Valentine's Day

Since Valentines is a day about love, who better to post about than those I love most? And I need to catch up on these cuties and what they are up to these days. So I'll start with

Matthew

I think Matthew has FINALLY transitioned to the life of school. Mostly I attribute this to the development of a new routine. Since we live in Lubbock and the weather is gorgeous in February, we go outside most days after school and play with the Sims and Holidays who live in our cul de sac. Matthew counts on that outside time with Noah and it throws him off his groove when he doesn't get it. He got roller blades for Christmas and has been diligently practicing them every day so he can get perfect at them. 

 He is a sweet brother to Landon and likes to teach him new things and help him out.

 Matthew still hasn't outgrown his snuggle time and never passes up a chance to cozy up with mom or dad. And of course he especially never misses a chance if it means watching tv with dad.

 He entertains himself in the most humorous ways. He is always doing something with paper and a pen. He loves checking the weather app on my phone and this day he decided to make a weather report to send our family. I love watching this boys mind work and grow-it never stops. It makes me sad that some of that curiosity has waned since starting school so I love the moments when it still shines through strong.

 I do miss him when he's away at school all the time and I got to go into his class for Valentines day and I loved just sitting with him and chatting. He likes school for the most part. He gets frustrated that the other kids don't behave or follow the rules and the class looses privileges. His favorite subject is social studies, especially since they have been learning about fun topics lately like space. I think he likes it because it's a time of day when he is actually being exposed to new information and they do fun activities.

 For Christmas Matthew got a 6 month subscription to Tinker Crates and it has been AWESOME. I have been wanting to do this for him since his birthday, and it took a little help from Grandma to make it happen, but it has definitely been worth the money. Every month he gets a box with a new science experiment and it has a magazine with other activities and ideas that go along with that months theme. It has also provided good Dad and Matthew time.

In short, this handsome boy is growing up so fast (literally-he's getting tall). We still have our struggles and moments (still those self care skills like dressing and washing), but he's a sweety pie. 

Koyle

I am loving life with Koyle right now...except for the potty problems. And while that is a HUGE problem in our life, we have started some new things that I'm hopefull are going to help. Not short term fixes, and it's going to take a lot of diligence on my part, but we have to keep trying. But enough about that today. 

 

Koyle is a candy head. He's always been my sugar lover. Ever since Halloween I feel like we have had a stash of candy, and Koyle is constantly asking for a candy and conniving ways to "earn" a piece. 

 Koyle is slowing developing more 'school' skills. His interest in coloring type activities have grown a ton...as long as you catch him in the right moment and he's motivated by it being something he loves-like dragons or airplanes. But we're making progress. His writing is improving, and he has to be in a cooperative mood but when he wants to he can write his name legibly. I caught him trying to play hangman in church with Matthew today. I love any activity that gets him writing and working on those fine motor skills.

 Still loves fishing. He got a tackle box of his very own for Christmas full of real fishing stuff. He have taken him out a few times to Maxey park but the fishing has not been great this time of year. He still thinks it is great fun though.

This is Koyle's favorite shirt. If its dirty, he insists that it be laundry day so we can wash it. When he does get to wear he eeks the most time out of it he can. He'll put it on as soon as its washed, wear it to bed, usually wear it the next day, and then to bed again that night.

 Koyle has more personality than he knows what to do with. He has quite the following of girls, and I'm not joking about that. I am always discovering another friend who has a crush on Koyle. His most recent lover even suddenly developed a sudden interest in dragons, and even changed her favorite color to orange! Koyle loves the attention, and love when people loves the things he loves, but the 'crush' aspect of it doesn't seem to phase him. I do fear for his teenage years though. He was quite the source of disruption at preschool for a while but I think we have finally convinced the girls to stop fighting over Koyle in class...most of the time.

Preschool has been going pretty well for Koyle. He feels very comfortable there (its in his house, with his mom) so he lets his emotions go more than he would somewhere else. But he is learning how to get them back in check quickly. He doesn't fight about doing his work anymore, its usually if he doesn't have enough time to do a certain activity that he gets upset (recess, centers), or if he doesn't get a turn to do something he really wanted to. 

We learned this song in preschool one month and Koyle loved it. We found a book to go along with it at the library a while back and he sings it all the time-it's adorable:

(I don't know if this video is going to upload or not, so I am going to leave it out so I can finish this post and I will try and get it to upload in a post of its own)

Apparently I need to take more pictures of Koyle. But he doesn't ever hold still for very long. His true loves are still dragons, Dusty, the color orange, and Boise State. He loves Wild Kratts and if he's not playing dragons or airplanes he is using his creature powers. I always have a pet _____ fill in the blank-buffalo, jaguar, osprey, beaver... This kid can entertain himself all day long with his imagination. He loves to read to himself and we have been working together and he is progressing very quickly. He's right on the brink of break through and about to explode into reading on his own. Koyle is really pleasant most of the time and fairly easy to discipline. He has the sweetest heart and is very thoughtful. I really do enjoy spending my days at home with him. And how could you not with a sweet face like his?

Landon
Landon is at such a fun age and I could post forever about all his cuteness, and all his not so cuteness. He has the fire of Koyle and the emotions of Matthew, which make for a very unstable emotional environment sometimes. His tantrums get less cute the older he gets but I have started "disciplining" him more recently and it seems to be helping his attitude.
His speech has exploded in the last two weeks and he is finally talking. Not in full sentences or anything but his vocabulary is broadening every day and he can repeat and come up with new words at will. Sometimes I'm the only one who understands him, but most of the time its pretty clear. My favorite might be that he has learned 'me' and he's so cute when he refers to himself as 'me'. He has a fun sense of humor and is becoming quite bossy.

 Landon has been enjoying some new sensory activities. The day I got out the playdough he sat for a full hour and baked his cookies in the 'hot'. 
Landon decided to learn how to crawl out of his crib so in the interest of his safety we decided to try him in a toddler bed. He has done surprisingly well. This definitely came a lot sooner than I was anticipating but why not? As long as you lay him down with his stuffed animals and sing him a few songs, he will stay in bed. He hasn't slept through the night as great but we've also had a slew of sickness that has attributed to that as well.

 I love his smile and he knows when he is being cute.

 Landon got this stuffed dog for Christmas and he loves it. The eye fell off and Grandpa Jay fixed it and about a hundred times a day he points to the eye and says, "Papa." He's a sweety when it comes to taking care of his stuffed animals. He feeds them and puts them to sleep. The boy version of playing with dolls.

 And speaking of, he LOVES babies. A lot. It's actually really sweet and it makes me wish this baby was coming right now because Landon is going to be in baby heaven.

 We have ventured out a bit more this month and we took Landon to the science spectrum for the first time since he has been old enough to appreciate it. He of course thought it was fantastic. Since Koyle wouldn't pose with Miles by the dinosaur, Landon got to.

 This little boy loves fishing just about as much as Koyle does. He plays it at home all day long and knows exactly what to do when we go fishing for real. Just wait till he actually catches something, it's gonna be great.

 I gave him a real haircut the other day and chopped off his curls. Tear.

Ever since he has been a newborn he has the most horrible habit of waking up screaming. He does this at nap time a LOT now that he can climb out of his bed. Mostly I think it happens when he's not really ready to be awake yet. He is inconsolable during these times and will sometimes scream for 15 minutes before I can get him to stop. But when daddy is home, he almost always snuggles up with him on the couch and falls back asleep.
And pretty much I think he is adorable and I have a gazillion pictures of him because when he's not screaming, he's most likely doing something that melts my mother heart and makes me smile.

This little boy is growing up SO fast. I can't believe he is going to be 2 in just a few months. Where does the time go?

As you can see I could blab all day about my sweet boys. They drive me to the edge of my patience but then they always pull me right back in with their love. And this baby of mine...

(Taken at 14 weeks, I'm 16 1/2 weeks now)

 doesn't know what's coming. A house full of crazy love awaits.