Waterpark

Jenn's had the opportunity recently to take the kids to Six Flags America, which is close enough to call it nearby. I wasn't to sure how Cole would like it, but he's loved it both times. I'm excited to take him to the water-park in Ocean City we've decided to go to this year.

Mad Dash

At Abbi's party she wanted a pinata. I'm not sure why. But we had one. Grandad helped me hoist it up under one of the pop-up tents, and the kids went at it. It didn't really bust open until the last kid, Abbi's much older cousin Damien got a few good hits on it. But as soon as the smallest little item came out, the kids made a dash for whatever they could get. It was funny to watch. Abbi really seemed to like having the pinata, so I'd say it was worth having.

Watermelon Kids

At Abbi's recent birthday party we got a watermelon out for all the kids that were there. As kids tend to do, they of course loved it and devoured it. Four of the girls were all sitting around the firepit enjoying theirs so it made a great opportunity to photograph them. Abbi had a great time at her party, and I'll be sharing a few pics over the next few days.

Late Night

I work 3 nights a week for a side-business, and so many of the those nights Jenn lets Abbi stay up late with her and watch TV before bed. Every once and a while Cole will get to stay up extra late as well. And in this instance they both got to share some popcorn in the process. What I love here though is how intently they are both watching TV.

Playing

The other day in the car, Cole and Abbi were playing together in the car. He would look at her and then she was making funny sounds and he would crack up laughing. This shows the progression of laughter he had.

#abbisays

Over the past year I've been documenting on Twitter some of the random things that Abbi says. I've used the hashtag #abbisays to keep track of them, and thought it would nice to put them all up as a post today, the day before her fourth birthday.

• Cole is telling himself a bedtime story (while crying in his crib).
• I get to get my face painted AND popcorn. WOW!
• You can't be mad at ME and Cole. We're just kids.
• Fart your engines!
• I'm a jacket. You wanna wear me?
• Mama. Would you turn the light on for a second? I can't see these spoons!
• Ewwww - you have finger tips on your fingers.
• This trick or treat is fun.
• If I ever do anything, like break this window, I won't be I'm trouble.
• I'm talking to the window.
• I love going to Hershey Park!
• I love Ocean City!
• Hey mom and dad look at me! Keep your eyes on me!
• I can say a lot of things (after saying refrigerator)
• But I want to watch it. I like it. Its my favorite movie. What is this?
• Mommy I wanna get outta here. Let me outta here!
• I wanna go to toreo us (Toys R Us).
• Now everyone has toothes. Mommy and daddy and Abbi and Coley!
• I'll be old and big like mommy. Then I'll wear these clothes
• Poop your farts in your pants.
• "They are rainbow cheerios" - regarding her goldfish
• "All of it was the happy part" - regarding her 3 year birthday party.
• Me: do you want to be Cole?
  Abbi: No. Because I like being a girl.
• I want some of that pink ice cream, like at grandpa's house.
• Where's the other lady (referring to Christine upon the arrival of nana and Cara)
• I like this watermelon (said while licking a lemon)
• I take my vitamins and I grow bigger and bigger and bigger and then I'll meet the Incredibles
• Me: "sit on the couch Abbi"
  Abbi: "but I need to drink this milk".
• Just let me finish this part and then you can have it [the iPad]
• She keeps calling the beach trailer the "hotel"

Golfer

I wonder if Cole will like playing golf when he gets older? I have no idea? But I know he loves playing with golf clubs currently, as you can see in this picture. He started by playing with his toy club, and has worked his way up to an adult sized club.

Together

Jenn and I were talking last night about the fact that the kids are starting to "play together". Not necessarily always well, or nicely, but they are playing together. Often times when I try to take pictures of the two of them, Abbi is all about it, and Cole wants nothing to do with it. So then Abbi tries to get Cole interested, and in turns seems to irritate him, and then it just gets worse and worse. This picture kinda shows that. She's got a nice big smile and Cole is pushing her with an irritated look on his face. Priceless of course.

Cole Year 1.4

Big news for Cole in the last few weeks. Cole has had numerous visits to the Ear-Nose-Throat (ENT) doctor over the past few months, all in an effort to the volume of fluid in his ears. Finally, a few weeks back, Cole had a scheduled appointment to get anesthesia so the doctor could get a good look at his ears. Once they were able to get a good look inside they determined that he was not in need of tubes in his ears to control the volume of fluid. Which was of course great news for Cole and us.

Cole has been saying a lot of new words and sounds over the past weeks as well. He's finally starting to say "Ma-Ma" with much more frequency. He still doesn't really call Jenn mama to get her attention, but he'll at least repeat it with more frequency. We're working with him constantly saying words to him, encouraging him to repeat after us before we give him the object of his desire, such as cup, fork, up, down and so on.

He's still just a "little" guy. He fits good into his 12-18 month shirts, but shorts - not so much. His short little legs make 12-18 month shorts look like "short pants". Basically, ridiculous looking. I'm personally waiting on some kind of growth spurt from him to help him fit into some of his summer clothes before it starts getting cold again.

Now that Jenn is off for the summer, Cole and the kids come in with her to wake me up each morning. Its really fun because Cole likes to roll up onto me, an grab my face and start talking to me. While I'm still half asleep sometimes, its still really cute, and its time that I enjoy with the kids each morning. Its definitely something I'll miss once Jenn goes back to work.

Abbi 3.11 Years

I want to write about Abbi sooner than later, on the past few weeks because I want to try and get back on track with the writing about the kids as Abbi gets ready to turn 4 in a few weeks.

The biggest thing to happen in the last "month" - Abbi had her first recital. I wrote about it, and my thoughts on it already, but I'm still in awe of her and her ability to get up in front of such a large audience and perform so well. I'm really proud of her, and what she's been able to do. Especially her desire to stick with the activity, and her genuine interest in it.

And speaking of activities, just this morning Abbi started another one. Jenn is taking her to a local gym for swim lessons. She started out the morning not to interested in going, and by the time she was done she loved it, and I get the feeling she can't wait to go back for more. Again - I'm really proud of my little girl for doing so many things, and being open to doing new ones.

Those are probably the two largest things for Abbi over the last few weeks. She's still a great big sister, but I'm noticing more and more, the jealousy between her and Cole as they fight for our attention. Something that I'm sure isn't going to be resolved anytime soon. From my perspective its hard. Its hard to juggle both kids, especially when they both want your attention. I even struggle to give Abbi attention when she's requesting it over her mom. Its a constant struggle, and even more so to try and teach her the right way to interject, and join the conversation.

I'm really excited to see my little girl turn 4 in a few weeks, but at the same time, its so hard to imagine how quickly the time has passed. Thankfully I've got almost 4 years worth of writing about her to sit back and reflect on and remember how we got here.