Easel

The boys were painting yesterday afternoon and I realized it would be cute to see them creating on each side of the easel. Too bad when I got back with the camera Micah had declared himself DONE.

Noah's art.

Potty Time

I'm sure little siblings being interested in using the potty young is the norm. I'm fully supportive of any days we can take off the diaper changing routine. That being said, I am not a fan of Noah helping Micah take his diaper off (not much help needed) and finding them both like this.

Texting

Today Noah grabbed my phone and started pushing the buttons. He likes to push the letters and see them come up on the screen. After a minute or so he handed it to me and said, "I was just texting Eva." Eva is his friend across the street. Hilarious but scary!

Reward

We had to make a trip back to the pediatrician for Noah today to check on a skin irritation. I told him that if he cooperated that he could pick out a treat from the pharmacy on the way out. He did well and in the pharmacy went over and grabbed two bags of peanut m&ms, one for him and one for Micah - just like at Grandma Jane's he said. This is the first time ever I have let him choose something from the candy section so I will say a little prayer tonight that I don't regret it next time we are at the grocery store and he spies the little bags on the way through the checkout lane. Anyhow, I told him he could have two before lunch which he chose and then handed me the bag. Micah just clung to the unopened bag for dear life saying chocolate over and over. I did let him have his two after naps...he was good too. :)

Addict

Every morning I laugh to myself as I hear Micah from his crib yelling "Kefir." The kid is like an addict, and let me tell you he does not give up the yelling until he is drinking.

Annual Review

We took Noah in for his 4 year well child check up on Friday. It is amazing but the last two years he has only been to the doctor for these check ups. We are beyond thankful for healthy kids!

My friend, Karita, calls these check ups her annual review as a mom and I do think it is a good time to reflect over the last year and think about where my child is right now. I passed the general exam as Noah is growing and overall fantastic. Given that Shawn and I are both short I was overjoyed that Noah is 45% for height...I was expecting 5%. Woo hoo, for now. :) He is on the slim side, another plus, who doesn't want that in the long run. I am hopeful that the 4th year will bring us out of many of those 3 year old challenging behaviors. Three is SO much harder than two in my opinion. Here's to our next year together.

Noah Says

Noah showed me how he sits around the purple rug at school today and I asked him what they do at the purple rug.

N: "Ms. Schubloom tells us what we are going to do for the day. Today she told us about the sleepover, pancakes and all that jazz."

Ready

It can get a little rough around here. Here's Micah ready to tackle the day.

Snack Together

Morning smoothies.

Cheer Up

Yesterday Micah woke up from his nap about an hour and a half before usual. Noah and I were in the kitchen and I was at the stove where I was to stir constantly for 5 minutes. Ha, I wonder if any mom can actually do something for 5 minutes straight. Anyhow, Micah was getting upset for me to come get him so I asked Noah to go up and talk to him and tell him that I'd be up soon while I finished up. I had the monitor on so I could hear them and it was so cute. Within seconds giggles ensued and they were having fun. Of course, they were both in the crib. I heard Noah say, "Micah, mom said we can have hot chocolate with marshmallows for snack. Doesn't that sound yummy?" So cute!

Science Museum

We went to the science museum over the weekend. Most of our time is spent checking out the dinosaur exhibits.

Here's Noah trying to move the TRex jaws.

Dad had to step in with some muscle.

Granted age has something to do with their interests but the museum was a funny reminder of just how different these boys are. Noah goes from exhibit to exhibit wanting to know all information about the dinosaurs. Here he is putting together a fossil puzzle.

Micah on the other hand runs everywhere pointing and yelling "T Rex" no matter what the dinosaur is. He is simply looking for the next thing he can climb on. I had to chuckle as I went through my photos of our trip because nearly every one is him climbing on something.

They also played with dinosaurs.

A tornado.

Bowling

Kitchen bowling = a good way to spend part of the the afternoon.

Noah made this crown at school, it says Prince Noah. They are focusing on fairy tales this week. It kept falling down over his eyes so I'm not sure he could actually see the pins half the time.

And here's Micah offering up a section of his orange, just in case I'm hungry too.

Night Trains

On Saturday night we took a family trip to the Twin City Model Railroad Museum for the annual Night Trains display. The museum has an impressive model train display on a daily basis but during the holidays they have a special evening event where they turn down the lights and deck the town and trains with snow and festive decor. We took Noah two years ago so it was fun to be back again. The event has grown a lot in two years.

The boys also got a chance to be engineers. Micah drove Thomas and Noah had Diesel.

Of course, there are train tables to play at as well.

The train displays are truly amazing.

Ringing the bell.

2011

Noah and Micah party with friends to celebrate the new year.