Winter Weekend on Decatur

With winds blowing at more than 40+ mph, it was cold and windy - but still beautiful! There were 6 adults, 4 kids, lots of fires, good food, and playing around in the loft.  Everyone had a blast.

Christmas Time

Leana is so excited by Christmas everything - the trees, the lights, the decorations.  But not Santa.  She told me this morning she did not want Santa coming to our house.  Well, guess I'm off the hook.  She did, however, specify that she wanted "a lot of special treats" in her stockings.

Dance Time

Juju tries to join in for a bit...

Little Readers

Both the kids love books, and Juju has really gotten into them lately, getting very excited when he finds cats or dogs or other things he likes.

Cruising!

Juju is starting to get the hang of being on his feet - and he loves it!

Leana - 3.25 Years Old

3.25 years old is such a fun age - Leana's curiosity about everything is so great (although the why?why?why? can be tiring).  She is just soaking in as much information as possible all the time.  She still loves those numbers and letters - she can count to 100 (often skipping the 30's), she can read/recognize/spell various words (her name, big, bug, cat, Olivia, etc), she knows about the days of the week and the time on a clock.  She has picked up all sorts of fun things at school like being the "helper", washing your hands with a stream not a waterfall, and coughing into your elbow not your hands.  She has also gotten into pretend play: playing "school" or creating a "carwash" tunnel out of a futon mattress, her current favorite.  And she loves to dance! Going to try out a ballet class soon and see how she does.  Overall, lots of fun times around here (oh - and plenty of not-so fun times too, 3.25 years also means a lot of power struggles and testing of mom's patience!).

she still loves those bugs!

Favorite conversations with Leana:

Leana (to Juju): Sorry Juju, you're not 3 enough!

Dr. Green (dentist): What is your name?
Leana: (spells it out super fast) L-E-A-N-A
Dr G: Not sure I caught that
Leana: Leana Coyin!

At dinner table with me, jeff, uncle greg and aunt jeannene:
Leana: I want to go downstairs with everybody! (Starts pointing around the table)  Dada....Mama...(points at aunt Jeannene, pauses)...who's that guy?
(note: she definitely knows who jeannene is, just has a hard time pronouncing her name)

Leana loves to dance:

? 

Trick or Treat!

More Halloween photos - Leana had a blast trick or treating around the Wedgwood businesses.  She showed me every piece of candy she got, incredulous and excited with every new treasure she got to add to her bag.  When we got home I told her that after dinner we could either do more trick or treating on our street or go to her preschool teacher's house where the class was invited to decorate cookies.  She chose the cookies and loved that too.  We made it through the afternoon/evening with only 3 pieces of candy eaten and some sprinkles.  The cookie was eaten today but so far she has not asked about the leftover candy.

Juju got some pretzels shaped like bats and pumpkins and a rubber duckie. He was not as thrilled as Leana was.

Happy Halloween!

We'll see if I can get a picture with both kids in costumes at the same time later on, but for now here's a sneak preview!

 "mom, this costume is ridiculous"
(but not as ridiculous as it used to be before I washed it and the lion's mane was tamed: http://picollins.blogspot.com/2010_10_01_archive.html)

 Not just any bee, a "honey bee!"

The Space Needle

After 5 years of living in Seattle I finally made it up to the top of the Space Needle.  Our friend Clyde came for a visit and we had a nice lunch up top in the rotating restaurant.  We got a nice view of the fall colors all over Seattle.

More Birthday Boy Photos

Here is Juju enjoying his first taste of cake (Nana Kathy's delicious homemade cake, no less!)

Catching up on Videos...

dance time for the kiddos

Leana helps out with Juju

Juju gets so excited about going down the slide!

Happy Birthday Julian!

Yesterday was our sweet little Juju's first birthday.  He had a big day: Doctor visit with 4 shots, a lunch time party with 5 three year olds to chase after, and a pizza party singalong at night for Leana's preschool.  He held up well but was certainly tired by the end of the day.

At 1, Julian now has 4 teeth, can pull up on anything and can "cruise" along a table or the sofa.  His favorite activities include: pulling up on the toilet, chasing the cats, following his big sister around, reading books,dancing, splashing and eating.

1 Year Stats:
Weight: 18lb 8oz, 3% (up 1%!)
Height: 29.25 inches (33%)

Videos coming later...

Leana's First Signature

Leana has been obsessed with letters and numbers for a long time.  Lately she is particularly interested in how you spell everything.  Here is her first successful attempt at getting all the letter of her name in one legible row!

Here is an earlier attempt, including a self portrait.

First Day of Toddler Class

Julian and I are starting the toddler class at Seattle Central that I did with Leana.  The birthday cutoff is Sept but they let me in with Juju even though he is a little young, so he is definitely the smallest guy there.  But he loved it!  He crawled all over, played with all the fun new toys, loved snack and singing time.  He crashed out early this afternoon from all the excitement too.

making friends

compare to Leana's first day of the same class, 2 years ago: http://picollins.blogspot.com/2010/09/first-day-of-school.html

New Skills

After about 3.5 months of army crawling, juju finally started testing out his hands and knees, and after just a few days has gotten pretty good at it.  He still goes for army crawl when he gets real excited about something and wants to move fast.

Leana's been working on her climbing, swimming, and monkey bar skills as well...

Juju - 11 months old!

I am having a hard time accepting that this is Julian's last month birthday before the big one year mark!

Juju is now pulling up to standing all the time: in his crib, on boxes, the sofa - usually trying to get closer to me, Jeff, Leana or Miodowa.  He is "talking" a lot, and even started crawling around on all 4's (barely though, he still prefers his army crawl since he has gotten so fast at it).  Juju is also really into music too, he likes the Beatles and does a little dance sometimes when their music comes on.  Leana is having more and more fun with him the older he gets - even telling him how she loves him, it's the sweetest.

Leana took this photo

Uncle Greg & Aunt Jeannene's Wedding

Jeff's brother got married last weekend and they had a beautiful wedding in Normandy Park.  Juju slept through the entire reception in his pack n play right next to our table.  Leana was a beautiful little flower girl and she had a great time dancing and playing with the other kids.  Of course she also loved the cake and got the first slice after Greg and Jeannene.

Now, I know that "mother of the bride" is supposed to be a stressful role, but what about "mother of the flower girl"?  You have to get a three year old into a new dress and shoes (usually white) and then expect them to stay clean, put clips in their hair and expect them to stay in, get yourself dressed and presentable (and stay that way) and then hold them back when they are filled with the excitement of throwing petals and walking down the aisle.  Then you have to direct them down the aisle, hope they do what they are supposed to, and not make too much noise.  I guess the payoff is that they look SO adorable in their dresses and everyone oohs and aaahs about how cute they are.  Definitely worth it.  

 Most family pictures turn out like the one below, but we got one decent one!