The Smiths: March 2013

Sunday, March 24, 2013

Nathan is 2.5 years old!

Today Nathan is 2.5 years old! He's grown so much since he turned two. He can say the alphabet, count to 10 and open doorknobs. He loves to swing outside in the backyard, and he's become very skilled at riding his scooter. He also loves to run, and will declare "I'm doing a running race!" and takeoff across the yard.

He loves to have books read to him, and reading books is part of our bedtime routine. In January we changed our routine and Tony began putting Nathan to bed, instead of me. Nathan was not happy at first, what toddler is happy with change, but he has adjusted and is now much closer to his Daddy because of it. In fact, he is now good with either of us putting him to bed. We trade so that each of us can have time with each child at bedtime. For Nathan, we read books and then sing songs until he is asleep. Most of our usual bedtime books he has memorized, including Goodnight Moon. Two of his favorite books right now are "The Caboose Who Got Loose," and "Hop on Pop." Tony sings several songs, including "I Love You, You Love Me," "You've Got A Friend In Me," and "Goodnight Sweetheart." I sing "The Wheels on the Bus," "The Ants Go Marching," the alphabet, and a few others if those don't put him to sleep first. When it's time to close his eyes, he drapes his arm over his eyes, it's so cute.

His most frequent questions are "What's that mean?" and "Why?" He's so intelligent, always problem solving and making connections between different ideas and experiences he has. Like Emma, he has an excellent memory and will recall events and places from many months previous.

He is still a typical picky eater, but slowly I think he is getting better at trying new things. He will sometimes eat chicken and steak. He also enjoys cereal with milk, including Cheerios, Shredded Wheat, and Grape Nuts. His favorite things to eat are the soft baked Kashi cereal bars. He would eat 4-6 bars a day if I let him!

We love our little Nathan so much, and are truly enjoying this time with him!

Monday, March 18, 2013

Grandmom and the kids!

Bubble wall

It is hard to see, but the kids are blowing on a large wall of bubble!

Kids in a bubble!

The Mayborn Museum has a neat exhibit where the kids can surround themselves in a bubble!

Swingin' Silly!

Sunday, March 17, 2013

Wind blades!

The kids get to see lots of trains since the tracks are two short blocks from my parent's house. Most of the time it's pretty standard train cars, but today we saw a train with over 30 wind turbine blades! Each blade took 2 flatbed cars to hold it.