Kiddo Update

Aaron

• Aaron is starting to get more and more involved in sports.  We are trying to introduce him to a variety of things so that he can discover his passion, without overdoing it.  So far, he seems to like baseball and soccer, but is anxious to try basketball since he knows that is his Daddy's favorite sport.  Because he has a nervous mother, we are doing everything in our power to steer him away from any interest in football.
• He loves to do art projects.  We set up a little art table in our living room and he uses it all the time.  The other day he created a "box of band-aids" out of construction paper, complete with little band-aids that had movie characters on them.  Another day he used construction paper and tape to create all of the characters from the movie Trolls (a current favorite) and set them all up in an elaborate house he'd made for them out of duplos.
• Aaron is officially enrolled in Kindergarten!  He came with me to his school to turn in all his forms and he seemed excited to explore his new digs for next year.  I have no doubt that he will do great -- he is already reading independently and often asks me why he can't stay at school for lunch.  I, on the other hand, started to tear up a little bit after I turned in the last form.  Where did my baby go??

Jill

• Jill still loves playing pretend.  Within minutes of waking up in the morning, she has already assumed a character and is begging the rest of us to play along.  Sometimes her make-believe world take on a macabre tone -- I know this is normal, but it makes me a little uncomfortable when she pretends to be dead.  She's a little too convincing.  I definitely prefer it when she's pretending to be a kitty, even though I don't like getting licked.
• We've had to revert back to putting band-aids on Jill's thumb because she started thumbsucking again.  But she is a smart little cookie and has developed a variety of strategies to get around the "no thumb sucking unless you're sleeping" rule.  She has started sucking other fingers, climbing in bed just to suck her thumb, and recently, sucking right over the bandaid!
• One of the things I admire most about Jill is how unselfish she is.  Of course, she'll fight with her brothers over toys, but I've come to recognize that she mostly does that to get a rise out of them.  She doesn't actually care about the toy itself -- it's just fun to bug her brothers (can't fault her for that).  But the truth is that she would give them anything she owned if they needed it.  She is always talking about giving her piggy bank money away to hungry kids, she lets Aaron read his story first at bedtime because she knows how important that is to him, and when we play games together, she cheats so that I can win!

Daniel

• For a little while, Danny seemed like he was picking up a little bit of a stutter.  It was incredibly cute, but also a little heartbreaking when he got frustrated with his inability to say something.  A few times, the stutter was so severe that he would give up and cry out, "I can't say that!"  But just as quickly as it came, the stutter disappeared.  It probably only lasted a few weeks.
• Apart from the brief stutter, Danny's verbal skills are pretty incredible.  In fact, everything he does and says makes him seem a lot older than his two years.  He speaks in complete sentences, is persuaded by rational explanations, keeps up with his brother and sister on his scooter, climbs into his own booster and carseat, entertains himself with his own toys for long stretches of time...if it wasn't for his little bald head and baby accent, I would not be able to convince anyone that he wasn't three or four!
• Chris and I sometimes fight over who gets to put Danny to bed because he is so incredibly cute.  When the lights are out and I am singing him a good-night song, he likes to grab my head and shove my face into his neck so that he is tickled by my breath.  His giggles are the best!
• Getting places with Danny is a little challenging these days.  He is extremely independent so he wants to do everything by himself.  Which means he refuses to ride in a stroller or be carried.  But when we let him walk, he is in no hurry whatsoever.  He stops to examine every rock and stick and point to every dog that passes by.  It's cute when we're not in a rush.  But when we're running late for our flight in the Denver airport?  Not so cute.

3/5: This kid loves to scoot

3/6: We need a bigger chair!

3/9: Style maven

3/9: Danny is lucky that he has a loving big brother who uses his words to express frustration rather than his fists (usually)

3/10: In their weather unit at school, Aaron drew a picture of "cloudy with a chance of hamburgers"

3/10: Jill needed a folder to put some of her artwork in -- so Aaron made her one!

3/11: Concentration

3/11: He also made me a beautiful bracelet!

3/11: My good luck charm

3/12: Sharing the love

3/13: Danny's favorite spot to curl up at the Nature Museum

3/13: Mid-march snow angels

3/13: Cake pop time!

3/13: Park district popsicles

3/17: Swordfight

3/20: My D

3/21: She sure knows how to tell a story!

3/22: Charming the ladies

3/23: Game over

3/24: Saying goodbye to Mr. Mike at the end of theater class

3/24: Goofy girl!

3/24: Special delivery!

3/24: Now this is how you do movie night.

3/25: My girl got her hair chopped again!

3/25: Checking out the escalators at our new neighborhood Whole Foods.

3/26: Awww

3/27: Watching the coin go round and round...

3/27: Hanging around

3/28: Celebrating Daddy's new job!

3/28: Do I have something on my face?

3/30: Teamwork

4/1: Bonding with baby Alessa at the park.

4/2: Relaxing with his cars

4/5: Diesel and Soy Sauce

4/11: Selfie with Daddy

4/15: Soccer star!

4/15: Showing off the new hat that Aunt Pam and Aunt Bobbie got her from China.

4/17: It's starting to look a lot like summer around here.

4/19: Aaron's first practical joke -- bandaids and ketchup!

4/20: Hanging out with Joseph and Mr. Tom

4/20: Chris added a little flare to this pic, not that it needed any embellishment to be adorable.

4/21: They still call this the "meemee swing"

4/22: Pretty sweet view from the soccer field

4/22: Contemplating the infinite

4/23: Thanks to his helpful siblings, Danny made it all the way through the rain forest canopy at the zoo!

4/24: There's always time to stop and smell the roses...or tulips.

4/24: Thanks to the cubbies for the awesome gear!

4/24: Dinnertime is always interesting.

4/25: Ice cream with a view of the skyline

4/26: Trying out the new school playground!

4/26: Guess who just registered for Kindergarten?!

Quote Wall/Memorable Moments

-Aaron (running out of the bedroom): "Dad!  Jill said I'm dumb!"

-Chris: "You're not dumb.  You know what I would do if someone said that to me?  I would look them in the eye and calmly say, 'That hurt my feelings.'"

-Aaron: "Ok."  (runs into the bedroom)

-Jill (yelling from the bedroom): "Dad!  Aaron hit me!"

-Chris: "Nate had a basketball game and he scored his first basket of the season!"

-Aaron (distractedly playing a game on the iPad): "Wow."

-Chris: "Did you even hear what I just said?"

-Aaron (still playing): "Yeah."

-Chris: "What did I say?"

-Aaron (still playing): "That thing you just said...I forgot."

-Me: "Danny, we don't scream at the table."
-Danny (sweetly): "Can I fart?"

-Me: "Jill, my back really hurts. I need to sit up."
-Jill: "Why?"
-Me: "Because I'm old."
-Jill: "When are you gonna die?"

-Jill: "No!  O-N, No!"

-Jill: "Mommy, I love you so much that when it's time for you to die...I hope you don't die!"