The Great Outdoors

More photos from last weekend when the sun shone and the temps got up in the 70s. Unlike the cold rains of yesterday and today that have turned our yard into a swamp!

Daphne insisted we put her up on the nose of this animal(?)
after she saw Tyler climb up and down several times.

Shoulder rides are the best!

Tyler is still working on finding his balance

Basketball

Tyler's basketball season started yesterday and he is loving it! The kids are still learning the basics (like remembering to dribble while they run down the court) but I can already see a big improvement over last year.

Tyler hustling down the court

 

Tyler getting ready to pass the ball

How much longer until this game is over?

Flinch!

Defense

Tyler was awarded the player of the
game for his team. He did a good
job listening to his coach and always
hustled to get into position.

Nice Weather

The kids and I headed to the park this afternoon since we saw the sun for the first time in days and the high temp was in the mid-50s. It was a nice reminder that spring is right around the corner. Recently Daphne has finally gotten interested in riding the no-pedal balance bike. She definitely takes her time while Tyler is super speedy on his scooter. Tyler zips way up ahead and then rides back to us and does that over and over until we get where we are going.





Aw...

When the kids actually get along they are so sweet together!

Chilling out before bed

Monkeying around while Michael and I organize the garage

Watching cartoons

Midnight Cowgirl

A few nights ago I walked by Daphne's bedroom about half an hour after she was supposed to be in bed. Her door was wide open and she was on the far side of the room wearing one of her cowgirl hats and was riding her rocking horse in the darkness. That girl never ceases to surprise me!

Back to School

At long last the kids are back in school today and it was a little rough getting everyone going this morning. Even though we have been putting the kids to bed at their normal time the past few nights, Tyler slept right through his alarm. I could hear it clear across the house in my room. At one point Tyler lay on the floor, cried, and said, "I want to keep sleeping!" It also didn't help that it was only 29 degrees this morning and Tyler threw a fit about wearing a warm jacket because he hates warm jackets. Daphne, on the other hand, was relatively easy. She was a little upset she didn't get to stay home and watch cartoons but woke up happy and didn't fight the warm jacket. Whew!

Jingle Bells, Tyler Edition

Jingle bells
Mommy smells
Daphne laid an egg

The Dadmobile
Lost a wheel
And Tyler got away
Hey!

Birthday Party

Daphne had her birthday party with friends yesterday at The Little Gym. She had an ear-to-ear smile throughout the party and had a blast!

Getting warmed up

Free play

Making a birthday cake out of Legos

Parachute time; The birthday girl even got a ride in the middle.

The air track was a hit! 





Group photo

My Little Pony cake with Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie

 Blowing out the #3 candle

Yummy! Daphne licked the frosting off her fingers.

Ah! Peace and quiet for cake

3-Year Well Child Check Up

Our superhero butterfly

Daphne had her 3-year well child visit on Friday. She is doing great. She measured 36-3/4" tall (43rd percentile) and weighed in at 33.4 pounds (75th percentile). Her growth trajectiles are consistent with past measurements.

Daphne has acted like a big girl for so long that I'm having a hard time thinking of what she has been doing recently that is new:

• She is almost potty trained. Daphne is doing great staying dry but needs a little work on the other end.
• Daphne is very independent, tries to do everything herself, and only wants help when she can't do something after trying herself.
• She is a little chatterbox and also loves to sing songs, whether they are ones she knows or ones she makes up.
• Daphne picks out all her own outfits and only sometimes listens to my suggestions related to coordination.
• She loves going to her weekly gym class and has started asking about dance class.
• Daphne is rough and tumble and naturally gravitates towards the boys in her preschool class but also plays with most of the girls.
• And naturally Daphne wants to do everything that big brother Tyler does. 

Celebrating the New Year

On New Year's Eve, the guys got a kids' pack of sparklers and mini fireworks to set off. After that we played a New Year's Eve countdown from Netflix featuring King Julien from Madagascar that can be played well before midnight. Then the adults celebrated New Year's Eve after the kids went to bed!

Noah and Tyler

Damon

Hazel wasn't so sure about the sparklers

All 3 of Bryce and Sonia's boys liked the sparklers.

Time to reload

Sonia with her boys

Daphne

Hazel and Megan

Daphne was a little scared of the sparklers.

Ready for the big show

The kids loved the fireworks. The early ones were small and
didn't make much noise. The last 2 were loud and got pretty
tall. I'm still waiting to see if the neighbors will say anything.

Cousins

So hard to get all the cousins looking at the camera at the same time while smiling...

Oldest to youngest: Tyler, Noah, Damon, Daphne, Hazel, and Micah

BBQ

Making napkin airplanes

Feed us already!

The whole crew out for BBQ

Uncle Brad took over Simon Says after
Daphne asked me to take her to go potty

Crazy poses must be a rite of passage for 5-year olds!

Potty Help

Daphne has been doing great with the potty training. She is keeping her pants dry for the most part, even over night, but needs a little help with the back end. The cousins were more than happy to keep her company in the bathroom since she we had her set up with cartoons on the iPad.

Ankle Rides

Uncle Bryce and Uncle Brad are just tall jungle gyms! The kids, Daphne in particular, hopped on for many ankle rides. Bryce told Daphne that she was a barnacle.

Austin Zoo and Animal Sanctuary

The cousins enjoyed spending a morning at the Austin Zoo and Animal Sanctuary. We got lucky and went on the one sunny day during the holidays. It actually warmed up quite a bit too by the end of our visit. I loved the roaming peacocks, Daphne liked the tiger best, and Tyler really liked the wolf pack.

 

Daphne with a roaming peacock

Tyler and Noah pretending to be wolves

So amped up about the train ride, we couldn't get all the cousins
to pose in front of the train because they were ready to board

Train selfie

Feeding the goats

Tyler feeding a goat

Daphne feeding a deer

I got nervous and jumped when I fed the llama. His tongue
tickled my hand! Little Micah was completely unfazed and
fed the llama several times.

Megan, Hazel, and Tyler

Micah tripped and fell face first and
because he drools so much leaves
stuck to his chin. The drool reminds
me of when Tyler was little!

Daphne, Noah, and Tyler snorting like pigs