Isaac: 63 months

Isaac turned 63 months a week ago.

Language: Isaac loves rhyming.  The beginning of last month he just figured out how it works too...he went from asking, "Does clothes and clothes line rhyme?" to "bear care sare zare!  A rhyme!"  He doesn't always rhyme real words, but he has the concept down.  He's also noticed that many songs have rhymes in them and is very intrigued by that.

Legos: Isaac is loving Lego sets right now.  Finding time for the digger is one of his priorities first things in the day.  He currently has three other ones going because they always look shiny.  He does a really good job putting them together.

Jesus: His faith is growing, and it's interesting to see what he picks up on.  He tells me that he loves me infinities of infinities of infinities much, and Jesus an infinity more.  One afternoon at Legoland I told him to think about sleeping for his nap, and he told me he was thinking about Jesus.

surprises: Isaac loves surprises.  I've been trying to not tell him the more fun things that we are going to do that day.

imagination: Isaac does not lack for imagination.  The other day at school I needed to wait about five minutes while he finished a project.  It was a potion, for Giraffe, that needed to be cooked so that Giraffe could gain a power.  (There was a specific power, but I don't remember what it was.)  He made a hanger (with a 3M hook) and made the fire.

School: speaking of school, Isaac is still enjoying school.  I'm not sure there is much academic advancement going on, but I'm sure he's solidifying concepts and learning other things.  I have noticed that he is suddenly coloring in the lines much better and seems to care about what color things are.

Monday: I'm grumpy! Leave your bib on!

Oh Joshua.  He's congested and there's just not much I can do for him.  We slept in the guest bed last night because it just wasn't working for him last night.

I heard a lot of "I'm grumpy!" today, meaning he needed a nose wipe.  For some reason he seems to have lost the ability to do it by himself.  And since he's congested my wipe wasn't always able to help.

This evening Ben and Isaac were putting together the next step of the digger and all I heard was "Leave your bib on!!" over and over again.  Apparently Ben was supposed to wear a pillow as a bib...a hard task for sure while you're putting together Legos.  Eventually he was declared clean and didn't have to wear it though.  We do not lack for imagination in this house.

Sunday: digger 2

Finding time to work on the digger was Isaac's #1 priority today.

Joshua: 31/32 months

I didn't take pictures at 31 months.  It's the first month I missed.  I was a bit annoyed at myself, but decided to carry on.

mood: Joshua was not in the mood to take pictures.  However, I don't ask it of him very often so I just snapped some so life could go on.  Joshua tends to be pretty happy, but gets scared easily.  He is also often in the mood to cuddle.  His moods swing back and forth rather quickly.  He is working on not throwing a fit the first time he asks for something; I'm working on listening to him better and responding promptly.

activities: Joshua still likes music a lot.  He choose a Barbie CD from the library and wanted to listen to it a lot.  (It was just pop songs; the only Barbie thing was the cover.)  Duplos and Legos are still chosen on a regular basis.  He loves birthdays and keeps telling people he's three.  He likes to run, especially with Isaac.

eating: eating is still rather hard  He does a good job at breakfast with yogurt and a granola bar.  Lunch is usually pretty good because I let him choose his main item (often a bagel) with fruit and crunchy beans.  I've learned that he prefers his banana in the peel.  He rarely eats much for dinner.  Sometimes a bit, but often it is just the fruit.

lovies: Joshua loves Bear, who is a pretty constant companion.  Not all the time, but often.  Ben and I asked if he could wait two minutes to get Bear today and the look he gave us was incredulity.  He also has elephant, teddy bear, little bear, blue bear, EE, and dragon.  They all sleep with him; there's barely room for him.

Motor skills: fine motor skills are obviously progressing since he can so some Legos.  He's also working on putting his own clothes on.  This does tend to be a bit of a struggle though.  So we've implemented "pajamas are a privilege" and until he gets dressed without a tantrum we will be getting dressed right away in the morning.  At night he's tired and flopping all over the place, so that's hard too.  However, one morning in Florida Isaac helped him and he got all but one sleeve by himself...so it's working.

expressions: Joshua has the best expressions.  Usually they show up when we did something that he sees as foolish, such as turning over the cup that had EEs pretend ice cream in it.

school: Joshua still likes school.  He went to the 3yr old room on Thursday and apparently did great!  But then when he heard my voice lost it and cuddled for the next several minutes while Isaac finished a project.  Yesterday, Saturday, his favorite thing that he did was ride the bus to school.  He's been doing a great job counting and can get up to 13 pretty easily.

bathroom: He's still potty trained; no relapses.  He had a few accidents over break, but we managed and it was understandable as Grandpa's house is just so exciting.  I'm trying to get him off having an M&M every time he goes on the toilet.  I give them if he asks, but don't just give them any more.  He's been pretty good at getting his pants up, so if I'm not around he doesn't seem to think about it either.

sunglasses: all winter he wouldn't go outside without his sunglasses.  Now that the sun is coming out he's willing to go without them and in fact refuses them sometimes.  Life is an adventure. :)

Saturday: Legos

The boys wanted to play Legos pretty much all day.  Isaac woke up and went downstairs to look at the set again; Joshua joined him.

We dragged them away to have a treat with Dad and Pat and then to see the forensics team at the library.  And for dinner.

Really, it was a win-win for everyone.  Ben had a good time with the boys.  Isaac had a good time with Ben and did a lot of the putting together.  Joshua helped a bit, but kept himself entertained.  I had a quieter day and that was lovely too.

Legoland, day 2

Thursday

At the restuarant.  It was a buffet style, so there were plenty of choices.  The first day Ben put two tater tots on his plate and Joshua was adamant that he didn't want them again.

We saw a pirate in the lobby.

The dragon at the entrance.

We had our picture taken last time by this octopus too, but both boys were in strollers sleeping.  Joshua did fall asleep in the stroller for about 45 minutes near the end.  It was almost a problem because Isaac started saying his feet hurt.  (They had to share the stroller.)

This lady was by Cypress Gardens; Legoland took them over but left some of the greenery.

Isaac really wanted a picture next to this one.

There was a gigantic banyon tree in the middle of the garden.  They grow roots down from the branches, which then turn into trunks.

After the gardens we started walking back, doing some of the things that the boys wanted to do.  (We did it that way the first day too, because the things they wanted to do had short or no lines.)  Isaac wanted to do a button push game.  They weren't there too long, and then he was bouldering.  He did it twice.

Isaac went on the joust and Joshua and I headed to the carousel for different horses.  He got distracted by the train.

Here's his special bear.

And waving to the kitty cat.

The train distracted him next, so we went on that twice, once with Isaac and Cheryl, before having a treat of apple straws and ice cream, riding the caurosel, and picking out some Legos to bring home.

At the front of the hotel, right before packing up the car.

The trip was a hit.  (Today Joshua wanted to go back to Legoland and we almost had some tears when that wasn't where we were going.)

Legoland, day 1

Wednesday.

By one of the restaurants.

An airplane by a Lego pit.

A tulip

Getting ready to go in the park.  By staying at the Lego hotel, we got to go in early.  They didn't have a ton of things open early, but we made good use of it.

Isaac enjoyed pushing Joshua.  Due to a high number of spins though, he didn't get to do this much.

A train!  Our first ride.  The next day Joshua wanted to go back on it.

Driving school.  Two years ago Isaac could barely do it.  This year he was a pro.

The boat ride.  (This is the one that Joshua talked about today.)  This was a rather long line; probably one of the longest we stood in...maybe about fifteen minutes.  We went on this Thursday too.

Pictures in the cars since Joshua was too little for the driving ride that Isaac could do.

A toddler playground.  It was a nice break and rather empty.  There was AC, so if it had been really hot out it would have been really nice.

The current car out of Legos.  I didn't get a picture of the sign, but it was a lot of Legos and and long time to make.

Isaac and a giraffe, since Giraffe is his favorite stuffed animal right now.

Since we were there for two days, we felt free to hit some of the less exciting spots.  We stopped by this brick pool, and it had Lego plates on the wall.  I did Joshua's name.

Ben upgraded it.

Isacc did his own name.

We then went to see the water skiing show.  Unfortunately, about ten minutes into it it was canceled due to technical difficulties and the actors that were there awkwardly ran off.  We saw a bit of it the next day from further away - which was much more comfortable.  There were Legoman skiers that Joshua was very excited about and a shark that he was very afraid of.

We didn't look at Miniland very much, but stopped for a quick picture as a family of five.  See the alligator in the background?

We called it a day around 1:30.  We knew we still had another day in the park and I thought Joshua would benefit from a nap.  We all took a nice rest.

Isaac really wanted to go to the pool, so we did that after rest time.  I was a bit surprised that he wanted to go in the pool so much; it looked like a normal pool.  We were thinking about going to the water park, but opted for naps and pool instead.  It was a good choice.  They had a bunch of giant floating Legos in the pool (2x2 and 2x4 pegs) with which to build and we had a grand time.  Ben made a boat, Isaac made a hat, and Joshua liked swimming in search of big blocks.

After the pool we had a Master Modelers time.  I admit, I was hoping it would be geared towards older kids with a bit of theory on how to make a good creation of your own.  Instead, it was putting together a little set.  There was still a bit of info and I've noticed Isaac sorting his pieces as recommended now, but mostly just step by step instructions...perfect for kids.  The boys made a parrot and Joshua did a good job, to our not surprise.

Here's our room.  The boys loved exploring it in the beginning and I heard several things like, "look at that!!!"  (the soap dish in the bathtub.  It was a normal one, but I guess we don't have one at home.)  The designers did an excellent job of designing for young families.  There is a bunk bed alcove once you come in the door, then the bathroom, then the main bed.  It gives the adults privacy and also allows the kids to go to sleep without all the lights being turned off.  The toilet also has a kids' toilet seat built in.  Isaac did complain that the toilet paper was too far away though and the sink was a bit high.  :)

At the end of the day we started putting together some Legos from some small sets.