Easter!

We had a great Easter this year, with an egg hunt and roll on campus at the provost's home, the beautiful Meyer-Buck house, on Saturday. Then the Easter bunny brought the kids some Easter treats before mass on Sunday. Pictures below!

Easter 2013

Colin: 16 Months Old!

Spring has sprung in California! Despite the weather the rest of the country has had, it seems like we're firmly into spring here. Sunshine abounds, days are longer, and the kids are loving it. We've had a chance for lots of outside time, both at home and at school, and they're making the most of it. There was even an impromptu courtyard sprinkler party a couple weeks ago, and we had to break out the swimsuits a little earlier than anticipated! Colin continues to grow and get more and more vocal as the weeks go on. He's really loves these small, three page books we have, each dedicated to a letter of the alphabet. He actually knows quite an impressive number of the pictures! His attention span is impressive - often he'll happily sit and go through all twenty-six of the books. He's still a little hard to understand sometimes, but when he's made up his mind about something he's very deliberate. If he decides it's meal time, he'll run to the kitchen yelling "eat eat eat", or if he thinks he should have apples for dinner (regardless of what we've planned), he tells us over and over and over. Lately he seems insatiable - he just keeps asking for more and more food! Colin's also becoming more stereotypically boy: he loves cars and balls, climbing and running. He has a set of books about machines that cousin Logan gave him, and day after day we read about tractors, trucks, trains - over and over and again and again! Although we did catch him trying on his sister's shoes a few times, too, so we'll see. The big event of the past few days was the re-sodding of the expansive grassy areas surrounding our home. It involved a variety of tractors, frontloaders, fork-lifts, dump trucks.. it was a kid's dream come true. Both Anna and Colin were awestruck. They wanted nothing more than to sit silently and watch... so we strapped them in the wagon and let them do so. It kept them entertained for twenty minute stretches (which honestly could have gone longer, but the adults just got bored)! Anna is more mature every day. She's started actually reading portions of books, although her favorites are still the ones she's memorized. And she's also echoing us: if we negotiate for her to finish her vegetables or take her bath, she counteroffers. And she's quite the negotiator! Next on tap: Easter celebrations, and a whole host of spring events! Click below to see what we've been up to:

Colin at 16 months

Colin at 15 months

So, Colin's 15 month birthday kind of got lost in the shortness of February. But, he has had a great month and is becoming so communicative! His speech is rather garbled still so you have to pay attention... sounds you might think are nonsense or babble are often more meaningful. He has a word for shoes that sort of sounds like his word for Cheerios - "ee-yos" - but there is a subtle difference that we have come to notice. The outsider might not be able to notice the difference between "apple," "elbow," and "airplane," but we have learned the difference over time. He is able to point to dozens of words in his picture books and either say the word or point to the object. And - my favorite - Colin has begun to sing! I thought for a while that maybe he was just not as interested in song as his sister, but lately Colin can be heard singing or humming songs - sometimes I recognize them and sometimes I don't. I've begun letting him finish the last word in each line of songs like "Twinkle, Twinkle" and "Old McDonald," and he's catching on pretty fast!

Colin's become even faster on his feet this month and developed the ability to go up and down stairs standing up. It makes me crazily nervous but it is great to see him so determined to so it like a big boy. This has translated into more risky maneuvers on the playground, but I guess I'm glad he's not overly cautious. He loves swings and slides and is willing to go down much higher slides than his peers. Here's a video of a smaller slide on our playground that many kids avoid because it's actually quite steep and sends them flying... Colin does not seem to mind:


Colin has also continued to take more risks to his palate. Our picky eater is becoming more flexible and is starting to develop a fat little belly! The best part is he is improved in self-feeding, probably due to the very patient teachers at daycare. Now we just hand him a bowl and spoon and he goes to town on yogurt, soup, chili - you name it!


Anna and Colin continue to develop as playmates and, to Mommy and Daddy's relief, can be left alone to play for small portions of time so we can get some work done - or just relax! Take a look at them being very silly together:


We lucked out this month with some very nice weather for so early in the year. Lots of time to play outside and enjoy some extended sunshine in the afternoons. The kids typically walk straight from daycare to the courtyard playground and play with their friends until dinner time - what a life!  Take a look at our pictures to see more of what we've been up to:

Colin at 15 months