Happy 2nd Birthday Felix!

I really can't believe you're already two years old! We've spent another year so grateful to have you in our lives. You truly are a ray of sunshine (even when you're being a stinker).

This year you learned so much. You now speak in nearly full sentences and we love all the things you have to say. You like to refer to yourself as "me" and it's pretty darn cute. While getting into sticky situations you've been known to say to yourself "Careful, me!" because you're so used to us saying "Careful, Felix!"

You love to eat. Your favorite food is definitely noodles (with olive oil and a little salt). Just this morning you asked for noodles for breakfast! You still have to avoid dairy and soy but you don't seem to mind much and we know you'll eventually grow out of it, we're just not quite sure when that will be.

You love to play. Your favorite toys right now are your dolls (3 of them), your weegos (Legos) and anything electronic. You've mastered unlocking everyone's phones and can navigate to whatever game you want within seconds. You like talking on the phone and often ask to call gma Aka. You and Henry have so much fun together and I know that will only increase as you both get older. You're tough and can nearly hold your own when wrestling your brother.

You're still a huge cuddler and will often ask for cuddles. I enjoy the moments just after you wake up in the morning or after nap because all you want to do is be held or sit on someone's lap. You give tons of kisses and you always make sure everyone gets their share. If you think I'm leaving for work in the morning without kissing dad goodbye you point it out ("Kiss dada, mama?").

Some of your other favorites are Buzz and Woody (from Toy Story), Gabbas (Yo Gabba Gabba) and Elmo. You love books and pay so much attention to details in the stories. Mouse About the House is one of your favorites right now. You love music and you love to dance and we love to dance with you.

I love you more than I could ever put into words, thanks for picking me as your mom. xo

Happy Birthday Felix!

Happy Fifth Birthday Henry!

This has been another fabulous year for you Henry. You started school and learned so many new things (most notably, Spanish). You impress us each day with things you tell us. When we ask where you learned that you tell us in your “oh duh” voice that you learned it at school. We can tell you’re torn between being a little kid and turning into a big kid. Embrace all those little kid moments as much as you can but learn from and enjoy those big kid moments too.

You made a lot of new friends this year and it has been so much fun to watch you interact with each one of them. We have watched you gain your independence as you go on ‘play dates’ and attend birthday parties without me and dad. You often negotiate to stay up later by trading in stories so you can play with your friends (“I want zero stories tonight so I can play outside with Murray and Leo”)

You are the best big brother anyone could ever ask for. Felix looks at you in awe and wants to be exactly like you. You are so great at calming him down when he gets crabby and I’m always impressed by your ability to make him laugh when no one else can. I hope you continue to learn from each other and hold on to that deep love and respect you clearly have for one another.

You have become so great at communicating. Just the other day you told me you sometimes get frustrated (building legos) but that you know it’s better to stop and take a break than to scream and cry in frustration. You’re funny. One of your current phrases that always makes us laugh is “one never knows.” (“Will mom read stories tonight or will dad? One never knows”) You really listen to everything going on around you and you’ve always been great at understanding the context of things.

Your favorite toys right now are legos. You love to follow the directions and build huge things but you also love to take a random pile and create something all your own. It’s amazing to watch your creativity and patience as you build. You love books and you’re starting to read a few words. We read the Diary of a Whimpy Kid series most nights before bed and you try to read many of the words along with dad and me. Your favorite show is “Drake and Josh” and I’m fairly certain the entire family has seen every episode. Other favorite things right now are magic tricks (you put on quite a show!) and you still love superheroes and cars.

Dad picked one of his favorite quotes and put in on our calendar for this month in honor of your birthday and I really love it. “When they tell you to grow up, they mean stop growing” – Tom Robbins. I hope you never stop growing.

A rambling update

A few months ago Henry announced to us that he could write his name and proceeded to do so. He's been practicing at school every day and waited until he knew the whole thing before he decided to share it with us. We're so proud of him! He's been writing a lot more every day and is slowly showing an interest in reading the words he sees all around him.

Meanwhile Felix seems to always be peeking around every corner.

For our holiday card Bill caught some great shots of the boys. Getting two kids to look at the camera at the same time AND smile? Truly an impressive feat. Brotherly love is best portrayed through pictures.

Cousin Lily came to visit us over Thanksgiving and the 3 kiddos went to see Santa. Unfortunately Henry and Felix came down with a little sickness the night before but they pushed on through and made the trip to the mall.

Henry is an aspiring rock star.

Felix is usually up to no good :)

Henry went on a fabulous trip to St. Maarten with gma and gpa!

Sailing on the pirate ship and loving every minute!

Felix specializes in making silly faces. This has to be our current favorite.

Henry with his self-applied face paint at the Children's museum:

he wanted to wash it off as soon as we got home. He's growing up way too fast.