Monday, March 31, 2008

Tyler needs an alarm clock

Tyler opened his bedroom door and started yelling his "please, please" at 6:15 this morning. I had to tell him to go back to bed and he ran into a corner of his room. I put him back into bed and as I was leaving he was half way off the bed. He didn't open his door again but at 7:15 when Lauren got up he was just standing in his room waiting.

We had cereal and toast, our usual breakfast on the weekdays. Lauren's favorite is a bowl of mixed cereal. It doesn't matter what it is but she needs two different kinds. Tyler doesn't really care but he will eat whatever cereal and milk with his hands. After breakfast Lauren went into her play kitchen and started baking up a storm. She made birthday cakes for all of us and we all sang Happy Birthday to each of us.

For lunch we went downtown to see Matt. We ate at the Rice Box which is next to Trader Joes. We had to pick up some ground beef (Matt chose ground beef for tacos even though we could have picked up ground tofurkey or some other cool ground meat substitute). Oh well, he was cooking.

Dinner was good. Lauren had a cheese burrito, followed by a cheese and tomato burrito and then to top it off she wanted a cheese, tomato and black olive burrito. She ate as much as I did. And afterwards on the way to the Y for my step class I realized that I should have stopped at 2 burritos. The whole family went to the Y and Matt did one of my workouts for the treadmill. I was pleased to hear that it was as hard for him as it is for me. When we picked up the kids in the childwatch Lauren wasn't too quick to come out. She was busy listening to a story and apparently had a good time.

When we got home the basement was already full of the poker crew ready to play the Monday night game. And that's where they are now. The kids went to bed quickly and I'm about to head up there now.

I hope you enjoyed our day which pretty much revolved around food. Tomorrow L has school and then in the evening she has her spring recital. That will be fun to watch.

Sorry no pics today. I took one of Tyler in one of his birthday outfits but it turned out too blurry to make out. G'night y'all.

Sunday, March 30, 2008

"you're stinky, you need to take a shower"

Those were the last words I heard from Lauren when I tucked her in. Matt came down a minute later bragging that he got a special prayer from her. No fair. News to her though...I did shower today. I just didn't brush my teeth after eating dinner. Which was good, by the way. Panko breaded baked pork chops, sauteed peppers and creamy corn.

There's not much to say about today. I'm probably only posting because basketball has delayed Big Brother from starting on time. And as I've mentioned before I'm a BB addict. And I might add to all the fans (most likely only my mom and I) ...Oregon resident and floozy, Natalie (Gnat as the blogs call her) is still in it and will be for awhile it appears.

But anyway, we did our usual Sunday breakfast made by Matt, cereal (L's choice) and dippy eggs (my choice.) Then Matt worked on some welding project in the basement, the kids watched way too much tv and I got a 55 min. jog on the treadmill in followed by a shower...see I did shower today. After lunch we went to the new dirty Kroger (they remodeled but it's still full of aliens) and bought the weeks groceries. Matt and I argued about the worth of prosciutto. He thinks ham will suffice and I say the cured ham makes all the difference. Comments? opinions? He's thinking $$$ and I'm thinking taste and quality. While loading our groceries in the car we were approached by a man asking if we were from Oregon. (he saw my eye-sore of a front license plate.) Turns out he recently moved here from Lake Oswego. He even showed me his OR drivers license which he hasn't had changed yet. Small world.

Well I can hear the Big Brother music on the tv in the den so I better make my way in there. Here's a couple pics from tonight for your amusement. (notice the naturally g-rated bathtime pic I managed to take)

Saturday, March 29, 2008

big boy bed




Today we took a side off of Tyler's crib. I'm so sad that my little baby is growing up. He took his first nap this afternoon and did just fine. We put a gate on the outside of his door since his room is so close to the stairs. I don't want him wandering around at night and accidentally falling down. During his nap I did a killer workout on the treadmill and then showered. After my shower he had his door opened and was saying "please" at the gate. Matt was napping on the sofa downstairs and so he didn't hear the poor guy's pleas. I guess he's going to be a little different than Lauren. If you remember she would sit in her bed and chit chat to herself until I came in her room and told her she could get up. The gate will come in handy.

Other than graduating my baby to big boy status we opted to not spend any money today. I napped while Matt and the kids dropped off recycling, and donated clothes and also stopped at the cleaners. It was a pretty boring rainy day. We did take some time out this evening for a bit of dessert. Even Thomas got some until Tyler realized how good the german chocolate cake was.

Thursday, March 27, 2008

we're back

After school on Tuesday we loaded up the car and headed down to Jacksonville. Matt had a leadership conference to attend and the kids and I went to get some sun. Matt had a rough morning waiting for Lauren to finish up with school. Since he was home and it was out of the norm, Tyler wanted constant attention from only him. He whined pretty much the whole morning. Since there was nothing I could do I went downstairs and worked out and then took a shower. (I took complete advantage of Tyler wanting nothing to do with me...sorry Matt.) Finally it was time to get Lauren and begin our mini vacay.

After a very smooth trip the kids were very excited/wired when we got the hotel room. They ran around and played and played until around 10pm when they went to bed without any fuss. Tyler, for the first time, slept in his sleeping bag (sectioned off with an over-turned table) instead of his pak-n-play. And Lauren had a pull out sofa all to herself. We managed to get an executive suite at the Jacksonville Hyatt to give us some elbow room.

Wednesday Matt was at the conference all day and the kids and I explored all over the waterfront. I even got a jog in. We watched trains, chased birds and explored all over. We had lunch at a greek deli where the employees all spoke French and then headed back for a naps. (all of us.) For dinner we went to our favorite little Italian restaurant and then back to the hotel to play until around 10pm again.

Today Matt finished up with his conference and then we quickly packed to head home so he could attend a Sportsman's Dinner at the fairgrounds here in town. While he was at the dinner Dana came over and brought stuff to make chicken fajitas. It was a good dinner and the kids all played well together. Now Matt's back home from his dinner but went immediately to the basement to play a couple games of poker with the boys. He's going to be tired tomorrow!

That about catches y'all up. I uploaded the pics from our trip. I just replace them on my Flickr account since the free account only lets me keep 3 sets at a time. So the previous links in previous posts probably won't show the correct pictures. When I take more time I'll try and find a better way to display the groups of pictures that correspond to each post.

Anyway enjoy the pics from our mini vacation.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ellentee/sets/72157604221863601/

Monday, March 24, 2008

Happy Birthday Tyler

***Tyler loves comments***
I thought I should update y'all on Tyler's birthday celebration. It was a day like any other until after Daddy came home. This morning we ran some errands and picked up Tyler's cake. On my way to pay I noticed they sold a Thomas the Train cake but it would have been too much for us to eat before our little trip to Jacksonville tomorrow.

And speaking of Thomas the Train...that was pretty much the theme of his birthday. He received 3 Thomas trains, a carrying case, a Thomas t-shirt, blanket and dvd. He also got a sleeping bag set, a couple of truck books, and some much needed clothes. By far the Thomas stuff was his favorite but boy did he sure need the clothes.

We finished up with birthday cake and were led in the Happy Birthday song by Lauren. I think Tyler really enjoyed himself and didn't really act too upset since he didn't get a big birthday party with all his friends.

Here's a link to all the recent pictures I took over the last few days.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ellentee/sets/72157604221863601/

In other news... Matt had an appt with the dermatologist after work today. He had a couple of moles looked at and they took a biopsy of one on his chest. We'll find out if it's another spot of skin cancer but Matt's suspects so. He was instructed to watch another mole for any growth or changes too.

Happy Easter....all week

We've been pretty busy with all the Easter activities that I haven't been able to get a posting done. That'll be my excuse this time.

Thursday:
Lauren had her Easter party at school. I forgot to bring her Easter basket so she was a little upset but she got to borrow a basket they had at school. Festivities included an Easter egg hunt on the playground, a foam Easter egg craft and of course lots of snacks. Tyler was pretty grumpy and throwing tantrums the whole time because he wanted to stay and play on the playground.

**side note on Thursday: I saw a University of Oregon front license plate just like mine on another car! I tried to catch up with her but she turned before I could. Hopefully I'll see her again and ask if she went there or just jumped on the cool bandwagon that I started with my license plate. =)

Friday:
Easter continued at our playgroup today. We went to Abigail's house and her parents set up an Easter egg hunt in their yard. My camera was on the wrong setting so none of the pics turned out. Lauren and Tyler had fun finding the eggs and got lots of candy. After the hunt we went inside and the kids got to play more while Nicole, Claudine and myself (the mom's) talked. That night we colored Easter eggs and then we had Morgan come over to watch the kids while we went to Taco Mac to watch the Duck game. Not a happy ending for the Ducks but we were happy to get out of the house.

Saturday:
Yet another Easter egg hunt. This was at the church where Lauren goes to school. There were so many kids going for the eggs that Lauren only got 2 and Tyler got 1 egg. They did get some popcorn and cotton candy and Lauren even won a stuffed bear she calls "doggy." She's been taking it everywhere. So now her entourage is comprised of Cat Baby, Bella and "doggy". That night we went to Easter service at our church and then it was poker for Matt while I watched the movie Rendition.

Sunday:
Easter is finally here. I asked Lauren what Easter meant and she said finding eggs. I asked her what else it meant and she said "Jesus is alive". That will work for me. The kids got a lot of Easter presents. 2 Easter baskets with lots of candies and toys. Tyler got a big Thomas the Train (it's actually a carrying case but don't tell him). It's the size of a briefcase and he takes it everywhere. I got him up this morning and Daddy let him take it to bed...in his crib. After we exhausted our baskets we went to the park to enjoy the sunshine. That was about it for our Easter Sunday. During nap time Matt attempted some improvements on his mini-chopper. I'll let him talk about that in his own posting, ok Matt?!

Now that Easter is over...we move on to Tyler's birthday...TODAY!! Happy 2nd Birthday Mr. T. More to come as we'll be having our little family birthday party later tonight when Matt gets home from work.

Wednesday, March 19, 2008

rain and tears make one soggy day

***I love comments***
I woke up with the intentions of working out...well, actually I went to bed with the intentions of working out today. Since it stays dark until close to 8 o'clock the kids and I all slept in until...close to 8 o'clock. Since my step class started at 9:30 I decided we just wouldn't make it. One of these days I'm going to get serious again. In my defense, however, I have been pretty good about getting 30 min. of exercise a day either on the treadmill at home or walking around the neighborhood.

So instead of working out we just puttered around the house playing silly games and watching way too much Disney channel. (we all have one of those days don't we?) I did make the important discovery/decision at breakfast today while Tyler was eating his yogurt that he definitely is cleaner and more accurate with his left hand. He grabs the spoon with whatever hand he wants but right-handed he flips it over and sends it into his mouth upside down and eats whatever didn't fall off in the process. His left hand sends the food directly into his mouth without the unnecessary flip over. Time will tell if he truly is in his right mind like I am.

This afternoon, during a torrential downpour, Lauren had her 4 yr old check-up with the Dr. I tell you, it's a major hassle to get 2 kids, a stroller, a heavy diaper bag, and 2 umbrellas out of an SUV and across the river of a parking lot and into the office. We were all soaked but at least it was almost 70 degrees.

The fun part of Lauren's appointment was getting her measurements and passing her hearing and vision tests. During her hearing test she wore headphones and was instructed to say "beep" whenever she heard a beep. She was a little nervous and displayed this with attitude. Whenever she heard a beep she said "beep, hmph" Every time!! Even the nurse made a mention of it. I'm going to have to work with her about this attitude because she said "hmph" with a total scowl. When we had her raise her hand to the beep she did better. As for the vision test she stood a ways from a kiddie eye chart. They had pictures of circles, stars, flags and moons and such. She did great...calling a plus sign a cross and a moon a crescent. I was proud.

And her measurements...drumroll...Weight: 35lbs Height: 39inches Blood Pressure!! 88/149 Dr. J said she's right on the middle of the growth chart. Based on her growth over her 4 years he predicts she will be about 5'4". He's very surprised at this since both Matt and I are so tall. I told him I have a short aunt near the 5 foot mark (am I off by too much, Aunt Karen?) And Grammy (I hate to say it) isn't that tall herself...5'5", 5'6"?? Oh well, so she'll be petite and cute...

(sorry this is dragging on...I'm watching Survivor while I'm typing this)

And last but not least Lauren got 4 shots today. Don't tell her but this was my choice. I could have spaced them out over 3 years but I opted to get them all over with today. Now she won't need anymore shots until she's 10. She cried and cried and Tyler cried too since this appointment was in the middle of their nap. At least the rain had stopped by the time we left.



Back at home I made a dish from my new Indian cookbook. It was called Pork Kheema but I used ground chicken instead because it was cheaper. It was delicious and very very spicy. I gave the kids a small serving and Tyler even tried it but I could tell it was a little too warm for him. He only had a couple bites. They loved the melted peanut butter dip for their flat bread though.

After dinner we went straight to bath and got ready for bed. Tyler actually fell asleep on my lap while I was reading our 3 bedtime stories. And after all of it both kids were in bed by 7:15. And now it's probably time for me to concentrate on Survivor and soon Big Brother. (I should go to meetings....My name is Christine and I'm a reality tv show addict.)

Tuesday, March 18, 2008

Spatulatta Enchiladas

Lauren made dinner tonight. She made enchiladas from her new birthday cookbook. We invited Dana, Shep and Emma over to enjoy them too since both of our men are out of town for a couple days. (Matt is doing some business development in Jacksonville, FL among other places.) Lauren had a fun time making them and would run to check the oven every 2 minutes to see how they looked. She sure ate a lot too and she even knew they were veggie enchiladas. This might be some sort of little trick to get the kids to eat more. =let them cook the food=

Tyler really enjoyed playing with Shep even though Shep is 6 yrs old. He can do no wrong in Tyler's eyes and he just cracks up at everything he does. Tyler let Shep play with his beloved trains but when Emma went to grab for one Tyler drew the line. I had to let him know that sharing is nice and fun.

Earlier today I caught Tyler playing with one of the toy telephones. He would put it to his ear and say "Hello" and then he'd say "Hey". He said this over and over again. "Hello.....Hey" and there's no mistaking it since it's clear as day. Now that I think of it both Matt and I say this quite often when we answer the phones. Better be careful with what other things we say now that we have two little sponges listening in.

Tomorrow Lauren has her 4 year old check-up and most likely will get a shot or two. Last year she didn't cry and now I think she's going to be very nervous trying not to cry again. Keep her in your thoughts.

Sunday, March 16, 2008

Tornado, Bunko and a Birthday Party

That pretty much sums up our weekend here but I'll elaborate a bit for our virtual nearest and dearest.

This week I got a call from the head of the neighborhood Bunko group and was offered a permanent position since someone pulled out. (I've been subbing for a few months now.) I enthusiastically accepted because this really promotes you to varsity cheerleader status in our suburban neighborhood. The only bad thing is now once a year I'll have to host the monthly bunko game. This will entail cleaning my house with a toothbrush (because the Bunko ladies notice), purchasing a $20 door prize which will be reimbursed by the Bunko pot, cooking dinner and providing snacks, drinks and alcohol for 12. This year I'll be hosting in May but GG (my Grandma Anna) will be visiting so she'll be able to help me whip up all the food.

On Friday I had my first Bunko game as an official member. I actually "won" my $5 back for having the most "losses". Go figure. After the game I went outside around 11:30pm and watched the sky light up over and over again from lightening. I never once heard any thunder . There was no rain or wind, only the silent lightening. I thought that was pretty eerie and cool at the same time. When I got home I turned on the news and saw that a tornado had caused massive destruction in downtown Atlanta. It took out all the windows of the Omni hotel which is connected to CNN center and also tore up the CNN cafeteria which I've eaten at many times. It did a lot more damage too to downtown and apparently this is the first time in history a tornado has hit downtown. It was pretty crazy. I'm anxious to hear what Matt has to say after he goes to work downtown on Monday.

Saturday, Lauren had her birthday party at Jump 2 It. This is a huge inflatable toy warehouse. She had 7 friends come and enjoy the party with her. We had our party hostess who did EVERYTHING. From the time we walked in to the time we left I felt more like a guest than the host. She timed the playtime, cut and served the cakes and drinks, helped Lauren open her presents and even wrote down who got what. She also took photos of the whole party and put them all on a DVD for us. It was great. Lauren had a lot of fun but I think Tyler enjoyed it the most. He always had a huge smile on his face. Lauren really wanted Matt and I to be jumping with her so we both got a good workout. While Matt was taking Tyler down the slides, I was jumping around with Lauren. After the jumping part was over we headed into the party room. We had chocolate cake with chocolate icing and a real strawberry filling. (Lauren's choice) Then it was time for presents. She got a couple outfits, some play Chinese food (with chopsticks, soy sauce and even a to-go container,) a Webkinz pink and white cat, a Barbie, and sidewalk paint. She was very happy with her birthday party. We got home and immediately played with everything she got. I still need to figure more out about the Webkinz though because we were both getting frustrated on the web site.

Today we are just finishing up our weekend to-do lists. Planning the weekly dinners, Groceries, cleaning and of course, updating the blog.

I just uploaded all the photos we took this weekend onto my Flickr account so you can see them all there. http://www.flickr.com/gp/30259490@N00/GhtCh6

Enjoy.

Tuesday, March 11, 2008

I can't believe Lauren is 4!

We've sure had an exciting long weekend. Brad, our good friend from Eugene, OR flew in on Saturday for the Nascar Race at the Atlanta Motor Speedway. Brad just oozes excitement and adventure so I don't need to mention that he made the race a fun experience although it was actually a little boring. (no big wrecks or big passes that would cause some excitement.) One of the 2 most interesting things about the race was an "almost" fight between the "prison tat (tattoo) crew" and the "redneck crew" who sat a few rows ahead of us. Nothing ever broke out but the tension and immediate response of the Georgia State Police made it potentially exciting. =) The other most interesting thing was Brad following through with a little bet we had. You'll have to ask him about that one though. lol.

And for the most unbelievable and exciting news of this new year.... Lauren turned 4 years old today. I just looked in the mirror and I can't believe I'm old enough to have a four year old. She had school today so to celebrate we brought in cupcakes for her whole class. I was able to come for the birthday celebration. She was wearing her birthday hat and was sure the talk of the students. Tyler and I were invited to come play on the playground during "recess" too. Tyler clicked immediately with her friends and was off playing with the trucks and the dirt. Lauren, in the meantime, showed me her skills on the slides.

After school we took a nap and then after dinner we had our family birthday celebration. Lauren opened lots of presents and then we had some ice-cream cake. She was so into this birthday which was awesome to see. She loved opening presents and just like I used to do...she ignored the clothes and dove right into the toys. =) (she so! needed the clothes though.) We played with both of her new computer games before we went to bed.

The celebrations aren't quite over, however. We are having her birthday party for her friends this Saturday at a local jumping toys facility. Y'all are invited.

To top off this wonderful day today...Tyler said Mommy (well sort of) for the first time. I took a picture of him and I, which you'll be able to see in the link below, and I showed him the picture and asked who that was (I was pointing to myself.) And for the first time EVER...I heard him say "Mommy". I asked him twice just so I could hear it again. It was heart melting to hear and I can't wait to hear it again.

Here are all the pictures from this weekend. There would be more but Brad somehow lost his camera at the races which had quite a few pics on it. Regardless, enjoy.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/ellentee/sets/72157604101980037/show/

Saturday, March 8, 2008

March, Snow, Atlanta, C'mon



It snowed this morning. It was 70 degrees yesterday. I don't understand, must be global warming.

Anyway, I wanted to write a little something down before the evening gets hectic. Brad's coming into town tonight and we're having a little neighborhood get together. Dinner and then the guys will play poker.

Lauren is counting down the naps until she turns 4. Every morning she asks how many naps she has until her birthday. She counts both light naps and dark naps. She's getting excited. I need to get on the ball and get her cake ordered (or baked if I feel so inclined) and everything ready for her birthday party at Jump 2 It next Saturday.

We had a playdate on Friday. Her and Tyler and 2 other little girls are in a playgroup with the Mom's club. Every Friday we get together at one of our houses and let the kids play. Yesterday, Isabella, Abigail and their Mom's came over to play. Poor Tyler got his first taste of girls being girls. The 3 girls were playing in Lauren's Dora tent and Tyler tried to climb in with them. Isabella told him point blank that "No boys allowed". She just turned 3. =) Tyler didn't act too hurt by the exclusion but I did notice one tear fall down his cheek. Poor little guy. We need to find another boy to join our group. Other than that little incident they all played together and had fun. Lauren was actually talking to the girls and interacting with them. It was really fun to listen to their conversations. We noticed they would start whispering at times too. We think it's because they knew we were listening.

I meant to post last night but we had an impromptu get together with Buddy and Dana. Buddy and I were mopping the floor with Matt and Dana at the game of Spades when the Corbitt's stopped by. (Gabriel and Mary....Buddy and Dana have gotten to be really good friends with them and they also live in the neighborhood, although they just got an offer on their house and will be moving up North (of Atlanta.) yeah, I know TMI. We all visited for awhile and never got to finishing up our card game nor did I ever get a chance to post.

Ok, I'm off to clean up and get ready for another full house tonight.

Monday, March 3, 2008

it's electric outside...rain is a-coming

Another beautiful day today. You can feel it in the air though...a storm is approaching. At 10pm and it was still oddly warm out. Let's get this rain to come through and then hopefully spring weather will officially be here.

Today the kids and I drove up to Atlanta to have lunch with Matt. We ate at our usual spot... Whole Foods Market. Matt and the kids had organic pizza and I had a greek salad. We also stocked up on the $2.49 wine special of the week. This Merlot was from Argentina but bottled in Australia. hmmm? But it was $2.49 per bottle so that was the important thing.

After dinner we walked around the neighborhood and then the kids took turns playing airplane with Daddy. On one not-so-smooth landing, Lauren bumped her hand to the ground and yelled "ouchee" and Tyler latched on to that one. He was saying "ouch-eeee" and cracking himself up. I love his true belly laugh. I think he also discovered a new favorite book tonight. We read the Froggy book that has the bobble eyes. When you shake it they move. He couldn't stop laughing throughout the whole book.

Currently Matt is roaming the house cleaning up while the potential winners of the poker game are in the basement finishing up. I guess I won't be seeing any return on that $20 I loaned him tonight. Oh well...there's always next week.

Sunday, March 2, 2008

and March comes in like a lamb

It's been beautiful the past 2 days. Sunny and 70s. I wish it would stay this way year round. Today was our typical Sunday. I'll describe it as if it is interesting. Wake up, Matt makes us breakfast like he does every weekend morning. (today was waffles, chosen by Lauren) After breakfast the kids & Daddy play outside while I make my dinner menu and grocery list for the week. Then it's off to the grocery store...Kroger because for every $100 you spend you get 10 cents off per gallon at their gas station. At the store, I take Tyler in my "buggy" while Matt and Lauren have their own "buggy" to pick up the coupon items. When we each get the items on our lists we meet up again in the deli section and get mac n cheese and chicken fingers from the deli and eat lunch right in the store. After our tummy's are full we go pay. Back at home the kids nap and Matt and I do whatever we want. Today he mowed the pine straw and I chatted with Dana. Which brings us to dinner. I made a delicious broiled salmon and sauteed spinach with melted feta side dish. Matt barely touched his. His excuse...he doesn't like slimy vegetables and the salmon was from frozen. I can understand the frozen salmon but c'mon slimy vegetables?! Oh well. Tomorrow he gets steak so I think he'll be okay. After dinner we went for a walk in the beautiful warm weather. Then we played outside with the neighbors. Emma was playing with a foam dart gun and Tyler was cracking up everytime she fired it. I wish I got some pictures but I didn't take any today. I will share a picture of me from yesterday. I got my hair done and decided to go lighter. Enjoy and good evening...time to get these rascals into bed.

Saturday, March 1, 2008

O Pickles

This week we got Tyler a Thomas the Train. Since we lost his favorite red Hummer we had to get him something to replace it. Tyler was sooo excited to see Thomas at Toys R Us. He played with it the whole shopping trip, the whole way home and all evening...all before we even opened the package. See pics... http://www.flickr.com/photos/ellentee/sets/72157604003496248/show/

The other two things I remember about this past week (since they are still going on are) Lauren's new big-time attitude and Tyler's spoken vocabulary is increasing exponentially. Some of this is awesome and some of this is quite trying...you can imagine which. =)

Lauren first. She has currently replaced "Tiddlywinks" with "Oh Pickles" when she doesn't get her way. Her other little attitude phrases include "Never" and "I won't do it for one hundred years." She must get this from Matt because I know I was a perfect angel as a child. (wink)

She did write her name by herself for the first time this week. She was looking at it on her photo albums we have on the shelves in the family room and she did a great job. (Matt wrote Tyler's name while Lauren told him what letter to write.) I believe her R has a smiley face in it and her E is quite original.

And Tyler this week has been talking up a storm. He repeats things...of which usually come out of Lauren's mouth. And he will point at things and say them...i.e. eyes, nose, mouth, ears, wheels, airplane, train, and many more. He can also count to 10 if you start him out by saying one, two...he'll do the rest if he's in the mood. I think this jump in his vocabulary will help his tantrums. I can tell that he gets joy in knowing we can understand him and he's communicating.

I can't believe it's March already and I'm going to have a 4 year old and 2 years old by the end of the month. They grow so fast.