, I made a simple Plants vs. Zombies cake. I put all of your favorite plants on the cake and then you asked about the zombies. We basically proceeded to eat the rest of the cake in zombie voices. "Bra-a-a-ins" Hannah even joined in too.

Your gross motor skills are still pretty bad. You trip, fall, and run into things all. the. time. But as far as fine motor skills, you are pretty advanced. Not many 4 year olds can cut details into a folded piece of paper like you are doing below as you are making a snowflake.

 The weather has been beautiful lately. Mid 70's to high 80's. We've spent most of the dry afternoons outside.

 On rainy days, we stay inside and play with things like rice and construction cars. Lots of fun, but also, lots of mess. I think I'm still finding rice grains all over the house.

 On Saturday, we even went to the playground and then went to go watch Daddy play hockey until it started to rain.

 On Tuesday, we went with some church friends to the Nature Center and spent the morning there. Lots of cute kids and fun.

Nathan, lately, your emotions have been pretty strong. You want things your way, and you want it now! In fact, that is exactly how you express it to me. We've been having time outs and talking about letting the mean-ness or angry-ness go when you get worked up. I've also been trying by reminding you to "Let it go!" when someone takes something from you or makes you angry. I start to sing, you giggle embarrasingly, and then you run away. I guess that is working pretty well, for now, then.

Well, that's it for now. We have some more fun lined up this week. Until next time,
Love,
Mommy

Friends, Food, Fun, and Fashion

Dear Hannah and Nathan, 

I'm making a change to the schedule and I'll be posting a day earlier, starting from next week. With that out of the way, let's go over the highlights of this week. 

This will probably be my last sneaky attempt at getting you guys to eat more green veggies, because you both are doing pretty good eating solid, cooked veggies! Yay! Let's see, over the years, we've made spinach smoothies, green muffins, spinach pancakes, spinach jello, and my proudest, spinach ice cream, which you guys really liked, surprisingly. And this latest attempt was simply green smoothie poured into popsicle molds. Nathan even ate 2! 

 As if we didn't get enough corn in Illinois, here, Hannah shows how she sneaked 2 extra cobs of corn after dinner.

 So, I saw this video on youtube, it shows you how to make zucchini tots. I thought I'd give it a try because this is one of the few veggies that both of you won't eat. It looked easy enough, so I simply grated the zucchini and you guys did the rest. Nathan even watched the video through to see what we needed to do next.

 Hannah mastered the pepper mill...

 And didn't spill too much when mixing.

 And then, to shape the tots, I pulled out a few of those medicine dosing cups and had you guys smash the mixture into the cups and then tap them on the baking sheet.

 And then we watched them bake

 Voila!

 The verdict, Nathan loves them and Hannah took a few bites and didn't eat anymore. There was just too much salt. We'll have to make them again soon, and I'll make sure to monitor the salt measuring.

On Mondays and Wednesdays, we are having a friend come over to play after school. For the most part, you guys play pretty well. Nathan is a bit possessive over toys sometimes, and suddenly does not want to take turns. You've also started to be purposefully mean with your words and actions when it comes to taking turns. Not sure what's going on, but I sure hope that this is a phase that will pass soon.

 You two are getting better at Dancing, thanks to the Michael Jackson Dancing Experience for the Wii. Good thing, because you guys sure aren't picking up any good moves from either me or Daddy. Nathan's favorite song is "I'm Bad." Hannah just likes to dance along during the choruses. The rest of the time, you are just watching the TV, or laughing at Nathan.

 This Sunday, we put Hannah in Sunday school for the first time. You seemed to really enjoy it. During Children's church, you even got on stage to dance with the big kids. And the youth pastor even told me that you were running around with the big kids.

 And then we had a birthday party after Chinese school on Sunday. Lots of fun there.

 Since the weather is now a bit cooler (not by too much), we've gone out in the afternoons to do some exploring. This week, we've been finding different types of seeds that have dropped on the ground. Nathan, you even got to use your new explorers vest to collect all the different seeds. I think we counted over 10 pockets on that thing. Thanks grandma!

Hannah, you are getting pretty good at communicating what you want to say. "Choppee chip!" is chocolate chip. Golden grahams is your favorite cereal. And you are hardly seen anywhere without your little baby. We try not to take her to the table, but we've caught you a few times after you sneaked her up and start feeding her corn and milk...

You also have developed an interesting fashion sense. Wore this around for a good 2 hours this morning. 

Both of you are starting to get so independent. Just today, as we were at HEB, Nathan, you pretty much insisted that you go potty in the men's bathroom. I let you go, but afterwards, you couldn't reach the sink to wash your hands, so a nice old man helped you up. I'm not sure if you are quite ready for this, but you are almost getting there.

It feels pretty good to be back in the routine. And the free time on Monday and Wednesdays have been nice in that I can pop in and out of the car to run errands without having to load and unload you two up. But I miss the silence. This morning, I was reminded of it again as we pulled up to a stop light.
"Mommy, what's making that noise." I point to the big dump truck beside us. "Is that a dump truck or a trash truck?"
"A dump truck."
"How do you know? Where's the lever that you pull to dump the dirt?"
"It's in the front, with the driver."
"They need to let kids climb in there, so I can try it out for myself."
"That would be pretty amazing."
"Why does it have two smoke stacks?
... and it just goes on and on.

For the most part, you are now asking pretty reasonable questions as opposed to the not so good questions like "Why?" after I said aything in the past. I really don't mind answering questions because you are really soaking them in and trying to understand the complicated world around you.

I love you two so much. Until next week!

Love,
Mommy

Birthday Parties, First Days of School and Airplanes

Dear Nathan and Hannah, 

I apologize for skipping a week because last Wednesday, I was frantically trying to pack for our trip. As I mentioned last post, I got (a form of) LASIK done on my eyes, which left me out of commission for many hours, so packing was pretty last minute. Anyways, let's start with this past week and then at the end of this post, I'll highlight some of the things that happened the week prior. 

Hannah's (and Nathan's) First Day of School 

Hannah, you started your first day in the Turtles class at Bethany. Being one of the youngest kids in the class, you'll have lots of catching up to do. You did pretty well for the most part, but you did cry for a minute or so at drop off. At the end of the day, when I picked you up, you were one of the 2 kids still eating lunch at the table (why do I raise such slow eaters?!?) and you were happy to see me. For the most part, you enjoyed school and had lots of fun.  

This was Nathan starting school at almost 2 (2 years ago). Except, he was going into the Pandas class. 

 I had you both take pictures together to comemorate your first days of school.

 And of course, we had to do a silly dance party one!

 Nathan, you are in the ducks class this year. When I peeked in the classroom right before I picked you up, you were sitting with other kids in your class and laughing while eating your sandwich. You looked so happy. Since your class is a bit larger this year (12 kids), you think there's 20 kids in the class. You are also excited about being able to play at the large play ground and even told me that you played with your friend Oscar from last year.

We missed the official first full week of school because we flew up to Chicago for a week. We arrived a bit earlier and you guys had fun exploring all the different busts at the airport, along with watching the different vehicles zoom around outside.

 I think this is the first flight where Hannah, you were able to grasp what was happening. On our way home, you told me "plane, fly" right before take-off.

I usually bring a whole bunch of toys and books for the plane rides, but this time, we got through the almost 3 hour flight with 2 tubs of play-doh, a rolling pin and a few construction cars, oh, and also some nuts and bolts.

 Both of you actually travel so well. You always get compliments from the people around us about how well behaved you two are.

Here's where we have a gap in photos for a few days. Hannah ended up getting sick on Friday, and then Daddy and Grandpa followed on Saturday. Hannah, we took you to the local care clinic and had you tested for a UTI. The test came back negative, but it showed that your ketones were super high. It was probably due to the flu that you probably had, but we will get it checked out just in case.

Daddy and Grandpa ended up with flu-like symptoms as well, so we all laid low for a few days. The first day everyone started feeling better, we drove to a model airplane field and some of the guys there let Nathan, change the settings on the wings. It was pretty cool watching these real model airplanes zoom around in the air. (We were corrected by one of the pilots that these planes are real too, just like the ones you find at the airport).

 On Sunday, we attended the annual Corn Sunday event, where we shucked, cooked, and froze over 150 ears of corn.

 As you can see, it was quite the production. While the sick ones stayed home, we got to go and experience a Corn Sunday. Here, Uncle John is showing you how to shuck the corn, advising you to carefully remove all of the hairs.

 When it came to getting a new bag, you were up for the challenge as you helped great-grandpa haul the heavy load to the shucking arena.

 You were so proud when you were able to snap the stem off of this ear of corn all by yourself!

 Grandma among others were inside, cooking, cutting and packing the corn into containers.

 After the tough work was done, Uncle Timmy took you out back and taught you how to go fishing.

 And then when I joined you guys, you taught me how to cast the line with the practice pole. We don't have any evidence of this, but I caught a fish [wide arms] this big!

 Grandma and Grandpa have an apple tree in their back yard, but they decided to go the organic route this year and ended up with lots of wormy apples. So, when life hands you wormy apples, you slice them up, and make apple sauce.

 The weather was so nice. Sunny, 70's breezy. We flew kites, played with chalk, hopscotch, picked apples, and even played some baseball. Nathan, you were actually pretty good at actually hitting the balls with the bat. That shows some seriously good hand-eye-coordination, which I thought you were lacking in that department. Have you been clumsy all this time, just for show?

 Should we make this into a baseball card? Too adorable!

 On Monday, we got to visit where Grandma works. Good thing she works at a chocolate factory/store! Hannah, I was so proud of you when you pointed to this thing and said, "mixer."

 We saw one of the workers make a molded chocolate lollipop.

 And she even gave you guys a few of the broken pieces. (That was your favorite part.)

 Afterwards, we drove awhile to go to the Choo-choo restaurant, where they deliver your food on a train! Grandma's burger bun flew off of the plate as the train rounded the corner too fast. Otherwise, all of our food made it to us in one piece.

 Afterwards, you guys got to ride in the mechanical train. I don't know what it is, but you two have a thing with showing off your bellies. (This was completely unprompted)

 On Tuesday morning, we went to the Morton Arboretum. There was the Ribbit Exibit there, so we wandered around a lake, spotting all of the different frog statues that they had up. It was actually a fun activity for both of you. To us adults, these were no big deal, but you guys just lit up, when you spotted a new amphibious friend.

 They have a pretty cool children's area. Full of things to do and explore.

 And then we had to re-create a picture from last year that we took.

I think there was a bench last year, that wasn't there this year. We seem awefully far apart. 

 Afterwards, we went back to to Grandma and grandpa's for a birthday party with the great-grandparents. We had Nathan's favorite, Chicken Thunder (Pastries) along with some fruit and blueberry cake with m&m's on top.

 After cake, you guys opened presents

 And here's a sweet picture of great-grandpa helping you out with putting on some clothes that grandma made for your babies.

 After nap time, we went back to the Greats' house so Hannah could spend some time at one of my favorite spots in the world.

Hannah, we took you on the paddle boat. You don't look so happy in this picture, but you enjoyed the ride, got bored, and then asked to go back.

 You were truly in your element when great-grandpa brought out the sand toys.

 Nathan had begged Uncle Timmy to take him out on the sailboat on Sunday, but sadly, the winds were just not strong enough. Luckily that afternoon, Daddy was able to take you out on the sailboat. You thought it was pretty tippy.

 And so after a venture out and back, you returned to shore to play in the sand.

 At some point, I tried to take a picture of everyone.

 But as you can see, it's tough when toddlers and sand are involved.

 After dinner, we tried our hand at fishing once again.

 And here you go, proof that I caught a fish. This one was a little bit bigger than the one I caught on Sunday, but my first bass!

Nathan, we need to get you a hook extractor, because ever since great grandpa brought out the tool, you could not put it down. You were using it to pull weeds, poke holes in the ground, pick up sticks, among other creative uses.

 After a week of fun and relaxation, we boarded an 8:30 flight the next morning and we are now back in Texas!

Ok, rewind back to a week ago. We met up with our friends at the Thinkery one more time before our membership runs out for the year. We are actually going to take a break from the Thinkery for a year and instead make more visits to the wildflower center, which is only a few minutes away from our house. 

Good bye die cut machine, 

 Goodbye flying animal rockets.

 Goodbye smocks and paint.

 And goodbye Thinkery (for now).

Here's a silly photo of you, Nathan, dressed up like a superhero, going snorkeling under water.

 Oh, and before I end this post, I want to mention Happy Birthday to Kinsey, Ariane, Elijah and Lucas. We were very fortunate to be able to attend all of their birthday parties, which all took place between Friday and Saturday. My eyes were pretty uncomfortable, but I stuck it out and you all had lots of fun.

 Hannah, your God-parents gave you a power-wheel cycle for your birthday. Right now, you don't quite understand how to steer, but luckily you have a very inventive older brother who does and comes up with crazy things like this.

At least now you both get to enjoy the toy.

I'm looking forward to getting back into a schedule now that we are home and school has also started. We'll have more posts to come. But thanks for hanging in there, through this long post.

Until next week,
Love,
Mommy