His rap side

Ok, Last one for flash back Friday...because it will be Saturday in an hour. :)

This one is quite possibly nick and my favorite video of Deven and I can't NOT post it.  Enjoy.

circa., May 19, 2012

life's persistant question

 A few videos from December 31, 2012.

In case you were wondering what type of music Deven likes, here is one of his longest lasting favs.
 

Deven showing us how to get it done.

Pretty School

Today was Deven's last day of pretty school...I mean preschool. To continue with flash back Friday view this video from the first day of preschool this year, September 5, 2012.  I can and can't believe it at the same time.  I'm not going to pretend to have loved this year.  For many reasons it was one of the best and one of the most challenging year of my life. 

We had to finishing up potty training, he had to learn that he wasn't the necessary the most important kiddo in the room, he tested this...tested that...and tested this again, he demanding independence, then he demanded dependence 1 second later.  We convinced him that we always tell him the truth about things so now when we answer things like why the rain falls, why people pass away, and why it's necessary to clip your toe nails he doesn't always tell us we've got it all wrong.  We learned all personal space, all about fake food, and all about not peeing on bathroom walls.  We've been busy.

Thankfully the schedule included things like, hugs every night without exception, funny stories every day on the way to school about the dreams he'd had the night before, hot chocolates, mama and Deven dates, fire boots, music, music, music, digging holes to Australia, teaching sister to blow kisses, motorcycle walks, teaching sister to rock, teaching sister to love her blanket just as much as he loves White Blanket, books, books, books, morning smoothies, learning how to eat pizza and learning how to eat a cup cake.

This kid (heck this mama) has learned so much in what seems like a very short school year. 

You may wonder what in heck will be different come Monday when I bring him back to the same class room and the same teacher and generally the same class mates (pretty-k starts in September)?  Well, I'm not exactly sure to be honest but I am looking at a long list of weekly activities and it has several "Bouncy House" days throughout the next few months.  Ahhh...I wish I could have a bouncy house day. :)

So here is another archived video and a picture Nick took for me today (after I called desperately requesting that he take one because I couldn't believe I forgot...shheeessshhh I can't imagine what I am going to be like when he starts kindergarten).

P.S. I have finally convinced him that our hair dresser will not ruin his 'rocker hair' and we will be getting a trim as soon as I can get in.

She crawls

You may be saying...wait...doesn't she run now??  Well, we finally have a decent computer so I was getting pictures and videos off my phone and I found this little gem from a while back.  Don't ask me when this was exactly but I think we was around 5 months.  As I recall it only took her about month after starting to crawl before she was pulling herself up to the coffee table and climbing stairs which was definitely six months.  And yes, now we are running after her.  Nick and I joke (with some seriousness) that she could beat dev in a foot race for sure.  Any ways enjoy this flash back Friday.

14 month - Tova

Tova and Me bounce bounce bouncin' on the trampoline



Our right handed from birth little lady getting her art on

On our way into home depot, all necessary accessories donned

The charts may say she is at 20% of the average baby but until she looses her chunky little butt I will not worry about how "tiny" people tell me she is

Can you even believe that Tova is 14 months?  It sort of crept up on us.  She is starting to get her run on but trips a lot.  This does not stop her.  She climbs slides, she jumps into our arms during swim class and she is not afraid to let you know just how wrong about what it is you thought she wanted, will lose patients and given the opportunity will attempt to climb the shelf, table, chair to get it herself.

Tova is developing quite the personality.  Her teachers generally describe her as super happy, smiley and lovie, but just as frequently we get words like: demanding, clingy, high maintenance.  Whom ever said that second children are calm and just go with the flow was just wrong in this instance.  Tova can start the water works if there is no sauce on the pasta, if I (the mama) put her down for more than a minute anytime after 4pm but especially if we continue to insist that she wear a diaper.

Tova doesn't talk much: DAAAAAADDDDD means both Dad, Deven and Dog. WUUFFWUUFFWUUUF also means dog.  Very rarely she says mama but she threw me a bone on mother's day weekend and said it a few times (not while crying).  Though she may not actually talk this chick understands so many things it is actually surprising.  Let's be clear though, just because she can understand doesn't mean she will follow instructions. :)

Her facial expressions are priceless.  We are working on the pouty lip...I may regret teaching her this.  Today she seems to have mastered shaking her head yes or no.  You can imagine which she prefers most.

She's still working on the eating thing.  She's got 8 teeth but the tiniest throat that has a very low tolerance for anything other than a finely chopped piece of food.  Her gag reflex is epic.  Strawberries and Blue Berries are her favorite fruits and she has a hankering for mushrooms and pasta.  Hmmm sounds like a girl I know...

Her favorite activities are swimming, the bath tub, jumping on the trampoline, feeding Sam and being carried by yours truly.  She loves to give hugs and blow kisses at bed time just like her bro which makes leaving her at night hard even when I know we'll be hanging together later.  She is both girly and tom boy at the same time.  She is a tough cookie but needs to know we saw that she fell so that she can get a hug before pretending that she didn't really need it, pushes us away and continues the same dare devil activity that got her into the mess in the first place. 

She looks up to Deven with awe.  It's awesome to watch her watching him.  Pure love.

Keeping with Deven at the ICM...they played for 2.5 hours before we headed home and she zonked at 6pm for the night...or rather until she decided it was snack time. :)