Now for the 1000 Words

It's been a busy time this last month! Christmas came and went and then we were getting ready for the kids birthdays. #1 and #4, both big years! We decided to host a party for the dashing duo at Bounce U, a local bounce house place that has private parties. We'd never been before, but it sounded like fun and a lot less work for us, so we signed up. We had a nice turnout, but did miss some of our special friends and family at the celebration. When we got home, we celebrated some more and then 2 days later, some more as it was Hailey's actual birthday. So, we had a 4 day celebration (Friday at school for Miles, then Miles' actual birthday and party for both, Sunday we had family over and lots of cake left over, and then Monday Hailey took cookies to school and had cake after dinner). Good times!

Miles got some new books from Grandma for his birthday and is learning to read! I had talked to her about it last time we visited since she's a teacher and works with the young ones/ones that are a bit behind their peers. Miles has been following along in the books we read, sounding letters and words out and memorizing books for a while now. We agreed he was probably ready. With my BOB set ready, we hit book #1. It was an instant hit. He did great! Now, 2 weeks later, we are on the 3rd book in the series. No, he's not reading perfectly, but I sure am impressed. He's doing awesome, reading on his own, sounding out words, and being excited. I think that's the most important thing-he's excited about reading. When I was a child, I loved to read. Loved it! I remember reading at night with my parents, alternating chapters when I was old enough to read chapter books, and then when I was on my own, staying up for hours reading under my covers. I'd finish half a book on the way home from the book store. I read and read and read. Not only did I really enjoy it and the imagination it helped me develop, the new lands and far off places to dream about, but I think that might have been a big key to my success in school. I always excelled in school and it honestly wasn't a big effort for me. Of course there were struggles along the way (ahem, algebra 2, chemistry, geometry!), but overall, it was a good academic experience. So, I'm excited that Miles is excited and perhaps this will be a good start to his academic career.

Hailey cracks me up, as usual! I always worry that her food is too hot for her, so I almost always blow on it then test it with my tongue before offering it to her. Well, now she does that too! She likes to blow on all her food before putting it tentatively in her mouth. Silly girl! She also makes this funny face all the time. She does an "O" with her mouth and almost puckers her cheeks when she's up to something or thinks something is funny. It's too cute! She's recently started a new look where she will furry her brow and scrunch her eye like she's really thinking hard or trying to look intimidating. Too funny!

Last week we had a major ice storm and actually had the city pretty much shut down for 2 days. We had about 2 inches of ice followed by about 3-4 inches of snow a few days later. The daycare was closed for the first time ever and my work was closed too. The local public schools were closed the rest of the week, with the kids only going to school on Monday. I can't say that I really minded. 2 extra days in the middle of the week to spend with Ahmad and the kids? OK by me! We had a nice time and just enjoyed being home and not having to run all over the place. Over the weekend, the weather warmed up some and the plows finally came through the neighborhood. We got our neighbors Elliott and Meredith out of the house on Sunday afternoon and played for quite some time. They had a ball on top of the snow plowed pile of snow! It provided a wonderful spot to climb up and throw snowballs off of. Then they made slides down the side and had a blast sledding down the short fast hill. Hailey got in on the action in the sled on the grass and the icy street. She loved eating the snow and couldn't get enough of it. That reminds me, she's in to eating ice from my water these days too! I remember Miles used to do that too...

Prior to the snow play with the neighbors, we enjoyed an almost surprise visit from Nana! She called Saturday evening wanting to know if she could visit on Sunday. Of course! We had a great time just hanging out and Miles loved showing off all his toys! He has really been into the Michael Jackson Experience Wii game where you dance to Michael's moves and somehow he got Nana to play with him! It was great! I don't think I've ever seen her dance close to that before and it was quite fun.

Hailey is also into throwing some tantrums now. She started practicing right before her first birthday and they are in full effect now. If she doesn't get her way or what she wants, she can throw a fit! Sometimes it's just crying, but sometimes it's the arching of the back or my favorite, throwing herself face down on the ground and actually kicking her legs while screaming. It's kind of comical just in the fact that I can't believe she's old enough to be doing that! Miles had tantrums, heck, he still does sometimes, but I don't think he ever did the stereotypical throw-yourself-on-the-floor-flail-around-and-scream kind. On that note, I will also say that Miles has been doing so awesome at school lately! (knock on wood!) He did pretty well the second week of January, getting in trouble, but responding to the reprimands much much better than in the recent past. Then, he just started listening and not throwing fits. He's had 2 awesome weeks in a row now and all together, a really good month. It's great! The only thing we can really connect to is that his main teach left about a month ago...I talked to the assistant today when I picked Miles up and said that Miles had been doing so well, what had changed or what was he doing different? He stated 'nothing!'. I said, well, whatever it was, good work and keep it up! However, the other week I had said to Miles after picking him up on Friday "Miles, you did so well at school this week, I'm so proud of you!" and he said "that's cause I'm 4 now. When you're 4, you just listen and be good." It was too cute, but the secret at last! Aha! So far so good, so I'll take it!

Hailey loves to carry things around with her now. It can be anything, as long as it's something. She loves to take the cream for her scar off the shelf and hold it, or put it in her mouth (lid tightly shut, thank you!). She does this with any tube, letters from the bathtub, socks, drum sticks, and recently, her stuffed Curious George. She seems to really like George. It's too cute to see her go in her room and come back hugging George tightly around the neck. Then she will offer George to you to hug and hold on to while she runs off to something else. Well, the other day I was changing her and she dropped the coveted scar cream behind the changing table. So, I hollered for Ahmad to come help me while I continued to change her. Sweet Miles came running back and asked why Hailey was crying. I told him that she dropped something and he said 'Oh! I thought she got hurt again. I paused my show and came to see if my baby was ok!' He is just so sweet! That is very similar to what happened when she ended up in the ER-her crying and me yelling for Ahmad. I can totally see why he thought that and I thought it was so sweet he was worried about her! He worries about her all the time. He is such a sweet big brother, always wanting to "keep her safe" and make sure she's ok. He does a great job sharing with her and finding things for her to eat or play with. Such a sweetpea!

Monday morning we took the kids to the doctor for their annual checkup. Everything went really well. Miles did great and talked to the doctor and cooperated perfectly. The funniest thing was when the doctor was assessing him and we were not answering to see what he would say. She was asking if he could see birds and airplanes (eye sight) and if he could hear Hailey cry (hearing), does he wear a pull up at night, when does he brush his teeth, etc. He did a great job answering everything! Then she asked him what he liked to eat. I was sure he was going to say chips or pizza. But no! He said "Carrots. And broccoli." ! Ha! I couldn't believe it! We just laughed and I told her that I promised we didn't rehearse that one! So both the kids checked out just fine. Miles weighed in at 37 pounds and almost 39 inches tall, falling into the 40th and 75th percentiles. Hailey weighed just over 19 pounds and was 29 inches long, falling into the 60th and 25th percentiles. Miles and Hailey were just about the same size when they were both 1. We also discovered in addition to the fresh new cold and cough Hailey had gotten over the weekend, that she has another ear infection in her left ear. Back on the antibiotics and this time, also a pro-biotic to hopefully keep the diarrhea away. We'll see how that goes!

On a few other side notes, my dad is home from his week's stay in the hospital. So happy to say that! He's always in and out and in and out, I don't usually post about his stints. But I am very glad that he's home and seemingly doing really well. Keep it up dad! And Ahmad lost his job back in January. He immediately began interviewing with another company and after 3 interviews and a month's time, they decided not to move forward anymore. We are pretty disappointed, but hoping God's plan comes through soon. We know His plan is much better than ours, just trying to keep the faith and trust Him. Trying to Let Go and Let God.