Happy Birthday, Zach!

Hard to believe this little guy's already two! This last year especially seemed to fly. We are so grateful for Zach and the humor and spunk he adds to our home! He is a very funny little kid, and the funniest thing about him is that he knows he's funny and knows how to draw a laugh. His comedic timing is impeccable, and he's not even talking yet! He has super funny facial expressions and gets out of a lot of trouble just because he's so dang cute when he's naughty! For Zach's birthday, we had donuts and opened presents with Daddy in the morning, and then went off for a day of fun at the zoo with Grandma and Grandpa Dickinson and Aunties Gaylyn and Brenda and cousins Cole and Logan. It was a fun-filled, high-energy day, perfect for our Zachers.

 

 

It almost felt mean giving him this medical kit after all he's been through with so many hospital and doctor visits, but since this is a part of our life with Zach, I thought a little role-play at home might ease his anxieties and help him through his health struggles. And the doctor kit has actually become one of his favorite toys ... it's just sad that he knows exactly what to do with all the tools! :(

 

My little monkeys had a great time at the zoo, even if they wore their mama out!

 

And being with cousins, aunts, and grandparents made for an over-the-top fun day!

 

 

We love our little Zach! Such a handsome, curious, loving kid! We've learned to appreciate the good days, wild and crazy as they may be, because we've seen him down and struggling, and we'd much rather see him up and about being the rascal that he is!

Here are some fun facts about our recently turned two-year-old:

• He LOVES puppies and gets so excited to see them!
• He has a soft spot for stuffed animals and would have a room full if mom was as much a sucker for them as he is.
• He has a MAJOR sweet tooth and loves fruit, berries, suckers, candy, cookies ... anything with high amounts of sugar! And he can hear a wrapper open from a mile away! No secret treats on the way home from the grocery store anymore! This kid's on to me!!
• He loves to brush his teeth (read: he loves to suck the toothpaste off his toothbrush and chew on the bristles).
• He's gotten pretty good on his feet but is still hesitant on stairs. He flies down them on his tummy, though!
• He can repeat back most anything you say to him, but only when he feels like it.
• He can screech and squawk like nobody's business. He can absolutely fend for himself and if anything, I think Eliot's more intimidated by his younger brother than the other way around!
• His favorite "shows" to watch are "Guys" (Toy Story) and "Puppies!" (Lady and the Tramp)
• He loves his big brother and will call for him before he calls for me, and Eliot loves and adores him right back
• He's my outside kid. He could spend all day outside playing in the water, swinging, and getting as dirty as possible. He'll do anything to be outside ... including crawling through the pet door on our garage door!
• He's partial to his grandfathers. "Gampa" and "Peh-ee" (Peppy) are the ones he calls out and reaches for first.
• He's exceptionally good with his hands and figuring out how things work. Our future engineer!
• He's starting to love music, and it's so funny to listen to him try to keep up with the lyrics but usually just ends up singing out the last word/sound in the phrase. His favorite songs are "Give, Said the Little Stream," "You Are My Sunshine" and "Ants Go Marching."
• His favorite books are "Humpty Dumpty," "The Farmer in the Dell," and "Bingo." (Again, the music thing!)
• He's starting to show excitement for things he sees on walks and rides in the car. He especially loves trains and horses, and of course, puppies!

Preschool Graduation

Mr. Eliot is officially DONE with preschool! He had the BEST experience at Miss Jen's Lehi Ranches Preschool Academy. I'm so grateful I found her and think she's an absolute angel! Not only are her setup and curriculum amazing, she is such a perfect blend of sweetness and high educational expectations. She is so loving and patient and gets amazing results from those kiddos! I can't say enough good things about her, and now, looking back on my decision to keep Eliot back a year from Kindergarten, I feel 100% confident we did the right thing! Thanks go Miss Jen, we've been exposed to the Magic Tree House book series, which Eliot has just gobbled up this year and will even be attending her book club this summer.

Here he is with Miss Jen.

And his classmates. They really were such a sweet group of kids.

And if they had caps and gowns, of course they had to have an official graduation march ... watch for the moment when Eliot spots his grandma. :)

Zach was such a proud younger brother and called out to "Ehiot" several times!

Eliot's special part in the program was reciting "Baa, Baa Black Sheep" with his friend Christian. One of the things I loved about Miss Jen was she wanted the children to learn classic rhymes and stories. So each of the children got to recite a rhyme with a partner.

The closing number was a celebration of the end of school and beginning of summer, complete with throwing their graduation caps in the air. Way too cute.

And speaking of cute ...

Each of the kids had their own special hook to hang their jackets and backpacks on during the year. Their graduation pictures were hanging over "their" hooks for the parents to go pick up and turn in their caps and gowns. I may have cried a little.

We're so proud of Eliot! We're so excited for him to head off to Kindergarten and start a whole new adventure!

Nanny and Peppy McEuen came to support,

as well as Grandma and Grandpa Dickinson, who brought Eliot this awesome bouquet of balloons ...

Hooray, Eliot! Off to new adventures and so much more to learn! Watch out Kindergarten, here he comes!

Daddy's Birthday

Grant's birthday was simple and sweet this year. That evening was also Eliot's preschool graduation, so we had a low-key barbecue steak dinner with just our little family, then had Grant's parents over for cake. Grant's request this year was a cookies and cream ice cream cake, and I have to admit, it turned out awesome!

Eliot was SOOOOO excited to help me decorate, and did a great job, too!

Lots of cards from family ...

 

It's getting harder and harder to surprise Grant, but we did have a few tricks up our sleeves, like a Bluth's Banana Stand t-shirt in celebration of the new season of Arrested Development. 

Zoo Field Trip

I got to go with Eliot, Zach, and our neighbors, the Everetts, to Eliot's preschool field trip to the zoo. The weather was PERFECT, and it was so fun to check out the new Rocky Shores exhibit we've been hearing about with polar bears, sea lions and seals. It was a great day!

Eliot and his buddy Christian.

Z loved the sea lions and polar bears. The new Rocky Shores exhibit is pretty amazing!

 

I loved how the mama and baby giraffe were snuggling!

 

 

Eliot's favorite animal of the day ... the sloth! He kept telling me there was one at the zoo, and sure enough, we found one! Can you spot it? He loved that and the gorillas the best.

 

My biggest adventure of the day was tromping around the zoo in these beauties ... yes, I did. My flip flop snapped literally after we had set foot in the entrance (who wears flip flops to the zoo anyway? Not me anymore!). This was all they had in the gift shop (for a meager price of $20, no less!), and we were on a tight schedule and couldn't afford to drive down the road to find a shoe store ... If you didn't know this about me, I am really easily embarrassed, so this was pretty mortifying for me. Thankfully, the kids and the friends we were with didn't mind a bit, and it made a great story.

"Little Wing"

This was the second year we raised butterflies from larvae. We raised several on our own and released them with cousins, and then Eliot's preschool teacher sent home another caterpillar for him to raise. Eliot named him "Little Wing." Little Wing's wings didn't develop properly and were a little folded at the top, which kept him from flying well. I kept hoping he'd get stronger and the problem would correct itself, but it didn't. So we kept Little Wing for a pet for longer than we would normally have kept butterflies inside because I couldn't bear to set him free knowing he couldn't fly well. The boys loved waking up and checking on him, feeding him watermelon, and taking him outside to see if he could fly yet. I love these pictures of the boys, especially the ones of Eliot helping Zach to hold Little Wing. Eventually we did set it free in an orchard not too far from us. It really is such a miracle to watch butterflies grow!

The Boys Love to Play ...

Luckily, the novelty of the play set hasn't worn off ...

They're still climbing,

... exploring,

 and swinging ...

 all three of them!

Let's Play Music Recital!

Eliot participated in a music program called Let's Play Music this year. A good friend of mine discovered the program when she was living back east, and loved it so much that she became a teacher when there weren't any classes offered in her area when she moved to Arizona. It's a program started by a BYU Music graduate who wanted to tap into that amazing age when kids have such a natural ability to learn languages and music. From her own experience, kids in that preschool window of 4-6 are still too small to reach the pedals and stretch those little fingers wide enough to play the piano, so she wanted to start a program that would teach kids the foundations of music theory in a fun, interactive way when their minds are such great little sponges. The result was the Let's Play Music program, and though my friend had told me great things about it, I was blown away by what Eliot learned over the year! One of the neatest things about the program is that parents get to attend every other week with their child, which provides built-in one-on-one time to interact with your child. Together we learned the Solfeggio signs (something only my A.P. Music/Music Major friends learned by I never did in my 11 years of piano lessons and 4 years of violin lessons), we were introduced to four different classical pieces through amazing, fun puppet shows, and, though he doesn't realize it, learned how to read notes on the staff! He can even find the pitch for "Do" (middle C) without hearing it first, and knows several different rhythms. Cool, huh!?  The program will last three years, and then he'll be more than prepared to start private piano lessons. All I can say is "Wow!"

The recital was a little crazy (which happens when you have 30+ kids ages 3-8 all together in front of a large crowd!) and didn't fully reflect the kids' abilities. I think they got their first dose of stage fright (another skill I'm glad to see Eliot learn -- how to remain composed in front of a large group and perform under pressure), along with a fair amount of silliness and distraction, but even still, it was so cute to see them show off their impressive musical skills! This is Eliot clapping and singing "You Can't Bug Me" which taught the kids several different kinds of notes/rhythms like quarter, eighth, sixteenth, half notes, etc. It was one of the kids' favorite songs all year! 

 

With Miss Alicia, his teacher. We sure loved her enthusiasm for music and patience with her group of almost all boys. We had lots of wiggly days, but a ton of fun, too!

Eliot performing on the bells with two other classmates.

 

With Cousin Mikey, one of many family members who came to support Mr. Eliot!

 

The grand finale number, "Do, Re, Mi" (from Sound of Music ... but that's not where "do, re, mi" originated -- those are the basis of the Solfeggio names and hand signs that help develop perfect pitch). Took Eliot a while to want to join in on making the hand signs!

Happy ... Spring?

It wouldn't be Utah if we didn't get at least one freak snow storm well past the start of Spring ... but on the first day of May is a little ridiculous! It was beautiful, even if it did freeze a lot of my peach blossoms. :(

And because it's Utah, we usually rebound pretty quickly and get plenty of beautiful warm days with gorgeous blossoms ...

Loving this new yard of ours and that there's always something in bloom!