Sunday, May 23, 2010

Summer!

Summer seems to be upon us, and what better way to escape the heat than running through the children's water sprinklers at the Botanical Gardens? Christian and Finnan had a ball splashing and screaming in the water. Jude crawled happily around on the side. (Poor Elsa had come with us but didn't feel well and went home early.) I suspect we will be spending a lot of time at the gardens this summer!

Thursday, May 20, 2010

Blog Update

My computer has been in the shop for awhile, so I'm quite behind on my blog posts. I'll attempt to catch up over the next week. I've decided I want to use this blog as sort of a diary of our days, so I hope to start posting much more often. Also, I just got a really cool camera and I'm dying to post all of the great photos! Here are a few new pics of Christian.




Airplane Birthday

Instead of having a party for Christian's second birthday, we decided to simply invite his little friend Finnan and his brother Jude to the park for a small celebration. We went to the Peachtree DeKalb Airport, a small, private airport with an airplane-themed playground. Everyone had a great time. The planes take off right next to the playground, which fascinated the kids. We even got to see a helicopter take off! The kids played on the playground, then we had lunch and cake. Happy second birthday Christian!

Watching planes






Being a pilot is a serious job!


Friday, April 23, 2010

Happy Birthday!!!


Good morning big boy!

Christian's first day of being two was an eventful one. We were all set to go to Savannah to join David for a conference. But I realized yesterday afternoon that he wasn't feeling well, so we took a detour to the doctor's office this morning. Turns out he has an "impressive" ear infection that he's been carrying for weeks. So we got meds and headed to Savannah a few hours late. We joined David at the hotel in the late afternoon and he had decorated with a birthday banner and had a special birthday button for Christian to wear. We then took a picnic dinner to the park, complete with a birthday cupcake covered in blue icing. Christian loved the cupcake . . . that is to say, he loved the icing. After ten minutes he was blue from head to toe. Then he ran off to feed ducks with another little boy and then to play on the playground. He had a great time.





Blue icing tongue!




Good night big two-year-old.


Thursday, April 22, 2010

Last Day of Being One



Hummus in the bathtub! (In my defense, he had refused dinner.)



I know, I know . . . but I couldn't resist.



We love you sweet boy.

Parents Night at School

Christian's school had a parents night Tuesday night. It was a time for David and me to see what Christian does at school. He was so proud to show off for us. We have always known he is happy there, but it was great to see the relationships he has formed with his teachers. As soon as we arrived he gave Miss Margaret and big hug and had a long conversation with Miss Usha about animal sounds. Then he showed us how he does art each day. Apparently art is one of his favorite activities. Here are some photos of him at work:



Next we got to hear a story and have music with Miss Christy. It was neat to see how well he knows the music. He obviously enjoys that part of his day and pays close attention to the songs. He knew exactly when to hold his dinosaur high during the Dinosaur Song, and he ran to the pom pom bin before the Pom Pom song even began.

The famous Dinosaur Song


The Pom Pom Song

It was a late night for Christian and he was clearly exhausted by his 8:15 bedtime. He slept until 9:30 the next day! What an exciting evening for our little boy.

Saturday, April 17, 2010

Christian Knows His Letters


We were all sitting in Christian's room this morning, playing with the box of animals Aunt Gran gave to him. He picked up the box, pointed to the letter i, and said "i." David looked at me and said, "yes, that's the letter i." He and I were both thinking "hmmm, what a funny coincidence." Then Christian pointed to the letter n and said "n." We couldn't believe it! He kept pointing to other letter i's and saying "i," then he pointed to the m and said "m." So apparently Christian can read the letters i, m, and n. Where on earth did he learn this? I have never worked on letters with him. I know some kids this age can read letters (Elsa), but we're amazed that he learned these without our help or knowledge. Sometimes these little babies have big surprises.

Sunday, April 11, 2010

Love the Baby

Christian has begun to enjoy imaginary play, and especially likes taking care of his stuffed animals and his baby doll. (Some of you will recognize the doll as my old cabbage patch kid!) One day while cleaning, I put his booster seat on the floor and came back to find this.


He is so gentle with his "babies," rocking and kissing them, and he goes "ohhh" when he hugs them. It's such a sweet thing to see. These babies are well loved!

Boys and Their Firetrucks

Wednesday, February 24, 2010

Snow

I will not pretend to be excited about the snow that Atlanta got a few weeks ago. It was beautiful, light, fluffy snow, but I am so sick of winter that only 50 degrees and sun (and no wind!!!) will excite me these days. But dutiful parents that we are, David and I bundled Christian up and took him out. He is always sensitive about textures and temperatures, so it was no surprise that he was curious, but reserved and cautious. He seemed to think the snow was fine as long as he didn't have to touch it too much. It was hilarious, however, when daddy threw snowballs at his feet!




Wednesday, February 10, 2010

Christian's New Baking Tools

Cooking has long been one of Christian's favorite activities. So for Christmas, Grandma gave him his own rolling pin and cookie cutters: a duck, a dog, and a teddy bear. Here he is using his tools for the first time. He knew exactly what to do and needed no instruction. Thank you Grandma!

(By the way, he also loves pouring dishwater down his chest, his special dishwashing technique. Hence the shirtlessness!)




Fireside Picnics

It has been a really long winter in Atlanta. Over the past three months, we've had few days that weren't cold and windy, or rainy, or both. So I've had to think creatively to keep us occupied during long days in the house. One of our favorite new activities is fireside picnics. A blanket, some music, a snack, and some toys change a boring morning into one to remember!





Best. Cat. Ever.

Here is a tribute to Mr. Belvedere's patience.






Sunday, January 10, 2010

Christmas Eve

Our little family had a wonderful Christmas holiday this year. David took almost three weeks off from work and we really enjoyed all the time together. We spent a full eight days in Tallahassee and had a great time catching up with family. We celebrated Christmas Eve with the Roberts. Christian enjoyed playing with his little cousin AJ and, even better, playing with AJ's toys. Fortunately, AJ is a good sharer! Christian also discovered that his uncle Michael is hilarious. (Daily, we now have to play the "oh no, trains are going over the cliff" game.) Christian finally received his train set. He absolutely loves it and plays with it almost nonstop.




Checking out the new train set.



What a convenient place to sit!


Moving in on AJ's presents . . .



Enjoying his new Thomas books.






Cousin AJ


Stylin' in pajamas from Uncle Adam and Aunt Laura.