ET's School Valentine Holder!

For school this year, ET needed to make his own Valentine holder.  I left this one up to Jay and ET to create something fun together.  I was so impressed with the end result!  They had a lot of fun together!  They made a Lego themed holder with Emmet from the new Lego movie!

Valentine's Day...

 A couple of weekends before Valentine's Day Jay's parents watched the boys so we could have a weekend alone.  We had such a great time.  We went out to dinner on Friday night to the Tavern and spent a few hours with friends afterwards.  On Saturday, I went to a Lia Sophia party while Jay went out shopping for a new grill.  We had lunch and went shopping at the Rosedale Mall.  Saturday evening we went to church and then out for dinner.  Sunday morning we went to the boat show and had lunch.  It was a lot of fun!  Much needed one-on-one time!!!!

I had an awesome Valentine's Day with the daycare!  We had a Valentine's snack mix with strawberry milk straws for breakfast.  (Everyone had to wear hats because we were in the midst of a lice scare.  No worries though, it never spread.)

We made GIANT Valentine's!  We traced our arms open wide and I wrote, "Here is a hug from me to you, because I love you and all that you!"

 Valentine M&M Bingo...

 Lunch was heart shaped grilled cheese sandwiches with tomato soup!

 A baby bel cheese with a heart punched out of it.

 For snack time we had frosted cookies!

Here are my two special Valentine's!

Our Special Guys!

I love these pictures!  On this day, the boys spent half of their morning fighting imaginary bad guys with their shirts off.  Apparently when your shirt is off, you can show off your muscles and it makes you more tough. :)  Then they spent the second half of their morning wrapping up their stuffed animals and singing lullabies to them.  I am proud to say we are raising strong and sensitive little men!

Silly moment...

Nate doesn't usually take naps anymore.  He is such a sweetheart during nap time hours though.  He usually plays cars and trucks in the living room, just because he likes to be near me.  I love his calm and peaceful side.  He is such a joy to be around!  I will really miss this time with him when he goes to Kindergarten.  On this particular day he was pretty tired.  Instead of sleeping in his bedroom, he set up a bed in the hallway.  What an adorable goofball!

ET's Basketball...

I feel absolutely awful that I have been so behind on my blogging!

Here is a couple of shots of ET playing basketball this Fall and Winter.  He did an awesome job, and he still continues to love the sport.  We got lucky this year, and a friend of ours was the team coach!  It was a great season!

Nate's Four Year Update and Stats...

Nate is growing up and fast!  I wish every day that we could slow down time, or go back just to savor sweet memories!  With each passing year, I enjoy the new stages that Nate is encountering.  He is so smart, and learning A LOT.  He knows his letters, has a good grasp on his numbers, his colors, and most of his shapes.  He can write very well, and actually enjoys coloring and completing projects (cutting, pasting, following directions, etc.).  Since January, I have been introducing sight words to him, and he is retaining all of it.  He reads simple books, and even writes simple sentences.   He understands the format of a sentence, and with my help can sound out words and write them down.  He is meeting or exceeding all areas of development written on his four year well child checkup form.  He is a typical four year old when it comes to sharing, taking turns, or losing fairly in a game.  He cooperates when he wants to, but still needs guidance at times.  His confidence and self-esteem is growing though, and that is a huge benefit in my eyes.  I am so excited at the thought of where he will be by the time he will start school!

Being that Nate is doing so well, Jay and I have decided not to sign him up for a preschool program outside of the daycare.  We ended up sending ET at this age because we felt he needed to respect authority a little more and get a more formal introduction to classroom formalities.  With Nate, he really doesn't challenge me on these things in any way.  I am very confident that he will transition well from daycare to Kindergarten when the time comes.

Nate still goes to speech therapy at Children's Hospital once a week with the same teacher.  We have seen a huge improvement with his speech over the last year.  So much so, that I am sure he will graduate soon.  The only concern (although not really a concern) is his grammatical errors in his speech.  His sentence format is still that of a three year old (ex: He will say, "I not like" instead of "I don't like.").  I am really not concerned too much about this though, because I have so much experience with other children in this area.  I know that his language will slowly improve over time and with more life experiences.

Nate is a good sleeper for the most part.  He still doesn't require a lot of sleep though.  He officially stopped taking naps this year.  He will only take a short power nap about once a week, if that.  He still wakes from those naps very crabby.  Always has, and probably always will.  While the daycare kids take their nap, Nate will often play with toys quietly in his room or the living room.  He has always been so calm and peaceful at this time.  I enjoy being with him so much!  He goes to bed around 7:30 or 8:00, and rises around 6:30 each morning.  He has definitely always been an early riser.  On the weekends, he will often watch a movie in the morning, and let Paul or myself rest longer. 

Nate's health is very good.  His tubes fell out this year.  We had him checked by the ENT doctor, and he said everything is perfect and just as it should be.  Thankfully, he will not need more tubes!  We were very excited about this!  He has still managed to catch about every cold that goes around the daycare though (not a bad thing though, as I believe it will raise his immune system).  Sometimes he will get a mild fever with the cold, but he can generally fight it off on his own.  He has had strep throat three times this year, which is definitely a concern.  I wonder what the future will bring regarding this.  Like me, he may need his tonsils out at some time in the future.  We discovered he is allergic to penicillin while on an antibiotic to treat his strep.  He coughed and sneezed like crazy.  We are assuming it was an allergic reaction, but are not completely sure.  We still continue to buy organic non-homogenized cows milk for our family.  We are hoping to do this forever.  With how much milk this family drinks, we know it is the healthier option.

Nate's stats...
Height: 3 ' 5.75" (75% percentile)
Weight: 38 lbs. 3.2 oz. (50% percentile)
His percentiles have stayed consistent at 50% for weight and 75% for height.

I really feel emotional when I think about how fast time is going by.  I also feel like I am not recording as much as I did before.  Although, I keep saying I will improve on this, life continues to stay busy.  I know I will miss these years of when Nate is young.  I love listening to his stories, and hearing him explain things.  Hearing him sing songs, or play with friends is like music to my ears.  He is such a sweet boy, with a gigantic heart!

Nate, What we love about you...

Nate,
What we love about you...

• We love your sweet smiles, and your adorable giggle!  I just love watching you!  I sometimes sit in awe of what God has given us.
• We love your sweet sweet voice, and finally being able to hear those words from your mouth.  You have come so far!  I am really trying to take in all that you say and how you say it, because before long you will lose that cute tone in your voice.
• We love your quietness and peacefulness while you play with your cars and Legos.   
• We  love being able to carry and hold you.  It won't be long before you are too heavy.
• We love your sweet and affectionate side.  You are always asking for kisses and hugs and more kisses and hugs!  You will occasionally wake up in the middle of the night, go potty on your own, come over and kiss me and your Daddy on the cheek and then put yourself back to bed.  You really are so sweet!
• We love tucking you in at night.  You never let us forget to say your prayer with you, and you have to be certain that you gave us a kiss and received a kiss from both me and your Daddy.  You are the same way when your Dad or I have to leave the house.  You always want a hug and a kiss and you have to tell us you love us more than once.
• We love that you are so smart!!  You are so eagar to learn!  You are even learning to read now!  You can get dressed, put the animals on your bed, brush your teeth (somewhat), get your shoes on, and your jacket on.  I am amazed with how much you love doing projects at daycare.  You have a very long attention span! 
• We have always described you as the reserved quiet one, who is eager to please.  You are also very sensitive.  You are getting older though, so it is fun to watch you make some noise with ET and your friends.  Over the last six months you have come out of your shell more and more.  I think with age, seeing you interact in the daycare takes on a new role each year as you get older.  You are becoming a louder, more opinionated person, and I love it!  Seeing your confidence grow each day through your play and interaction with others is so exciting to watch!
• We love how you interact with your brother.  You guys are best buds!  You even said the other day, "ET is my best brother!"  Sometimes I think you guys could just laugh for hours!
• We love how good of an eater you are!  We still have to encourage you to eat, but for the most part you eat very independently.  You eat a lot of healthy foods, and ET has convinced you that "McDonald's is disgusting!" :)

You love...

•  Your cars and little Legos.  You just started getting into little Legos this year.  You need a lot of help with them, but you prefer them over Duplos.  You still love any car, truck, or train that moves.  You continue to ask for them as gifts.  I have a hard time buying them because you already have so many!
• You love movies.  You still love Cars, but you don't really have an all time favorite right now.  This year you got Croods, Turbo, Smurfs 2, Epic, and a few more.
• You love your friends.  Your best bud of all time is ET.  You also mostly love Autumn, Jonny, and Jacob.  You love being funny and making your friends laugh.  You can be such a clown!  What a good trait to have.  We hope you continue to make people laugh.
• Your favorite most requested foods are: a Nutella taco, Baby Bel cheese, carrot sticks, pickles, bread with honey, pancakes, and cottage cheese.  You eat just about anything.
• Your favorite restaurant is Cowboy Jacks.  You love their chicken tenders and fries with Ranch.
• You love spending one-on-one time with Mom or Dad.  I can still get you to go shopping with me.  I am sure that will change in the next year or two. With Dad you love to play hide and go seek, and Legos.  As of right now, you adore your Daddy and love to shadow him on the weekends.
• Your favorite stuffed animal is mostly Eddie, but you always need your dream light, your lantern, and sometimes Mumford the Moose, and BaBa the Sheep.
• When you are sick, you always want your cars blankie, your Eddie, and your train water bottle.  Typically Daddy will sleep with you on the couch if you are up coughing.  He loves your snuggles!
• You enjoy going to our new church!  It has been so beneficial for all of us, and it is so nice to be able to drop you off and not have you cry for us when we leave.
• You enjoy playing at indoor playparks like Lookout Ridge now.  Before you would get scared and there would always be tears, but now you run off and play.  It is so nice.
• You love playing board games, but you do not like losing.  We are working on that.  You love playing Candyland the best.
• You love music!  You love to dance, and sing the most.  Your favorite song is One Direction "Beautiful."

Your Dad, and I love watching you grow and learn with each passing day.  I hope you know how much we truly love and care for you!  You are an amazing, compassionate, sensitive, and loving boy!  We are so blessed! Our only wish for you is that you love God, love yourself, and love life with all your heart!

We love you unconditionally,
Mommy and Daddy