The Kings: June 2013

Every post starts the same: we are so busy and the kids are changing so much... but, it's true! So here we go again with an update for the month of June...

Noah has been so busy lately, this month:
- He learned how to jump! He now hops around the house like a little kangaroo. He will look at you and say, "I'm jumping!!!" and jump and half-skip all around the living room.

Noah shows off his hide-and-seek skills

- He's also started to really enjoy putting together puzzles. For a while he has enjoyed an app I put on the Kindle that allows him to drag and drop puzzle pieces into place for pictures of trains and boats, but now he is increasingly interested in "real" puzzles and will ask for help putting pieces together on the floor.
- He has decided that he has a favorite shirt. I mean, it's his *favorite* shirt. I purchased it for him just before his second birthday, I thought it was cute because it said "King of the road" on it and has a picture of a big wheels-type tricycle on it. I'm not sure what happened, but he now asks to wear his "bicycle shirt" every day. If it's dirty he (thankfully) doesn't throw a tantrum, but tells me that, "You need to wash my bicycle shirt, mommy. It's dirty and you need to wash it so Noah can wear it." If he sees it hanging in his closet, it is the *only* shirt he will wear. So if it seems to be in lots of pictures, you know why!

- He is also showing more confidence when it comes to swimming (with his puddle jumper). He has learned to put his face in the water and blow bubbles, and does a great job swimming with Kelley when she comes over for lessons. They are also going more smoothly now that we moved to an evening time instead of the morning lessons we had been doing.
- We've also started some attempts at potty training, but haven't had much success yet. Noah does seem to enjoy his Lightening McQueen undies, though.

- As a big brother, Noah has learned to comfort his younger sister. It melts my heart to see him run to her when she cries and offer her a toy or tell her, "Okay, Sammy, it's okay." He has also developed the (not as sweet) habit of holding *early* morning reading sessions with his sister -- like, 3 or 4 am. Matt and I will hear him open the doors between their rooms and hear him "reading" books to her, playing peek-a-boo with her through the crib slats and sharing toys with her. He also makes sure to open her shutters to let in some of the moonlight/streetlights. This would all be very sweet....if they didn't both need to be sleeping at that time.

Sam has also learned some new things:
- She has become proficient enough at crawling that she can now "chase" her brother around the house. He will run in circles through the living room and kitchen and stop every few minutes to allow her to crawl and *almost* catch up with him. They both find this absolutely hysterical :) I can't wait to see how the game changes when she actually starts walking!
- And speaking of physical abilities, Sam also figured out how to stand up in her crib. So, yes, her crib mattress is now lowered to the lowest possible level.

- She has also learned how to turn the pages in books and really enjoys this part of bedtime. The only problem: she's ready to turn the page before you've finished reading it ;)

- She also got to meet her paternal great-grandparents this month. Since we haven't (yet) been able to take both kids to Ohio, Sammy had never met Matt's grandparents. Fortunately, they happened to be making a trip with Matt's mom and step-dad to Texas for a graduation (in Houston) and they stopped by for a quick overnight visit to see us!

- Her hair is finally long enough that I can attempt to tame it with a little hair clip.

More pictures:

Sammy realizes she can stand up in the crib

Noah likes to "feed" Lexi. He walks up with these two bowls with some toys in them and says, "Here-a go, Lexi, time to eat!" You can tell she's thrilled ;)

Noah tucked me in one morning while I was napping on the couch as Matt was getting ready for work. Notice I have a bulldozer and a teddy bear and a "blanket" (a pink burp cloth) placed lovingly beside me.

Bath time fun

*destroying* an apple.

What breakfast time looks like around here.

Snuggles with my babies after a 12-hour night shift.

Noah realized that while I'm making the bed, the pillows are a great place to jump.

Best buds: Noah tickling Sammy and giving her kisses :)

Our good friends the Frey's invited us to the zoo with them. Matt wasn't able to go because of his work schedule, but I loaded up the two kiddos and met John, Brittney, their son Eli, and their nephew Cameron at the Dallas Zoo for a morning of fun. Here are some pics from the kids first ever trip to the zoo.

Love this picture of the boys looking at the elephants, they remind me of Alvin, Simon and Theodore!