Yo quiero a sweater...or 2!

Even Sparkles knows that Old Man Winter has arrived- this is what I found when I turned the corner into the kitchen this morning! Pete had put a few of my sweaters over the kitchen chairs to dry last night and Sparkles saw her opportunity to cash in on some extra warmth!

Say Cheese

Since Peyton has learned to say cheese so well in front of the camera and we love hearing her say it, we tell her to say it everytime we take a picture. As cute as it is, it leaves her little face in a less than desirable position to get a nice picture of her smiling! But this one, "CHEESE" and all, turned out pretty good of her just hanging out at home this morning. But today isn't just any day- the blanket hanging on the couch behind Peyton is fitting since it's also our 1st day of snow!

THE Tree

THE Tree is the Christmas Tree that Santa will be working with :). Since we put up 5 trees this year (ranging from a foot to 8 feet high) thought I would share a picture of the main attraction first!

2 down but 23 to go!

Thanks Oma & Uncle Gunter for the Advent Calendars for Kylie & Peyton! It's a tradition we started with Kylie several years ago so she knew just what to do when she saw your gifts. What could be better than being able to have a piece of chocolate every morning for a month with your breakfast :)?!

Our Little Elves

Diagnosis: A Typical 2 Year Old

That's how Peyton's doctor put it at her 2 year physical this week! It's always nice to hear reassuring words such as those as to the good times and not so good but NORMAL times with a 2 year old!

Here are Peyton's 2 year stats:

Height- 36.5" (still very tall in the 98th percentile!)

Weight- 26 lbs 2 ozs (43rd percentile)

Head- 18.74"

Apart from a mild ear infection that 10 days of the pink stuff will handle no problem, Peyton received a welcomed clean bill of health from Dr. Morris. What a relief considering where we were this month last year with our little monkey.

Thought I'd also use this post to jot down some things for you Miss Peyton that you like and have also made very clear that you do not like at this point in your 3rd year of adventures!

Likes

• Playing with wa-wa (water), more wa-wa & MORE wa-wa!
• Looking at books- especially ones with animals so you can tell us what sound each makes
• Giving the cutest kisses to Mommy, Daddy & Sissy
• Eating only the frosting off of donuts, cupcakes, pretty much anything topped with icing and you even try scraping it off a pop tart!
• Greeting Sissy with a big hug when she comes downstairs first thing in the morning b/c you are always the first one up :)
• Feeding "puppy" her food piece by piece
• Watching Elmo, The Wiggles, Barney & Yo Gabba Gabba
• Having Mommy carry you and wiggling your little index finger in the direction of what you want- darn words where are you when I need you?!

Dislikes

• Sitting in your carseat- you want to be a big girl like Sissy!
• Going to bed before anyone else when there's still so much fun to be had
• Sitting in a cart at the store with Mommy- there are so many neat things for your little fingers to touch!
• When you're trying so hard to tell us something but we just don't get it!
• Eating things that don't contain lots of sugar- YUCK- bring on the m&ms!

We love you Peyton and most of the time consider you anything but typical :)! Your little personality is really starting to pop and you round out our family just perfectly. Here's to your 3rd year of exploring, growing & shining!

Our Little Reader!

Wow has Kylie learned a lot in these first months of Kindergarten! The things we are most impressed with are her reading and writing. This past week we were settling down to read her "If you Give a Moose a Muffin" before bed when Kylie asked if she could read it to us instead! "Ok....if you say so" was kinda the look she got from Mommy & Daddy! But she proceeded to read the entire book to us without hesitation, minus maybe 5-10 words!! Pete and I were speechless. I mean we know Kylie catches on really quickly to things and she has known her numbers and alphabet for years already (in English & Spanish!) but to watch her read us a book from start to end was amazing. One of those really special moments as a parent you'll never forget.

This week Kylie brought home a book tote along with her normal items. Inside there was a note from Mrs. Porter, 2 small books and a long form to fill out. We're to have Kylie read the books to us several times over 3-4 days and then return them in her tote for 2 new ones. And we also have to sign off each time that we are doing this- feels a little bit like homework has begun!!

So here is Kylie reading the first 2 of many books she will master as a Kindergartener- and these were much much easier than the one she read to us ;)!

Great Reading Kylie!!

(apologies on the video- not sure why it's so dark & quiet b/c it sure wasn't at the time!)