I love old movies!

We sometimes refer to Will as "Master of the Literal" and are reminded on a regular basis that he has truly earned this nickname.  Looking back through old clips of him, I realize that it has been this way for quite some time.  Will is 2 1/2 in this video I like to call "It's called jeans"

Out-takes

Now that Collin is getting older, the monthly pictures are a little more challenging. He doesn't want to sit still and wants to eat the props. Here are a few out-takes from our last session!

Seven Months!

More video sharing!

As I was looking through old video clips of Will, I found his first video share! He is almost 2 1/2 in this clip.  Where does the time go?

For those of you that don't speak 2 1/2 year old here are the subtitles:

In the great green room there was a cow jumping over the moon and three little bears on chairs, the end.  I'm gonna read this one. Where's her, where's his mom?  There's his mom. There it is.  The end. This one. I'm gonna read this one. 

Preschool

As we are in the midst school registration season, I wanted to plug Will's preschool for our local readers.  Will attends Aldrich and I couldn't be happier.  I wish I could say that after months of research and tours we finally decided on Aldrich, but the truth is that my trusted friend Marla, who happens to be a kindergarten teacher, sent her girls there.  If Marla believed it was a good place to be, then it must be.  I asked her to pick up an application for me, I filled it out, wrote the check and sent it back with her.  Will had been registered for several months before I had even been to the school.  I'm so glad I trusted her advice.  Will loves school and really has learned through play, something the remedial math teacher in me was very skeptical about.  He is loved, he is learning and he is ready for kindergarten!  

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

More pictures of Alan's new 'do

My mom is working this week with one of my sister's friends from high school.  Over lunch she was telling Bridget's friend all about her new grandson.  She had a mouth full of lunch when she answered the question "What is his name?" and Bridget's friend responded "Alan? That's a cute name."  

Apparently the  Paradise Valley Target Pharmacy is now calling Collin "Alan" and when they saw the pictures of his new haircut thought it was even more fitting.  Here are a few more pictures since I did the final updates to Alan's new 'do.  He's not looking as "Simpsonish" anymore! 

Video Share

When I went back to the classroom full time after Will was born we were in the first year of implementing the Reading First grant.  That story could be it's own blog, but part of our requirement was something called the "video share."  We taped ourselves teaching reading and shared it in our study group.  Because I have been home for two school years, I've missed out on half the fun of the one year, turned three year, turned four year grant.   As I was taping Will reading to Collin this afternoon I was reminded of the fun of video shares.  

I'm dedicating this post to my friend Jill.  

The Haircut

Both of my beautiful boys were blessed with crazy baby hair.  Will's grew all over his head, but fastest in the back,  and at 3 months old he needed a trim to remove the mullet that was growing down his back.  Collin's hair, on the other hand, only grows in the front, forming a bit of a mohawk.  After spending a good part of the church service on Sunday brushing it out of his eyes I decided something needed to be done.  If I thought we could pull off a barrette I would try it, but instead, I cut it.  

Here is the BEFORE picture

And here are a few AFTER shots.  Unfortunately for Collin this is not one of my skills and I've actually trimmed a little more since these pictures were taken because when I saw the photo below...

...all I could think of was this:

Our favorite 5 year old!

With all this clapping and cereal eating, we can't forget to brag about our favorite 5 year old.  In this picture Will is celebrating a great parent/teacher conference with a Cold Stone Cupcake!  

(That pack of cupcakes came in handy the following day when I freaked out about Collin not gaining enough weight!  A friend asked me if I was trying to help Collin out by gaining the weight myself! Good point.) 

Will is also a huge help with Collin.  Here he is trying to feed Collin and discovering it is a messy operation! 

Collin's Updated Resume

Collin has been a very busy boy this month! 

His newest skills include: 

Sitting  up! 

Eating solids

We had been waiting on solids because Will has some food sensitivities that cause eczema.  The longer we waited to start solids, the less likely Collin would be to have those same issues.  When we took him for his 6 month check up he had grown an inch but only gained 1/2 a pound.  Our pediatrician wasn't nearly as concerned as Collin's mom was, but she suggested we get started with solids.  He put that first bowl of rice cereal away in no time!  

And clapping!  

The Winters were over for dinner last night and Allie, who loves Collin despite the fact that at one of their first meetings he spit up on her face, was teaching him how to clap!  

Our Latest Addictions

With two little ones at home, Mike and I find ourselves staying in a lot more.  We've found entertainment close to home and have developed a few bad habits-watching Lost online and Facebook.  The following article was posted by my neighbor (and facebook friend!) Andrea and I thought it was pretty true, although we can't really be "old fogies, " can we? 

Why Facebook is for Old Fogies