Easter 2013

Jason's favorite thing about Easter is doing as many egg hunts as we will let him, which included three in our own back yard, and several inside the house. We just keep putting the same candy back in the eggs and he hides them for himself to find. He was super excited to get Spiderman flip flops and an Angry Birds game for Easter.

Noah loved eating the candy and crawling through the grass. 

I tried to be a good parent and teach Jason the real meaning of Easter. That talk went about as well as you would expect it to go for a three-year-old: total confusion. He still asks me if I died and am alive again. 

Jason came up with this theory a while ago that as soon as you are done "being all the numbers" you turn into the opposite gender. That means, as soon as Jason turns 100, he will turn into a girl. 

Our playhouse is just perfect for Noah. He can hold onto the ledges and walk all around it and play in the sand. He loves anything that has to do with sand, dirt, rocks, or grass. It is hard to take him shopping because he does not want to sit in the cart. He wants to explore. 

Noah 13 Months

Noah is finally starting to smile for pictures, and I love it. I continue to be amazed at how he imitates everything we do. He wants to sweep the floor, wash the walls, wear belts, but most of all, he wants to be a big boy like Jason! He is quite the challenge for me now at the park.

Noah is also pulling himself up on everything and cruising around furniture. He is already pulling out all my pots and pans. Our garbage cans live on top of the counters now to avoid being tipped over. We are entering the awkward transition phase of going from two naps to one nap. But even with these challenges, we are so glad to have Noah around. He brightens the day for all of us.

Noah just got his second hair cut (done by Grandma Linda). His hair has always grown at an impressive rate.

Kyle Regains Jason's Love

Busy season is hard on all of us, including Jason. Lately he has not been so keen on the stranger in our house called Dad. Jason has only been wanting mom to help him or play with him. I told Kyle he had to step up his game during his rare down-time to try to win Jason's affections back. This morning Kyle did just that. We woke up to four inches of new snow-- enough to play in, which is exactly what Jason wanted to do. So Kyle built another igloo with him, a different design from the last igloo. They spent all morning together, and now Jason adores his Dad again :).

Moonlight Easter Egg Hunt

We held our first Moonlight Easter Egg Hunt. Hopefully it will become an annual tradition. I read about it on a friends' blog and I knew I wanted to try it out.

We invited Heather, Mitch, Kelli, and Tom to come over for the hunt. I even let Jason stay up late to participate because I knew he would be wild with excitement. We hid the eggs in our backyard. Each person had a certain color of egg they got to find with the help of a flashlight. We also hid Cascarones, which are hollowed out eggs with confetti inside. If you found a cascarone, you got to smash it on someone's head and steal one of their eggs. We also had four golden eggs that anyone could find. The golden egg prizes were gag gifts. We all had a great time.

Game Night

Once a month we have Heather & Mitch and Kelli & Tom over to play games. They come while we are getting the boys ready for bed, and then once the boys are in bed, we play games. Mitch and Tom have been talking about how cool it would be to wear blanket sleeper pajamas like the ones Jason and Noah wear. So when I was walking through Target and I saw these HUGE blanket sleeper pajamas, I had to buy them. As big as they are, they are still a little small for grown men, but Tom and Mitch just tied the arms around the waist and had a fabulous time wearing comfortable blanket sleepers. 

Love is Building a Snowman and an Igloo and Free Babysitting

My mom played with Jason outside and built a snow man with him. I also had to take a picture of the beautiful mountains. 

Jason had been begging to make an igloo, and Kyle helped him make one when we got enough good snow on a weekend.

Linda babysat the boys so Kyle could take me out on a Valentine's date. I love going out when a grandma can babysit because I don't worry about how things are going at home. Kyle and I tried out the new Italian place by our house and went to see Chitty Chitty Bang Bang at Hale Center Theater. Kyle also got me some roses! I felt so special. I can't believe how lucky I am to have Kyle as my Valentine every year.

Jason is really into holidays now. He has fun looking forward to each upcoming holiday. Because this is the first time he has taken an interest, I haven't really made a big deal in the past, but now as I try to explain to him what each holiday entails, I find myself trying to make the holidays live up to their potential so Jason (and the rest of us) can have fun with them. So this year Jason and I had fun making hand-made Valentines together. Jason was thrilled with his Valentine present- a new Spiderman toothbrush and candy! Those two things go great together, don't they?

Twelve Months Statistics

Here are Noah's statistics from his 12 month well check:

Weight: 21.87 lbs
Height: 30.71 in
Head: 18.7 in

Sleep: He sleeps through the night for 12-13 hours. Two naps a day, each nap lasting at least an hour.
Motor skills: He started crawling on his knees. He also learned how to go up the stairs, although coming down them is still a problem. He tries to pull himself up on everything now.
Teeth: 8
Foods: He seems to be opposite of Jason in a lot of ways. Where Jason likes things plain, Noah likes the flavors and the sauces. Macaroni and cheese, yogurt, applesauce, peas, green beans, grapes, fruit snacks, and cereals are some of his favorite foods. He does not like strawberries.
Milk: My breast milk supply started diminishing around six months, so we added in formula at 7 months. At 11 months Noah stopped nursing completely and drank only formula. The transition to whole milk at 12 months has been easy now that we warm his milk :). He won't drink it cold.