Walking with the Cooks

Thursday, July 5, 2018

Happy 2 years, Anna!

Two is a fun age and it is a joy to have another two-year-old in the house. Anna has found her funny, discovered some curiosity, and is perfecting her singing voice. We love our Anna Caroline!

Weight: 30.8 lbs (90%)
Height: 34.75 inches (83%)

Diapers: size 5- sits on the potty before bath
Clothing: 2T/3T

Likes: shoes, cookies, dancing, finding her singing voice, reading/carrying a book, chalk, the tricycle, swinging

Dislikes: watching Lydia play with something she wants, eating when she is mad

Schedule:
7am Awake for the day!
12:00-3pm Nap
7pm Down for bed

Sleep: Anna is down to one nap a day. It just so happened that we settled on noon rather than one o'clock with the rest of the herd. I'm not sure why it is different with her, but noon has worked well as she has moved to one nap. Anna continues to go through phases where she wakes at night, which is super hard on everyone.

Physically: We have a walker! She is definitely still in the toddling stage, no running or walking backwards yet. She gets the award for biggest wipe outs and most busted lips! Her eyes have turned somewhat gray blue and she has an excellent head of straight brown hair.

Food: Particular. Anna is quite particular about food. Her mood has a huge affect on how she eats, which makes her incredibly different than any other child we have parented. She likes blueberries, strawberry, and peanut butter (on just about anything...you better believe we have used that to our advantage!). She likes to dip her food, which especially comes out when we're at Chick Fil A with all their sauces. She eats with her eyes and I can see her growing up to be quite the foodie.

Communication: It is very sweet to communicate with Anna. She understands almost everything we say, even if she doesn't always agree with what we are saying. A funny habit she has is repeating the last two words of any phrase we say to her. But it demonstrates her ability to say most words and her actual vocabulary is growing by leaps and bounds. She spends a lot of time desperately saying, "have it PLEASE" while frantically signing for more (which she thinks is please...it's very confusing to the outside world) while we spend a lot of time asking, "is that YES please or NO thank you?"

Fun things:
- She is a sweater like her mom and brother. Her face gets super red and she gets little sweat beads on her nose.
- Anna loves to dance along with Lydia. She makes good use of her arms, which gives her a very modern dance aesthetic.
- We change shoes several times a day. Thankfully, she can put them neatly back in her closet and knows to bring two shoes that match!
- She begs to go outside.
- We turned her seat around on her birthday. She didn't seem to care, but Dave and I love it.
- Her fine motor skills are coming along. Anna will sit for 5-10 minutes with a box of crayons and piece of paper just coloring her little heart out. She'll also mark up any book Dave leaves out with a highlighter!
- Anna has mastered her body parts.
- Favorite songs are Wheels On the Bus, Twinkle Twinkle, and Jesus Loves Me. She is a singer with gusto, so even when the words aren't right the tune and heart are very much there.

Easter 2018

She likes her standing legs!
The tiny table is the perfect height for playing.

The morning before PT Anna watched Dave play Connect4 with the big kids.
When we got to PT she was bent on playing their version.

My little spring bunny learning to maneuver the outdoors.

She is a scavenger.
She kept bringing me Peeps from Josiah's secret Easter stash.

Hanging with mom while the big kids did "Target-school."

Anna loves dress up clothes.
Favorites are the safety goggles, swim googles, ballet leotard, and a twirly skirt.

We were learning how to tame her hair :)

She was being funny and she knew it.

This was her silly face :)

Last year she was scared of the backyard swing.
This year she loves it!

Such sweet giggles for her bigs.

Modeling a Gigi outfit on the picture wall.

Anna was very pleased with this set-up she created.

When she colors she lays down on her elbows between her legs.
It looks super uncomfortable!

Putting shoes on her shoes...sounds about right.

First popsicle of the season!

Lunch with just mom and a dad...a rare treat!

"Chin!!!" We played alllll the games while waiting for our food.

Dress up queen with an assist by her sisters.

"Me? Take your cookie? Surely not."

When she puts her hand around back she could ask for a pony and get it.

We love you, Anna Caroline!

Tuesday, May 8, 2018

Happy 6 years, Josiah!

Six years, and my boy sure is looking big. This has been such a year of growth for Josiah. He has excelled in his school work and continues to love his sisters with care and affection. Josiah is persistent when he sets his mind to a task- one of my favorite qualities about him! He is also deeply curious. We love our dear boy and I think the year ahead will be the best yet!

Weight: 54 lbs 6 oz (87%)
Height: 49.75 in (98%)
Clothing: 6/7T, shoe size 1

Likes: art projects, tape, repurposing items, helping in the kitchen, imaginative play with Sarah and Lydia, learning new skills (like piano with dad), creating

Dislikes: working hard when he wants to be playing, injustice (to himself or others)

A day in the life:

7:00am: Josiah comes out of his room, usually asking us to get Anna out of her crib (which is under his loft bed)

Breakfast- Usually milk, banana, and cheerios, but he loves eggs and toast.

Morning: Morning chores to get ready for the day, then school time. Josiah's individual school work takes 1-1.5 hours and we spend about 1 hour doing read alouds and memory work all together.

Lunch: Josiah's pick would be a turkey sandwich with cheese and lettuce or perhaps a peanut butter and honey sandwich. He loves green peppers and has apples and oranges for snacks throughout the day.

1:00pm: Nap time in the guest room! He reads until 2:00 and then plays, usually doing a "project," until 3:00.

Afternoon: Our boy loves to be outside. He rides his bike, hits a baseball, or pretends to set up for camping with umbrellas and picnic blankets.

Dinner: He is a good eater and a good spirit about trying new food. This year the kids took on more responsibility with clean up and he has gotten quite good at wiping the table and sweeping.

Bedtime: After getting ready for bed, reminding him to use the restroom again, we give hugs and send him up his ladder. Then we pray for Josiah and Anna and sing Goodnight Anna and Josiah. It is a delightful mouthful!

Fun facts:
* Josiah still wants to be a painter, of both the inside and outside of houses.
* He has a whole bank of hymns in his sweet head.
* We started the reading curriculum we used last year with Sarah at the start of Josiah's year and he is doing great! I'm so proud of how he has developed over the school year. His favorite subject is handwriting. His favorite read aloud was Charlotte's Web. (<- I'm pretty sure we read this last year, but it was his definitive answer.)
* Josiah cut his hair a couple of months ago . . . I suppose they don't grow out of that as soon as I hoped.
* His best friends are Colton (from church), Raelynn (from school), and Ensley (from down the street). Thank God for the community He has given us!

A chronological look at the past year: