Starting Solids

We started Jackson on rice cereal this weekend and his reaction was the same as Connor's was: hesitant and first and then.... yum! He finished a whole portion of it in record time tonight. Connor got to choose Jackson's first food (either rice cereal or avocado), and he chose rice cereal because it was the same as his. After dinner we watched videos of Connor eating his first solid food - and then a bunch of other videos just because they were so fun (and adorable!).

Nurturing the Artistic Side

Art was always my favorite class in school. When I thought about having children I always pictured myself doing all kinds of fun, creative projects with them. Then I had Connor and for the first 2 years of his life he had no interest at all! He wanted to learn to read instead, which I can't fault him for, but still I craved some artistic adventures. Well, this past year has brought an explosion in his interest in all things art-related. I even bought him an art table a while back which he uses daily for his various drawing projects.
And we usually do at least one interesting project each weekend. Often his friend Bennett joins in, and although he's 4 years older than Connor, he loves it just as much. Last week we did spin art using a salad spinner. Who would have thought it would work so well? Put a paper plate in the bottom, squirt in your chosen paint:

Spin, spin, spin - both boys agreed that faster spinning, and a lot of it, was best.

Then the exciting reveal...

Ta-da! Beautiful, right?

This weekend it was bubble painting. Liquid watercolor paint + a tiny bit of water + some dish soap. Add some straws (a different color for each kid):

Start blowing!

Then pop the bubbles with a piece of paper and what is left? Colorful bubble prints!

Measuring Up

Sitting pretty

Jackson has decided that he's done laying on his back for playtime. He wants to be up - and preferably moving! I think we're going to have an active kid on our hands. Maybe he's working on keeping up with his big brother. Here he is enjoying some time in the bumbo (a seat that helps to support him while sitting up).

Date Night

We had a Mommy and Connor date night tonight and it was one of those life moments when you wish you had a camera crew following you so that you could remember everything. Nothing monumental - just all of those little things that make you realize that parenthood is a gift.

I decided that for the few hours we had together that we would talk about what Connor wanted to talk about, go where he wanted to go, eat what he wanted to eat. We went to the toy store to play and made a huge train that connected all of the cars and engines since there were no other kids there we had to share with. We decided on Rotellis for dinner and Kiwi (frozen yogurt) for dessert. Connor asked if we could have a "backwards dinner" (dessert first) and I said YES! When we got to Kiwi he was the star of the show - dancing around to "Moves Like Jagger" and proclaiming (loudly): I LOVE this song! The college kids couldn't get enough. His yogurt choice was banana bread swirled with Graham cracker, topped with dark chocolate and peanut butter chips, fruity pebbles, and valentines hearts.

The heart messages were quite appropriate we thought.

We splashed our way through puddles as we walked to dinner and Connor proclaimed "There are shapes EVERYWHERE!" and turned our walk into a kind of shape scavenger hunt. My favorite was the loooooooong skinny rectangle on top of stacked squares (a light pole post and base).

At dinner we played the games on the kids placemat together and shared crayons for coloring. He made me so proud by ordering himself and using his manners without being asked. "May I have pink lemonade please?", and "Thank you for my drink." when the server brought it. She was completely enamored with him.

On the way back to the car we jumped over cracks in the sidewalk and played silly rhyming games. Once we got to the parking garage we rode the glass elevator twice to the top floor - where we had parked at the highest parking spot just for the fun of it.

I'm often proud of Connor for so many things that he has learned, but tonight I was reminded how much he can teach me too. Everyone should enter a child's world on occasion!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Connor exchanged Valentines at school and I was so proud of him writing all of his classmates' names himself. And I LOVE his artistic approach to lettering.

Cheap Entertainment

The best purchase I made today at the grocery store. A helium balloon "for Connor". I tied it to Jacksons leg and was actually able to get the groceries put away!