Esther, 3 1/2!

September 7th was Esther's 3 1/2 birthday, so here is the post in honor of that special occasion!
She was actually quite excited about her half birthday.  We attempted to explain the difference between a "whole" birthday and a half birthday, and I think it was mostly successful.  She requested a banana cake which I made using this recipe and it was delicious - even with all honey and no sugar.  I especially loved the cream cheese icing.  Enough about the cake - back to Esther!

She also requested a birthday tablecloth on the table (she knew it was in the kitchen drawer.  That request didn't come out of the blue).  And a sucker.  Pretty easy wishes to grant!  She received a couple of small gifts, including a Curious George video and an arts and crafts kit with pasting projects.  I had ordered a skirt for her for $1 from an online promotion, and it happened to come in on her half birthday.  So, Esther had mail to open too. Quite a good haul for not even a birthday, if I do say so myself!

Here is the latest on Esther:
- has grown a lot over the last few months.  She is mostly in 3T clothes, and even a few 4T items!
- loves to pick out her own clothes and pajamas
- has improved her jumping skills
- loves to ask "why" and "how come" about everything
- has started a more scheduled "preschool" routine
- loves to watch videos of any kind, but loves Curious George, Berenstein Bears, and Leap Frog
- enjoys arts and crafts activites, especially glue, stickers, and painting
- has still only had one hair cut, although a trim is needed
- can buckle her car seat by herself
- still throws fits when we ask her to do something she doesn't want to do, or if she had something else that she wanted instead
- still sucks her thumb

Okay, this needed a little more space so back to a paragraph ...
We have been spending time with the Hersey family recently.  Esther loves to play with Isabella (turning 3 soon) and they are very cute friends.  Even cuter, however, are Esther and Jacob Hersey.  Jacob is 5, and Esther announced several times the last time we saw their family that she wants to marry Jacob.  She also grabbed his hand last Sunday after church and pulled him around, saying "Come on, husband."  Super adorable!

And a few more...
- Esther loves to play pretend.  She is often a doggie or a kitty cat, and she will enlist anyone around to be her baby, her child, or to reenact a scene from a favorite movie
- Loves to be read to
- Super enjoys her "class" during church.  We have been told she is very enthusiastic about answering the teacher's questions.
- Tyler says her singing is improving, although I can't really tell!
- Loves to play at the park.
- Wants it to snow at Christmas time.
- Is doing much better at eating what we put on her plate.
-- Is growing up!!

Zoo and Puddles

A few fun pictures ...

We went to the zoo last weekend - again! - and had lots of fun.  Esther makes an adorable lion cub, especially her "mane."


They also have a petting zoo where you can pet and brush the goats.  Esther loved it, but Jesse didn't like being too near the goats and had to be persuaded to try to brush them.

And we enjoyed a family trip to Home Depot for some supplies for Tyler's job.  The kids had fun, even though it was late.  Esther was entertaining Jesse with "Itsy Bitsy Spider" and other songs.  It was so cute to watch them play together on the cart!




And playing in the puddles ... it has rained a lot lately, but usually with thunderstorms.  Esther was excited to get to go outside and enjoy jumping in the puddles, like we used to do frequently at the campground in Virginia.  It was barely sprinkling but she insisted on the raincoat.

 

Jesse Tyler, 18 Months!

A milestone ... One and a half years for our little guy. Both hard and easy to believe. It's difficult to recall life before him.

Here is a rundown of his accomplishments:
-started walking well on his own at 14 months
- is talking a lot! Especially in the last few weeks, he is really picking up words. A partial list includes: mama, papa, ball, balloon, banana, shoes, door, water, juice, book, Bible, truck, go, bye, please, thank you, milk, eat, that, belly, baby.
- he is also repeating a lot of words that he may not understand
- loves to look through books
- has started to play with toy cars and even says "vroom vroom"
-eats a banana every morning at breakfast, very enthusiastically
- forgot to mention he learned "no"!
- gets very excited to see Esther
- seems to get frustrated by not being able to communicate his desires
- loves to throw his diaper away after I change it
- is often pretty whiny when he wakes up from a nap
- is taking one afternoon nap now, usually about two hours
- but he can still fall asleep in the carseat in the mornings
- is wearing 18 month shirts and 12 month shorts and pants
- also can get very frustrated if he doesn't get his way and can throw quite a fit
- will sometimes take care of baby dolls like his sister does
- requests the song "this little light of mine" by waving his finger in the air
- is a great eater, although flatly refused beans and tuna salad
- is starting to sit still for a while if a a video is on
- still eats crayons if we try to color
- likes head butts!
- has recently gotten two molars. That's six teeth on top and only two on the bottom
- is very sweet and friendly with an amazing smile
- seems to really respond to music, including drumming on everything, clapping, and dancing

We sure love him!