Here are our newest family pictures…courtesy of my dear friend, Marcie, a gifted photographer (www.marciekindred.com) who gave Jonas the best birthday present ever back in November that we just redeemed in May…a free family photo shoot. A picture is worth a thousand words…
We took Xander for his first haircut today, and he did great!!! He sat on mommy’s lap, watched daddy and Jonas being silly, ate his snacks and a comb, and was transformed in seconds from a little baby to a little boy.
So, I took the boys to the Hatcher Dairy Farm today for a tour with the mom’s club, and they LOVED it.
Xander was windmilling his arms and saying “dah” for “dog” every time he saw a cow. Jonas was running ahead of the group, checking out the next best thing on the tour, and (smilingly and head shakingly) being dubbed as a “Curious George” by tour leaders and followers alike.
It was great fun seeing and learning about the pregnant momma cows and the newborn baby cows, checking out the milking station and the creamery, and tasting farm fresh butter and chocolate milk (nothing like it).
At forty-seven weeks, Xander is: doing the sign for “milk”; loving Jonas’ “munchie mug”; winning the messiest eater award; saying goodbye to his late afternoon nap (come to think of it…he said goodbye to that one a while ago); figuring out how to stack blocks and put things in containers; and taking a few unassisted steps!!! (he has no fear…look out world).
The boys have gotten a lot of mileage out of the tent that Grandma and Grandpa bought them for Christmas. They LOVE chasing each other through the tunnel.
In his forty-sixth week, Xander is: slamming back the finger foods (he loves diced bananas, avocados, pears, and sweet potatoes); champing out on drinking from a big boy sippy cup; standing unassisted for closer to the minute side of seconds; protesting with cries, grunts, and reaches when he’s got his sights set on something he wants; doing the sign for “more”; and dearly loving the stack of books read to him before nap and bed time.
The boys and I went to visit my dear friend, Lizza, and her precious baby boy, Bennett and had so much fun playing in their backyard. Xander and Bennett rode in the wagon and crawled around in the garden, and Jonas helped water the plants and turn the compost pile. Dexter (their lovable golden retriever) was, of course, a big hit as well. I was so inspired and hope to hit Lizza and Michael up for a garden/compost tutorial soon.
In his forty-fifth week, Xander is: saying “boo” for “book” and “ba” for “bottle”; crawling up the stairs with assistance (he can make it all the way to the top): climbing up the slide in our bonus room and crawl-sliding down face first; and continuing to win the wild-man-during-diaper/wardrobe-changes award.
At forty-four weeks, Xander is: waving; saying “dah” for “dog” and “sh” for “shoe”; pointing to his teeth when you ask where they are and crawling for his books when you ask where they are too; sporting four new teeth on top; and walking pretty steadily behind his walking toys.
In his thirtieth month, Jonas is: amazing us once again with his sentence composition (“Mommy, I love you so so much, and I’m so glad you’re here to love Jonas”); using “probably”, “actually”, “possibly”, and “definitely” in the correct context; rocking out on his tricycle; reveling in the treasures he finds on our walks (berries, nuts, mossy sticks, snails, ladybugs, rocks, flowers, etc.); signing up for his first summer reading program at the library; having a blast with the kids in our neighborhood mom’s club; and saying goodbye to his pacifier (he’s doing surprisingly well without it but…shh…don’t remind him it’s gone).
The boys and I loaded up in the car and headed to the Discovery Center in Murfreesboro with our dear neighborhood friends, Honora, Kenzie, and Spencer. We definitely have to go back and check it out again…it was so cool! Here are some pictures of our little explorers…
Easter egg hunting with the boys…
Jonas had so much fun making a birthday card for his friend, Eleanor, with construction paper, glue, and a bowl full of sequins that he ended up making five or six more just for the sheer enjoyment of it.
Here he is mixing colors with ice, another activity idea shamelessly stolen from the Fun and Engaging Activities for Toddlers blog, which he totally loved.
At forty-three weeks, Xander is: clapping; giving kisses; cutting what looks to be like several teeth all at one time (bless his heart); revving up his jabbering with mamama, dadada, nanana, bababa, and vavava; saying “dah” for dog (we were at storytime the other day and he saw a dog on the cover of a DVD a lady sitting next to us had in her hand and said “dah” as clear as day); giving back a toy when you ask for it; opening up cabinet doors; and understanding the function of a toy car garage enough to know where the toy cars go.
