Nap time?

Teagan sometimes likes to put a pillow on the coffee table, call it her "changing table" and have me dress her there in the morning. After she was dressed, Asher hopped up and decided to take a little rest.

I've been thinking about cute ways to present food to the kids. Tonight I cut cucumber slices into flower and heart shapes. The kids normally like cucumbers, because as Teagan told me, "They are juicy and green, and I love green." They loved the fun shapes. I usually core an apple and slice it into rings for them. I think next time I will use the heart shape and after I core it, use the heart cutter to make the hole a heart. T will definitely get excited about that.

Little Copycat

Asher was watching Teagan make birthday cakes with her play-doh yesterday. Today, while she was gone, he got out the play-doh and went and found the candles. I came around the corner to find him with the candles in the cakes saying "happy". He pretended to blow out the candles and eat the cake. He learns so much from copying Teagan!


Teagan had a really fun day with her Grandma today. She was looking forward to it all week. She likes to tell Asher often, "When you are as old as me, then you will get to go with Grandma also."

Valentine's Day

We started our day with Valentine's presents for the kids. Teagan got a jewelry box to decorate and Asher an aqua doodle coloring stuffed animal. They both had a lot of fun with their presents.


While Asher was napping, Teagan and I made cake pops. Teagan helped with measuring the ingredients for the cupcakes and frosting, and with decorating the frosted cake pops.

Asher and his ah-buh

Asher loves that he can go to the fridge and actually ask for an apple by saying "ah-buh". It is so exciting hearing him talk now. His new word today was "baby". I think he is getting to the point where he is learning about 1 new word per day.


Teagan worked on making some Valentines today. She really loves using glue! I think she only finished 4 out of about 10 she wants to make. Luckily her Valentines party with her friends is still over a week away.


All dressed up for her wedding! Teagan likes to dress up and have us sit on the couch while she dances. This is what she calls playing wedding. Not sure where she got this idea.

Happy

Teagan does a really good job "reading" to Asher. She knows a lot of books almost word for word. Down By the Bay is one of Asher's favorite books. Teagan is happy to entertain him with it while he uses the potty.


Teagan was lounging on the arm of the couch today with a pretend phone and sandwich. She needed her sunglasses because she said she was "beaching".


Asher started saying a new word today, "happy". Teagan loves to play birthday party and we sing Happy Birthday pretty often. Today, Asher put a birthday hat on and said "happy". Later while Paul was lighting a candle tonight, he said "happy" again. Birthday hats and candles, both things he associates with Happy Birthday. It's so exciting to hear him actually imitating words now.

Locks

Teagan colored this giant Max & Ruby poster and then had me hang it on the pantry door. I tried to convince her to hang it up in her playroom instead, but she much preferred to have it in my kitchen.


Asher is so fascinated whenever Paul has his gun cases out. He loves to climb on top of them and sit on them. He has seen Paul lock the cases, so he went and found some spare keys and tried to work on the locks himself.

All dressed up

Teagan insists on choosing her own clothes and hair style every day. Usually this means lots of hair bows and not necessarily matching, often not seasonally appropriate clothes. Occasionally I try and intervene, but that never goes well. I have to remind myself that it is just clothes. What is the big deal anyway?


Whenever Asher sees the iPad, he definitely wants to play. At times, Teagan can be very patient with him and tries to teach him how to play the various preschool games. Other times, she just wants to watch Betty Crocker Cake Decorating videos on YouTube. Asher is not impressed with that.

Thursday at home

We had a nice day playing at home all day. We normally go to the library story time on Thursdays, but Teagan didn't want to go today. When I asked her why she wanted to stay home since I thought story time was her favorite, she informed me that story time is NOT her favorite. Ice cream is her favorite!


Asher has definitely watched Teagan enough to know how to care for the baby dolls. He loves to snuggle them, give kisses, feed them, and rock the babies.

Chocolate pudding and bunny bedtimes

Teagan doesn't really care for the avocado banana chocolate pudding I make, but Asher generally likes everything I do. He had fun making a huge mess dipping pineapple in his pudding.


Teagan put her bunny in "bunk beds" and then read a bedtime story.

18 month check up

After making a smoothie for breakfast, I poured the leftovers into popsicle molds to freeze. When the kids saw the other smoothie popsicles in the freezer, that is what they wanted to eat for breakfast. I think it might have been Asher's first popsicle. He enjoyed it and it was a mess! After breakfast, they both got a bath before we headed out to Asher's 18 month check up.



Today was Asher's first check up where I was actually not concerned about his eczema! His skin is really clear right now other than a small dry patch on one ankle and little spots behind his knees. We can live with that. When I look back at his pictures, I just can't believe how bad the eczema was.

18 month stats: Length 32 inches (41%) Weight 23.2 lbs (15%).