Preschool and Gymboree

For my own memory, a quick update on the boys' "school" lately!

Joshua has been going to Gymboree since he was about one year old. He enjoys it, but not as much as Jacob did. It is so funny to see how differently the two boys approach the class and handle themselves. Jacob always wanted to do exactly what the teacher told him to do, and was quiet and interested in following other kids. Joshua usually has two little boys following him around, and usually does whatever he wants, usually involving as much running as possible.

Last week and today, Joshua has surprised me and has listened really well to the teacher and actually participated in the planned activity the entire time. He is doing a great job of understanding when I'm telling him that he can do something "next," as in, after the teacher shows them what is in her bag. He has started answering questions the teacher asks (what is this a picture of? what color? etc.). I am very proud of his progress, and glad I didn't push him to do things before he was ready. Now, he really enjoys the actual activity part of the class, and then really loves his own creative part of running around and finding whatever he wants to do for the day. Lately, he has been loving jumping off into the blue foam pad over and over again, hiding, and really following the theme and pretending. Today's theme was ducks, and the teacher has all of her friends to come up to the front mat. Joshua said, "duck friends," reminding her he was a duck today. When she asked if everyone was ready to go under the parachute, he said, "ducks go." He has been really great at pretend play recently.

Jacob has been doing wonderfully in preschool lately. After some difficulties with the teacher throughout the first half of the year, we are finally coming close to seeing eye-to-eye and his days are now full of smiles instead of fear of the teacher. It's been a battle of a year, and I have had to keep a close eye on him and ask specific questions about the teachers after we had a situation-gone-bad at the beginning of the year which required the teacher to apologize to Jacob. His sensitive side has required a long time to recover and regain some trust in the teacher. But, this week I have had my regular Jacob back who talks a lot about school and is full of smiles when he climbs in the car after class. He has always excelled academically, and that is still the case. We are working with him at home filling in the last few gaps he needs to count all the way to 100 on his own. He has been on a big coloring kick recently, and this has been the first time he has sat down on his own and colored for a really long time, filling in two or three sheets at a time. We are so proud of him, and so excited for him to move on to kindergarten next year.

It's a Zoo Kind of Morning

My dear Joshua,
Today, we dropped Jacob off at school and headed home. I realized when we got out of the car how nice the weather was for February. I checked the zoo's schedule online to make sure they were open (they are closed two days of the week during the off-season), and we got in the car and headed to the zoo.

In the first few weeks of the school year we headed to the zoo without your big brother, but we brought friends along. So, this was truly your first experience just you and me heading through without anyone else or any other opinions on where to go and what to see. I stopped when we were leaving the house to get the camera, but actually put it away because I just wanted to enjoy the morning with you and not worry about anything else.

Of course, this day brought back many flashbacks of all the times I took Jacob by himself before  you were born. But, you two are so different in how you took on the zoo!

You LOVED the seals. They were very vocal this morning, and we stood there for probably 15 minutes on the way in and way out listening to them bark away. You barked back at the seals, and laughed like crazy when they popped back up from underwater. You kept asking where they went, and telling me they went through the tunnel.

Next, through the fish building. You liked telling me about the "big" fish, and the "HUUUUGE fish" and finding the eels. You wouldn't pet a shark, and watched the seals from underwater some more. You were not interested in the polar bear or the penguins, which is surprising to me since your brother loves the penguins.

We watched the monkeys for a while (well, the gibbons). You were so happy when you found out they are "friends" and insisted they climb next to each other...same for the red pandas. You thought the red pandas were hilarious. They were pretty active today because of the mild weather, and you just watched them and laughed away, and kept telling them to go by their friend. The tigers were fun as well.

Around the time we were through the forest area, you were starting to get tired since we were stroller free. A quick trip through the deserts area, and we were headed back to the front to head out and pick up Jacob from school.

It was such a joy listening to you talk all morning, and not have your pacifier in at all. Sometimes when we are out and you want to do something and get angry when we can't, you need your pacifier to calm down. But, since we were on your time and your schedule, you were so happy. Just running from place to place, looking around, stopping when you wanted to. I loved hearing everything you had to say, and all of the things that made you laugh. You have such a contagious laugh, and I love your little (well, big) personality. You are such a joyful little boy, and I had a wonderful time at the zoo with you this morning.

We will have plenty of outings together next year when Jacob is at school all day long and we don't have to rush back to do pick-up time. Picnics and parks, zoos and museums, and anything under the sun that makes you happy. I am so blessed to be your mommy, and lucky to be home with you every day to enjoy life's adventures together. Thanks for being so much fun this morning, and every morning, and making me smile through the zoo.

Love,
Mom

Lazy Days

In an attempt to catch up and start blogging on a regular basis again, here is a huge photo dump from our "lazy days." Normally, we are constantly on the go, running around to do fun things and explore. But, this cold weather and the start of the year have just pushed me to really enjoy locking us in the house some days and staying in our pajamas until after nap time. The boys have really enjoyed the change of pace for a while...but now, we are all ready to get back into our busy schedules!

One morning, Jacob's school had a 2 hour delay, and had the morning classes go in the afternoon instead. So, we enjoyed our morning with a little shooting practice (never pinned it, but saw this idea all over Pinterest and knew we would do it at some point!).

 Jacob getting super close to make sure he blasted the super heroes. 

 I love that Joshua has his hands behind his back and looks so patient. He is a really patient kid, but he just looks so cute here.

 This Nerf gun game moved into the boys running sprints across the house and asking me to shoot at them while they ran by to see if I could hit them. They thought this was the most hilarious game in the world, and they wore themselves out!

Bob has started showing Jacob how to play Lego Star Wars, and Jacob is in heaven! Joshua thinks he can play, so we hand him a remote that isn't plugged in and let him hit away on the buttons thinking he is controlling the other guy on the screen. The cutest thing is that one day Bob brought in folding chairs for the boys and him to sit on, and now every time Jacob plays the game, Joshua will carry chairs in for them to sit on.

 I have a feeling I will be seeing the back of their heads playing video games lots during their teens!

Love Jacob's concentration and his little tongue sticking out. Another classic move is when he is trying to have his guy jump and he lifts his leg.

 Doing some laundry while Jacob was at school...where is Joshua?

 There he is!

 I took some pictures while they were playing, and have a ton of their cute faces, but loved this one of their heads so close together. They love being in each other's space, and they are normally right next to each other to play all of the time. Even on the couch, they sit on one cushion together and they don't mind when the other one puts his hands or feet on them.

 Breakfast in mommy's bed. Since I've been waking up at 5 a.m. to workout, I am usually showered and dressed before they wake up now. But, some mornings they have woken up before I have even gotten a shower in, so I let them watch some cartoons in my bed, and eat breakfast in there every once in a while. But, finding Pop Tart crumbs in your sheets isn't so pleasant!

 Another freezing cold day resulted in some fort building. I moved the chair to build the fort, and put down pillows and blankets for a little cozy area where the chair should be.

 Jacob being silly on the other side of the fort. 

 Wanted to get out of the house for a little bit, so I took them to Target for some things we needed around the house, and swung through McDonald's. Our friends told us they had Transformer Prime toys, and I knew the boys would enjoy a treat!

 Two handsome boys bundled up and ready to head out in the snow. We literally had just a dusting of snow this day, but I wasn't sure if we would be getting much more snow this year and wanted to let them burn some steam anyway. The boys had fun running around, and especially coming in for some hot chocolate.

Our Weekend

We had such a fantastic, family weekend! So much time together, lots of things to do, and two exhausted kids come Monday morning!

When Bob got home from work Friday afternoon, I headed to the gym and ran 3 miles without stopping for the first time in a VERY long time. I was so proud of myself for hitting the 3 mile mark! I came home to dinner on the table and Jacob saying he wanted a movie night. Normally, that means a trip to Redbox. But, I checked movie times real quick for the cheap show by our house and saw that Hotel Transylvania was playing at 7 p.m. We loaded up the boys and headed to the show. The boys thought it was HILARIOUS! There were so many times during the movie that our boys were laughing so hard and were the only kids laughing. They just thought the monsters were so funny. Now, Jacob walks around the house saying random lines from the movie. But, since he has only seen it once, the lines get a bit interesting! I was a rule-breaker and popped popcorn at home and brought it with us, along with some M&Ms, juice boxes, and water. We normally buy the boys popcorn and drinks from the concession stands, but it wasn't in the budget this weekend! The movie itself there is only $2.50 a person on the weekends, so we had a cheap family night!

Saturday morning we met my parents for breakfast and then Jacob had his second swimming lesson. He did such a great job. He can no officially go underwater for about 10 seconds, which is crazy to us that he is old enough to really understand all of this swimming business! His instructor told us she was really impressed with how quickly he is catching on and how well he listens to what she is asking him to do. The best part of it is that Jacob truly enjoys his lessons and has such a big smile on his face the entire time.

 Kicking at the wall - he loved having giant splashes behind him!

 His awesome instructor who knows exactly how to explain things to a four-year-old. I love her! Jacob was struggling with the whole floating thing, but we stayed for open swim after his lesson so Joshua could get in the water, and Jacob started floating by himself!

 Kicking along with his kick board. She let him go and he just kept on going!

 Happy little guy waiting for his next turn in the water.

 About ready to start putting the arms and head in the water thing together. They are working on moving their arms for the freestyle stroke, and he gets the stroke pretty well without putting his head in. Putting everything together is confusing at first for all these kids!

 Joshua and me during open swim. Joshua tries to mimic what Jacob does in swim lessons and likes to be on his belly and keeps screaming "leave alone!" at us, meaning he wants us to let him go and leave him alone. He thinks he can just take off and swim! He loves the water, which we are so happy about. Wish he had some lessons of his own, but the class that meets during Jacob's time for Joshua's age is full. But, it worked out, because it is basically just open swim time for the little ones, so we are paying less by just staying later and us all getting in together. 

 Sunday we headed up to my parents' house and relaxed. After nap time, we went bowling. Joshua's first time! He lasted a few frames, and then wanted in the arcade.

 Dad helping Jacob bowl. He has a new generation to coach.

 Grandma and Jacob in the arcade. The boys loved playing these games.

Fantastic and tiring weekend. I am so thankful for some quality family time, especially with softball season quickly approaching. Bob is coaching softball this year, and we already lose him a few nights a week when they have conditioning, but we will miss him dearly when his six days of practice begin and games start up!