Fa La La La La

The boys were blessed to have a Christmas filled with lots of family, food, and of course presents.  Here are snapshots from the weekend’s festivities:

Gingerbread houses at the Sheraton with Nana and Boppa.

The family at church in our Christmas best.

The boys ready for the family service at church.

Opening presents on Christmas morning.

Jack taking a break from presents to do a little reading.

Jack examines the train lamp Auntie Jane gave he and Emmett.

Emmett with a stocking as big as he is!

An afternoon visit from Santa, himself!

Playing “giddy-up, cowboy” with Uncle Matt.

A totally tuckered out little boy after Christmas weekend!

Play, Play, Play at Jack’s 2nd Birthday!

Yesterday we had Jack’s 2nd birthday party at an indoor playground in Mountlake Terrace. Jack had 5 of his friends there—Emma, Mia, Maggie, Caden, and Linnea. Of course Jack’s nanas, boppas, aunts, and uncles were also there.  The ball pit was the highlight of the party, and the kids spent most of their time in there, while the adults knelt around the outside of it and took pictures.

We took a short break from play to have “nak naks” (snacks) and cupcakes. Then it was back to the playground.  Jack was so excited to have so many friends and family at his party—little guy is gonna wish it was his birthday every day!

Here are some shots of the party and attendees:

 

 

 

The cupcakes and table before the kids sat down.

The ball pit.

 

Mia cooks up some tasty treats.

Maggie takes a ride on the school bus.

Emmett enjoys the comfort of his grandma’s lap.

But also gets to play, too.

Linnea with a mouthful of snacks.

Caden demonstrates how to use a party favor.

Jack helps himself to a couple of cupcakes.

Emma takes her time and enjoys the snacks.

Do I have anything on my face?

Pictures with Santa

Here is a picture of the boys in their first ever picture with Santa. This is the same Santa that Jack told he wanted hot cocoa when asked what he wanted for Christmas. Please excuse the quality of the photo—I “scanned” it myself (i.e. I took a picture of the picture).

Frosty the Snowman

When I pulled out the Christmas decorations this year, I came across the book Frosty the Snowman that Jack had received as a gift his very first Christmas. The book is essentially the song lyrics and pictures, so I began singing the song to him. He took to it, and has been singing the song ever since! 

Along with that, he has developed an infatuation with snowmen. For his birthday, Great Aunt Meri and family gave him the book The Snowman and a stuffed snowman. The book is great because it only has pictures, no words, so Jack can tell the story how he sees it. The past couple of days Jack has wanted to bring the book and snowman to bed with him during his nap. Both yesterday and today he has “read” the book to the snowman, Lovie, and Giraffie. Hearing him through his bedroom door absolutely melted my heart, so I grabbed my camera and shot a little video of it.

2 Year and 2 Month Stats

Yesterday both boys had their checkups. Both have done some serious growing!

Emmett: 2 months

13 lbs. 3 oz. (75 percentile)

24 in. (75 percentile)

Jack: 2 years

27 lbs. 2 oz. (40 percentile)

35 in. (75 percentile)

Jack’s Birthday

As promised, here is a look at Jack’s big day.

After the yummy birthday waffle and the many times of singing and blowing out the candles, Daddy left for work. We wasted no time getting ourselves put together because Jack had a big date with Maggie Rose at their very first day of drop-in preschool.

My friend Keri and I brought the kids to this drop-in preschool last week for a visit and the kids loved it. Jack’s birthday was our first trial run at having them be there without us. Jack sat down at the craft table and when I told him that I was leaving, he looked at me with a quivering lip, but then quickly was all smiles when I helped him uncap the marker and color. They were only there an hour and both did beautifully! I hope to make this a regular event once the new year begins, as I think it is a great way for Jack to be in social situations and get used to structured time.

After preschool, we came home and had lunch and nap. When Jack woke up, Nana and Boppa Boisen were there to greet him! They immediately opened gifts. When Nana tried to give Jack one of the gifts to open, he shook his head and pointed to another present and said, “no, big one!”  Boy, does he learn fast! :)

For dinner, Jack got to go to Red Robin where he chose chowder, his new favorite meal. After dinner, he got to have a birthday cupcake, sing the song, and blow out the candles. Again!

Throughout the day Jack had many visitors, including: Great Aunt Meri, Great Aunt Susan, and Auntie Jane and Uncle Tom. Jack couldn’t have asked for a better birthday. He is one loved little boy!

 

 

 

 

Here are some more pictures from Jack’s birthday extravaganza:

Jack’s birthday got started the night of the 15th with a visit from Nana and Boppa Rodda who brought Jack a tricycle!

and a cupcake, of course!

A card from Great Aunt Paulette that plays the Peanuts theme song—one of Jack’s favorites!

Another shot of the birthday waffle.

Auntie Jane showed up with a Mickey Mouse balloon!

And a Mickey Mouse that does the “hot diggity dog” dance!

2 Years Old

It hardly seems possible that Jack is already 2 years old.  We woke up this morning and had a special birthday waffle for Jack. We put a candle in it, sang to him, and were completely surprised when he blew out the candle at the end of the song!  Now how did he know to do that?

Of course, we couldn’t only do it once, and have since been doing candles and the birthday song many, many, more times.

Stay tuned for more birthday adventures to be posted…

A Visit from Santa

Sunday Jack got to see Santa—twice! In the morning we went with our friends, the Lunds, to Swanson’s Nursery to see the live reindeer (Dasher and Blitzen), camel, and donkey. The kids had a blast chasing one another around. They also got to visit with Santa. Jack had no problem sitting on Santa’s lap and when Santa asked him what he wanted for Christmas Jack replied, “Hot cocoa!” Santa then prompted him to see if he might want any toys, but Jack was content with hot cocoa. (We got a picture taken of the boys with Santa, but it won’t be ready for pick up until this weekend.) As you can see, they also had a train. Fun!

Then on Sunday afternoon, we went to Tom’s firm party. It was really fun this year because children were invited. They got to go swimming, eat yummy food, and at the end of the night, Santa made an appearance and gave all the kids presents!

Jack was a little less sure about this Santa, but he gladly accepted both Emmett’s and his own present from Santa. He tore them open with vigor—good practice for Christmas day! To his delight, Santa brought Jack a set of toy power tools, complete with saws, a flashlight and a drill!

Emmett

In the last couple of weeks, we’ve really begun to see Emmett’s personality. He loves to see the world around him and is most content when he is being held facing outward so that he can see all that is going on around him.  I love watching his big eyes take in all of Jack’s actions. I can already see that he wants to be “big” like his brother. Won’t they have so much fun once they can start playing together?

Emmett loves being held by his big bro.

 

Here’s a video of Emmett having a conversation with me.

Snapshots

My brother loaned me his new digital SLR camera and I’ve had so much fun snapping pictures of my guys.  Here are some of my favorites, which also are a good recap of Thanksgiving weekend and this past week: The family at Thanksgiving.

 

The boys with GG.

Checking out Uncle Matt’s beard.

Emmett’s favorite sleeping position.

Jack waiting for the ferry.

Covering his ears when he heard the train.

Dad and Jack check out the boats.

Brotherly love.

Hot cocoa!

Jack makes a gingerbread house.

And discovers the candy tastes pretty good!

A trip to the playground.

Jack’s fort.

Emmett’s has learned to smile!

Nearly 8 weeks old--He is growing up way too fast!