January to February

Zach and I celebrated our 4th anniversary on January 2nd….I believe we still had a recovering sick kiddo, so there isn't much to say about that.

We went to the Jump Zone (a room full of bouncy castles) that is on base with a few other kids and moms.  I think it would rank up there as the best day of his life so far if you asked him.

The basement is still very much in the works, and the layout of our main floor doesn't exactly encourage running (which this kid needs to do like he needs to breath).  It is quite chilly out, so keeping him occupied inside has been interesting.

Here are a few things we did:

Color foam.  This was a BUST in my opinion, but he liked it for the five
minutes that it lasted (but it took me 10-15 minutes to create it…..
so input vs. output wasn't so impressive).

Art time
Painting, coloring, stickers, glitter, ribbon….and playdough!
Playdough recipe here and Dot Art printable here

Contained coloring in cardboard.  He requested the paper, and we ended
up taping up a few pages from coloring books, too.  This box was also a
space ship, Santa's sleigh, and a train.

Cooking.  The kid loves it.
Here we were making homemade hummus for snack.

Playing town.  Sometimes adding a train, sometimes adding a little rural farm
area….sometimes there are lions, giraffes, and dinosaurs on the farm.

Indoor sports.  Hockey and basketball are his favorites.

And when we just weren't feeling creative, we bundled up and braved the cold.

Learning to play hockey on a real sheet of ice.

Mia would never come outside.
Always stay right here, over the heating vent.

New Sam Stuff:

* Still loves Parents' Day Out.  They had Pajama Day with pancakes and syrup for lunch, which pretty much made his year.

* The swirl that the water makes when we drain the tub have been named “gornadoes”

* Has started to be opinionated about what jammies he wears, what blanket to cover up with at night.  

* Wakes up in the night to ask for water, a change of blanket, or to wipe a booger.  He knows how to get us back up into his room.

*  During the weekdays at breakfast he says  “no daddy, just mommy.  Daddy at work with airplanes”  and then smiles and says “I so glad to see you mommy”

* Went to Jump Zone for the first time and LOVED it.

* Finally gets the difference between red and orange.  Loves to sing and listen to songs over and over so he learns the real words.

* Has gotten better at independent play.  He'll stay up in his room playing by himself for 20-30 minutes at a time….some days.

* Finding Nemo is out, Toy Story and Buzz Lightyear are in.

*  Many requests for "more 'Friend In Me'"  (Randy Newman’s “You’ve Got a Friend In Me” song)

*  Calls the church that Parents' Day Out is in  “God’s house”

As usual, I planned to put in some videos but Blogger won't let me.  

Oh well.

:)