What's this? A Sunny Day?

Here in Oregon we are finally starting to see some sunny days mixed in with the dreary rain.  Today's high is forecast to be 71 degrees!  As soon as I saw that, I knew we needed to get outside for some much needed vitamin D. :)  We packed up a picnic lunch, bought some sidewalk chalk and bubbles, and headed to the park  with our good friends Claudia and Claire.

I was sure to slather on the sunscreen and cover my kids' heads.  They are true Pacific Northwesterners, and they don't know what to do with themselves when the sun comes out.  

 James and Claire had a wonderful time running around and playing on the playground.

What a goofy grin!  I think he was having fun, don't you? ;)

Sarah was content to stay on the blanket with me and Claudia and play with the sidewalk chalk.

Ah, what a glorious day!  Beautiful sunshine, kids having fun, food to eat, and good friends!

Counting

James is learning new things every day.  He has recently made leaps and bounds of progress on his letters and numbers.  He now recognizes all his letters and has started associating sounds with about 1/3 of them.  He also can count things pretty reliably up to 20 (although he still skips 15 off and on).  

Within the last month or so he basically taught himself to recognize the digits 1 through 9 using the laptop toy he got for Christmas a couple years ago (thanks again Grandma and Grandpa Peterson!).  He was trying to answer questions about how many of various shapes were on the screen.  He would count them (correctly) but then he didn't know how to find the number to press on the keyboard.  I showed him that the numbers were in green along the top row of the keyboard, and demonstrated that if he started counting from the left from 1, he could find the number he was looking for.  I really only showed him this a couple times before he got the hang of it.  After that, it was only a matter of days before he connected the number with it's corresponding digit.  I had no idea he knew his numbers until one day he pointed a number out correctly on one of his toys.  I started quizzing him on them, and he got them all right!  He is one incredible boy, and he amazes us every day.

Here's a video of James doing some counting:

The SD card on the camera filled up right in the middle, so I had to take a break and clear it off before I could finish.  Here's the second part where he identifies his numbers even when they are out of order:

Next, I'll try and get a video of him showing his letters and their sounds. :)  I realized it has been a while since I updated the blog about this type of thing, and I want to fix that!

Easter Morning

The Easter Bunny visited our house yesterday, and he left tracks! :)  Here's a video of what Sarah and James woke up to yesterday (it's a bit long):

And here are our beautiful children dressed up for church:

Fun Times

If you give a boy a cardboard box (or two)...

...he'll be happy forever!

While playing with these boxes in the living room, James said to me and Paul, "This is my room!"  We logged that information away for when we're househunting. ;)  The kid sure doesn't need much space!

Also, for your enjoyment, here is a short video of Sarah giggling.  It's been a lot harder to catch her laughing on camera than it was James.  As usual, her best laughs happened before the camera came out.  It's still pretty cute though, if I do say so myself. :)

I can't believe this little girl is 10 months old today!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

A Train!

Speaking of growing up too fast, here's a drawing James did of a train this morning.  I scanned it into the computer, so hopefully you can see it ok.  I thought it was adorable.

James finished it and said, "Look Mommy!  It's a steam engine!  I did a boiler and I did steam!"  He is too smart.  And I LOVE his drawings. :)

Growing Up Too Fast

My kids are officially growing up too fast.  Nothing I do can seem to slow it down!

James is three now.  Three!  I have a three year old.  He is really an amazing kid.  He loves to do puzzles and will sit down and put together 48 piece puzzles all by himself.  He plays games like memory and Hi Ho Cherrio.  He sits with his little laptop toy and his Alphie robot (thanks Grandma and Grandpa Peterson!) and teaches himself games.  He gets most of the answers right!  He knows almost all his letters by sight and is starting to learn their sounds.  He is starting to recognize his numbers and can count to 20.  He draws adorable pictures of trains and people and monsters.  

He recently went to the dentist for the first time.  He was so brave and even let them clean his teeth!

He keeps us smiling and laughing every day and constantly amazes us with his level of comprehension.  If only he would show an interest in becoming potty trained. ;)

Sarah decided last Saturday that it was time to grow up.  She crawls with her belly off the ground 90% of the time, and she pulls herself up to standing at things.  (Both of those things she suddenly did basically all at once last Saturday afternoon.)  She is so beautiful, and I look at her in awe every day.  I can't believe she is 9 months old already!

Here is a video of another new skill Sarah picked up in the last couple days. :)

Does anyone know how to keep kids from growing up?  I think I need to know.