heard around our house

Julia was fussing with a new shirt that she had just put on - it has buttons on the outside of sleeve cuffs
Julia: The buttons bother me.
Me: Why?
Julia: The buttons bother me.
Me: but why? what bothers you about it
Julia (in an exasperated whine): It's too button-y!

Crowders in RI

Snowy Kids!!

February Cuteness

A few of my favorite photos this month:

Snow buddies

out for a drive

snow inside?!? 

bedhead

awwww...

don't mind me, I just needed a quiet place of my own... this drawer fit the bill nicely!

Julia - The Five Year Update

In my words:

energetic, happy, thoughtful, sensitive, intelligent, creative. Those are the first words that come to mind when I think of Julia. She has always been and continues to be a very active kid. She loves riding her bike, running, jumping, and swimming and is coming to love ice skating and soon will be trying her hand at skiing and t-ball. 

She's a happy person, usually quick to smile and laugh. She's thoughtful, observing everything going on around her, taking it all in, and figuring things out. She takes her time to consider activities or actions before she takes them and prefers to be confident that she has mastered something before she shows it off to others. 

That being said most things, especially physical activities, come fairly easily to her. She is learning how to read and I believe this is the first thing that she's really had to work hard at to get. She wants to learn so badly but it's been a process getting her to understand that it does take work and patience that will eventually pay off. She is coming along though and I think beginning to appreciate the effort.

Julia is super creative - always coming up with games to play or wanting a new craft project to work on. She loves to draw and her current drawings usually feature people, a house (with lots of windows), and flowers. For games, her favorites these days are puzzles, Rush Hour Jr. (she has a very logical mindset), and anything that involves running or playing on the iPad. 

Julia is fascinated by cars, volcanos, weather, and space. She is great at math and loves solving problems and has a fantastic memory. She loves reading books and could happily spend hours listening to Andrew and I read to her. Her favorite books are the Little House series, all the Berenstein books, Winnie-the-Pooh (which took forever to get her to listen to but once she did she loved it), the Bob books (early reader books which she can read by herself), and most Dr. Seuss books.

Physically, Julia is 43.5 inches tall and weighs about 37 pounds. She's still a vegetable and fruit lover and will usually choose an apple, pear, or oranges for her snack foods (unless chocolate is an option). Her other favorite foods are pasta, steak, fish, peanut butter and nutella sandwiches, chips (tortilla and salt & vinegar potato chips being the preferred kinds), and almost any vegetable or fruit. She's not too big on breakfast and mostly will eat a grapefruit or an apple along with a few cheerios if we're lucky.

To me, Julia has grown a lot this past year. She has always amazed me but this year she has had so many accomplishments - from learning to ride a two wheel bike and how to swim to beginning to read, and asking thoughtful and insightful questions about everything (with her "why?" has yet to stop!) to getting more comfortable around other people and starting to offer her own opinions and thoughts. I love seeing her personality develop and grow and watching her gain confidence in herself and her skills. But most of all I just love being with her knowing that she's my daughter and that I'm the one that she comes to when she needs a hug, a snuggle, or a tickle. And I'm hoping that lasts a long, long time!

In her words:

• What is your favorite color?  Blue and yellow
• What is your favorite toy? Lightning McQueen and cars
• What is your favorite fruit? apple
• What is your favorite tv show? Jake and the Neverland Pirates
• What is your favorite thing to eat for lunch? Peanut butter and chocolate (Nutella) pitas
• What is your favorite outfit? Lightning mcqueen sweatshirt and soft pants
• What is your favorite game? puzzles
• What is your favorite snack? pear
• What is your favorite animal? bunnies
• What is your favorite song? Take Me Out to the Ball Game
• What is your favorite book? The Laura books (the Little House books)
• Who is your best friend? No-No 
• What is your favorite cereal? none
• What is your favorite thing to do outside? Ride my bike
• What is your favorite drink? milk
• What is your favorite holiday? Easter
• What do you like to take to bed with you at night? No-no and pom-poms
• What is your favorite thing to eat for breakfast? Granola bar (noga bar)
• What is your favorite thing to eat for dinner? Steak
• What do you want to be when you grow up? a Mama
• What makes you happy? No-No and pom-poms
• What is your favorite thing to eat? spaghetti
• What is your least favorite thing to eat? no answer
• What is your favorite thing to do? Play cars
• What are you really good at? swimming
• What is your favorite sport? Baseball
• What is your favorite place to go? Chicken and fries (McDonald's)

She's FIVE!!

Where did five years go?!? Our baby girl is now a full-fledged kid! Her birthday was a weeklong celebration this year beginning with the combined party that we held for her, Alex, and Benjamin. That was a big day because it was also the day that she and Benj received their combined birthday gift:

This truck is the gift that they have been asking for for quite a long time. Everyone knows that Julia loves cars and, of course, the ultimate thrill is to drive one! We're still working on the driving lessons but to say they were pleased would be a huge understatement.

The party was a great success as well. There were plenty of presents to open, cake and chocolate covered strawberries, and an indoor snowball fight (orchestrated by Andrew!).

The birthday celebration continued the next Saturday when Julia and I had a day out together. We started with a building session at Lowe's where she made a Valentine's Day card holder... or rather a bed for No-No as it has been employed at our house. Then a trip to the carousel, lunch at Chipotle, and a session at the ice skating rink.

This was Julia's second time on skates and afterward she declared that she wants to be a speed skater! I could see that happening!

Then Sunday was finally the actually birthday day! Julia awoke to a Cars themed breakfast of popsicles and bacon (her choice), had her presents opened by 6:30am, and spent the day playing and chilling out before a birthday steak dinner.

Her presents that morning included a bucket of pom-poms (of course) and a box of bananas. I believe I mentioned that request a few posts ago - well, it never went away - every time we asked her what she wanted for her birthday the answer was "a box of bananas... and a car!" I still have no idea what inspired the banana request especially since she doesn't particularly like bananas! But here's her reason:

In case you couldn't hear it she said "so that there will be plenty in the house." I thought I had been doing a pretty good job with grocery shopping but apparently I'm not on top of banana supply in our kitchen.

The best part of the day for me was at dinner when Julia said to me "Mom, this has been the best birthday. I've had so much fun." I'm glad she had a such a special celebration this year and make some wonderful birthday memories.

heard around our house

Julia (going through the letters in the alphabet): "Q is for cute"

In the car this morning:
Julia: Mom, I took my mind off you last night!
Me: What?
Julia: I was upset when you went out but my head started thinking about other things, like having fun in the tub, and I took my mind off you!
(not so much funny as I was impressed that she understood the concept, implemented it, and recognized when she did)

Julia and Benjamin were playing in their room, pretending to have a birthday party for Santa Claus:
Benjamin: Is he 5? Mommy? Is Santa 5?
Julia: No, he's way more than 5. He's 7!

And just about every 2 minutes from Benj: "what's that, Mommy? what's that?" This appears to be his version of "why?"

At the end of snack time:
Benj: More cookies, Mommy?
Me: no
Benj: cake?
Me: no
Benj: Oh Phooey Ratatouille!!!
(I need to get this particular phrase on video because it's hilarious but I haven't been successful yet!)

Benjamin the Builder

One of Benjamin’s favorite shows is Handy Manny.  Apparently he has learned a few things.  As you will see he was very precise in his tower building at B&N the other day.

Halfway through building

Talking about the tower.

And in case you were wondering yes he built this all by himself with no help from me.

Bookworms

Everyone in our family is a reader. We all love books. It makes me so happy to say that because I love to read and dream about quiet afternoons cozy on the couch reading with or next to my kids. I may not get a whole afternoon yet but I've had a couple of recent experiences that at least keep that dream alive!

One chilly day, after coming home from an outing the kids decided to play on our bed and somehow we all ended up snuggled together with our own books. It only lasted a few minutes but it was a perfect few minutes!

Also recently Benj has taken to sitting himself down near our bookshelf and pulling one book after another off the shelf and narrating it to himself. He will sit there for 20 minutes or more looking at books - an amazing amount of time for our short-attention span kid!

Julia has also taken to reading to herself or if she can keep Benjamin captive, to him. This week she has been reading to him right after he has woken up from his nap while he is still laying in bed. A good choice on her part because Benjamin hates getting out of bed after his nap. He would probably happily stay there for an hour!

Peek-A-Boo!

Where could Julia and Benjamin be???

Here we are!!