Playing with Aunt Steph

Football Girls

How often do you see a Packers fan holding a Cowboys fan?

Presents!

This year, it was a mass opening effort. So much, so fast, I couldn't even see what he got or who he got it from.

Joey's Dino Birthday Party!

For Joey's 4th birthday, we did a dinosaur themed backyard BBQ and invited friends and family.

Charlotte: 5 Months

We have a 5 month old! I feel like the time is flying right on by. Despite having a cold, this little girl is such a happy little thing! She's constantly talking and smiling and is so, so sweet.

While she didn't have a doctor's appointment this month, she is right around 14 pounds. Charlotte continues to grow and it's easy to see she's getting bigger.

Charlie's sleeping patterns are more and more defined. She is sleeping through the night, consistently 10-12 hours at a time and she does this most nights. She really didn't waiver while having a cold either, which is better for everyone. She's not much of a napper during the day, but I'll take the night sleep over naps any day of the week! She's going more consistently 4 hours between feedings during the day and has been introduced to both rice and oatmeal cereal successfully.

She continues to love her playmat. She scoots around on it and rolls up onto her side while playing. She still hasn't rolled over yet, but she's ridiculously close. I'm on standby with my phone to get video! Tummy time has gotten much better. She still doesn't like to do it for long, but she lifts her head up about as far as she can without pushing up with her hands. She loves to sit in her Bumbo and in the highchair. She has also become more tolerant with her jumperoo and will sit there and play for more extended periods of time. 

You can see how congested she is in this month's photo, but she's smiling through it. Bless her little heart. 

Joey: 4 Years

Joey is four! And what a smart, kind, funny little boy he is. I've noticed a ton of growth in this guy in the past year's time. He is very inquisitive and very observant. It's awesome to watch him process thoughts and ask questions. He loves to laugh and be laughed at. He enjoys nothing more than doing goofy things and people laughing at him. He also loves to be tickled. Anything to just laugh.

Joey continues to love imagination play. He likes to cook food for us in his kitchen, loves to play with his cars and tractors and loves animal figurines. Not only does he walk them around and play with them, but he lines up little animal figures and dinosaurs by color, size, type. He continues to love to have books read to him. He will join in an d"help" me on some of the more familiar books, but enjoys hearing brand new books as well.

In the past six month, Joey transitioned from his toddler bed into a full-sized big boy bed. And boy did we notice a difference! He looks so small in that big bed, but he sleeps SO MUCH BETTER! I don't know if the toddler bed just wasn't big enough, or what the deal was. He truly feels like a big boy in his big bed.

He is really into imagination play - which really livens up playing with cars and dinosaurs. Joey continues to love books. He enjoys being read to. He really enjoys books that focus on specific letters and tell a story with items related to those letters. He loves them so much, he's started to memorize them.

Joey transitioned very well into his toddler bed (several months back) and is potty trained. He will have accidents here and there, but wears underwear daily and Pull-Ups at bedtime.

As far as eating habits are concerned, I think Joey prefers to snack over eating main meals. This is something we're working on. He is doing really well at eating what mama and daddy eat for dinner, although there are some things that he's just not really willing to try. Some of his favorite foods include: sausage, waffles, cookies, ice cream, noodles, strawberries, apples, granola bars.

Joey continues to be good sleeper (most of the time) getting around 11 hours of sleep every night. He is trying really hard to give up naps, but I just don't think we're there yet. He is too cranky if he misses a nap. Some days we can get him to take one (and it will be a 2-3 hour nap every time) and sometimes we can't. He is required to rest for at least one hour every afternoon though. 

Joey is continuing to enjoy preschool and is doing really well, He is learning to write his name, cut, count higher than 10, recognize his letters and much more. 

Here are Joey's four year stats:

Weight: 28 pounds (3rd percentile) 

Height: 38.5 inches tall (15th percentile). 

Joey's in a trance

Joey's sooooo into dinosaurs right now. Here, he's in a Jurassic Park trance.

Another Art Project

Two art projects in the same month? Mama is loving it!!!

Cowboys Outfit #2

I'm enjoying the dress-up opportunities for the Cowboys games. Who can resist a little tutu? And Joey has his trusty jersey that he wears every week and matches his daddy.

Go Cowboys!

You didn't think we'd just be supporting our college teams this weekend, did you?

Side note - getting one of them to look at the camera is tough. Both? Well, here's proof that we work with what we get sometimes. :) But they both were really excited! Go Cowboys!

Go Hawkeyes!

Could this child be a cuter cheerleader?

Charlie tries Cereal

Think she liked it? :)

It's Picture Day!

Joey's preschool does picture day and, because Charlie goes to the same school, she gets her picture taken too! Here's a preview of their little cuteness. I think I'm a lot more excited than either of them are...

Selfie

Charlie's First Art Project

We got to bring home Charlie's first art project at school!