Happy Easter (4 years and 2.5 years)

Our daycare has developed a PTO again.  I think it's a great way to be involved in the school.  I feel it's important for me to be involved. I like getting to know more of the teachers and planning fun activities for the kids.  We organized a school dance.  It was supposed to be for Valentine's Day but the day it was scheduled it was a snow day so it was rescheduled for the end of March.

Brian took pictures at the dance for all the families.  Pictures are very important to us.  Brian does a really great job taking pictures.  Austin likes to be like his daddy and he had "his" camera around his neck and helped take pictures too.  It's an older camera Brian doesn't use anymore, but it still is a $500 DSLR camera so Austin looks quite legit holding it.  He understands he needs to be careful with it and always wear the strap.  The kids had fun dancing around.  When it was over, Austin said he wanted to do it again.  That makes it all worth it!

Our city did not have a community Easter egg hunt this year.  However Kaitlyn's family did and invited us over.  Austin and Sydney loved collecting the eggs.  At first, Sydney did not know what to do.  Then she got the hang of it loved it.  Austin collected the most but we evened it out in the end.

An outlet mall had an Easter egg hunt.  Kids went into stores and collected eggs.  They had fun doing that.  They would run to the store.  They also had an Easter bunny outside for pictures. We stood in line for the Easter bunny.  Kids in front of us were scared of him but Austin and Sydney ran up to him and got their picture with him.  It's great that are not scared of him.  It was cold that day but everyone still had fun!

On Easter morning the kids woke up and went to find their Easter baskets.  Austin found his basket first under the slide.  Then Austin helped Sydney find her basket on the coat rack.  Then after it warmed up a little bit they went outside and found eggs and some outside toys of Pogo stick, chalk, and a T-ball set.  After dinner, we went down to my parents for dinner.  They got Easter baskets there too.  The kids had a great Easter.

Lake Farm Park has a spring program for little kids.  I took them for a half day program with my local mommy group.  The kids could have milked a cow but they were too scared.  They learned about spring and planted a plant.  They saw baby animals.  We had a packed lunch there too.  After it was over they played in the inside playground.  It was a neat educational program.

We had some opportunities to go to Sky Zone too.  I took them one day for an hour and Brian took them there too for an hour another day.  Austin liked playing basketball.  Sydney enjoyed jumping on the trampolines.  They burned a lot of energy and were tired afterwards.

We also took the kids to the IX Center indoor amusement park.  It was really good for them.  They had several rides they could both ride.  It's interesting because there is only a certain window they both can ride the rides before they are too big.  Austin and Sydney had a great time there.  I am so happy we took them.

All about Austin and Sydney

This blog post I am going talk about Austin and Sydney.

Austin is now 4 years old.  He likes playing with wooden train tracks in the house.  He really enjoys his computer and playing ABC Mouse and Reading Eggs.  He enjoys that his computer has a password that he can type in himself.

His favorite books are Pete the Cats and truck books from the library.  He really enjoys library time every week and picking out his own books.  We have even started getting letter boxes from the library each week.  They usually check out 20-25 books a week now.  On days I am off with them, we read around 20-30 minutes a day.

Austin's favorite color is green and he tells us that.  Before now, we have just assumed what his favorite color is but now he tells us.  Austin likes to play basketball.  He can shoot the ball pretty well for a 4 year old.  He has good form.  He enjoys putting his Cavs jersey and playing the Austin and Sydney Cavaliers.

Austin likes to cook.  He can pour ingredients in the bowl and mix them around.  He likes making cookies, banana bread, and dinners.

Austin favorite foods are cereal in the morning.  He likes to eat it on the couch while watching his Kindle. For lunch he likes ham sandwiches with mayo, chicken nuggets, peanut butter and jelly or hot dogs.  For dinners he like pasta, chicken, meatloaf, and sometimes sloppy joes.  He use to really like sloppy joes but now not as much.  He also likes sweets especially ice cream!

When he talks everyone can easily understands him.  He likes to say,"I was thinking we should..." when he wants to do something.  They had a babysitter the other day and he was able to help show and explain how everything works at our house.  He asks lots of questions and always wants to know why.  He remembers our cruise and trips to Disney because he will make references to them.  He has a very good memory.  He loves to travel.  He really enjoys riding on airplanes.  It's been over a month since our last plane and he says it's been so long since our last plane ride.

When putting him to bed he asked, "Mommy will i grow tonight"?  I said "I don't know".  He said, "yes mommy each night I grow and get a little bit bigger".  And he is completely right.  It makes me sad.  He will never be were he was today.  Each day is truly a gift.  I am loving where they are right now.  They are so awesome!

Sydney is 2.5 years old.  She loves to do everything Austin is doing. But she definitely has her own personality and it's her way or no way. She communicates very well for 2.5 years old.  She talks in complete sentences and 95% of the time we can understand her.  Austin understands her 99% of time.  If we don't understand her we ask Austin.  

She knows the days of the week and can count to 10 in English and Spanish. She loves Dora and between Dora and school she is learning some Spanish.  She loves to say “I’m going to do it”.  She usually remembers better things short term than Austin or at least she expresses it more.  If I ask what the stories were about during story time at dinner Sydney usually tells us but Austin does not.  She knows the days of the weeks from the days of the week song.  She is learning the months of the year. 

Sydney has always loved books.  When she is sad, books comfort her.  She loves being read too.  She likes reading books to herself too.  She doesn't know how to read but she will make a humming sound while looking at all the pages.  Her favorite books are Dora the Explorer, Pete the Cat, and Strawberry Shortcake.  She doesn't like going to nap or bed because she always wants more books. 

Sydney loves to play outside.  She likes to ride her small pink tricycle.  I bought it last year on my mommy website.  This year I thought it would be too small but it works perfect for her.  She loves it.  She pedals as fast and she can.  It’s really the cutest thing!  She also loves to play in the sand.  They have a little sand table and can play on it for a long time.  She likes driving the cozy coup too.  We have a swing in the front yard and she loves to swing.  She really likes it when Daddy does a “Daddy underdog”. She loves to swim.  She is only 1 swim class level behind Austin.  She is not afraid of the water.  She would swim everyday if she could.  

Sydney eats about the same things as Austin.  However she does not like sauce on her noodles and that includes macaroni and cheese.  She likes just plain noodles.  She likes hot dogs more than Austin.  She likes to eat peas whereas Austin likes to eat carrots.  They both love corn.  She likes to eat strawberries, grapes, cantaloupe, and watermelon.  They both love “oranges from the cupboard” (canned mandarin oranges).   She likes mommy cereal which is frosted shredded wheat.  She prefers her cereal with milk whereas Austin likes his dry. 

She has an opinion on what she wears.  If she does not like it, she will not wear it.  She also loves to wear her sunglasses upside down even when she is going to sleep. When going to sleep she likes to hand someone's hand, have her sunglasses on upside down, and hold her princess light that projects onto the ceiling. 

She refuses to nap for us sometimes.  It takes her a long time to fall asleep.  She is like her Daddy.  She likes to sleep in and gets up closer to 8 am when we let her.  She goes to bed a little before 10 pm.  She is always the more difficult one to get to sleep.  She usually wants mommy to put her to bed and Austin usually wants daddy.  Sometimes we switch but if they both agree we keep it as is to keep them happy.  When we travel, Austin and Sydney sleep in the same bed on the floor.  

Sydney weighs 25 pounds and almost 36 inches tall.  Austin is 40 inches tall and weighs 40 pounds.  Sydney always seems so lite but really is not after we carry her for a while.  We rarely use our stroller now only for traveling or at the zoo.  When we walk around the block in the evenings the kids ride their bikes.  It’s good exercise for them.  We like to keep them as active.  It's good for everyone.