Big Steps...

Today Joshua did his portion of the kindergarten registration papers. Tomorrow, Brian will drop them off at the school on his way to work. All Joshua had to do was write his name...the paper didn't specify first and last or just first...so he did both to cover the bases :) Today he also discovered that he could count to 100. And he has shown us this several times throughout the day. Nathaniel is fascinated by this marvelous event...and when he was fussing today, Joshua would start counting and he'd settle down. The power of numbers :) And then, to top it off, after he wrote his name, he picked up a book that I had out to work with him with for preschool tomorrow. An early reader book that is written using lots of short "a" words. Well, he decided he was going to read it and he did...he stumbled on a couple of sounds, but after reading it once, quickly reread it to me. He memorizes really fast, so I think that's how he read it to me the second time, but he read it to Brian when he came home from work and read it very well. I used this book (and others in the set) with my lowest reading group when I was teaching...sad as it sounds, it's true - I had 4th graders that were reading at kindergarten level or below.

Nathaniel is no longer content to crawl...now he wants to be standing at all times. And that doesn't mean Mommy or Daddy standing and holding him - no, that means pulling himself up and standing while holding on to the couch, the TV table, the window sill, a toy, someone's leg...you get the picture. Thank goodness babies have tough heads and hopefully he's inherited the "hard headed Hurlbut" gene from me, because he doesn't have the greatest of balance yet.

He's also trying to cut his second tooth...I told Brian maybe it'll be through Saturday on his (Brian's) birthday...only fitting since Nathaniel's first one came through on his Great-Grandpa Ken's birthday. Also makes it easy for me to remember what day the tooth comes in :)

We had a busy weekend with company and all kinds of fun...will post more about that and more pictures later. Nathaniel is in my lap trying to "help" me and it's really not that helpful. Joshua accompanied Brian over to the church to "man" the trailer collecting stuff for Deseret Industries over in Sacramento. We told Joshua it'd be kind of boring, plus Daddy would be home past his bedtime, but that didn't matter. While Brian was getting ready, Joshua got his shoes and jacket on and collected some coloring books, etc. and was ready to go. Fine with me...just hope he doesn't put up a fuss when they get home and he has to go straight to bed. He usually doesn't, so maybe we'll be lucky tonight.

How Fast it Goes...

Well, today after storytime at the library, the boys and I walked around downtown (such that it is here) and ran a few errands. While walking back up Main Street to get back to the library where the car was parked, I caught sight of a flyer on a bulletin board. I stopped to read it and Joshua kept pushing Nathaniel and the stroller. The flyer was about Kindergarten registration and the dates and deadlines. So after lunch, we went back to town and went over to the school. Joshua so wanted to meet the principal...but unfortunately he was at a meeting. Joshua doesn't remember that Manolo (aka Mr. Garcia) held him at an end-of-the year party when he was about 6 weeks old. It was a little strange, going into the office and picking up the registration packet...5 years ago I was going into that office to get my mail and stuff out of my box and trek across the playground (dragging my carrier thing with all my junk in it and being 8 months pregnant) to my classroom. Joshua wanted to see my classroom...it's now just a patch of grass...the portable I taught in for 5 years is now at another school in town. The library was moved also...we went and checked out the book fair and Joshua got to meet the librarian. He also met one of the yard duty ladies and the school counselor. None of them can believe that it's already been 5 years. Brian and I have a hard time believing that it has already been five years. Joshua is so excited...he wanted to go to class today. As I glanced over the packet of registration papers it felt strange...I'm very familiar with these papers...I looked at so many of them in the 5 years of teaching because many of them are in the kids' files for their educational career. Now I'm filling them out...weird. They stick in a list of "Expectations for Incoming Kindergartners" - most of their list are things that Joshua has been doing for well over a year or more...I hope he doesn't get bored! That's one of the reasons we want to get him in the Immersion Program...hopefully learning Spanish will help stave off the boredom that might hit. He's trying to teach Nathaniel how to count in Spanish already.
Well, while Nathaniel is napping (who knows how long that will last) he and I are going to do some more reading practice. I'm debating on bringing a fan in from the garage...it's 79 and it's only 2:30. Yesterday our "high" that we saw was 80. Just the other day I used the heater in the morning. Now we're contemplating the AC, but don't want to use it yet...we're not even half-way through March!

Oh Yes, Oh Yes, it's Springtime!

The past few days have brought us lovely spring weather with highs in the 70s. No complaints from us!! It's been nice to not have to run the heat...and to be able to have the windows open and get some fresh air in the house. The trees are in full bloom all around, which makes it fun for us allergy sufferers, but it smells so nice! Yesterday, I went to a Creative Memories open house that a friend in Davis was holding. I took Nathaniel with me and Brian took Joshua to a nearby park. Nathaniel and I walked over and met them when we were finished. Joshua was building a sand castle in the sandbox with some other kids...he has no problems making friends wherever he goes! He and Brian also flew some large styrofoam airplanes that Brian had picked up at the Dollar store (even after 10+ being home from Spain, I still want to call them Cien Stores). All three of us tossed a frisbee around and had fun...Nathaniel was content to sit in the stroller and suck on his toes and watch us. It was a nice way to spend a few hours in the afternoon - we'd spent the morning doing stuff around the house and getting ready for a yardsale next Saturday.

Joshua got to give a talk in Primary again today - that's his second talk since January. His topic was "My faith in Jesus Christ grows when I follow His example and keep His commandments." Of course, Mommy & Daddy forgot about helping him with this until this morning...he decided to sing the song
"Nephi's Courage" which was perfect since the chorus says, "I will go, I will do the things the Lord commands." He sang the song beautifully - thank goodness he's inherited Brian's vocal skills and not mine!

Nathaniel is no longer toothless! His lower right front tooth broke through the gum today...and the left lower front tooth is almost through too. Hopefully teething will get a little better as they come in further (yeah right, who am I kidding!) He's beat Joshua by a good two months...Joshua was about 8.5 months when he got his first tooth...Nathaniel isn't quite 6.5 months yet. His new form of entertainment for his big brother involves blowing bubbles. Between teething and the cold that we've all relapsed with, Nathaniel has had quite a runny nose. The other day Joshua was amazed because Nathaniel had blown a bubble with his nose! The joys of boys!!

We have one spring flower this year. Last summer, Brian ripped out all of my flower beds for the most part and redid them for more "curb appeal" when we had the house on the market. They looked great...until the nastier than normal freeze hit in January. Most of the plants we put in probably didn't make it through the winter. We'd had a bunch of tulips, daffodils and a few hyacinths planted in one of our beds. He thought he'd gotten all of the bulbs out. Well, a couple of weeks ago I saw this peeking out from under the edge of the rocks.

This week we had three daffodils bloom...what persistence and strength to push out from underneath the weed prevention paper and rocks and strain toward the sunlight and air. Brian plans on pulling them out after the blooms die, so I wanted to capture them on "film" (or memory card)...to help me to always remember, even on dark days, to push toward the light, no matter how hard it seems because in the end it is worth it.

Growing Fast...

Nathaniel has had a busy few days! On Monday, a friend loaned us their baby exersaucer...it's big and bulky, but not quite so much as the play pen. I can put him in it and Joshua can keep an eye on him for my five minute shower or a little bit of time to get dinner. Also, on Monday, I got the high chair all cleaned off so that he can sit in that instead of the swing or the bouncy seat (both of which he's pretty much outgrown) when it's time to eat. On Sunday, Nathaniel pulled himself to his feet for the first time, using a box.
Last night he "rediscovered" this trick and was using a box of Joshua's guys to stand up with and today he's trying everything...his first tooth is also nearing the surface. This is a good two months earlier than Joshua got his first tooth...it'll probably be another week or so before this one actually breaks through, but he'll definitely have them before 8.5 months. He's started saying Ma...ma...ma... when he is looking for me or wants me. As soon as he sees me he either crawls over to me or stops saying it because he finally has me in sight. He uses Da...da...da for Brian sometimes.

Joshua is working on his reading and other skills...and having fun with that. He loves reading some Spider-man comics that Great-Grandpa Ken sent up to him last fall.
He sounds out some of the words and the rest - he uses the pictures to tell a story. Yesterday, Brian stayed home sick with this nasty cold that he and I have had (and thought was gone and then it came back)...after storytime at the library, I took the boys down to Vacaville with me to run a few errands so that we could leave Brian with some peace and quiet. Usually going to the store (much less Michaels and Walmart) is a nightmare by myself with them, but yesterday was wonderful!! Joshua was so good and so helpful...I was flabbergasted! And Nathaniel didn't fuss too much and even sat up in the seat of the cart for the first time at Walmart. And it was all worth it because Brian got a nice long nap and rested the rest of the day and is feeling much better today. He really hated to cancel all of his clients yesterday, but in the end it was so worth it so that he could have a day to just rest and get better. Unfortunately, though, self-employment doesn't come with sick days :)

We've had lovely weather in the low 70s the past couple of days and are look at 60s for the rest of the week and mid 70s for the weekend! Yay!! Tomorrow I think we'll take a walk...and hope all the lovely blooming almond and walnut trees don't do me in :)

In Like a Lamb

Our March came in like a lamb...a little cloudy and cool, but otherwise pretty calm...no rain or wind or anything "WILD". All in all we've had a pretty mild winter. With the storms the past week or so, we're not quite so worried about a dry summer since the Sierras have accumulated quite a bit of snow. We're supposed to be in the mid to upper 60s this weekend...that will be nice.

Nathaniel hit a big milestone on Tuesday - 6 MONTHS!!! It's hard to believe that it has already been 6 months since he was born. Time surely does fly. He weighed in a little over 17 pounds and close to 28 inches long. He is getting a hang of his crawling - even got up on all fours some the past couple of days. He moves faster when he does his commando-style crawling, so prefers that. He's discovered the linoleum in the entryway and loves to crawl over and hit it - just like Joshua did. And he's found that under the piano is fun...there are pedals to gnaw on and it's hard for Mommy to grab him quickly when he gets under there. And of course, he's discovered that if he goes far enough, he gets into a different room...he's explored the dining room a couple of times. He tries to "run away" from us by scooting faster, but we still manage to catch him. His two bottom front teeth are working at coming in...the fast the better I say - then maybe he'll go back to sleeping all night (yeah, right, who am I kidding!)

Joshua is growing fast too...hard to believe in a little less than 2 months he'll be five already - where do the years go!? We still do preschool work - a little too sporadically for what I'd like, but he's got an incredible memory and remembers stuff we did months ago like he'd just done it the day before. We're working on some basic Spanish...a couple of weeks ago we taught him how to play the card game UNO...now that he's got it down in English, we've switched to Spanish. He's got the colors down and almost all the numbers. Next, Portuguese :) He likes trying to read and sound out words - in English. He sounds out things pretty well...but all the crazy English rules (and exceptions to said rules) through a kink in things sometimes.

Yesterday Mommy had a melt-down...lack of sleep and trying to get a lot of things done in a short amount of time with a fussy teething baby and an almost 5 year old who is a question machine and bottomless pit. After the 5th "I'm starving what can I have to eat" (when he'd eaten just a short time before) Mommy blew up and Joshua quickly retreated to his room to read. Once I got Nathaniel changed (one of the umpteen things I was trying to do) and all, I plopped him in the crib and sat down on Joshua's bed with him. I pulled him into my lap and cuddle him for awhile - he's getting too big for my lap - when did that happen! We sat like that for a little while and I apologized. He put his arms around my neck and said, "That's okay Mommy...I still love you." Not much makes me cry...but that sure did. Nothing humbles you more than your children - that's for sure.

Today is clean the computer room day. I finally got the dining room table cleaned off yesterday so Brian could have his Elders Quorum presidency meeting...stuff got piled on it when we were all sick last month and we just ignored it for awhile. But I ended up piling some stuff on my scrapbooking desk. And I have some projects that I need to work on, so the desk needs cleared off. And Joshua needs his part for preschool.