Ava's First Book

Ava brought this home in her backpack yesterday.  She dicatated the book and one of her teachers wrote it.  However, she did illustrations and wrote some letters and words.

I especially like her people with legs coming out of their heads :)
Still sticking to the theme here of going on a walk and looking for fish and coming back to do puzzles.

Then it must have been snack time?  This is my favorite page!  There were a couple other pages too.  She was so proud of her book!

Cold & Hot....

The kids are enjoying going up and down the hill

 

I believe they were hiding balls in the snow pile and seeing if they could find them.  Can't wait until the snow melts to see what we have on the lawn....

Dancing, dancing, dancing!

The kids love to have me turn on music and dance.  They inevitably work up a sweat with their fancy moves.  Ava had already complained of being hot as she does often lately and was wearing shorts.  Owen's cheeks got so red, I decided to take his sweatshirt and jeans off.  He couldn't have been more excited to run free!

Quite the crew we have!!  Wouldn't trade them for anything!

Teddy Bear Band....

 

 

Ava & Hannah (her BFF from preschool last year)

 

 

 

Luverne Community Ed put on a free concert for kids called the Teddy Bear Band.  Ava thoroughly enjoyed dancing and being crazy, especially when she saw Hannah Kempema.  They were in preschool together last year but are not this year, and clearly they have missed each other.  Owen didn't love it quite as much as Ava, but I think he had a good time.

Ava's 1st Dance Recital for this Year....

 

 

 

 

 

Greta, Ava, & Riley (her BFF's)

She was actually in the front row for the performance

Not sure what she's up to here

Carefully on her spot

The End

Ava & Andrea who came to watch her

Owen was fairly interested in watching the dancers

 

We had Ava's first dance recital for the year at Palace Theater.  She's still in the "little"class that she was in last year, but seems to be getting a few more of the steps this year.  The weather was not great the night of the recital so just G&G Sieve were able to come.  Our instructions for their hair from the dance teacher were "down and curly".  Well, I was a little apprehensive about this since Ava's hair doesn't really curl well.  I went and bought a "good"curling iron at the salon and it curled well with a little product.  Ava was very patient for the 50 minute ordeal to get all of it curled.  She absolutely loved it when I was done.  She was so excited to "look pretty" with her costume and hair all done.  She wasn't a bit scared to perform and loved every minute of it.

Hannah & Tristan come to visit...

Owen really liked Tristan

 

 

Tristan was a great sport for the picture taking

 

Both Ava and Owen were pretty attentive to Tristan during his visit.  They are enjoying that he's not quite as fragile as he was when he was a newborn and now they can really enjoy him (whether he's ready for it or not).  Hannah is so great with him and he's such a laid back baby.  He was a sport through all the abuse from our kids and never was upset once. 

Owen at 2 years, 4 months...

This is his çheese face

 

He's trying to pose for me.....needs a little work

It's fair to say that Owen is making some advancements in the speech category.  While Brad and I were just commenting that we clearly are the only people that can really understand him, he is talking a fair amount.  He says nearly every noun that he's talking about from tacos to coat to Ava's room.  Sentences are pretty short for him right now: "Music on dance" (he wants me to turn on the music so he can dance), "Snack time now", "Tummy hurt", etc.  He is able to get all of his ideas out now and we can understand what he wants most of the time.  There are still words we struggle to understand, but he can usually help us figure out what he's saying.  He loves to "Go bye bye,  shoes on, coat on, truck"and go anywhere we will take him.  He doesn't really like when either Brad or I leave the house and he has to stay home with the other one.  He recently has started to like "Mouse"which is Mickey Mouse Clubhouse.  He will watch an entire epidsode if someone is watching it with him, but not alone.  He's still very busy and loves to be right next to me when I'm doing anything, especially when Ava is at preschool.  He is not quite as good at playing on his own as he used to be.  He likes "company".  He also really loves his Daddy lately.  He's doing well with the potty training.  He does great with potty and is averaging an accident or so per week, so we are happy with that.  The other end is still a work in progress.  We'll get there, but it's going to be slow I have a feeling.