Easter family fun

Easter was a lot of fun. The kids looked for baskets in the morning, we enjoyed church together, had some lunch then did an Easter egg hunt. My kids needed some help but they did pretty well.

Henry didn't really want to be in pictures but Emma did a good job holding him.

Running away from the picture-taking.
He looked so dapper.

He's got the cheesy grin down.

These two beauties had a great time together, and stayed up late chatting several nights.

Emma didn't want to get this egg because of the spiderwebs near it. Ha.

I could look at his cheesy grin all day.

Spin around.

One of her eggs had one dollar and 5 dimes inside.
She exclaimed "I got money! And a paper?"
Apparently we haven't talked much about money.

The day after Easter we took it easy for the most part, but we did make it out to a nice park in Maple Valley.

Her Uncle Isaac is a pro swing pusher.

On Wednesday we went to Point Defiance Zoo and Aquarium and the kids loved it. I loved it, too.

My kids liked the touch areas and were very gentle.
Henry was ready to jump right in with his finger at the ready.

Looking for the arctic foxes.

We did the carousel last. Emma kept asking throughout our walk around the zoo about if we were going to the carousel yet. She was so excited for it which is awesome since she was terrified of them two years ago. Henry did really well on the carousel. He got squirmy before it started since we were the first ones on and had to wait as other people came and selected seats and everything. Once it got moving I think he was a little nervous but he got smiley after not too long and seemed happy.

New family photos.

We are so grateful to family for coming up to see us - it's a LONG drive (13.5-ish hours if you time it well with commute in the various big cities along the way). We looked forward to their visit so much and we loved each day we got to spend with them. We love getting together with family.

Henry speaks! And other updates

At his 18-month check-up mid-February he could say about 10 words (among those: mommy, daddy, Emma, cat, dog/dah, up, cracker). Before he hit 19-months-old, though, he had picked up so many and would repeat a lot of words. He still does and continues to surprise me.

His most common words include daddy, Emma, sister, mommy, shoes, socks, more/mo (while signing), all done (while signing), up, please/team (while signing; not sure why it sounds like team), dog/doh (he notices them pretty fast on walks or will see them on signs or books), mine (usually said playfully/teasing when holding something he knows isn't his), duck and home.

Within the past week he surprised me with knowing some of his numbers. I do one-two with my kids when I've gotten them dressed ("arm/leg number one, arm/leg number two") but Henry can say a few of the numbers like two, four, six (the "x" sound comes out funny, understandably at his age), nine and ten. If I go in order and say the odd numbers he usually fills in the even but six is harder for him to remember and eight he doesn't remember at all. He seems to really like saying "nine" and sometimes finds it fun to finish with "TEN!"

For a while he liked to say "A, B" then added to it and would say "A, B, C" but now he usually says "C, D" when he sees/has an alphabet book or hears me talking to Emma about letters. He likes saying the letters "P" and "T" when we go through the alphabet.

We love that he enjoys the Sunbeam song and will fill in all the "sun____" parts with an enthusiastic "BEAN!" We've tried to get him to say "beam" but it's going to be "bean" for a while and it's adorable. Which reminds me that another word he'll say is "song" if I sing to him even if it's a made-up song. Earlier today I made up a song about a rubber duck to try to distract him while I changed his clothes and after I finished he said "song!" and then tried to sing part of it, repeating a couple of the words I used.

And speaking of ducks, he loves them and is very interested in birds. Any time he hears birds he perks up his head, turns toward the sound and says "duck!" He also has a similar reaction to hearing a dog bark but says "dah!" (the "g" doesn't quite make it onto the end).

He loves his "pup".

In the past 3 or so weeks Henry has become more of a book lover which we're happy about since we love books, and also because it means he'll stay still for a while (and out of trouble). Sometimes he'll bring a book (which I usually have to grab before the spine hits me), sit with me and I'll read a bit of it while letting him turn the page, he'll scoot off of the couch, take the book back (I usually remind him but he follows through which is amazing), and get another one and we sometimes do that cycle several times.

Henry continues to be a sweet, affectionate boy. His sister doesn't always welcome his hugs but when she does it makes my mommy heart swell with joy. Henry will usually grant a request from me or Bry for hugs/snuggles (we can say "hug" or "snuggle" and he'll rest his head against us momentarily) and kisses. I love his sweet affection and it helps me to not be quite as upset when he's up to his usual trouble-making around the house.

He has a very cheesy grin he makes when I ask him to smile but getting it without a blur is a challenge. He is a fast one.

He still drops food on the floor at meal-times most days at least once, which we aren't fans of. I'm fairly positive Emma didn't keep that habit for very long but she is also the kid that will eat most everything whereas Henry will not. It makes me wish even more so that our house didn't have carpeting in the dining room. Oh well.

He also grabs Emma's hair sometimes and will pull her glasses right off her face if her face is close to his body, like when she goes to tickle him. Thankfully, Emma's glasses have flexible hinges and have been proven their durability.

We're happy he is a solid sleeper (his nap occasionally is funky and it pushed back a couple hours recently which I like most days). I'm grateful we've all been healthy the past couple months. The weather we've had the past few weeks has been beautiful most days and we've enjoyed more time outside.

Post-Christmas fun

Hopefully you've liked the photo dumps as I catch up from our Christmas vacation. Here's one more.

The day after Christmas the kids hung out together. Henry tried snagging Jacob when he saw him lying on the couch. Ha.

 

Movie time. Can you tell? 

 

We went for a walk and at the lake were FOUR pelicans! They were sticking pretty close together part of the time we watched them.

 

Emma liked to be with Papa no matter what he was doing.

On Thursday, two days after Christmas, we went on a trip to San Francisco starting at the Musée Mécanique.

  

Emma had all sorts of fun - Papa was like a magic man and got Emma onto a MOVING animal on the carousel and she didn't look the least bit afraid. She has always been somewhat apprehensive/terrified of riding on carousels, although in the last year she has liked it but never wanted to be on a moving one. She sat up high on that horse and did amazing. I was so proud my eyes may have gotten a tiny bit teary.
Also, look at that gorgeous sister of mine. Seriously.
And the kids had fun running up and down a staircase that made music - each step was like a key. It was really cool.

    

Of course, we didn't leave San Francisco without going to one of my most favorite spots (if not my favorite) - GHIRARDELLI. Emma and I shared some cookies with cookie ice cream (she ate applesauce first since I had given some to her brother who was tired/fussy and she wanted some too). It was so delicious. Also, a big thanks to Papa for carrying her on his shoulders for the latter part of the journey since we had done quite a bit of walking and she was getting worn out.