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| north side of hill daffodils |
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| south side of hill daffodils |
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| They wouldn't take these sunglasses off, even though it got cloudy |
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| Tucker wouldn't take his sunglasses off for a close up shot of his face, so this is what you get |
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| The cool kids |
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| Whitney's close up photo op |
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| Popping bubble wrap while wearing her "ring shoes" |
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| Tucker asked for this photo. He wanted a picture of his Thomas snuggling with his car friends |
Valentine's Day was pretty fun this year. I think all the holidays are going to be fun this year. They are old enough to like the activities, but it's like it's the first time they've experienced it all, so it's extra fun.
Jim started off the day right. He had bought some See's candies, my favorites. Before he went to work, he surprised me with it. I couldn't wait to try a piece, so that meant I had to share. Tucker and Whitney both shoved the whole piece of candy in their mouth at one time. It was really hard to chew and keep it all in, but they figured out a way. I was sure they were going to choke, but they didn't.
Jim came home and cooked. It's been a really, really long time since he's been home for dinner on a weekend night and even longer since he cooked, so it was a great day for me. Especially since it was a swim lesson night. When we came home, dinner was already started. We had heart raviolli. Tucker ate only the white heart noodle ones, so Whitney and I ate all the red ones. I guess red is a color only for clothes. Whatever. Jim also brought home flowers for me and flowers for Whitney. That was a huge hit. And lots of other yummy treats.
We had a Valentine's party at their school that was really short and fast and fun. We decorated a cupcake and handed out Valentines. They were surprisingly good at decorating cupcakes. They get the concept pretty well, and don't beg to eat it or lick frosting until they are done. This is something I'm sure they'll get over, but I think they got the practice with Aunt B. They were most excited for the Valentine's they made for each other. Probably because I let them taste some of the candy after we made them. Whitney knew which one was for which kid by the first letter of their names, but got Tucker mixed up with another kid whose name starts with T. Close enough.
This week when we went to the library, they lined up all the small chairs in the kid section along the window seat in that same section. The way they lined them up was pretty funny. They pretended the chairs were trash cans and they were bringing them in. It happened to be trash day and we had just taken out the cans. Tucker can move our small one on his own. He even tells me to use my foot to tip it, just like him. It cracks me up.
Whitney practiced her lining up toys at home with all of her ponies. She lined our coffee table with all of them. I didn't realize how many there were until she lined them up. We inherited the collection from a friend that had two girls 18 months apart, so there are two of several of them. Works well at this house, too, amazingly. Later in the week, Daddy and Whitney put all the ponies in the bathtub. Whitney picked out a pink one with a pink body and very sparkly hair to represent Daddy. Then she put "Daddy" in and out of the bathtub.
We went to their three year old check up. The nurse complimented Whitney's scarf and noted how it was made "just like Mommy's". Whitney corrected her and said hers was pink and Mommy's was red. Get it right, Nurse. But it was pretty cute because Whitney talked a bunch to the nurse. While Tucker was getting weighed, the nurse was noting his strong, growing muscles and Whitney said "I'm turning into a Mommy!", which is what she says when we talk about getting bigger. The nurse just kept talking to Tucker. He must have thought she was cute, because he had nothing to say.
They tried doing the eye and hearing test. That was purely for our entertainment, I guess. The nursed commented on how they try isest with 3 year olds, but are never certain if they get the concept. They grasped the concept with the eye test. That was purely luck because it's all about naming shapes, and they currently are into that. It only failed a bit when Whitney would tell Tucker the answer or Tucker would tell Whitney the answer on a few, but in general they got it. Although, Tucker may have inherited mine and Jim's eyes. On the smallest lines, he couldn't quite get the apple from the circle, but we'll know for sure next year, I guess.
The hearing test they didn't get, but it was funny to watch. The nurse told them to tap my hand when they could hear a noise. They did on the first one, but after that, they left their hands on my hand. Whitney had a smile on her face, like "These are funny sounds!" and would shift her eyes from one ear to another. Tucker didn't really like the noise, I think. He grimaced on a few of them and would turn his head when it switched ears. I have no concerns about their hearing, just their selective hearing, which already occurs.
We got flu shots. Bummer for Tucker he can't get the spray like Whitney. Dumb asthma. It means he has to have the shot. But he didn't even cry out. I was surprised! He definitely flinched, but the dancing bear the nurse had helped out. Afterward he picked out a sticker first. He immediately picked out a Belle sticker. It was the brightest sticker in the stack, but I think Whitney was a little bummed and wanted that one. She searched and searched and searched to pick a sticker. She was finally happy when Tucker found another one of his same exact sticker. He found it and asked her "Do you want this one?" It was cute how he asked her.
He is 36 pounds and Whitney is 30 pounds. Tucker falls in the 70-75th percentiles with stuff and Whitney about the 30th or so except for height, which is 60th. This means Whitney is tall and skinny and Tucker is built rather thickly. Duh. Then Tucker went home and ate 4 bowls (kid bowls) of noodles, while Whitney only ate 2, but ate her veggies and meat while Tucker left those aside.
That night at swim lessons they got to jump in the pool from the side. They loved it! They played "splash" the next two days jumping off cushions or pillows on the floor. Whitney also noticed Tucker's swimsuit coming down a bit when he was in the pool and she helped him pull it up. Very cute.
Whitney no longer ignores the stomach, but I still thinks she's a bit disappointed. She commented on how "the baby is going to grow bigger and bigger until he grows into a Tucker". When Tucker is constantly tackling and winning, you can see why Whitney is less enthused about the whole thing. Tucker, on the other hand continues to love this idea. This week, when Whitney was play hitting my stomach, he ran over and pushed her hand aside and said "Take care of baby brother!" then gave my stomach a kiss. Since then, Whitney has been a little more gentle. Tucker noticed my stomach sticking out when I was sitting on the couch. He pulled his shirt up and stuck his belly out, saying "I have a baby brother in my tummy, too!"
One night when I went to check on Tucker, I couldn't find his head among the blankets. Duh. It was because he was under his fitted sheet. Made his own bed tent.
Tucker is pretty impressed with himself. He has a shirt that has large buttons. He buttoned it himself. It was only slightly obvious he buttoned it himself. I was pretty impressed, too. But now he takes a long time to get dressed because he wants to do it himself.
Whitney is such a good little cleaner. On top of cleaning up Tucker's toys, she also puts her dishes up without me asking her to. I love it!
Friday I called my mom because we had some earth shattering news. It was sunny. And somewhat warm. 55 or so. We played outside for an hour and a half. In that time Tucker figured out how to catch bubbles with his wand so that they didn't pop. That was absolutely hysterical. I trimmed a few branches that also were long. Whitney made a bird house for Rocky on top of him. It stayed together pretty well, even when Rocky got up to move. Looked pretty funny. Rocky didn't think it was so funny. Whitney made dirt eggs around the blueberry plants to take care of them and Tucker planted yucca plants in his bucket over and over.
I let Tucker play on the ipad for a bit one day. I was trying to figure out facetime on it and he had a hard time with me only playing on it. Daddy has been teaching him well to use the electronics. Tucker wanted a particular music video of his (happy train) and couldn't find it on the you tube icon, so he said "Oh yeah! We need to go to history!" and clicked on the correct button the first time.
Saturday the clouds rolled in, but it was still dry and "warmish". I gave them the option to go to the playground or to go exploring. Whitney picked exploring. We went to a new place with walking trails. Whitney had a blast that I was following her and letting her lead the way in going exploring. There were a bunch of these rock walls covered in a metal mesh that they could climb on and around. Tucker figured out first how to scale them. Whitney could do it, but didn't want to hurt herself, so she said she couldn't do it. Tucker went over and said "I will help you!" and grabbed her hands. Of course that doesn't work, but it was cute how much he wanted to help her. Tucker also found some handrails to swing on. Whitney thought that looked fun, so Tucker said "I'll show you how to do it!" and did a demo for her.
Tucker continues to love music. He is gaining such a large repoirtaire of songs. Even Jim noticed how much he loves to sing. He also repeats phrases from books. He likes this one "one thing I think you should know about ginko. It's fruit doesn't smell good, in fact it smells stinko!" He also has been singing the More we Get Together a bunch.
I finally broke down and went Tucker sun glasses shopping. Tucker has been a little sad about how Whitney has sunglasses and he doesn't. So we went looking for some his size. I went looking for his and there are only cool, big kid according to mom glasses. No little boy ones. It was very simple for him to pick out the ones he likes. The red ones. No other one compared. I was trying to dissued him, but nothing doing. So he has angry bird glasses. Not exactly my favorite charactor, but Whitney just calls them birds, so I'll leave it alone. Tucker loves, loves, LOVES his sun glasses. they had lots of fun wearing them this week.
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| Trying to work arms and legs together on pink crab. Whitney really liked pink crab |
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| Tucker's turn. This view of him reminded me of what he looked like as a baby doing tummy time |
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| No hands! The swim teacher wasn't holding on to them. They were scooting along the wall no problem on their own. Whitney's head is above the pink crab and Tucker's head is right next to the swim instructor's. The swim instructor was attatching the last kid to the wall from the pool play pen. Whitney was always in front because she could move so quickly |
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| Whitney demonstrating her monkey cup cake |
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| Tucker holding his cupcake up, ready for a pic, although this looks more like he is about to eat it. |
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| "Oh yeah. I'm cool." |
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| one example of a pony line up |
