Second week of November

These cuties were holding hands in my bed this morning. (Max covered his face because the flash was too bright)

I went in to check on Emmalyn when she was supposed to be sleeping.  Instead I found that she had pulled out a bunch of clothes from her hampers and was having fun.  Naughty!

Video - Emmalyn loves to sing

Working on legos together

Dad took Max on a daddy/son date to the movies.  They saw the Peanuts movie and had a great time. (Although Max was quick to point out that they didn't always talk nicely to each other which is usually our gauge for whether a show is appropriate for him to watch or not.)

Notice her hand tucked in her PJs?  It's like she needs to be touching her skin to be comforted.  (She tucks her hand into my shirt when she's cuddling with me or tired.) It's similar to what Maxwell did when he would self sooth by touching his nipples but she's just got her hand tucked into her shirt.

Video - daddy continues to get the best giggles

We had a fun birthday party for one of Max's classmates at a local place called Play Street Museum.  Both kids had a lot of fun pretending (usually Max isn't that into it but he had a lot of fun).

Driving the bus

I guess her bed wasn't comfy enough tonight?

She's been sleeping on top of her pillow sometimes!

I had Maxwell's fall parent/teacher conference.  Ms. Cynthia loves him, you can tell.  She said that he is a happy boy but that he can get upset/emotional if something goes wrong.  For example, he was working on some math and the tools spilled all over and he started tearing up rather than just cleaning up the mess.  He also gets emotional when he doesn't know the answer.  He sometimes doesn't pay attention when he walks.  He doesn't like coloring.  

In Math, he is moving from doing math problems horizontally to doing them vertically.  He has gained a lot of confidence on math and is going to start working on subtraction.  

He pairs well with others but is afraid to be the big leader of a group and looks for reassurance.  His teacher is going to have him start reading to the class to help with that confidence.  She also suggested that I set up some playdates with the more bold-leader boys in the class.  

We talked about having him become a "non-napper" before he is 4 1/2 because he's not sleeping any more during naps.

His teacher's notes "Max is a happy boy.  He is working on his counting ability from 1-100 and counting by tens.  In language we are working on blends and compound words.  He enjoys reading books.  We enjoy having him."

As part of the conference, there is a full assessment on many areas.  (The whole thing is 7 pages long!)  Highlights:  He needs development in hopping on one foot but is age appropriate for all other physical development assessments.  His oral language skills are all age appropriate.  As far as his personal development, he needs development in applying a variety of strategies to solve problems and tying/lacing shoes.  He has improved in handling transition well and resolving conflict appropriately.  He has mastered his sizes, colors, sounds, weight differentiation, some of his 2 dimensional shapes/polygons, etc, and most of his 3 dimensional shapes.  He has mastered all but one of his skills in word building and has steady progressing in reading.

Our pantry door is starting to fill up with Max's notes/drawings that he wants put up.

He drew a map from "master" to "africa"  (where did he get that from?)

A note to dad showing how he can count by 10's

Maxwell had his first soccer skills class.  We decided to not play on a team right now but instead to try this soccer skills class and see if that helps him improve.

We didn't know it but showed up one week early...  they still let Maxwell play and the coach kindly gave him a medal like the other kids who were finishing up that class.

both kids had fun playing in the play place at chik-fil-a

Emmalyn makes animal noises for duck, cat, dog, bear, cow, monkey, and frog.

She was so into Kindermusik this past week.  She sang every song and did the actions.  

Walks on her tippy toes sometimes

I've heard her call her daddy "peter" a few times but nothing like what Maxwell used to do.

She asks for pizza nearly every night and Maxwell's nightly request is Mac-n-cheese.

Max is really into counting to 100 by 10's and he showed me that now he's learned to count to 100 by 5's.  (He says Hayden taught him!)

He cleaned up his room by himself when I sent him to put on his PJs and I didn't have to ask him.  I was so impressed and proud!

First Week of November

November is going to have to really step up if it's going to beat the awesomeness that was October!

Big girl sitting by herself at Costco

When Max visits me at work, I don't want to erase what he leaves behind.  :)

I am so glad we live somewhere with a short winter.  It's great to be able to play outside without jackets in November

A girl after my own heart - LOVES spaghetti

Max was excited to eat the gum he got on Halloween.  This was the first time he's ever had gum.  He did a good job of chewing for a minute or two and then spitting it out.

A pic a friend sent me from Halloween.  Emmalyn is busy looking at her neighbor friend, Michael

Good morning Mr. Selfie

Video - Maxwell is doing so great at swimming lessons.  Here's his backstroke (Remember, he's a little over 4!)

Jumping with dad  - fun for everyone

Max still move around a ton when he sleeps and doesn't just lay with his head on the pillow.  He also ends up without a blanket on.

At night when it's time for bed, usually I cuddle with him in his bed.  Well, Peter has said told Maxwell that he loves the "Little Red Caboose" Kindermusik song.  So, when Maxwell wants Peter to come into the bedroom for something (get him socks, kiss him goodnight, etc.) he will start singing "Little Red Caboose" really loudly until Peter comes in singing it.  It's fun and it's sweet to see Max want to also connect with his Dad when he's going to bed.

We went and enjoyed dinner/dessert at my old work friend and boss, Lori.  Her kids were cute with my kids and I was able to enjoy a little break.

Emmalyn quickly warmed up to Wes and even climbed up on his lap to share his cake.

Looking at pictures with Kylie

Reading books at bedtime

Look how long her hair is getting at the back!

Ugh.  Look at that big balcony on the house behind us.  It looks directly into our yard.  We are going to have to do something to get our privacy back and have decided a new tree is probably the best option.

Video - Maxwell has some pretty good (in my opinion) gun/weapons sounds.  Not sure where he learns it from...clearly his momma doesn't have those skills!  This kid is such a BOY!

We went to a local tree farm and got to ride around in a golf cart.  Max thought it was super cool.

Walking away in anger because she didn't like what we were telling her.  Oh man...this girl!

I love her in those boots!

Having fun at the park.

There is something about this picture that makes Maxwell seem so old!  It's like that body belongs to a grown boy, not my sweet 4 year old.

always a character

playing with playdough (I think for the first time at our house)

Our neighbors invited Maxwell over to have dinner and play.  He had an awesome time.

Building a lego soccer game with Mr. Chris

Emmalyn update:

She picks her nose

She gets so upset in the morning if I leave the bed once I bring her into our bed to nurse (Sorry Peter, I know you get left to deal with it)

She loves to brush her own teeth

Her drooling seems to be starting to get better

She talks in full on sentences but you can't understand her language

She loves showering, turning on the bathtub

She's talkative and funny, lots of momma momma momma momma or daddy daddy daddy daddy.

She can say more than 60 words that I can think of...she says: Water, Shower, Bow, Teeth, Toes, Eyes, Nose, Ears, Hair, Head, Mouth, Belly, Diaper, Poopy, Dress, Shoes, Pizza, Milk, Cheese, Chips, Bite, More, Bread, Bye, Hi, Love you, Look, Daddy, Momma, Max, Maxwell, Landen, Hayden, Joe, Brittany, Banana, Book, Puppy, Kitty, Flower, Thank You, Please, Down, Up, Towel, Splash, Pumpkin, Hooray, Sleep Sack, Off, Ipad, Snack, Strawberry, Applesauce, Yogurt, Step, Walk, Door, Ball, Backpack, Bread, and more every day!!!

Emmalyn is not happy to be contained whether in the car, the stroller, the high chair, your lap, or a shopping cart.  She just wants to be doing her own thing, moving on her own.
She is singing all the time and is really into Kindermusik - sang along with the song "ram sam sam" in class.
She likes the rough/adventurous stuff like being play dropped onto the couch and bouncing up and down or going down slides.
She says cheese when taking pictures
I have started giving her my phone to play with (it's locked) when in bed, and she loves to go grab the ipad.  So, the screen time has already started with her.  I wish it hadn't but it's just too hard to fight it so instead we work to limit it.
She's great with a spoon.
She asks for milk in the morning and says, "yay yay yay" when I give in and tell her I'll nurse her.
She does 2 naps still but they are not very long sometimes.


Maxwell update:
Maxwell is enjoying his once a week Spanish class at school.  Unfortunately, having both Spanish and Chinese now has caused him to struggle more to remember what he knew from Chinese and he gets confused.
He stopped saying "good night, sleep tight, don't let the bed bugs bite, I'll see you in the morning light, don't let the superheros get you" when I tuck him in at night about 2 weeks ago.  I try to get him to say it and he won't anymore.  Sad...
He says he wants to marry me but then when I tell him he can't because I'm already married he says he wants to marry Aunt Julianne.  (How cute is that)...Then this morning he said that he didn't want to get married and he wanted to keep living in the house with me.