Ta-da!

I think that's how Porter felt on Tuesday. You know that one day when he was clearly no longer an infant. I was going to lay him down, but instead thought I'd try sitting him down. And he stayed up. For a good 10-30 seconds, multiple times. His cheer leaders were all very excited

He seemed rather confused as to why we hadn't been paying attention to his skill he'd been working on!

 

Since he could sit so suddenly, I thought we'd try for the sudden introduction of real food. I keep forgetting to buy baby cereal, and I'm too lazy to ease him into solids by mixing things with my milk, so we just went straight for the banana this time! Ta-da!





He seemed to like the idea, but didn't really swallow anything. We tried avocado today, and he and Allie are just best buds! He totally consumed at least a teaspoon of avocado.

We've discovered Allie has no fear of sharing her talents. Along with conducting (which really just gets more and more impressive), she loves to sing all day long, and will gladly let anyone record her (as long as she gets to watch it afterward). Ta-da!

 

 (*I love love Porter's focused chewing during the whole thing--so cute)

Jackson has likewise held strong ta-da moments lately during some of our outdoor adventures.  We've been going on little family bike rides, and little meaning 6-8 miles round trip. Jackson's little legs keep up with our scenic pace and have everyone on the trail cheering for him. His only issue is down hill (as he tries to keep pedaling with his fast wheels), and his desire to look at all the cool scenery around him (the ducks, trains and planes are just so exciting to look at--but likely to cause a crash). We inevitably get to our destination with shock as he then runs around and plays before riding all the way back. Awesome.

And this is how we all feel the next day: Ta-da!

I suppose that's the aftermath of too many ta-da's.

At least for most humans (but not this little guy)

Ta-da!

Fast Feet, Slow Toes

 I was listening to the radio today, and heard a program that only airs on Fridays, and had to do a double take. I swear I just heard that program yesterday. Was it really Friday again? I knew it was Friday, but it seemed I had heard this program so recently, there was no way a week had transpired. But yes, a week flew by with such vigor--it felt nearly like one day. The week was full of a certain 5 year old's birthday, many children up during the night, warm weather (a swimming pool), and moments that lasted so long or were gone in a blink.  Really I'm grateful for a life balance of both--the blinks and the drawn out, the fast feet and the slow toes. What a joy to have 3 children who remind me everyday of their fast feet and slow toes.
 

 

Disclaimer: the beach shot was technically not from this week, but since this week felt like a day, the beach trip from two weeks ago definitely counts.

 Especially since this little hidden puffer fish surprised Mark's fast feet--instantly turning them to slow [pain-ridden] toes.

 Ah the puffer fishes of life. They add balance also.

LIttle P on the Move

Yup. No rolling practice needed. On Saturday (4/11), we got to watch this little man work out the techniques used to propel oneself onto the stomach.

He was pretty darn proud to be getting so much attention for something. And his cheerleaders were very excited to congratulate him.

We were eating dinner and had left him--slightly fussy--in the living room to practice self-entertaining. When we looked over after some concern from the fussiness, I noticed he kept throwing his legs up into the air and letting them fall to one side. He would then twist his torso and end up on his side. He kept at it, and I grabbed the camera, and on his next try, he got so close to rolling we started cheering. The next time he propelled over.

He is easy to celebrate with as he gives us so many full facial, wide-open mouth smiles that radiate an immense amount of light. These smiles may come from the thrill of being noticed. Or perhaps he's just so excited to not be living in his carseat anymore (his reflux is starting to get a lot better [more cheers!]).

But, likely these smiles are his happy attitude just came with him, 

And they're ready to be on the move.

What will the neighbors say!?

I think it was a mere 42 degrees when the kids went outside like this. Allie's look just about threw me into a fit of laughter and embarrassment. Does her mom even care!? 

Luckily when the neighbors see this little man bundled up, everyone coos about as much as we do, and forgets the apparent neglect the other children seem to sport. 

 It was in the high 30s this morning when this happened. I didn't capture Jackson, but he was right there beside her in shorts and black heels strutting down the walkway.

This was at 7:25 am. Definitely a good conversation starter.

Moving Love

SO, some catch up (and mustard or butter).

We moved.

Somehow we bought a little house that feels huge to us, and we love it.

We love (and are indebted) to the handful of amazing people who helped move us in during a terrible snow storm that came 3 hours earlier than planned. Jackson is wading outside a midst a different snow storm, though the moving day storm was just as terrible looking.

We love the rooms.

The crock pot fits in the kitchen. And there happens to be granite counter tops. This is not a couple steps up from our last kitchen, this is like taking a giant leap into another world. I still feel like I'm on vacation when I clean it. Here is Allie reveling in youth by eating butter via her fingers atop the beautiful counter tops. 

The living room has no overhead light, but has incredible light during the day. And, since we're still on the hunt for the right sized furniature, there's so much room for romping, rolling, running and wresting. On carpet no less. (We know. Carpet is supposedly not to be desired, but we're sure loving it now!)

We love our bathroom that has somethings to be desired, but is functional and has a "shhh seat"--(it doesn't bang when it get's closed!--yes toddler awesomeness). We've spent many a hours in the bathroom lately, as the potty princess has finally been allowed to potty train. Amazingly her little potty seat kind of fits!

We love the views we have from our windows in the morning and evening. This was a total surprise and has been completely enjoyable. We had no idea such thing even existed in Virginia. What!? Usually vegetation or neighbors get in the way. So lucky!

We love our little dressing room. Dressing room? Yes. Dressing room. We couldn't fit our king sized bed and 2 dressers in the "master" bedroom, so we decided to put everyone's clothes in the same room, and sleep in the other rooms. This has been great for laundry day and forcing us to put away our clothes. Also a superb solution to going to bed and getting up at different times. *Side note, I was reading "North and South," and apparently every respectable English family needed a dressing room. I felt so justified in reading this little tidbit. :)

And of course, we love watching Porter grow in this house! He's such a sweet, happy boy, and we all adore receiving his smiles. 

(Don't mind Allie in the next video--she's trying to get out of going to bed... she inherited my lungs)

Not the Expected Timeline, but We'll Take It!

The whole family has been jumping the guns on plans for the future. Such, I suppose, are the results of trying to plan--but since all are great things, we'll run with it!

Porter:
Because of his silent reflux, he spends most of his time in various vertical positions--in arm, in the carrier, propped up on the couch, and most often, in the car seat. We were both getting pretty bored with these options, so we broke out the Bumbo. Woot woot! 2 months old and he can totally do it. We weren't planning on it for another month, but we will take it for sure!

Allie:
She's shown interest in the potty since October, but I've been waiting for the best point in my life to train her. I think when that day does finally come, she may have trained herself (knock on serious wood). She comes and tells me when she's peed, and requests a fresh diaper every time. She often tries to go pee in the toilet right after the fact. She is really quite desperate to be trained. I try to tell her I'm really excited for our potty party coming up, but... I hope i don't miss this unexpected awesome window of time!


Jackson:
He decided to start trying to read. Amazingly, I thought it would be terribly frustrating (as I've sat with a lot of frustrated 1st graders trying to read), but he is LOVING it. He gets so excited every time he figures out a word. It is an incredible thrill. Also not expected yet, but we'll take it!

Mark:
He found us a house to buy. This was supposed to happen in June, but it's hard to pass up an opportunity when it presents itself--especially when it fits our needs so well. We are sad to leave our neighborhood and ward, but beyond thrilled to not be moving too far away. This has resulted in some re-shifting of plans (like Allie's Potty Party), and determining we can do without a double sink and jetted tub in the master suite (or even without a master suite).

All in all, the well laid plans of mice and men certainly get changed around, but sometimes for the better!

Bonus:
Back in January, Mark's sister Annalee and her family, decided to come down and purchase a car in the less salted-road community of DC (they live in snowy upstate NY). At the last minuet we decided to bless Porter that weekend also. So we did (Jan 18th)! We were sad to miss other family members, but thrilled to have Aanalee and her men, and we also had a sweet experience being grateful for the many great friends we will be parting with as we move to a new ward (congregation). We have been richly blessed by the positive influence of many wonderful people, and it was touching to have many participate in porter's blessing.

Frozen Happiness

We've been in the midst of Winter out here. Jackson has inquired multiple times why it's so much colder in the winter... he never seems satisfied by a distance change from the sun. Despite the cold, and numerous colds, we have found plenty of happiness sources.

First from the solidified water--

January brought a beautiful snow storm and the opportunity to use our Christmas present from Santa! Our little yard has the perfect bunny hill for preschoolers who don't require too much speed. I must say Santa's sled worked a lot better than last years make shift beauty.

I also got to teach Allie's little joy school class the past two weeks. I based the lesson plan off the book Snow, and wouldn't you know--both days it snowed! Amazing. These cutie pies loved playing in the real and fake snow they were provided with. And yes, that's my daughter who is going outside without a coat. (Even if it hadn't been in the car, I'm not sure she would have worn it...)

Secondly, from this little guy.

 We get so much joy from our solidly happy Porter, who can now smile. He first graced us around 5 weeks, and Mark caught it on his phone a few days later:

And lastly, we've come around to the Frozen craze a little late, but like all important trends, we get there at some point ;) Allie has taken on the very serious task of learning every nuance and word to each song from Frozen. This video captures some key components of her hourly ritual--like the ever important choreography, the attempts at getting the chorus timed right, and the loud, almost on pitch singing. Unfortunately, she peeters out by the end (very unusual) and we miss out on the blasted final note that is usually a quarter step off. But since we captured Jackson's sweet voice singing the words perfectly in the middle--I couldn't pass posting Allie's cover of "Let it Go:"

 

While we have thoroughly enjoyed all the happiness we find in winter, I have to join my shorts-wearing 4 year old and say, "when will it be summer?" Hopefully the warm weather will thaw our daily Frozen quota to only 2 complete daily listening, and bring on even more exciting things for cutie pie Porter.