Budding Foodies

Dear Hannah and Nathan, 

Both of you are eating so well these days! Nathan is now eating most veggies (as long as there is a side of salt to dip in) and Hannah is eating almost everything. Hannah has been pretty innovative with your eating. For example, last night I made sloppy joes and I passed out a few lettuce leaves for everyone to put in their sandwich. Hannah, you decide to deconstruct your sandwich, scoop your filling in the lettuce leaves and made a taco. This led Nathan to try out lettuce, and according to him, he liked it too! (Although I'm a bit weary because he didn't want another bite) 

 You two are shelling edamame like pros. And when I served pasta one night, I had put a slice of lime on every plate. I usually plate your food plates first so that they have time to cool down and as soon as daddy is finished with washing hands, he sets you two down at the table. That one time, I noticed that Hannah, you knew to squeeze the lime over your pasta without us even showing you, and we probably only did this one other time at a restaurant!

 It's nice that after 4 years of struggling with food, you are finally eating from all the food groups! Fish is something that you are reluctant about still, but it's ok, we'll easily overcome that when we go somewhere with fresh seafood.

So it's been a weird week with someone different getting sick throughout the week. Oh those days, we just stayed home and played with toys, watched TV and played bubbles outside.

 When everyone was feeling better, we ventured out to story time  at the library, where Hannah was able to sing and do the motions to all the songs! Oh, and Hannah can also now say the common table prayer with the family at dinner time.

 Another day, we visited the wildflower sprouts program and got to look at things through microscopes and hand lenses. We did a nature walk outside and talked about living and non-living things.

 And then, of course, we headed towards the swings, where unfortunately, I got bit by an ant. Nathan was pretty good at announcing it to everyone on the way back, while walking on the path.

 Nathan also discovered how to jump on a rope swing from a table and swing!

 Over the weekend, we went to the school by our house and Hannah practiced on your scooter, and Nathan, you practiced on your skates.

 That evening, we met up with some old friends at a dog park/bar for a doggie's 21'st birthday party!

 And then I got sick, so we stayed home a few more days. We played a lot inside, while I rested. You two played pretty well with each other and it's pretty cool to listen to you two actually communicate verbally with each other. Nathan is actually speaking more mandarin so I love hearing you speak mandarin with an American accent.

 Nathan, you also finally figured out how to solve these tough 9 cube puzzles all by yourself.

 You guys alsow worked on painting. Hannah, you were really proud of your work! You held it up so high and proud to show Daddy when he got home from work. You are also pretty proud of yourself after you go potty. When you go back to a group of people, you make sure to tell them that you went on the potty.

After 2 days of being utterly exhausted, I felt much better the 4th day of being sick and we met up with Hope and baby Lucas. (He's not a baby anymore, but we still call him that).

After playing for awhile, we went to the HEB nearby and had a delicious lunch.

Hannah has gotten (for the most part) over your extreme tantrum stage. (Thank God!) Nathan continues to be pretty reasonable, so life right now at the Havlir house is pretty good. (Except for this annoying cold that the girls have).

Oh, quick update on the project that we've been working on. I'd say Nathan did about 80% of the drawing. There were a few things like the cars below, where I would draw one and you would copy it. Some other things like the orange elephant in the water need a bit more interpretation, but I can see it. For other pictures, I drew a basic shape and you would add in the extra details as well as color in the shapes. You came up with what to draw completely by yourself.

You now just take a old medicine box and use that as your engine to run on the track. You have a billion trains to use, but for some reason, you really like to use the old box. Upcycling at its best! 

I'm looking forward to everyone feeling better soon before school starts. I leave for another work trip next week, but afterwards, we'll have about 2 weeks before I will have 2 mornings free to myself. I wonder what I'll do with my time.

Well, stay awesome, kiddos!

Love,
Mommy