Tot Lot Fun

Over the holiday break I took the kids a couple times to a fun tot lot (rec center gym filled with toys and bouncy castles). They had so much fun doing some much needed running around.

James loved climbing up and down this slide over and over again. I think he loves finally being able to do fun things all by himself.

Tori loved racing around in the big wheels as fast as she could and having me time her doing laps. James also wanted to join in the racing, though I usually had to push him in the car.

Tori, of course, loved the bouncy castles - despite the worried look on her face in the picture. I had a hard time getting pictures of them in the bouncy castles that weren't blurry - I'm still getting used to the new camera we got for Christmas. James was a little wary at first of going inside the bouncy castle, but once Tori went in with him he loosened up and had a ball.

Christmas

Above is what Christmas at 6am looks like. Our Christmas morning actually started with Tori climbing into bed with us at 5:30am, super excited and asking to open presents. At least we could reason with her a little bit and tell her she needed to sleep a little longer - however, once James was also up at 6am we gave up. We realized a few days later that James was teething and that's why he's been getting up so early lately.

Above is a very happy Tori with her presents from Santa and below is a groggy, but very happy James driving his car from Santa.

Tori and James were really sweet and had a lot of fun opening presents, stockings and playing with toys. They both had a blast and loved playing with each others' toys, too.

Below James is petting his pillow pet in his car (both Tori and James got pillow pets and were thrilled with them). Tori's reaction when she opened her unicorn pillow pet was priceless. She was so excited; unfortunately, it was right when we turned the video camera off.

More Dance Videos

Here are a couple of videos of Tori doing some dances that they practiced during Christmas time. She still loves to dance and it's fun to see her learning more and more actual dance moves.

Dance Christmas Party

Tori's dance studio had a Christmas party where they got to talk and dance with Santa. Tori loved this - especially the dancing part.

Above, Tori is coloring her Christmas picture while waiting to see Santa. It's interesting - lately, Tori has gotten very wary of strangers (a good thing in many ways). She was the little baby and toddler that loved sitting on Santa's lap, would talk to or smile at any stranger we passed by. She's a bit more reserved around strangers now and as you can see in the video below - she will hardly even look at Santa, even though she was really excited to get to see him. I guess this is what happens when you start getting older and more aware.

Museum Fun

Here are a few pictures of Tori and James having fun at the museum. We try and go on Tori's early out days since she loves it and doesn't get to go that often now that she's in school. James really loves it now, too - it's fun to see him grow up and actually play with all the stuff in the different rooms just like Tori did when she was little. Above they're playing doctor together in the hospital and below James is concentrating really hard on driving the ambulance (one of his favorites).

Above Tori has found Iowa on the map and below she is working hard on her rocket - she's gotten so great at doing all this stuff on her own.

What can I say, James loves anything that goes - planes, cars, trucks, trains.

18 Months Old

18 Months Old:

Weight: 30 lbs 8 oz (somewhere in the 90-something percentile)

Height: 36 inches (even further off the chart than last time :))

These measurements were technically done when he was closer to 19 months, but still, he's a big kid.

James is full of energy and loves running, climbing, balls, cars and anything that makes a loud noise. He keeps trying to say new words (most of which only a few people can understand) and still absolutely loves his big sister. He is great at figuring things out and can open all the doors, cabinets and anything with a cap that twists or flips open at our house (I have to watch him like a hawk).

James and Tori love to dance and run around the house together. Tori is a very sweet big sister and James loves it when she is home. On the way to and from dropping her off at school he usually says, "Tori, Tori, Tori" over and over.

It's a .....

GIRL!! We couldn't be happier! I had my ultrasound appointment the other day and everything looks great. Tori was very excited to be getting a baby sister (that's what she guessed it was going to be). I'm due on April 14th and actually feeling pretty good, so all around life is good.