Winter Fun

Jason learned how to ride the ski lift this year, and he loves skiing. Kyle took Jason skiing a couple of times after skiing lessons were over.

Free zoo day in February.

Noah Turns 4 Years Old

For Noah's birthday this year, I chose to keep things simple by planning fun things to do with just our family. I'm glad that's how I planned it, because we were all in various stages of a cold, and not feeling very well. Even though we had colds, I let go of my better judgement and took Noah and Jason to play at Jungle Jim's Playland because Noah had his heart set on going there.

For dinner I bought McDonald's happy meals and brought them home instead of taking the kids to the play place. Jason fell asleep for the night at 6 o'clock, so it was just me, Kyle and Noah having cake and singing happy birthday. Thankfully this sweet Noah was perfectly content celebrating with just his parents!

Noah loved getting a Yoda costume, a craft box, and more Lego Duplos for his birthday.

Dear Noah,

What a big year this has been for you! You got a baby brother, became potty trained, and started preschool. You are also growing so tall. At 4-years-old you are already 42 inches tall, which puts you in the 92nd percentile. We keep saying that you'll probably grow taller than Jason one of these years.

For starters, getting a baby brother was, thankfully, not too rough on you. Three main things helped you (and me) get through the transition. First, having Jason to play with was a big help. You two play so well together! I love watching you two play because you have big imaginations. Yes, sometimes there are tears as you fight over who should do what, but you two can usually work it out. When Jason leaves for school in the mornings, you are always sad to see him go. Second, lots of screen time helped you with having a new baby take up mom's attention. You love to watch TV or play games on the Kindle. Third, you have great self-soothing skills with your two fingers, your blanket, and your bear ("ghostly").You still want to suck your fingers all the time. For now we let you suck them, but we have a new rule that you can't talk with your fingers in your mouth because I'm afraid it's affecting your speech. I've also told you that you need to stop sucking your fingers when you get to kindergarten. Time will tell how that goes.

With the transition to being a big brother well in the past, you have already started asking me when we're going to have our next baby. I asked you how many more babies we should have. You answered, "Two." Ha ha! I am glad you think having a baby around the house is so great. You are a great protector of Levi. You keep an eye on him and let me know when he's about to be in danger or when your toys are about to be wrecked by him. Levi has taken on the role of "giant baby" in your games who comes to wreck things. You'll say things like, "Oh, no! Giant baby is coming!"

Potty-training you was hard. But after struggling through it for a month and a half, everything clicked, and you've been great ever since. You have a laid back, let mom do it personality, so it takes time for you to adjust to doing things on your own.

Preschool comes with mixed emotions. When I tell you it's time to get ready for preschool, you always say "I don't want to go!". I have to reassure you that you will have time to watch a show and play with your toys before school starts at 10:00. Once you get to school, you always have a blast, especially since three of your friends attend with you. You come home from preschool in smiles, telling me about some of the things you did.

Drawing has become one of your favorite activities. I've loved watching you get more and more detailed in the things you draw. You also love to color.

You and Jason love to play Pokemon, Star Wars, and Angry Birds. You two have made up your own game called "Piggy and Babentures" that combines those three things together. Why is it called "Piggy and Babentures"? Because you could't say "adventures" at first, so the name stuck.

Seldom do you let us call you "Noah." You usually insist we call you by some other name, but the name is always changing. Regular names you like to be called are "Scrat" (from Ice Age), "Lucario" (from Pokemon), and "Red" (from Angry Birds). But after watching something on TV, you also like to be called a character from whichever show you were watching. You can get downright angry at people when they mistakenly call you "Noah," so we came up with a rule that you can be called anything you want at home, but at preschool and primary, you must go by "Noah." The rule has helped eliminate a lot of frustration regarding your name.

I love having you at home with me. You are a home-body who loves to do things quietly around the house, such as watching a show or playing with your toys or drawing pictures. Sometimes I really have to convince you to get out of the house. But once Jason gets home, you two turn into loud, crazy boys who turn the house upside down in all their adventures.

This year we plan on teaching you how to ride a bike with training wheels. And we also plan to continue enjoying your company as we enjoy one more year of preschool. I love you so much!

love,

mom