Groundhog Promises

The groundhog said that spring is coming, and as we move into March, I hope he's right, because I know two little boys who are growing restless with so much time indoors and one mommy who would love to be able to consistently let them run their energy out in the great outdoors! It's a good thing there are a few holidays to break up the monotony of winter, and of course we have been blessed with some pretty mild weather overall, which has also helped, although Davis mourns the lack of snow to play in and build a snowman.  We went to Springfield, MO to celebrate Thanksgiving with Greg's side of the family, and Davis and Adam had an awesome time hanging out with their cousins, including watching Uncle Jeff shoot off a rocket he built and playing some "soccer" at the nearby park on Thanksgiving day, and celebrating an early Christmas.  We also did an early Christmas at our home with my side of the family, and enjoyed a quiet Christmas day at home.  Adam's attempts to open his own gifts were often thwarted by his overly-helpful brother, and the highlight for both boys was probably playing with the cool "robo dog" that Davis opened. Davis was ever so excited for Christmas this year, and I'm sure next year both boys will be little bouncing balls of excitement!  :)  Davis also enjoyed celebrating Valentine's Day at preschool this year and is looking forward to celebrating his 5th birthday later this month! Davis is learning to read.  His preschool progress report from the fall noted that he already knew all his letter sounds, and in the last few months he has had increased interest in using this knowledge to sound out words and is picking up sight words.  I picked him up from preschool recently and his teacher Miss LoriLee said, "Davis was reading words to us today!"  She was pretty impressed by him and said that he will be reading in no time.  We have started reading chapter books at home, one chapter each night before bed, and he is really enjoying it.  He can count to 100 if he has the numbers in front of him to reference so he doesn't get mixed up with his tens.  He does simple addition with the help of his fingers. We are so proud of him and how he is growing and learning.  It's hard to believe, but kindergarten registration is coming up in just a couple of months.  Kindergarten is intense these days, unfortunately, but I believe that he will be ready and will really blossom. (Also, Greg brought it to my attention that my last post completely failed to mention a very significant event of this past summer - Davis breaking his collarbone on August 1st!  It happened while running to collect candy that was dropped from an airplane.  Poor little guy!  A few days of pain and a few weeks with his arm in a sling - rather haphazardly, I must say - and he was all better, but he still occasionally talks about how he is sad because he broke his collarbone.) Adam is a demanding little toddler - "MaMAAAAAAA!" - but oh so sweet and adorable still.  He loves cuddles and does not like to share them with his big brother.  He is very affectionate and empathetic and makes little kissing noises when he wants to be picked up to be hugged and kissed.  He adores playing with Davis, playing peek-a-boo in Daddy's shirts hanging in the closet, playing "Trot Little Horsey," "Ring Around the Rosey," "This Litle Piggy," and "Itsy-bitsy Spider," looking at books and being told the names of everything in the book, eating snacks and drinking Danimals yogurt smoothies (he is totally addicted to them), wearing the same camouflage boots that Davis was obsessed with a couple of years ago even though they are way too big for him, bringing everyone their shoes when it's time to go, coloring and playing with markers, and looking at our photo albums.  Adam is still a man of few words and it makes me anxious sometimes, but his receptive language is great and he is working on his talking.  He is great with animal noises and loves to communicate non-verbally.  When I ask him to say "hot," he will instead start blowing as though he's blowing on hot food.  When he is thirsty, he has started making a gulping sound to let me know.  The child may never talk! Here are some pics of our little guys from earlier this winter.  Eventually I will get some 2016 pictures uploaded.  I can never get enough of staring at their cute little faces. :)

From Loving the Life We Live