This is going to be a little of this, a little of that, and a LOT of pictures - nothing special, no big events, just a lot of everyday moments from January & February around our house. Because I want to remember these sweet, nothing special, everyday moments just as much or more than all the big events!
We started the year off with a visit with sweet friends we hadn't seen in a little too long. The 2 youngest kids displayed their parallel play skills at their finest!
Which made me realize how much Harrison interacts with his brother, even though it's parallel play with peers at this age. Interesting how sibling dynamics work.
Captured this sweet shot of their friend, deep in thought. :)
This one captures Harrison's personality!
Parallel play or not, everybody can bond over fun music and cartoons!
Love Harrison's tip-toes in the third one!
And the visit ended with some monkeys jumping on the bed...
Which reminded me of this sweet video, taken when Grayson was a little bit younger than Harrison is now. These boys sure do connect with the idea of monkeys jumping on the bed.... :)
Oh, and before we move on...for those people who are always hard to shop for... next Christmas, just make them one of these:
Now that I've taken care of your Christmas shopping for the year, we can move on to what we've been up to lately. There's been play-doh time with their new mouskatools.
LOTS of batman time.
And of course, Dusty Crophopper time! Or as Harrison says "Dutty Cwophopper! Zzzzzzooooom!"
Daddy had some helpers putting together Harrison's new toy storage. After Christmas it was time to make that big boy addition to his room. He was really excited about it too. He knew it was just like Grayson's except the color, and he kept saying "Dis my toys! Dis my room! Dat brudder's toys! Dis my toys!" Yep, his pronunciation is improving ridiculously fast and "bubba" has already progressed to "brudder" at least part of the time, and sometimes brother is even replaced with Grayson's actual name, which comes out "Jayson" because Harrison's Gs sound likes Js... Green = Jeen, Grapes = Japes, and Grayson = Jayson.
A few weeks later, these helpers were really excited to "help" assemble something else...
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| "Hey Harrison, this 'tread-meal' is great! Do you think we're doing it right??" |
I'm mostly reserving school-related pictures for dedicated school posts, which will hopefully be somewhat regular now that I've made the first one back in January, but I couldn't resist this one... Harrison's favorite letter is "Circle!" (O) and he loves to write them over and over and over. Big ones, little ones, colorful ones, he loves the letter "circle"!
And there's always music time in this house... singing, guitars, violins, maracas, the piano, one way or another, a day doesn't go by without some music...
Harrison's always ready to give Elmo a lift somewhere...
Bedtime snuggles are one of the best times of the day!
Harrison recently learned that you can't hide the evidence that you took markers to your hair when you've got hair this blonde!! (Yes, they were washable markers, nothing a shampoo couldn't handle.)
A lot of our January really felt like fall to me. I love fall, that hint of chill in the air, and I'm thankful for any break from the usual heat and humidity around here, but it felt really weird for January - the fall-like temperatures and the kids playing in the leaves that FINALLY fell from the trees... weird feeling or not, it made for great outdoor play weather!
A random sweet moment before bedtime one evening...
Harrison's motto these days... "I do it myself!" Here he is brushing his teeth....himself!
One of their new games that they made up together... they're playing restaurant. Grayson takes phone orders, then calls back to Chef Harrison what to prepare! Grayson then rings them up on the grill-turned-cash-register.
Usually if someone falls asleep on the way home from errands, it's the little one. Here's an exception. Harrison thought it was soooo funny that Grayson was asleep. He didn't want to get out of the van or anything... as soon as I unbuckled him, he crawled to this spot between their carseats and said "Brudder sleeping! I sit up here with Brudder!" Yep, his sentences have that many words in them.
Sunday afternoon.... Legos with Daddy....
So, Harrison is great sleeper at night. Doesn't put up a fuss about going to bed or anything. Naptime is a different story. I think it's a combination of it not being dark yet and he realizes that no else is going to sleep right now, therefore he's missing out. Usually I end up sitting on the floor beside his crib & holding his hand until he falls asleep at naptime, and I don't mind that, particularly when he's so good about bedtime. He makes such a sweet picture after he's fallen asleep, with his little hand still sticking out from between the slats, reaching out to hold my hand, so, so sweet...moments I don't want to forget! Oh, and he named his seal "pup-pup" and he leaves the g out of tiger, so that's "pup-pup and ti-er!!" that he's sleeping with.
Another random Sunday afternoon...
One more random Sunday afternoon... every girl's crazy 'bout a sharp dressed man, right? Grayson has been insisting on wearing a tie & vest to church each Sunday. When he got home, he offered Daddy a turn to try on his tie, and then Harrison wanted a turn too... Leave it to Grayson to keep all my menfolk well-dressed!! Just last Sunday he told us during lunch, "I look like a grown-up in these clothes. I look so beautiful, I could get married!" Hmmm, well-dressed or not, let's wait a couple more decades for that, Grayson!
And just in case you were thinking that the kids are ALWAYS in matching pajamas, here you go:
Kids and their technology...and their technological vocabulary! The kids had barely discovered that my new iPad existed, when one day Harrison noticed all my Bible study stuff spread out on the kitchen table (he'd woken up from his nap a little early & I didn't have time to finish & put everything away). He immediately started taking inventory: "Dat Mommy's Bible. Dat Mommy's iPad. Dat Mommy's pencil." Said iPad clear as a bell, not even 2 and half yet, and a week ago he didn't know such a thing existed. This boy talks up a storm.
Snuggle buddies...
Little boy feet at their finest....
My sweet, big boy!
My little helper!
They both actually start fighting over who gets to use this next as soon as they see me with it.
He learned this next pose from Grayson (see previous post). While Harrison is definitely his own little man with his own little personality, watching him imitate certain things about Grayson can be super cute and super funny. Grayson recently learned what the word persevere means, during a lesson we did in school. For whatever reason, that big long mouthful of a word (AND it's definition) stuck with Grayson and he spent the next couple weeks using the word like crazy. And using it properly. He "persevered" at picking up his toys. He "persevered" at having good attitude. He "persevered" at being kind to his brother. He persevered up a storm. Not to be left out, Harrison also "pursey-eared".... and in case his little toddler voice saying "Me pursey-ear! Me pursey-ear too, Mommy!" wasn't cute enough, Harrison also tugged on both of his ears each time he said it, just to make sure I was clear on what he was telling me... He "pursey-eared"!
Precious chubby cheeks...
"Don't mind me, just grooming my super awesome hair here."
After-nap snuggle time ranks up there with bedtime snuggles. It's good stuff!!
Love this next group of pics. Way to put the little boy into piano time, Grayson. It's Super-G, fast as a speeding 4 year old, rhythm like a metronome....well, you get the idea.
I just realized today that it's been a little over a year since Grayson first started piano lessons. So excited that he's learned so much in a year & that he is still excited to go to his lessons each week. Right after the Christmas break he had a little bit of trouble getting back into the routine, and I was wondering if we'd have to take a little break, because I know he's young to be taking lessons. I had a talk with him about it and asked him "Do you still like music?" He replied, serious as can be, "I love music, Mommy. And I love the piano. But I've already learned everything about music, so I'm don't need to take lessons anymore." Out of the mouths of babes. The next day he changed his mind about that & he's been excited about his lessons ever since - hopefully it will stay that way for awhile because he's learning so much!
"Why yes, I am playing with Grayson's big boy Legos while he plays the piano and can't complain!"
"Look, I'm SUPER too, Mommy!"
It's good to have a brother...
Brothers just make life better...
The kids' Valentine's Day!
And my Valentine's Day! Too sick to go on our date, but my valentine brought me,
in the words of Grayson, "flowers so beautiful that they smell just like apples!"
I find that if I think about his words long enough, they kinda make sense...
but that might just be the flu talking...
