Megan is in Nursery and Other Happenings

Megan before attending nursery the first time in Arizona

Yes, it's official! Megan is now in nursery. She's been a couple times and is doing well. Her first time going was when we were in Florida and they were really surprised it was her first time because she did so well. She participated in all of the activities and didn't miss her parents one bit. Similarly, she did well this past week in our ward here. Yeah! (As a side note, it's amazing how much easier church is when you only have one baby with you instead of two. Wow!)

Megan on the day she first went to Nursery

Megan is very compassionate. She likes to comfort people if they are having a hard time. In fact, the reason she initially started crying on the flight home from Florida was that Matthew was crying and she couldn't get to him to help him. If she can tell someone is having a hard time, she will give them a hug or pat them on the back. She'll also bring a blanket or burp cloth (same general idea, right?) since that is something that helps her. Once when Matthew was crying, she saw Patches, his dog, and brought him over to Matthew. She will also give great big hugs if I ask her for one.

Megan likes order. Ok, so she's 18 (almost 19!) months old--things are far from orderly around here. However, she has certain things she likes done a certain way. For instance, in the morning or after naps, she will very deliberately place her pacifier in her crib. I have no idea how she decides where exactly it goes, but you can tell she has thought it out and is putting it where it belongs. She wants to use silverware and is proud of being able to use it. If you give her something and ask her to put it away, she generally will. In fact, she likes to help sometimes even when it's not needed. For example, she's always willing to load or unload the dishwasher and will often try to do so on her own. She has started drying her hands and face after we wash her off. She definitely has an order to how she plays with things as well. For instance, we have some play serving utensils that have faces and feet like people. When Megan gets them out of the drawer, she stands them up. She still loves to figure out how things work and really believes that since she could open the doors at grandma and grandpa's house, she should be able to open them here. (Grandma and Grandpa have lever handles. We, thankfully, have knob ones--they're much harder for little people to open.)

We certainly feel blessed to have Megan in our home:)

Megan LOVES wearing her tiara!

A VERY messy smoothie

U said the smoothie reminded him of mousse, although I assure you there was no chocolate in it. It did have Sunbutter in it and was super thick and rich. And messy. And Megan and Matthew took full advantage of that.

Pacifier Rules by Megan and Matthew

We thought we'd share a few of the pacifier rules we use around here:

• Green pacifiers are for Matthew and pink or purple are for Megan. However, if no pacifier of the appropriate color is available, substitutions are acceptable. 
• A pacifier not being used is worth more than one being used. None of that "a bird in hand is worth two in the bush" around here. If we see a pacifier not being used, we'll often throw the one we're using across the room while dashing to get it. (Note that it does need to be the appropriate color.) It occasionally happens that we can't actually get the unused pacifier (up too high, too far back on shelf, etc) in which case we'll revert to the other one.
• Crying with a pacifier is acceptable. Just because we have a pacifier doesn't mean we need to be pacified! When we need to let others know we are upset, we simply hold the pacifier between our teeth and wail.

Matthew's 15 and Megan's 18 Month Appointment

Today we had Megan's 18 and Matthew's 15 month doctor's appointment. Here are the stats:

Megan:
weight: 23 lb 11 oz (60%)
length: 33.25 inches (83%)
head circumference: 18.5 inches (67%)

Matthew:
weight: 18 lb 7 oz (2.8%)
height: 29.75 inches (7.6%)
head circumference: 19 inches (87%)

Overall, they are both doing great. The doctor had no concerns about either, they are developing appropriately, etc. Yeah! She was quite impressed with how well they both did during their exams--no screaming or crying at all. (Dr. Nason said that 15 and 18 months tend to be the hardest visits because they are more aware of what is going on but yet don't quite understand it. I remember Sarah crying during her entire 15 month check up so I was really thankful Megan and Matthew both did well.) Megan did cry after her shot, but who can blame her? And then Matthew joined in the fun by falling off the chair onto his back and so I had two howling kids on my lap for awhile.

In terms of their stats, I'm surprised Megan is 3.5 inches taller than Matthew. I knew she was definitely a fair bit taller, but didn't think it was that much. And yes, you read that right: Matthew's head is bigger than Megan's! That was a bit shocking to me. I looked back at the old measurements to see at what point Matthew's head surpassed Megan's. In June, his head measured the same at the end of the month (17.25 inches) that hers measured at the beginning. So they were close, if not the same, then. By September, his head was likely bigger (his head was 18 inches at the end of the month vs 17.75 inches for Megan at the beginning).

How Much Grapefruit Can Two One Year Olds Eat?

Faster and faster

In Sarah's first running club race, she finished 136th out of all the girls.  Five schools raced that day.

In her second race, Sarah sprinted past her friend at the finish to get the 8th place ribbon, placing 127th out of the girls.  There were four elementary schools competing that day.

In her last race, she wanted to run faster.  She was really excited about her ribbon and decided she would run her hardest.  When we got there, we found SIX schools warming up.  Sarah was ready to go though and was certain she could do better.  As she ran, it was clear that she was giving it her all.  When she finished, she told us that she ran or jogged the whole way--no walking at all! When the final ranking went up, she had taken the 7th place spot for first grade girls, finishing 114th out of all the girls competing (the older girls all started before her and there were lots more girls than in either of the other races so 114 was really good for her). 

She was really excited and a little bummed that running club is over for the year.  I told her that maybe we could keep running together (be good for me as well) and she is excited to do so.  Go Sarah, way to run!

The coveted green ribbon!

Grapefruit, Grapefruit Everywhere.....

Before leaving for Florida, we harvested the rest of our grapefruit. We'd actually done a pretty good job eating the grapefruit in our yard. However, there were dozens in our neighbor's yard. So now we have a fridge full. Good thing we have little people who like it:)

Florida: Booster Seats

We like booster seats. If we didn't have booster seats, we'd have to hold toddlers and consequently would never eat and probably get very messy. It might look something like this:

Note: We did have booster seats for Megan and Matthew that we used in Florida. Megan was just having a rough time so I spoiled her by holding her for this one meal. And Matthew decided to join in the fun.

Florida: More Swimming

Our last couple days in Florida saw us spending some more time in the pool.

Matthew by the pool fence wanting to go in. He liked swimming some of the time. He enjoyed playing on the steps. He liked getting out and then back in repeatedly.

Megan by the pool fence wanting to go in. She liked swimming. A lot.

I love swimming with dad.

Squirt!

Sarah and Logan. Logan lives next door to grandma and grandpa. Sarah enjoyed playing with him on a number of occasions. Logan is 5.

Megan and Matthew enjoyed the inner tube.

Matthew trying to get through the pool fence. He wonders why Sarah and Megan get to swim and not him. (He went in the pool shortly after this. Thankfully, he did not get through the fence on his own.)

"Hooray!" says Sarah. "I have a super grandma:)"

Motor boat, motor boat....

Florida: The Beach Take 2

On Monday, we headed out to the beach. It was super nice weather--warm with just a little breeze.

Megan and Matthew still preferred not to be in the sand.

Lounging Megan! She looks so big here.

Digging....

Sarah, Matthew, U and I walked down to an outcropping of old coral.

Matthew walking on the sand. He still wasn't too sure about it but if we put him down, he'd walk a bit.

Megan discovered she liked walking on wet sand.

Sisters!

Megan and Sarah enjoying the water. Matthew tolerating it (for now...).

Love these guys!

Couple of family shots

Florida: Hanging Out at the House

Sunday we went to church and then played around the house.

Megan loving her green smoothie in a cup.

No, the frog didn't turn into a prince.

The wagon got quite a bit of use. Both Megan and Matthew discovered they could push it and Sarah liked taking her brother and sister for little rides around the driveway and yard.

Matthew pulling the wagon.

Sarah enjoyed riding in the wheelchair.

Florida: Morikami

On Saturday, we went to Morikami Japanese Gardens for the Hatsume Fair, a festival that celebrates the first bud of spring. We enjoyed watching the taiko drummers--really fun to watch!--and Sarah enjoyed some of the children's activities. We also visited their museums and strolled through the gardens.

Sarah with her fancy face paint--thanks grandpa!

Megan and Matthew in the Japanese school--don't they look about ready to go?

U, Me, Megan and Matthew in the sitting room

Megan was anxious to eat in the kitchen--too bad it was just rubber bands!

The whole gang in the bamboo grove.

Florida: St Patty's Day Leprechaun

In preschool, Sarah learned that leprechauns leave their hats hidden places on St. Patrick's Day. Ever since, she's looked and found a leprechaun hat on St Patty's Day. Here's pictures from this year's hunt.

This is right before she found the hat. It is in the black circle. The easiest thing to see is the red gel pen that was in the hat.

What was in the hat? Gel pens, gold coins, and a little strawberry growing pot.

Florida: The Beach Take 1

We went to the beach a couple times while visiting grandma and grandpa. The first time was Friday evening.  grandpa was back from his weekly trip and so we headed out to see the waves. It was fairly nice, just a bit on the breezy side.

Megan making her first venture towards the sea.

This picture pretty much sums up how Matthew felt about being on the beach. He liked it fine if someone was holding him, but wasn't too fond of the sand or water.

Megan and grandma

Sarah and grandpa

Sarah and grandpa went on a walk. There were some people flying kites and Sarah said she wanted to fly one, too. However, we didn't have one. On their walk, someone lent her a kite. How nice!

U and Matthew looking for shells--I like the surf.

I love Matthew's hair blowing in the wind.

Peekaboo!

Sarah trying out body surfing. She liked it pretty well.

Who you looking at?

"I gotta build something...."

It was pretty funny because we were trying to keep the towel relatively sand free. Megan enjoyed piling the sand on the towel.... Oh well!

Love those Wheat Thins!

Love that grandma!

Love that mommy!