Change of heart

SNOW…some would call it an ugly four letter word. I used to agree. But now I look at snow in a much different way. 1) I don’t typically have to drive in it. I think most people really hate snow because of the havoc it creates on a commute to work. Working from home eliminates this for me although I still worry about Troy driving in it. 2) I have a 4 year old daughter who thinks snow is an amazing 4 letter word and jumps for joy hearing that it will snow. How can you not have a little (even a lot) of love in your heart for snow watching the pure excitement and happiness of kids enjoying snow.

I don’t think I’ll ever look at snow the same way again…or I guess not until maybe my kids are grown and complaining about the snow :)

Another reason I am a fan of snow…it makes our driveway not being flat worth it. The kids may not be able to ride cars very safely on the driveway during the summer but put some snow on it with a big pile at the end from the snowplow…..a sledding hill has been formed!!!

Cohen Month 15 Update

So what has our little guy been up to the past 3 months? Plenty! He definitely is no longer our little baby. Walking everywhere. Testing limits. Exploring anything and everything. Along with all the new things Cohen is doing he continues to be the same little baby we used to know as well. He still loves to cuddle (mostly just with mom). He still has a pretty calm demeanor. He still thinks his thumb is the best flavor ever (Everywhere we go someone asks him what flavor his thumb is). He is such a fun little boy.
Something's he does that I wish would never stop:
His love for me. He really thinks his mom is the best. At times it is rough when he whines for momma and I have stuff to do but I also know there will come a day when he wants nothing to do with me.
His love for books. Cohen is often found pulling open his drawer of books in his room or grabbing books out of the bin in the living room. He loves the ones that make sound but in general just likes looking through them. And he is back to sitting a little better during story time before bed.

He is into giving kisses now. For a while it was here or there for mom but now dad gets them pretty easily as well. Or other people for that matter. They are the open mouth lean in kind :)
He presses his face against mine and sucks his thumb while playing with my earring (if my ear is close enough) Such a sense of comfort and security. LOVE!

The one thing about a second child is the comparison’s to the first. I always thought that after having Sevea it would be hard to not long for another one just like her. She did and still does make our job pretty easy. But I am pleasantly surprised that even though Cohen tends to be more work the love we feel for him makes it easy to deal with the little extra work. And honestly it is just a little extra. He has been pretty good to us so far as well. They both have pretty calm demeanors. I know I am lucky on this one. They can self-soothe pretty well (Cohen in large because of his thumb). Cohen is definitely not a people pleaser as what I would definitely call Sevea. He won’t do things just to make you happy. It’s on his terms. The biggest difference I think is Sevea forever didn’t “get into” things. She wasn’t an explorer. She was comfortable with whatever was around her and was fine with what she knew. She didn’t get into much I think because of this. Cohen on the other hand is interested in knowing more. He wants to see what else there is. I’m certain being the second child has something to do with it but also maybe the fact that he is a boy. He was interested in climbing the stairs way earlier than Sevea. He climbs on the toddler chairs and the riding toys and anything else that he can attempt to climb. He just wants to be into more.

Cohen’s communication skills are slowly increasing. I mean very slowly. He has no interest at all in sign language. He seems to use momma and dadda correctly now. When we came back from vacation Cohen started using hello and hi while putting a phone up to his ear. When we talked to the kids on vacation it wasn’t ever on the phone (we used skype or video chatting). I’m not sure if he saw Angie a couple times but it was pretty cute to see. Again he isn’t a people pleaser so he won’t do it on command. He doesn’t do it very often at all but we did hear it probably two handfuls so I’ll include that as in his vocabulary. He says ohhh instead of uh ohhh at times when he drops something. Again not all the time. Randomly when he wants. Otherwise he is getting easier to read on what he wants. He’ll whine/cry when he sees milk/water so you know he wants a drink. So at least he is communicating in some way. At times I wish he would use more words but I remember from Sevea it will come and then he may talk all.the.time.

One thing I know for sure I can’t keep him from growing up. He’s learning and growing each day. And believe it or not he’s actually growing taller :) He thinned out a little from his last appointment and only gained a pound putting him at 25 lbs 14 oz (67%) but his height was 30 1/4 inches (21%). So most of his thinning came from the jump in height since he stayed around the same percentile for weight. Let’s hope this trend continues because tub tub would not be too nice of a nickname for a chubby young man.
I’m sure we’re in for a ton more fun these next few months as Cohen continues to learn and explore. We’re ready for it!

Sevea–4 years old

Let’s dive into the 4 year old world of Sevea Paige Appeldorn. It is surely a fun one and definitely one Troy and I are happy to be apart of.

Imagination is the one word I would use to sum up Sevea. She has an incredible imagination and anything that requires her to use it is what she loves most. Her favorite things are little princess figurines that she can play pretend with for hours. But really any toy or object comes alive in her world. It is so fun to watch her and listen to her give the toys/objects personalities and stories.

She amazes me every single day. I can’t get over how much this girl remembers. She has never ever been a kid that memorized things. But her memory is top notch and surprises me daily. The other day she was wearing her birthday party shirt and talking to her daycare friends about the party. She tells them that Breanna came to her party first and was playing by the time that Eloise finally came. I mean what kid remembers the order in which her friends came to her party. She remembers the oddest things. But she’s also getting much better at remembering the important things (in terms of school anyway). She is doing so well at her numbers and ABC’s. I think part of her way of remembering things is association and this has definitely helped for this stuff. She is really into writing the letters now as well. She gets excited to write her name as well as the rest of her family’s. I think she writes the best capital A and a pretty good T. It is very fun to watch her develop this new skill. One day she didn’t enjoy tracing letters much and the next she’s practicing writing all on her own without any prompting.

She’s always loved music but recently she is paying more attention to music on the radio. For the very first time about two months ago she tried to sing a song that was on the radio. Yes she was 4 years old. She just never really noticed I think since she’s normally too busy talking!

She is still a lover of books. She would want us to read all day long if we would. She enjoys when it is Cohen’s bedtime and she can snuggle in for a story with mom/dad and him. Then before she goes to bed she digs through her big drawer of books finding the perfect one. That is after she tells us to pick one but it is never the right one so she does it anyway, kids!!

I feel like there is so much to say about Sevea. She definitely fills my heart more than I find possible each and every day. The constant “I love you Mom” when she doesn’t really know what else to say will NEVER get old. She has a kind heart and really loves her friends and family. She is definitely a child who loves spending time with others. You can find her to be the most excited when she learns we’re going to see someone or someone is coming to see her. I’m sure many parents think this of their children but there isn’t much I would change about her. Okay well maybe the whining at times but overall she is the daughter I couldn’t have even dreamed up. She makes my job as a parent pretty darn easy and I feel the need to pinch myself that I could be so lucky to have her as mine.

I’ll take 4 more years and many more with this little girl!

Toys and siblings

Two things that make life fun= toys and siblings. Watching them learn to play more together has been so fun. Okay I suppose it is watching Sevea play with Cohen more than a two way interaction. But he does find her to be pretty fun. Even those face squeezes aren’t so bad.

Vacation Time - Jamaica

We surely would have been over the weight limit on our recent trip to Jamaica if we would have let these cuties stow away in our luggage. As much as we knew we were going to miss them, we also knew that it would be a great vacation with our friends. And it certainly was. We headed to Jamaica on November 14th until the 21st. We vacationed once again with the Witzel’s (Matt & Keeley), Rotell’s (Chris & Michelle), and the Zimmer’s (Andrew & Carissa). We had a great time and although we were ready to come home at the time, I’m already looking forward to the next vacation. If anyone is looking for a good vacation I’d highly recommend Sandals Negril. It was all-inclusive with a great atmosphere which only made you feel relaxed. The weather was beautiful and the views were gorgeous. We really enjoyed the food offered as well and of course the alcohol was plentiful. Enjoy a few of the pictures we captured on the trip (lesson learned…buy a point and shoot camera since lugging around the DSLR isn’t always ideal so you end up with less pictures).