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