All About Aurora

Here are twenty things about Aurora:

1. She is way messier than Alex
2. She can learn a site word list in one day
3. She can say her ABC's backwards
4. She does not like milk
5. She is 100% Josh, except for her OCD, which she gets from me
6. She LOVES all animals and gets that from Josh's grandmother
7. When we visit his grandparents, she is out on their farm from sun up to sun down
8. She has to have the exact same bedtime routine every night, down to the same questions and answers ("Did you spray the Monster Spray?")
9. She has the attitude of a teenager already
10. Before she tells you something, she always says, "I have to tell you something.."
11. She chews on her toenails (Ew!)
12. She cannot handle sugar and gets extremely hyper
13. She is very clumsy, but has amazing balance
14. She's a negotiator, and often uses reasoning I cannot argue with
15. She does not like to sleep
16. She is afraid of the dark
17. She makes friends everywhere she goes
18. Her favorite food is pork - pork chops, ribs, bacon, etc
19. She loves all things space (like her Daddy) and knew her planets before her alphabet
20. She loves to sing and dance

And from her own words..

All About Alex

Here are twenty things about Alex:

1. He loves milk and will drink it over anything
2. He does not like juice, except lemonade
3. He likes to come up with names to call people, always ending with -head (milkhead, mommahead)
4. When Aurora is not home he will play by himself for an hour or more
5. He loves trains, planes, and automobiles
6. He is not fully potty trained yet
7. If he has been in his room by himself for longer than 10 minutes, I can guarantee he is stinky
8. He calls Aurora "Sister"
9. He's a momma's boy
10. He tells me he loves me several times a day
11. He loves to sleep and will ask for naps and bedtime
12. He still naps for 3 hours a day on weekends
13. He can count to 20
14. He has some speech problems and gets weekly therapy
15. Most likely from having constant ear infections until he got ear tubes at 14 months
16. He loves baths but won't get in until the water stops running
17. He still uses a pacifier when sleeping, which I won't take away until he turns 4
18. He tries to compliment me to get out of trouble ("I like your hair...")
19. His favorite food is spaghetti
20. He loves to dance

And in his own words...

Happy Valentine's Day!

Snow

It doesn't snow here in the desert very often, and when it does it usually melts before the end of the day. So when it does snow, I try to get the kids out there as quickly as possible! Aurora LOVES the snow and gets so excited when she sees it. Alex is not too sure about it yet.

So last week we bundled up and I let them outside. They were checking everything out and then - BAM! - Aurora pelted Alex with a snowball. He was NOT happy!! He started crying like he had been severely hurt. It probably didn't help that I was laughing and taking pictures of it. I encouraged him to throw one back at her but he wouldn't have it.

He eventually cheered up and played a little. Aurora wanted to throw snowballs at me, but I wasn't dressed for the weather, so we compromised and I let them throw them at me through the sliding glass door. Mom of the year, here!

Reading!

Last week, Aurora read a whole book all by herself for the first time!! She read "Balloon Animals." It was the first evening she had ever seen this book. By the time I took this video, I think she had practiced it so many times that she had it memorized. But the important part is that she sounded out all the words herself and I didn't read a word of it! I am so proud of her! I don't expect anyone to sit through this video but wanted to document it here.

Karate!

Aurora started karate this weekend! Josh is a black belt and has been waiting forever to get her started! We are lucky in that Josh's best friend of 14 years Chris is the nephew of Jim Hawkes, a very prestigious Sensei and director of the United States Karate Alliance, so she is able to attend a very good Dojo.

The day of class, she was very excited! Unfortunately, Josh just had shoulder surgery (from many karate injuries over the years) so he was not able to participate, but Chris was on hand to help with her first lesson! I'm told that the Senseis think she is a natural and she is already showing good balance, coordination, and an understanding of the culture.

On the ride home, she was so worn out from the lesson on the excitement, she passed out in the car! And then spent an hour telling me all about when she arrived. I think she is loving it!