We’re trying to resurrect our evening walks now that it’s warmed up a bit. Roman loves to get out of the stroller and blaze a trail. Here he is with a dandelion that caught his eye and made him break out into a big smile…so precious. And here are Jonas and Xander, fascinated with a dead snake that Daddy picked up with a stick for them (don’t you love Jonas’ head-to-toe camo, backwards shirt, and swim shoes?).
The boys and I LOVE going to storytime every week at the library. It’s always interesting with my three little wild men…they all pretty much act their age (haha). Jonas has gotten to where he sits quietly, pays attention, and responds to Mrs. Karen’s questions. Xander usually goes and gets a book and sits in my lap and then gets frustrated with Roman for trying to get into his space. And Roman likes to toodle around, giving moms and kids alike pats, looking in diaper bags, and pulling books off the shelf. We’re so thankful for our sweet and understanding librarian, Mrs. Karen. I snapped this picture of her with the boys today after story, craft, and snack time and after the boys had picked out their books. She’s been reading to them since Jonas was younger than Xander and Xander was in the Bjorn!!! Yay for our community and yay for the library!!!
It felt like summer today, so I busted out the water table and the baby pool for the boys this afternoon. They had a blast…especially when Daddy came home and created a sprinkler effect with the garden hose for them to run in (I was so happy to see that Xander was still just as much of a water dog as he was last year.)
The boys and I (to the exception of Roman) are feeling a little bit under the weather today, so we decided to just take it easy at home. While Roman was taking his morning nap, I loaded up my arms with snacks, drinks, paint, and paintbrushes and headed out into the front yard with Jonas and Xander to soak up a little sun. I saw a cute idea in passing on Pinterest the other day of painting rocks to look like Easter eggs instead of dyeing them. So, desperate for something to engage the boys in this morning, I grabbed some bark mulch and rocks from our flower bed and tossed them onto a cookie sheet with paint, a paintbrush, a sponge, and a wet wipe. They had a blast…I love how the differences in their personalities and in their ages come out in their artwork (check out their cookie sheet palettes…ha!). After the big boys went down for their afternoon nap, I took Roman out into the front yard so he could have some fun in the sun too…his favorite thing is the tricycle.
After we dropped Jonas off at preschool and laid Roman down for his morning nap, Xander and I enjoyed some Mommy/Xander time. We put together our solar system floor puzzle, played the Ladybug Game, started some seeds, and finger painted. We had the most fun trying out the pot press that MeMe gave us. Xander cut out the strips of newspaper, after I gave him a starter cut…go, Xander! And he and I both took turns rolling and press making the little seed starting pots. We ended up ditching the trowel for a spoon, while scooping out the soil, as it made it easier to fill up the small pots. Afterwards, Xander liked dropping water into each one with a medicine dropper (he also poured the whole glass on them too…haha). We are looking forward to watching these delphinium seeds sprout indoors (our squash and zucchini seeds are already sprouting, so that’s been really exciting for us) and to planting them outside in our garden soon. Yay for spring and for little hands to welcome it!!!
At thirty-three months, Xander is: really showing a lot of independence with getting dressed and going potty by himself; singing his ABCs, putting together his alphabet train puzzle by himself, and trying to write the letter A; figuring out how to hold and use scissors; taking his tricycle for a spin (he’s getting better every day with the pedaling thing, but he’s still trying to figure out how to steer); showing a fair amount of frustration with everything as he’s transitioning from being a two year old to being a three year old; and continuing to bless us with his gentle spirit.
Here’s one of his most recent one-liners:
“Mommy, why do volcanoes erupt on people?”
The boys and I went to Lucky Ladd this morning with our mom’s group and had SO much fun!!! (I’m not going to lie…the logistics of managing three little boys under the age of four…running and toddling in three different, spirited, I-can’t-hear-you directions…for four hours added up to be a bit much for me at the end of the day…the boys were fried too because they wore themselves out but still didn’t nap on the way home…even still we had a BLAST.) We ate a picnic lunch, petted and fed the farm animals, rode the tractor train, played in the corn box, went down the big slides, scooped sand in the sand box, pumped water into the egg run, played on the tires and with the balls, wrote on the chalkboard, and even hunted Easter eggs. It was a HUGE blessing to meet up with several of the moms and children from our mom’s group (I never would have braved it by myself)…it totally made it doable and so much more fun for all of us in the sharing. Jonas was all about pumping water into the egg run and figuring out how to work the sand scoopers. Xander could not get enough of running up the hill and going down the slides…I was amazed by his tirelessness with it…he did it over and over again. Roman loved checking out the animals…feeling the soft sheep and putting his finger in the pig’s mouth…and really just visibly delighted in exploring everything. It was equally fun and exhausting, and we’re looking forward to going back again.
The boys and I had fun getting a jump start on our garden this morning by starting some seeds to sprout indoors (in toilet paper rolls, no less…I thought that was a great idea when I saw it, as they decompose after you plant them in your garden). A few of our good neighborhood buddies from our mom’s group joined us; and even though it was a little brisk out, we all enjoyed playing in a little spot of sun.
Pops and Maw came out for a visit this morning. Pops read books to the boys and showed them how to measure with the measuring tape. Maw gave out lots of hugs and kisses. We had lunch together, complete with Jonas talking a lot and loudly…Xander climbing up on Pops’ lap to finish his lunch…and Roman passing out messy waves and sweet “hi”s. We all laughed at the boys and had fun watching them do their most recent favorite thing…an indoor Easter egg hunt.
We enjoyed getting to spend the week hanging out with Grandpa and Grandma!!! Highlights of our time together included: going to a pizza making play date with our mom’s group; taking a walk around the neighborhood; going to story time and hunting Easter eggs afterwards; eating lots of snacks and meals together (including one delicious dinner out); enjoying a little quiet time (one morning Grandpa and Grandma gave me a big treat and took Jonas to school and then Xander to the mall for a long walk…I REALLY enjoyed my quiet time at home while Roman took his morning nap and forgot, as a mother of three boys under the age of four, how much of a healer silence is for the introverted soul); and heading to the ball field to watch Jonas’ t-ball practice. We said goodbye this morning after breakfast and are very much looking forward to our summer adventure together at the lake!!!
Xander is getting so big!!! I’ve been doing double takes with him lately with the things that he’s saying and doing.
I love this picture of him on his tricycle (he’s starting to get a little more interested in taking it out for a spin these days).
I took this picture of Xander’s sidewalk chalk drawing to show Tom because he knows how much Xander has been wanting to “draw A”. He did it all by himself!!!
After Jonas and Xander woke up this morning (while Daddy and Roman were still sleeping), we enjoyed having a bowl of Lucky Charms with green milk and doing a fruity marshmallow rainbow sorting activity. Happy Birthday, Aunt Beans!!!
I have been wanting one of those old metal gliders for a while now; so when I saw one sitting out in somebody’s front yard this morning on the way to t-ball practice, I excitedly pointed it out to Tom. Being the Tom that he is, he totally went back, knocked on their door, offered them money, brought it home, and surprised me with it!!! Aw…I love my husband. The boys took a particular shine to it as well and are having fun helping Tom and I scrape off all of the old paint.
We all loaded up, picnic lunch and all, and headed to the ball field for Jonas’ t-ball practice this morning. What a great way to spend a spring morning!
The boys and I went to the zoo this morning after Roman got a little bit of a nap in at home. It ended up being the perfect day for it…a beautiful, sunny, spring day. They especially enjoyed watching the monkeys swing from the trees and riding the train!!!
Today was a full day. I was trying to figure out how to break all of these pictures up into different posts and groupings and have just decided to put them all together to make it a little easier on my mommy brain.
Aside from it being my oldest brother Darren’s 50th birthday today (Happy Birthday, Darren!!!), I babysat two of our dear neighborhood friends’ little ones this morning so they could run the half marathon together (I love that am so proud of them…go Zack and Andrea!!!…hopefully, I’ll get there again myself someday). We had a blast doing what a whole gaggle of kids do when it’s pretty outside…and even played with several of our neighbors (there are actually people who live in these houses…haha…it’s almost like a ghost town in the winter). MeMe and PaPa came by to hang out for a little while and to give Roman his birthday present, and then they met Tom and Jonas at the ball field for Jonas’ t-ball practice. After nap time and before dinner, we all had fun swinging on the rope swing in the woods behind our house. Here’s our full day in photographs. Phew! Now I’m ready for bed. HaHa.
Jonas and Xander were having so much fun being “super” this morning that I thought I’d put a cape on Roman so he could join in the fun.
Xander was so cute this morning with the snow falling outside of our kitchen window. I asked him what color it was (we’ve been working on our colors), and he said, “I gon’ show dou!”. He ran into the living room to pick up a dinosaur book of colors we had just checked out from the library, ran back into the kitchen, opened it up to this page, and pointed to white! Yay, Xander!!!
At thirty-two months, Xander is: making his little (or should I say big) voice be heard around the house; learning how to go potty without Mommy’s help (we’ve been working on this one…I think he’s getting there…I think I’m just more moral support right now); starting to sing his ABCs, counting to 10 (after 10 he skips around a bit but it’s so cute to hear him), and learning to identify his colors and shapes; showing equal amounts aggression and kindness towards his brothers; and enjoying leading prayer at the table (he is so precious and suprisingly loud with it).
He amazed me with this quote of the month, as he was investigating the side of the cereal box:
“I gon look and see if dis has peanuts in it.”
So, Xander went for his first visit to the dentist today!!! He got to sit in the cookie monster chair and watch Jonas get his teeth counted, cleaned, polished, and flouridated first, so he was totally cool when it was his turn to do the same…with one condition…that he get to sit in mommy’s lap. He did GREAT, and I was so proud of him and so proud of Jonas too…they were really such little men. Here’s a picture of them with our sweet hygienist (Mrs. Connie) and dentist (Dr. Robertson).
