Bedtime Story

Ethan asked if he could read Alex his bedtime story recently. They both seemed like they enjoyed it!

Learning to Jump

Ethan and Alex have a little step stool that they find useful in a number of situations. (Alex especially likes it. He uses it to get into all the things that have been put up out of his reach.) Alex enjoys standing up on it - it seems to make him feel very brave.

Lately Luke has been trying to get him to jump off of it.

(Why are we teaching him to jump off things? I'm not sure. Apparently my lack of understanding is directly related to the fact that I'm female.)

Anyway, Alex is a little afraid to try jumping off the stool, but he still wants the fun of doing it. This is his solution.

Transitions

Ethan has always called us Mama and Papa. A few years ago, he started using Mom and Dad when he talked about us to someone else. Every once in a while, he'd ask if he could call me Mom. I always told him yes, knowing the time would come when Mama was too childish for him.

He'd call me Mom a time or two, and then forget all about it. I never made a big deal out of it, but I was always secretly pleased when he'd revert to Mama.

A week or so ago, he started calling us Mom and Dad. He'd do it very self-consciously, waiting for us to say something about it. When we didn't, eventually he asked me if I'd noticed anything. I told him yes, that I'd noticed he was calling us Mom and Dad. He waited expectantly, wondering what our reaction would be. I told him that was fine, that we'd always known that someday he'd get big enough to want to call us that.

We haven't talked about it anymore, but the slips of calling us Mama and Papa are getting fewer and fewer. It's becoming more natural for him to say Mom and Dad, although when he forgets Luke and I exchange a smile when he's not looking.

Sometimes it seems like he's growing up so quickly. I guess time really does fly!

Spring Celebration

We did something a little different for our Easter activities this year. After reading this blog post, I decided to try celebrating spring the way she described. So on the first day of spring, we had our first "Spring Day"!

We started the day with bunny-shaped pancakes.


Then we took a short break to play with the Striking Venom. Because, you know, nothing says "spring" like robots fighting humans with laser guns.


Next we dyed eggs. Ethan was looking forward to this!




It was Alex's first time, of course, so he wasn't anticipating quite as much.




He really enjoyed it though.


And Alex found out what happens when you drop an egg on the floor.



That was so much fun I had to take the eggs away because he started spiking them like they were footballs.

Later we had a scavenger hunt (I forgot to take pictures during that). They found candy at a couple of the clue stops, and the big prize was a Hungry Hippo Game.



Adult supervision required, of course, until Alex is a little older.

Blanket Buddies

In order for it to be relatively safe for Benny to be on the floor, we have a rule: no one is allowed on his blanket. Alex is pretty good about staying off the blanket, but he immediately wants his blanket spread out for him to get on.



He then gathers up a number of toys and sits there with his toys.


Including the cash register full of penguins.


What, don't you keep your penguins in a cash register?

Little Man

This is a hand towel that Luke wrapped around Alex after his bath; doesn't he look like a little old man from a sauna?

Benny

Ethan's New Look

Doesn't he look handsome?

The Giant Icicle

Luke found this giant icicle back when it was still cold enough for icicles. Ethan thought it was very cool! Alex just likes being where the picture is being taken.