Mountain Climber

We took a trip to the zoo last week.  While they like the animals, the kids' favorite parts of the zoo do not involve animals.  They love the train ride, playing in the fountains, the carousel, and cool tree themed playground.  It has a rock wall for kids to climb on.  Joshua tried it out for the first time last week, and he was a natural!  I finally said we needed to leave because my nerves were shot, but I'm pretty sure this was just the start of many future rock climbing adventures for my boy...and just the start of my nervous onlooking...

My have a beard...

Brielle has started eating her food with some sticking to her top lip and then saying in her silly voice, "My have a beard!"  She is such a goofball.

 A recent bubble bath gave another opportunity for her new exclamation...

big GIRL bed

There's a lot of growing up going on at our house lately as we prepare for the arrival of the new baby.  Not only do we now have a big boy in a big boy bed, we also have a big girl in a big girl bed!  We bought Josh a trundle bed when we moved him out of the crib in preparation for the new baby coming and the two "big" kids sharing a room. 

We had company staying with us in January and use Brielle's room as our guest room.  We'd planned to have Brielle sleep in our room, but on a whim we decided to try her in with Josh and just see how it went.  We had the Pack n Play set up in our room and were ready to pull the plug at any point.  After a few duets of the ABC's, some strobe light action from the light switch, giggling, and Josh repeatedly saying, "Brielle, momma said, 'Go to sleep!'", combined with quite a few reprimands from me and Daniel, they finally went to sleep and slept through the night! 

We don't put them together every night yet, just depends on how badly we think they need to go to sleep right away.  And, there are still many shenanigans going on in the room.  They just aren't very sneaky either because it would be okay if they were up whispering and giggling quietly, but instead they're jumping on the bed and singing "Jesus Loves Me" at the top of their lungs - their song choice makes it kind of hard to charge in a dole out discipline!

Anyway, we are proud of our big kids and how well they are doing sleeping together (that is once they actually fall asleep)!

Big Boy Bed

We recently moved Joshua from his crib to a big boy bed in preparation for the new sleeping arrangements once the baby comes.  He's done such a great job with the adjustment, and I think is very proud of himself.

I know it probably won't always be this way, but for now, he seems to be staying in bed, is still taking good naps and sleeping through the night, and calls us in the morning to come get him rather than getting out himself...overall, the transition has been much smoother than I'd dared to hope!

Out of the blue he requested Spider Man sheets and has LOVED them!

 

This is him posing in his usual sleeping position

 

He has adopted a "lovey" since moving out of the crib...right now it is a pink teddy bear...we may have to encourage a switch-a-roo to something a little less...pink...before he gets too attached!

Brielle Belle turns 2!

It's hard to believe Brielle is already two, but at the same time, she's talking so well and doing so much, that she seems like a big kid already too!  We celebrated Brielle's 2nd birthday on Christmas Day evening, after all of the regular Christmas festivities had calmed down. 

Getting a little help with her candles

 We have really enjoyed this second year with Brielle Joy.  She learned to talk like a champ, sing, run (she's fast too), and dance.  It's been fun to see Josh and Brielle interacting more and more.  They now have conversations together and play pretend (and of course, lots of disagreements and fights too). Brielle is definitely learning to hold her own though, and we are seeing that we have to be careful to not assume big brother Josh is at fault - because sometimes she's the instigator.  (The other day I found her alone in front of the mirror, shaking her finger and repeating, "No, it's mine!  No, it's mine!"...I guess she was just practicing or something!)

Some of Brielle's favorite things to do are to swing, play outside, push her shopping cart around the house, make us "coffee" and other assorted foods, read books, wear her squeaky shoes, and sing the ABC's.  She has the sweetest little voice and can say anything she wants to.  She is friendly and laid-back, but has always had a little spunk of her own.  We are now seeing her "two-ness" come out and are having to spend more time training and correcting, but overall she has been such a blessing to our family and brings us many, many, many smiles and laughs every day.  We look forward to what Year 3 will hold!