Playing with Playdough

Play dough is one of those fun winter activities that I think we'll be doing a lot more of.  That is, as long as I can convince Finn that play dough is not for eating!

Finn spent a few seconds staring at the snow before he went back to putting the colander on his head!

Gingerbread Tree

Last year I got a couple of gingerbread kits on serious clearance at Wal-Mart after Christmas.  On Monday we decided to build the gingerbread Christmas tree.  Kai had a good time with our little project, he just didn't understand why I didn't want him to eat the 1 year old cookies.  Now that he understands they are "old", the tree had made a great centerpiece on our table.

And while Kai was building the tree with me, Finn was playing his own game.  He LOVES to climb on the fireplace and stand there until I come running to get him down.  It scares me that he's going to fall and hurt himself, so I run.  He loves it and will keep going back until I finally give up and put him in his highchair.  Poor kid gets restrained in his highchair a whole lot!  At least on Monday he wasn't standing but rather kicking his feet to hear the nose.  He's such a rascal!

ThankFULL

Sadly, I'm thankful that the month of November is over.  It just seemed to be a bit of a rough month for us.  We enjoyed lots of time at home and with each other, as Finn got sick twice and was on antibiotics and his nebulizer for almost the entire month.  Winter is finally in full swing here and so we've hunkered down for the season.  I feel bad that Kai is watching so much TV and playing so many computer games and I'm trying my best to remedy that.  It's just going to take me a while to get back into winter mode and finding good activities for all of us.

Anyway, we had a nice Thanksgiving at home.  My brother, Rob, came out from Salt Lake to join us and we enjoyed having someone else around to appreciate the dinner and the holiday.  On Thanksgiving Day we introduced Kai to the Macy's parade and yummy Grands! Cinnamon Rolls.  It was a good way to start the day.

Watching the parade

Finn's first Thanksgiving Cinnamon Roll

After the parade, we pulled out the Christmas ornaments and had some good times decorating the Christmas tree.  Kai was in charge and he did a great job with our tree.

Finn thought the ornaments were great!

I just can't get enough of that smile!

Kai was just too busy decorating to stop for a picture.

Finn decided that he could copy what big brother was doing.

Using the built-in bookcases as a a ladder.

Our human ladder.

This made it go a bit faster.

Finally, we had our dinner.  I thought we had a pretty complete meal this year:  turkey, gravy, cranberry sauce, rolls, mashed potatoes, brussel sprouts, watergate salad (aka pistachio fluff), pomegranate 7-Up, egg nog, and pumpkin pie.  Yummm!

Rob and dinner

It was a good day!

Finn didn't appreciate dinner that much but he did provide some great entertainment.

Funny

This afternoon Kai hopped off of the couch and said. "I'm going to get off of the couch and go play.  That's my deal."

How do you not laugh at that??

Finn's 12 month pictures

Finn's 12 month pictures will be up until December 2nd.  The password is "jones12mo".  Hope you enjoy!

3 (and a HALF!)

On Sunday, Kai officially turned 3 and a half.  Man, does time go way too fast?!!  There are a few things that he's doing now that I have wanted to remember.  So, just indulge me.....or skip this post.

Kai has really started to pick up on expressions.  Some of the ones that have made me laugh in the last week have been "Mom, can you believe your eyes?" and "The mountains are so close I can almost touch them!"  He's full of them right now and I wish I could remember more.  Maybe over the next few days I'll try writing them down.

Kai has also gotten quite good at telling stories.  I can't decide if these stories are outright "lies" or if they are just him trying to get creative.  Either way, the stories get pretty big and outlandish and I never know what to take as truth and what is just part of the story.

Finally, and most importantly, Kai has started to potty train!  Yahoo!!  Last week I realized that we had been in the house for over a week and that the calendar was still empty for weeks to come.  I thought we should capitalize on it and potty train.  Kai didn't want to have anything to do with it.  On Thursday, while we were playing trains, I noticed him taking his usual "I have to fill my pants" stance and I started persuading.  Once I offered him skittles for running up to the potty, he was sold.  That first day we did a lot of running around in just a shirt (no pants) and he did really well.  Only three accidents the whole day (and one was really little).  On Friday we started with underwear and had several accidents.  So then we returned to the naked state.  He did much better.  By mid-Saturday we put pants on him and he was doing well.  Little accidents before he would go to the potty but not bad.  Sunday he was accident-free!!  Amazing!  He woke on Monday with a completely dry pull-up and remained accident-free until dinner.  He had a small accident at the dinner table, but then ran to the potty.  He's been doing fantastic!  Admittedly, those first few days he was getting more sugar than anyone should, but it seems that it made it worth his while.  He now tells me that he's going to use the potty every day! 

Kai before church on Sunday.  He was doing "Risky Business" and I didn't want to put his khakis on until we had to leave.  He did wear a pull-up to church but then right after he went back to his underwear.  He's doing so great!

We sure do have a great kid and I love my 3 (and a half) year-old!

Quick Conversation with Kai

We were talking about jobs the other day and I asked Kai if he knew what Daddy's job was.  He didn't so I told him that Daddy was a software engineer.  Then I asked him if he knew what Momma's job was.

Kai:  "I don't know.  You tell me."
Me:  "I'm a Momma.  That's my job."
Kai:  "No.  You wash the dishes."

Well, at least someone notices!