Cutie Patooties:
I came into our bedroom to find Tyce and Shay reading (which they do quite often), 'My First Bible'. Shaylie did her own hair and put on some mittens after I got her dressed :)
Oma and Kai came to visit in mid-January and brought some belated Christmas gifts...
...these awesome step-stools that convert to little chairs with their names on them:
Buddies:
We've been to OMSI twice now since getting our membership. The first time we went with Emily, James, William and Christopher. The kids had a great time running around and exploring the large toddler room. Emily and I then walked the kids around the rest of the museum in their strollers before having lunch at the Cafe. Keeping track of 5 toddlers with only 2 adults is very busy so I didn't get too many pictures...
In the sand-pit:
All 5 kids, this is the best it gets with 5 quick kiddos (William had a harness as we were getting ready to head out of the toddler room to the stroller area):
A picture of Tyce and Shay in the sweaters my Aunt Peggy made for them:
Gracie came over and spent an evening with us :)
Feeding each other some lentil soup:
The second time we went to OMSI this month was with Grandma Jan and Johanna when they came to visit for a long weekend:
Astronaut Tycen in one of his most favorite things, a ROCKET!
Hard to get a clear picture of a toddler at OMSI, they're always on the move:
Dress-up in Grandma Jan's hat and shoes:
Tyce and Shay are always asking to sit in the 'big seat.' They're getting better and better at sitting still in their seat (as opposed to getting up/down, standing up, turning around backward, etc... over and over again) and now eat about half their meals in their highchairs and half at the big table.
They love the tinker toys they got from Cousin Ray Ray for Christmas:
On a walk around the Waterfront in Portland:
Playing at The Leigh Boys' house:
Hiding out in Roscoe's kennel:
Hanna and Shaylie:
Tyce rocking Shaylie like a baby:
My favorite little duet:
Sweet Shaylie snuggles:
Tycen and Shaylie's first tatoos:
Tyce and Shaylie sure are keeping us on our toes these days. Their personalities are emerging more and more everyday. We are always amazed at the new vocabulary they pick up on a daily basis and are getting really good at putting sentences together. It's so fun to have conversations with them :)
Along with all the fun times, they are also going through a peak (I'm hoping it's the peak anyway!) whiny stage. I need to start researching new methods on how to handle these recurrent situations. I find it hard at times to know when to address their whinyness, what words to say, and when to just ignore it. If I come across the perfect solution in dealing with this, I'll be sure to pass it on! ;) Some days are better than others and some days I can tolerate the whining a whole lot more than other days. On the rough whiny days I think they have a pact with one another to take turns, when one's not whining the other is. All I know is if I were paid a nickel for every time I said the word, 'whining', we could probably retire :)
I do realize that this is something that all toddlers (and some adolescents, pre-teens, teenagers and adults) go through and I do feel for them as they can get so wrapped up in such a small thing. I just pray that I can consistently be a reflection of the fruit of the Spirit, showing them love, patience, kindness, gentleness and self-control.
'The Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.' --Galations 5:22
