January 2018

We started off the new year attending a birthday party for one of Tyler's classmates at Pump it Up.

Whee!!!

Allison was only mildly interested in the inflatables. She was much more interested in driving the little cars.

Ty doing the obstacle course and bouncing around with friends. Even I got to play for a little bit. The birthday parties are VERY tight on time. You get exactly 30 minutes on one side, 30 on the other, and 30 in the party room to eat and open presents. I wish I'd known that before we casually showed up 15 minutes late.

Oscar tossing Tyler on the upslide.

Oscar managing to get one on the very top star. I missed filming it the first time he did it, but got it on his repeat performance.

My own pathetic attempt

All the party kids. Allison was only willing to be in the picture if she could stay by her car. 

 pizza and cake time!

"Enough of this utensils garbage! I can get much more cake in my mouth this way!"

Cute shot of Tyler with the birthday boy!

This boy is so cute! He started putting his own pull-up and footie pajamas on and wanting a picture after he did it every night. I love his little two thumbs up pose. It brings out some great smiles.

Spinning girl. She's able to last a little longer each week in Sacrament meeting, but inevitably we end up in the nursery.

Tyler's occupational therapist told me she's really impressed with Tyler's creativity. For example, one day she asked him to draw a 3, which he did, then he turned it into an 8, and then he turned the 8 into a Snowman. He's always impressed me, but I am a bit biased. ;)  He cut out this Christmas tree entirely on his own and created a jack o lantern from a couple blank pieces of paper. Those are both way beyond 4 year old skill levels. He makes a LOT of his own creations these days.

Allison's hair is starting to get in her face, but there's nothing I can do about it. If I put any barrettes, head bands, or hair ties in her hair, she just yanks them out.

Cute girl playing daddy horsey and trying to get down the stairs through the cat door.

Allison started saying "yes" clearly in January. It makes communication so much easier. Tyler was over 3 before that happened.

This is what I have to do with new shoes for the kids. Both of them have thicker than average feet, so they don't fit well in stiff, new shoes. I figured it out after noticing how much better used shoes worked out.

I kept Tyler out of school one day after he'd been complaining of ear pain all night. At the doctor's office the next morning she told us it wasn't an ear infection, just some inflammation that was clearing up nicely. We've somehow made it through 2 kids in almost 5 years without a single ear infection!

 Kids playing around at the YMCA Parent toddler class. Ty's getting a little old for it, but he still has fun.

Here we are at Mcdonalds on Martin Luther king day. Chicken nuggets are the only meat I can get Allison to eat. Tyler found his perfect art equivalent and and decided to cut the crust off his bread with scissors.

 Jamming out to Just Dance Kids!

Sometimes Tyler just needs to get out of the house, even if it's a bit rainy. Oscar grabbed the sidewalk chalk and drew a start line and a finish line so Tyler could practice racing.

Allison finds chocolate milk to be very supportive while Tyler prefers making his own pizza with his friends.

Kale chips! It's the only way to get my girl to eat vegetables. Tyler eats them too, but he'll generally eat at least a few veggies the same way we eat them.

Usually Allison eats finger food, though, because she's just so picky. She insists everything she eats be perfectly crunchy unless it's yogurt or applesauce. At least she's an adorable sleeper.

Towards the end of the month we made a trip to the Children's Museum, which is less common these days now that Tyler's in school. Tyler likes to play down in the art museum, which doesn't keep Allison's attention very long. I usually end up chasing her around the whole time. She'd much rather make colorful shadows and play with light.

 

Later in the day is much less crowded, which is nice. Unfortunately it closes at 5 and we come after Allison's nap, so it's always a quicker visit than the kids would like. At least it's super close to the downtown library and the Everett YMCA, which gives us a little more to do when the kids need to stay busy.