Ready for Summer

It was a busy spring for the family, highlighted by two road trips.  In February, we went to Washington, DC, to celebrate our new friend Brendan's first birthday and dedication ceremony.  It was an exciting visit as the kids got to ride on a train (the DC Metro) for the first time and visit the Air & Space Museum.

In April, we met up with Brendan and his brother Danny again (and of course parents Dave and Colleen) at Notre Dame's Blue and Gold Game.  Rose and Jacob hadn't been to campus in a few years, so the sights were a distant memory for Rose, and were basically brand new.  They loved seeing the dome and other landmarks in person, witnessing a few bubble soccer games, and being up close with the band and the leprechaun.  We managed to stay for the whole game, but only because they had popcorn (and because Jacob napped for most of it.

After a quick two years, Rose is now a preschool graduate and will be starting kindergarten in the fall.  We signed her up for kindergarten a few months ago, and she was a little disappointed to find out she couldn't start right then.  In the meantime, she's enjoying riding the scooter she got for Easter, and playing soccer and tee ball.  Soccer is new to her, but she's learning quickly.  Rose is a pretty self aware kid for five and a half, as she always seems to be working on going outside of her comfort zone, like facing her fear of fire alarms or making new friends at the playground.

Jacob starts preschool in the fall, and he's proved that he's more than ready by spending a few days with Rose's class this spring.  After a slow start, he's now mostly potty trained, which was the last major hurdle over starting preschool.  The Easter Bunny brought Jacob a bike for Easter, and when he's not riding that, he's practicing for tot ball or trying to help Rose with soccer.  Unfortunately, he'll have to wait a few years until he can join a soccer team.  Jacob is a very imaginative kids, playing pretend and singing to himself.  Even when he can't quite verbalize what he wants to say, you can tell there's a lot going on in his mind.  My favorite new habit is when he'll ask a clarifying question about something, so he can remember to tell someone about it later.  Or, since he doesn't know all of his numbers yet, when we play Go Fish he'll just show someone a card and ask, "You got... one of these?"

Onto the pictures...

looking out the train window in DC

doing yoga

board games with Mamaw

board games and card games got us through the winter

decorating cookies

at the dentist

people make gingerbread houses in April, right?

pioneer dress-up with Daddy

I'm a Ninja Warrior!

library carnival night

playing at Rose's school

the Easter Bunny was very generous this year

bubble soccer

Ready to race!  Rose and Jacob each completed half of a 5k with Mommy

Life with a 5- and 3-year-old

Rose turned 5 at the beginning of November, and promptly lost her first tooth.  She lost the second right before Christmas.  When did she get this old?  Rose continues to love school, drawing, creating stories, singing along with the radio, and making new friends (although she still needs to work on remembering names).  Her favorite Christmas carols, like Last Christmas and this Christmas, continue to be a source of amusement for her parents.  She's also trying to teach herself how to play Jingle Bells on the keyboard.  For Rose, 2017 means starting tee-ball and kindergarten, and we know she's up to both challenges.

Jacob turned 3 at the end of December, and continues to impress us with what comes out of his mouth.  A year after we were worried about his speech, we're now amazed at what comes out of his mouth.  Jacob also likes singing Christmas Carols, and Santa Claus is Coming to Town is his favorite.  But it's amazing the complex thoughts that come out of his mouth, stringing together a sequence of events, or remembering that when something is on Rose's side of the car going one way, it will be on his side on the way back home.  Jacob also loves jumping and sneaking up into his and Rose's shared room to turn on the radio and throw a personal dance party.  For Jacob, 2017 means potty training and starting preschool.  He's more than ready for preschool, but we'll see how potty training goes.

Both kids love puzzles, reading, Legos, and trips to the nature center, so that will hopefully be enough to keep them occupied until the spring.  Onto the pictures.

Rose's first day of school

Baking with Mamaw

Driving a Lotus!  (Daddy is jealous)

Fun on Rose's school field trip

Princess Ball!  Can you tell how excited Rose was?

Halloween fun at the library

Climbing Great Grandma's trees

Crafting at the library

Meeting Cousin Sadie.  They're the only two girls so far, and they love each other.

Playing with Rose's Lite Brite

Lost tooth number 1

I made a robot!

Fun at Rose's Christmas program

Meeting Santa

Lost tooth number 2

Making music at Sandor Christmas

A big boy bed!

Craziness at Jacob's birthday party

Long Overdue Update

So much for updating this monthly... or quarterly... or on any regular basis.  Oh well.  As usual, words first, then pictures.

Rose completed her first year of preschool and starts her second year tomorrow.  This past summer, Daddy coached her in her second year of totball.  All of the other coaches were impressed with her hitting and had to keep telling their players to move back.  Rose is a smart, active, and tall kid.  She loves riding her bike (still with training wheels) and running with Daddy.  She also loves playing with her friends, coloring and making things, and pretending she's a Ninja Warrior or superhero.

After worrying if Jacob would ever talk, now we're wondering if he'll ever stop.  He's talking in complete sentences, and his facial expressions are hilarious.  He'll even make up jokes which of course he finds hilarious.  Jacob doesn't realize he's not one of the big kids, as he's always playing with Rose's preschool friends or trying to join in Rose's totball games.  He loves to run and jump everywhere.  And he's just starting to learn how to use a potty.

Onto the pictures....

a rare snowy day

decorating Daddy's whiteboard at work

Science Center with the Yontos

Burton Easter Egg hunt

80s day, apparently

preschool end-of-year ceremony

celebrating a successful totball season

holding Cousin Sadie

practicing for Ninja Warrior

At the Geauga County Fair.  Rose was mostly bored by the kiddie rides - she needs a bigger challenge.