That's right, Jif turned 2. I already posted about his birthday party but I need to post about him.
Here is Jif playing "tea party" with doggie. Doggie is his favorite stuffed animal. He brings him everywhere and does not like to share him. It has been so fun to watch how Jif's play has evolved. He loves to pretend. This particular day he set the table, put doggie in the chair, said a prayer over the food, and then pretended to eat it with doggie, and when he was done with eating the pretend food on each dish, he would knock it to the ground. Much like he does in real life to my dismay.
Jif got this table and chairs for his birthday. Ikea 20 bucks, what a steal. He loves them. Here he is just sitting and enjoying one of his chairs. Although he likes his table and chairs, his favorite toys in the world are cars. He plays with them all day. He likes to line them up one by one, biggest to smallest in different areas in the house. Often the kitchen where we trip over them or kick them under the oven. . His second favorite toy (if you can call them that) are books. He loves to sit and read them to himself and he loves us to read to him Books can keep him occupied for hours. He even has a few of them memorized and he "reads" them to us. He is also getting really good at coloring. He can draw a circle.
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His vocabulary is really coming along. He knows all of his numbers and can count in order to 10. He knows most of his letters. The other day he was eating a pretzel and got really excited and told us the pretzel was an R. Sure enough, the way he was eating it he made it shaped like an R. I thought he had done it on accident until yesterday when I saw him carefully looking at the pretzel as he took bite by bite. He formed it into another R on purpose. Once it was done he was so proud that he made an R. How smart is that? He also knows most of the colors, all of his body parts, and most of his shapes.
Here Jif is at the museum riding a camel. He still has as much energy as ever and loves to climb and explore. With all of that climbing comes a lot of injuries. We have had many "wowies" (that's what he calls them) at our house. Usually fat lips and bit tongues.
Jif has hit the terrible twos alright. My boy who used to like to do everything I asked, including putting himself in time out has now figured out that he can do the opposite of everything I ask too. Oh I love him so much, but this child is strong willed. We are hoping to turn some of that strong will to good. Well, twos haven't been too terrible. They are fun too. Jif has become very coordinated. He has been having fun playing soccer with daddy and he is really really good. He can dribble the ball and turn really fast when the ball goes another direction. His coordination is actually amazing me.
Here is Jif at his 2 year doctor's appointment. He is 3'1'' and 29 Ibs and 4 oz. He is over the 99th percentile for height and in the 60th for weight. I hear that 2 years is the best predictor for adult height. If that is true we will have one tall man on our hands.
Reece is now 2 months. How time flies. She is looking less and less like an infant and more like a baby. Here she is in her Christmas dress.
My friend told me that she looks like a cabbage patch doll. I definitely agree. Look at those cheeks.
She is such a happy little girl. Most of the time she is either sleeping or smiling.
One day we ventured off to the Beach, in January, yes. How awesome is that? See those rolls? Soooo adorable. She had her 2 month doctor's appointment the same day Jif had his 2 year appt. She got shots, so sad. Gave her a fever and a swollen leg. She is climbing up the percentiles. She is 13 Ibs 1 1/2 oz (95th percentile) and 241/2 inches long (97th percentile).
She is sleeping through the night. Sometimes I have to wake her up after 9 or so hours to feed her. We are still working on getting her milk allergy under control. It is not 100% resolved, I have had to be even more picky and take out things like sacrament bread out of my diet. We are hoping that if I'm not at all exposed to the milk protein, then she shouldn't be.
Jif sure loves being a big brother and Reese likes having a big brother. Jif loves to make Reese smile. He loves to help me give sissy her paci, or blanket. He even loves to share his toys with her. Maybe a little too much, he gave her a swollen eye when trying to share his plastic balls with her.
What cute kids! I love how they are opposite. He's a rambunctious boy and she's a cuddly girl.
In other family news. I am slowly getting used to this no milk diet. I desperately miss cheese. I really want a pizza. Sometimes when I give Jif a string cheese I feel a strong slightly out of control desire to take a bite. However I am finding things to satisfy me. I can substitute almond milk for anything with milk in it, and 2 brands of margarine are milk protein free. I can make myself certain types of brownies if I have a chocolate craving. I even found that soy ice cream isn't too bad. My husband and I have been in a really good exercising routine so we are feeling pretty good. We recently started a babysitting co-op with 2 families that are our friends. It is wonderful so far. We get 2 date nights a month with 1 night of babysitting. For our first date night we went to a really yummy cuban restaurant. Garlic chicken, beans, rice, and yummy platainos. Then we went to Macy's and bought my husband a new suit. They were having a great sale. I must say, it's a really good looking suit, I can't wait until it gets fitted and he can wear it. My husband is working hard in school and getting ready for his next moot court competition. He takes these competitions really seriously and is hoping to get another award and maybe go to the finals.
Well that's our update. Enjoy.
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