Growth: Jonah weighs about 32 pounds or so and Tessa is around 27.
Sleep: Both kiddos continue to nap about 2-4 and sleep about 9 until 7 (Jonah) and 8 (Tessa). Jonah's obsession with watching Octonauts when he wakes up and playing with the licensed toys during bath time is still in full swing. Even Tessa sings along to some of the little ditties and has a favorite character: Dashi the dog. Nap and bedtime routine is very pleasant and since they rarely protest since Jonah so looks forward to his bedtime books and Tessa seems to genuinely love sleeping. They take turns using the potty (spoiler alert!) and getting their teeth brushed, then Jonah patiently puts on his diaper and plays quietly while Tessa gets 2 short books and a song while we rock her. She has started calling her sleep sack and pacifier "sack, faduw." Jonah loves to read 3 books, drink a sip of water, and drift off.
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| She loves to sleep! |
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| They just crawled in together. |
Eating: The kids are good little eaters, both in the variety of foods they eat and their manners. Most of the time. Of course sometimes Jonah gets rowdy at the table and Tessa still likes turning her cup and plate upside down when she gets full, but overall things are good. Both kids are on a big raisin bagel with cream cheese and lox on the side breakfast kick. We all love to hear Tessa chant "bagoo bagoo!" awaiting her food. Jonah's favorite foods these days are dim sum, carrots with long stems, bleu cheese, twizzlers, fruit snacks, berries, and hamentashen. Tessa is crazy about yogurt, fruit snacks, cookies, honey mustard pretzels, berries, and pretty much anything in front of her.
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| Getting ready for breakfast at SuperChefs |
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| New favorite snacking spot |
Personality: Jonah made a new friend at school, and on a recent trip to COSI with another mom and her 3- and 1-year-olds he really played well with the other little boy. He is really starting to get the concepts of friendship and collaborative play! He continues to get more confident at school since he has been getting to school on time. At 3, he still has his moments of getting quite upset when things aren't going his way, but mostly just when he's short on sleep, and we try to diffuse them as peacefully as possible. Tessa has started having an occasional tantrum, but mostly when she gets made she flaps her arms and stamps her feet. It's actually pretty cute.
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| Jonah's sign language |
Books: whoa, whoa, whoa! A new category? That's right. Books and toys are getting their own categories since they make up such a big part of their lives. Jonah has finally discovered checking out books from the library. We are grateful for a new set of books in heavy rotation. He's way into Mo Willems books, including Knuffle Bunny (and Knuffle Bunny Too), several Pigeon books, and That is Not a Good Idea. I really recommend them. We found Look, a Book, and both kids delight in searching for the items hidden on the page. He is also loving the Trucktown series by Jon Schezka, especially Smash Crash! Tessa has been really into In my Meadow and In my Nest with a little finger puppet in the middle, Pat-a-Cake, and Guess Who, a Small World book with mirrors in the animals faces.
Play: Jonah is super into playing games; he can't get enough Frozen (a take on Candyland), Busytown, and...well any game in the house. He also looks forward to playing with Octonauts toys every time he is in the bath. Tessa picks out her favorite character, Dashi, and gets in on the action. Both of them play tirelessly with Little People and their car and village. Tessa still loves a good bounce on the Wonder Horse, with her curls bouncing along. The kids have a renewed interest in their play kitchen and they both like dressing in aprons, chef hats, and oven mitts. Then they race up and down the hall with the shopping cart.
Milestones: Jonah has gotten a better hang of sounding out words. He can get it by himself as long as the letters say what they ought to, none of that "th" or "ph" business. We bought him these reading and math books with a special doggie pen that gives feedback if they select the right or wrong answer; they're for 4+ and he rocks them! Tessa is getting a lot more words. She doesn't put them together into full sentences, but she will put a few together into an idea, like "mommy pickoo" if she wants up or "jacket on" as we are leaving the house. Her big new word, which she started using on the regular, is "potty." For about 5 days now, she has been interested in the potty. She got consistent enough that we started putting her in undies. Not her own, mind you, because potty training wasn't even on the radar for her yet, but Jonah's trucks and such. She has been having an accident or two, but mostly is really getting it and asks for the potty herself. When she started the first few days, she would look down and say "come on," which Jonah found particularly funny. Tessa can also name several of her shapes, she calls every color blue, and can identify lots of animals.
Events: We celebrated Valentine's Day in style with a nice dinner all together, and Lindsay took Jonah out on a date to one of his favorite restaurants, Waffle House!
The kids had a ball at Frank's fancy Piccadilly birthday party.
