Week 75: A musical household

Dear Hannah and Nathan, 

I'm glad Cedar levels have gone down a bit. They are actually low now and boy can I tell the difference! Both of you guys are just getting slightly watery eyes after being outside, but the coughing has gone down dramatically. Maybe we can enjoy the upcoming nice and sunny weather a bit more. 

Both of you must be feeling so much better because life has been like a musical these days. Hannah is just singing (melodically) but blabbering and Nathan is making up songs left and right. I don't even have to turn on any music when in the car. 

Well, we've been decluttering the house and finally came across the gingerbread house that we made before Christmas. We decided to just go ahead and eat the thing. The first night we tore into it, we just let both of you guys go crazy. A bit later, Nathan, you got a tummy ache. Perfect teachable moment on the effects of the over-consumption of sugar. 

Hannah did a good job with moderation. You had a few bites and then left the rest on the table. Surprisingly, the cookies still tasted pretty good. 

With us being stuck inside the house, we were able to break out lots of the christmas presents that I've kept stashed away for the past few weeks. We've been on a science experiment streak the past few days and one day Nathan asked if we could do another experiment and how can a science teacher deny it when a kid wants to experiment. So we got the crystal growing kit out and started an investigation on growing crystals. Nathan mixed and poured the chemicals...

 We are currently making daily observations...

The directions say that it should be fully completed by 7 days. So I'll be sure to post the final observation log next week.

Other experiments include foil boat building to test effectiveness of design, ramp creation to test steepness and sliding speed, and stapling to test which surface makes using a stapler easier.

Hannah is getting to be pretty fearless. While you are doing a pretty good job of following directives, like "Come here" and "Don't touch that" you still really have no sense of danger when it comes to climbing things. Here's just a hilarious one.

When big brother is going through one of his dramatic tantrums, you really know how to cheer him up. 

In other exciting news, for the first time ever, Nathan, you were able to finish a mario cart race all by yourself. Even though you finished last and it took you 8 minutes, you finished and you are showing that you understand how the driving world really works. As we are driving, you are noticing things like changing lanes, passing cars, and making turns. Too bad there aren't random boxes with items to pick up and giant bullet rockets to quickly take you to your final destination. 

You are getting a bit better at some "adult" games that we let you play. Here, you are teaching your friend how to play. 

 Hannah loves this Elmo book. Every night, after we finish milk, you will request, "Melmo"while signing "book" As far as other books go, you love books with babies in them and you are all over any book with an interactive feature.

Oh, and yesterday, we had an interesting even happen: After lunch, I noticed that Hannah was making the poop face and when I looked at you, you said, "boo boo" which could mean "poo poo" or short for naiobu which means, diaper. Regardless, it indicates that something happened. So when I took you upstairs, expecting you to go to your room, you headed straight for the toilet and was pointing at the toilet when I came in to get you. Then, we sat on the potty and you went both number 1 and 2. I'm pretty impressed that you are able to communicate a dirty diaper and am curious to see when you will be in your first pair of undies. I'm not quite sure I'm ready for that yet!

You guys are absolutely adorable and I love witnessing the ever growing times where you two will make each other giggle. Nathan is noticing that Hannah is not a little baby anymore and is so proud that Hannah can say a few words, that he's telling his friends about it. I think that is adorable. When Hannah does something she's proud of, she wants to show big brother. Sometimes Nathan acts a bit apathetic, but I think Nathan, you will soon learn that in situations such as that, you are expected to over react a bit and act like it's the coolest thing you've ever seen.

Well, that's about it for now. I had something I wanted to write about, but it has slipped my mind. Until next week,
Love,
Mommy