So again, this is delayed being that the last month of my school semester was incredibly busy and stressful. It's surprising how a "3 hour class" can take up all of your "didn't have so much free time to start with" time and really take the fun out of it...but now it's over! YEAH! Oh, and on top of that, we also had to figure out and coordinate completely re-doing all the plants in the front flowerbeds as well as creating a whole new landscaping space in the backyard...all time consuming - perfect storm kind of timing it felt like to me!...
So, the weather was really weird at the beginning of the month, to the point that we were all grabbing for our winter clothes again, or blowing us over with the strong winds, sending us all in a spiral of "isn't this Texas? and it's April, right?!" leaving us with days where outside just wasn't an option - very bizarre! But that just meant we got to enjoy some more indoor activities - a favorite being the Science and History Museum! Lots of fun things to explore and play with there, running all over the place, kind of a hectic place to be, but the kids love it! We were able to have a good friend and her daughter come along with us one time this month, so that was extra fun!
Drew is enjoying more and more 'big boy' games and such these days. His favorite thing of course is still his soccer games! He's scored goals at almost all of his games and Daddy has started a stat sheet to track his soccer career already - sounds like something Papa would do! :) We had a blast with soccer, and enjoyed the fellowship of parents and kids so much that adding in something else to do in an already busy schedule was lost in the fun! I think we are all a little sad it is over for awhile, but summer is just not a great time to do anything outside unless there's water play involved, so we'll survive until the fall. He's also started to learn to play the "Hot/Cold" seek and find game, though we have a bit more learning to do! He loves watching movies and playing the Wii "Race Car Game" MarioKart. He is so proud of himself for all the harder climbing stuff he can do at the parks now, and we are pretty impressed too - it's hard to step back and let him figure it out, but it's been worth it! Everything can be turned into a race, and he loves to go fast! He likes his 'big boy' bike, but when he wants to ride extra fast, he'll turn to his Big Wheel every time.
He has this thing about playing with strings/tails - it's like he has an endless imagination with anything that lets him swing, wrap, tie, etc. anything and he will play with it forever. I don't know why, but it just really puzzles me how a shoe lace can be that entertaining! He is also to a point where sometimes he is silly in ways that are only funny to little boys - he just makes weird noises or does something completely random and it will be the most hilarious or entertaining thing to him or his friends, and we will just wonder, what in the world was that about! I'm sure that type of thing happens for a LONG time!
Two things that I had to write down that Drew said this month...the day after Easter, first thing he said to me in the morning was "Can Noah go to school by himself so I can play with my new toys?" - I was amused and surprised that he would even think about that, especially since that almost NEVER happens! But at the end of the month, the two boys were playing and I heard Drew say, "Noah, you're my best friend." My heart melted in that moment and I prayed that would always be the case, on some level at least! :)
Drew and Noah have had quite a bit of fun playing together this month. Drew has been especially good about leading and creating games for them to play together, outside the normal chase and race cars game. There's been more make-believe and pretend games between us all, they love to wrestle together (which requires close supervision of course!), and the trains have made a re-entrance into daily life and play. They are also enjoy a very silly version of Hide and Seek - the adherence to the rules are pretty loose, but we always have a good time!
We had a fun weekend in Austin, filled with all sorts of 'events'. What spurred it all was a cousin getting married...which was a very beautiful service and reception, though Noah and Mommy made a quick exit from the ceremony itself after a perfectly loud zerbert right before the bride entered the chapel - we are SO classy! But we also threw a surprise birthday party for Mom's 60th while we were there with some of her closest friends. Mom was completely surprised, though we all figured that part wasn't too hard :), and we had a nice time. The boys didn't last long, especially since they just wanted to jump in the pool the whole time, Matthew took them back to the hotel for bedtime pretty early on in the evening! We also got to see Uncle Kevin's soccer game, though the boys mostly played with all the dogs. And we also got to see some of Mommy's friends from high school - it had been a LONG time, so it was nice to catch up! It made for a very busy weekend and we had a nice time with everyone, but were very happy to be back home with no trips planned for another 2 months almost! It's hard keeping the boys happy and safe in places that just aren't made for little kids - but we all made it!
We got to see Uncle Kevin a bit more this month - he was able to stop through twice due to business trips and us being kind of on the way, so that was fun. The boys always love their play time with Uncle Kevin. Drew was so excited to play him in MarioKart and of course, there was soccer, chase, hide and seek and wrestling to check off the list too! :)
Noah just is keeping up with Drew more and more each month...it absolutely amuses me to see how closely he will mimic what Drew does. I love that he looks up to and learns so much from him, but if I'm honest, a small part of me worries that it's too much, but then maybe I'm just reading too much into it, but isn't that what Moms do?! But really, it's great to see him learning and trying so many new things. It's funny though, the toys we have out for Noah hardly ever get played with - they both just play with Drew's toys mostly.
Noah is talking SO much now! We are really starting to get him to tell us more and more things that he needs and wants and working on 'using your words' instead of just grunting. Of course, we still have to tell Drew this sometimes too, so there's that! But still, we just love his talking and singing - so cute! Our favorite word he says is "Yah" - it's just adorable how he says it. We've heard his teacher correct him at school to say Yes and we silently tell ourselves, that's a battle not worth fighting right now, because we just Yah right back at him because we love it so much! :) Another cute thing he's started is at bedtime, I always tell him I'll see him in the morning, and he'll repeat "Monin" over and over again until I'm out the door - so precious! He also learned to say "Gid-up" when Daddy is telling a story that involves horses, he even does the hand motions of using the reigns - it's so funny!
He moved up to the toddler class at school at the beginning of the month. He's been in between the two rooms a lot lately, but because of numbers, they were keeping him in the younger room. He's done a great job transitioning, only a little bit more clingy at drop off, but not bad at all. They really 'grow up' in that room - nap on mats vs cribs, no sippy cups, sit in normal kid chairs for meals, and use spoons to eat instead of fingers! They do all sorts of 'art' projects now, so he's learning to color and paint, etc. I can't believe it! But he's done really well. He's a mess when he comes home, but that's just the age he's at, so it's ok with us! He has a good buddy in the class, so we are happy about that too. Just growing up!...
He's been able to stay in the church nursery by himself for a few weeks now, which is great! Mommy had been staying in there to get him comfortable with it all and he's really doing well now, running right in with no tears! YEAH! He also did better at his haircut this month too - he still cries the whole time, but he didn't duck and dodge and swat like he has in the past, so we are making progress...
He's really focused on going up and down stairs by himself, often without trying to hold on to anything...we of course are RIGHT there, but he tries to swat us out of the way...he wants to be so independent! He's been able to go up 2 without any help or holding on so far - this is a big deal since we have a two story house! He loves playing at the parks and we are so fortunate to have several close by. He loves to swing of course, but has recently realized he can go down the slide on his belly, feet first, and he loves it! Mommy actually likes it better too because he ends up being slower and safer with his landings! He loves to jump, as I've mentioned before, but not only does he get off the ground now, he loves to jump off of things and that often includes using Mommy's body, and frequently at church! I don't know why that's a great game to play at church, but he sure loves it. I feel like a jungle gym every day really!
Noah is sweetly learning to fold his hands to pray and even tries to say them with us...he really likes the 'shark prayer', but does well with several, and he says and recognizes Jesus in several books. He has some favorite books we read at night, and he's able to say some of the phrases - we especially like Llama Llama Nighty-Night and Bedtime Kiss for Little Fish - sweet moments to end the day for sure!
Well, that seems like more than enough for this month...see you again soon!
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