Valentine's, Donuts, T Ball, and Swimming

We had a great Valentine's Day.  Grant's class all made their mothers a card and actually mailed it.  He loved that I actually got the card in the mail.  Luke also got to visit Grant at school for "Donuts for Dad". 

Speaking of donuts......a brand new Krispy Kreme just opened down the road from where we live!  We have already been 3 times, lol!  It is packed all the time so we are hoping that dies down a little bit.

Grant is now playing T Ball.  Luke is coaching his team, The Mets.  We had to buy him a left and right glove since we still can't figure out exactly which way he does best.  He switches his throwing hand a lot still which is a little strange. 

Sloan appears to be left handed too.  At least, she draws left handed and eats that way mostly too.

Grant has just started swim lessons again too.  He jumped right in and picked up where he left off.  Sloan loves to watch him swim.  I am going to get her in some group lessons soon but I am not so sure how that will go.

First T Ball practice

 Sloan doing the crab walk

 Donuts with Dad

 Can anyone say "HOT LIGHT!"

 About to eat Mexican!

Grant mailing my Valentine Card at preschool 

More Snow Days, Releasing Butterflies and the Hi-Pad

As you all know, we got another snow storm which Grant LOVED!  The snow wasn't as pretty this time around.  It was a wet snow with a layer of ice on the bottom.  But they both got to sled and play in the snow. 

It finally warmed up enough that we could release our butterflies.  Grant had a great time getting them out of their cage and holding them before they flew away.  It was a really fun process to watch.  We saved the little cage and may do it again later on.

Sloan's favorite phrase these days is "Grant, give me my hi-pad!".  Yes, it is a "hi-pad" to her and she loves it.  She has some apps on there that she plays with.  My mom suggested one, "Endless ABC".  It basically shows a word like "Invisible" with all white letters and puts all of the letters, in different colors, mixed up all over the screen.  You have to drag the letters over the correct letter in the word.  If you pick the wrong one, it makes a noise to say you missed it.  As you are dragging the letter, it says the sound of it like "I, I, I, I, I" until you get on over the I and then it says "I".  The words are way to advanced in my opinion but it did not take her long at all to catch on.  She can now do every word in the app correctly.  It is kind of shocking to us that she can do it.

Sloan's hair is getting so long now.  I am going to have to take her and have it trimmed a little to even it out at least.  I have to blow it dry at night after baths now.  She hated it at first but now she actually likes it and will ask to dry her hair.  Tonight, Grant was watching me blow it dry and when we were done, he looks at her and says "awww you look like a lady" LOL!  I have no clue where he got that one from.  Random things that come out of his mouth crack us up all the time.

 Sloan in her skinny jeans.....well they are supposed to be fitted, ha!  She is still so tiny for her age.  She makes up for it in personality for sure.

Butterflies, Cookies, Movies and More

Grant received a Butterfly kit for Christmas.  We ordered the caterpillars and received them in the mail.  They come in a cup with food, etc.  They eat and grow (really fast) for a couple of weeks.  Then you watch them create cocoons (chrysalis's) where they stay for a little over a week.  And then, out come butterflies!  It has been really fun to watch for all of us.  These butterflies only have lifespans of 2-4 weeks, so you are supposed to release them after a week.  However, the instructions say that you can only release them into temperatures above 55 degrees.  Yep, not going to work with our weather lately.  So, we are on week 2 of having butterflies and guess what is happening now......they are mating!  Yikes!  The instructions also say specifically that they will lay eggs and it will be too many to maintain hence releasing them before this happens.  We don't really have another option at this point so we are playing it by ear.  They eat watermelon, oranges and sugar water.  The kids love to watch them, especially when they are eating breakfast everyday!

Sloan is now saying 8-9 word sentences or maybe more to be honest.  She has picked up a couple of words that are not so good though.  It amazes me how many kids shows say the word "stupid", even Cat in the Hat.  There is a Christmas version that says "stupid little star" and when that part is said, Sloan looks up at us and says "Stupid" and laughs.  She knows it is not good but enjoys our reaction too.  And then Grant picked up the word "loser" from something (still trying to figure that one out).  He said it to Sloan and got in trouble and then she promptly started repeating it over and over, ugh!  She wants to do and say everything that Grant does or says.

I took Grant to see the Lego movie this weekend and he liked it.  It was an okay movie in my opinion but he sat through the entire thing and ate a ton of popcorn.

We also made cookies this weekend and they both really enjoyed eating the dough!

Eating off the beaters! 

Breakfast with Butterflies

 Sloan with a cucumber piece in her mouth at the Japanese restaurant

 She said "look mommy, juice on my head!" and yes, it was!

 Super flexible!

Family and Snow Days

We have had an eventful week for sure. We went to see family this past weekend, specifically for my grandfather's 81st birthday. We had a great time seeing everyone and the kids got to enjoy another round of Christmas gifts (the ones from my dad's side of the family).

Then, we heard that we were going to get snow in Atlanta. And we definitely did! It started Tuesday morning and started sticking fast. I had to pick Grant up from school early and we got home easily. Luke left work a little later and it took him close to 3 hours to make it home. We were very lucky considering what happened to so many people....stranded on the highway in crazy gridlock traffic for 10+ hours. We ended up with around 2+ inches which is a lot for us. Schools were closed today and will be again tomorrow. We have enjoyed sledding and playing in the snow. We do not have a sled so we decided to try a boogie board.....and it turns out that it works awesome if you flip it over so the top side is down. Grant had a blast sliding down a perfect hill behind our place. Both of them ate snow and Sloan wanted to bring it inside, lol. We also made cupcakes to keep busy inside.

Funny Grant story.....his underwear, which are boxer brief style, were getting too small. So, I took him to the Gymboree at the mall to pick out some new ones. They only had solid gray in his size for that style. So we got a couple pairs of those but he really wanted some more that had different designs on them (animals, spaceships, camo, etc.). So, he picked out a few of the classic brief style which they did have in his size with designs. I explained that they were different and he assured me that he would wear them. That night, after his bath, he put a pair on and said, "Wow, these are like diapers!". It was so funny! He has worn them just fine though.

Making cupcakes during our snow day!

Sloan and Papa at his birthday party!

Cousins!

Potty Training Update, Preschool PJ Party, and More

Sloan is continuing to do great with potty training.  She is 100% pee trained no matter where we go which is fabulous.....but we do note where the bathrooms are as soon as go somewhere, LOL!  She is still not quite there on the pooping though.  She will say "I need to go poo poo" like 5 times but nothing happens when she sits on the potty and then she will say "I need to go poo poo, oh no went poo poo!".  She recognizes it but just hasn't mastered it yet.  Thank goodness that only happens once a day or less, ha.

Sloan is our little "boss"!  She loves to tell everyone what to do all of the time.  She also says "Watch me" a lot and will grab your face if you are close enough and repeat it if you are not paying attention to her.  She has picked up on our first names too.  So she will now yell "Melanie" or "Luke" and laugh because she knows we will correct her and say mommy and daddy.  She loves to feed Mason biscuits and dog food.  She has to have 2 biscuits and if I hand her 1, she will say "no, I want 2 biscuits".  But she is now very sneaky about giving him other food too.  She will take a snack food (chip, wheat thin, cheese, etc.) and take him around the corner and break off tiny pieces and feed him.  We have caught her red handed a few times now.  Of course, Mason follows her everywhere she goes now......and I think she knows that is why. Sloan is also demanding to walk up the stairs instead of crawl.  She can barely reach the railing but somehow manages to grab the rail and walk up the steps.  Of course, we are right behind her and I am NOT encouraging this right now.  She is just so head strong and determined to do everything by herself.  She can count to 11 perfect every time now.  She can sing her ABCs really well and sings lots of different songs (favorite at the moment is "Wheels on the Bus").  She is becoming an expert jumper and loves to spin around until she is to dizzy to stand.

Grant had Pajama Day at school and I was the party mom for this one.  I was tasked with cooking pancakes and sausage links for all of the kids.  I am always amazed how much kids eat when they are not at home with their parents.  There are 16 kids in his class.  I cooked over 40 pancakes and 40 sausage links and they were all gone when I left! Grant ate 3 pancakes and a sausage link (he has refused to eat sausage at home).  He was so full that he didn't eat lunch though, ha!  All of the kids wore their pajamas and brought their favorite stuffed animal.  Grant brought his Build A Bear that he just got, which is a Red Panda with a Darth Vader outfit. 

Grant loves his mini iPad and I think he would stay on it all day if we let him.  He is now reading some short words such as "is, the, and".  He is also starting to do some simple addition.

Grant is now 40lbs and Sloan is coming in at almost 21lbs (what she lacks in weight, she makes up for in personality).

Sloan in her big girl panties!

 Grant with his sword

 She never quits talking....I caught her mid sentence...

 Pajama Day at School

 Grant's Class

 Grant in his angry bird pajamas holding his Darth Vader stuffed Red Panda