Jane is 2.5!!

Has missed her dance class like crazy. All she does all day is move her hips and jump. She cannot get enough of it. ...and it's pretty cute.

Chooses when she wants to hear you. She will ignore me calling her until I come into the room. And even then I usually have to pick her up.

Still uses a binky. She has decided that when she is in a big bed she will not need it. Lee is about done with her bed, so any day now! This could be hard on all of us!!!

Wants to wear a dress everyday. She only has two play dresses, so I usually have to talk her out of it.

Likes the idea of underwear and going on the toilet, but I'm really not ready to deal with potty training yet. So probably on the summer.

Loved to watch herself dance in the mirror.

Has started to be interested in princesses. Saw her first movie Frozen. She loves the "do you want to build a snowman" song. She thinks all the princesses are so beautiful. She has only seen Tangled (but we own many of the other movies).

Has been growing like a weed! She in 4T clothes. Grew over 3 inches in half a year.

If food is there. She will eat. She is the best vegetable eater in our family.

Loves to talk about Zac's preschool friends. She also gets to join in for preschool at our house and loves it! She sits and does everything right along with the other kids. Thankfully they just bring her in like part of the group. For field trips she is right there with the others. She enjoys learning.

Nursery music time has been so much fun with her. She does all the actions and sings with me. It's fun to see her in a learning situation. She will be a music teacher to all her stuffed animals. Her favorite song at the moment is the "wise man."

Plays really well with Zac. They play a lot of cars (I'm so glad bc it gets so boring for me). She is good at following his directions (or bossiness).

She has a mind of her own. And most everything is "i do it myself!" I try to be patient and in not such a hurry or rush with her.

She is such a girl to me. Does everything at a slower pace. And gets distracted easier. Loves girly things and always wants her finger and toenails painted.

When she wants me to pick her up she says "hold you."

Is in love with Zacs blue booster seat. Has decided she is too old for the high hair that is right at the table. We have another booster, but the blue one gets fraught over a lot. Zac is usually super nice and gives it to her.

Thinks she world of her brother. Whenever he goes to preschool as soon as we get home she asks to go pick him up.

Loves to have my friends help her with things. At the park they always have to push her on the swings and play with her.

She loves the Polly pocket dolls at Grandma Coopers house.

Loves doing my hair.

Is OBSESSED with my phone. She loves YouTube videos. But really loves watching her dance class. I have to hide it from her. If she find it she will go off and won't give it back. Tears are the only result.

Has this awesome low voice that she will talk in sometimes. It is so funny.

Sure knows how to scream when getting chased by her dad. Or tickled.

Is pretty good with playing by herself. She can be so easy, but yet so hard in the same day. We are all obsessed with her. And think she is the cutest thing ever.

 

Playing with little friend Paige.

Her baby needed to have her hand on the handlebars too. It was a slow walk home for me. :)

Someone picked out their outfit.

Cutest little wave "hi" to the ducks.

Jane's "best friend" at Old Navy. She gets lots of hugs.

She LOVES to wear Zac's socks.

Doing my hair while Zac is at preschool. She was so happy.

Before she could get in the car at the postoffice she had to do "head, shoulders, knees, and toes." She was already at "eyes" when I got my phone out to take a picture. And yes, the baby carrier had to come in every store that day.

Zachary is 4.5!

 

Likes the colors red and green (mostly just stays away from "girl colors" -those are for Jane)

Is not really into super heroes. Likes to play "emergency" or "saving". (aka: playing fireman or police officer)

Wants to be a policeman with his dad when he grows up.

Loves crossing guards. Likes to look out Jane's window or jump on the tramp around 8:30 to watch all the kids cross the street in the morning for school.

Has learned brand of cars. Driving I just hear, "Toyota, Honda, VW, Chevy, Ford, Jeep, Mini Cooper, Hummer,Old fashion truck/car, etc" over and over. He has an amazing eye for knowing cars. He is totally his dad!

Always puts his covers over his head when going to sleep.

Has started to not take naps anymore. Most days I still make him lay there for 20 minutes just to see if he will sleep (he still wakes up early!). He will play quietly in his room while Jane and I rest.

Bossy boy, but has learned to give in to Jane sometimes.

Is a sweet heart to babies and little toddlers.

Says the most thoughtful prayers. I do love when he points out things that Jane is not doing right during a prayer and prays about it.

Loves to watch the news in the mornings with Lee. He loves pointing out the "bonks" on the traffic. And also likes knowing the weather. Lee says he also loves when there is a fire or police cars involved. He gets bummed on days that Lee leaves early and they don't watch it. (I guess I'm just not the same.)

Loves school. He loves role playing, music, and stories. He loves showing off his crafts. He has gotten much better at writing and drawing. And will draw most anything that comes to his mind.

Is not picky if he messes up with letters or drawings. He will just cross things out. Many times there might be x's all over. He is ok with that.

He likes to write Zachary.

Tells me he loves me thoughout the day. He also kisses my tummy a lot and tells the baby he loves her.

Loves his bike. Is super good on it. He still loves the cozy coop cars. Even if he is getting too big for them.

If he has to do a timeout and is not going to the chair, I can just say "I'm going to put more time" and as I walk over to the timer he will go running for the chair. He does not like more time!

Cannot leave Jane alone. If they are just getting after each other and I tell them to just play in their own room. He can't handle it and some how still ends up bugging Jane.

Likes to play soccer. He is really pretty good at dribbling and playing keep away.

Tells some pretty good made stories/dreams. They are mostly about our family or preschool friends.

The little white lies have started. Especially if Jane starts crying about something he might have done.

Has kept his olive skin thought the winter. I'm always so surprised at how dark his hair is!

Still way into trains and hot wheel cars. But will play kitchen/food and house with Jane of she says no to cars.

Loves maps. Drawing them and reading them.

Wants to go on a mission to Hawaii. And take lots of family members with him.

Sometimes when we are eating, he will talk about how he ate what we are having on his mission.

Has very few night terrors anymore (if any)! Yay! But still grinds his teeth so loud some nights.

Appreciates so many things we do. Even small things.

Thinks I'm the "best mom" because I make the best dinners ever. (Ha. Maybe bc I only make things I know they will eat.)

Does not like music played loud. In fact sometimes I can barely hear it and it's too loud for him.

Loves dancing (aka running) to music. He will even do performances for us.

Tells Jane "we got married in the temple, right?"

Recalls things from forever ago. Has a good memory.

Is my easier child at the moment (never thought I would say that).

Says "excuse me" a million times in a row when trying to get by someone. The problem is he really just needs to walk around the person. It drives me crazy. To the point that he is not allowed to say it.

When tired he can get worked up. When talking to Lee at night has gotten sad about things like not wanting to grow up. Not wanting to be a dad. Or silly things like that.

Is obedient. Is a rule follower. And knows right from wrong in most situations. He is caring. And knows how to make me feel loved. He is so much fun. And also is so tiring. We just love him to death.

Preschool field trip on the city bus!

Preschool Valentines Day Party

Preschool Fire station Field trip.

Broken Arm Story

On January 25th we were doing a family bike ride to the park. Unfortunately the neighborhood we were in did not have inclines on the corner curbs where you would cross the street. I was already in the bike lane, and Lee (with Jane on the back) and Zac were just going to jump the curb, and join me. Lee pretty much came to a stop going off because of Jane on the back, and Zac riding behind him (he likes to be like a train) slowed/swerved to miss him and only made it half way off the curb. He ended up falling down while still holding the handle bars. He jumped up and was holding his arm saying, "that hurt! That hurt! I'm ok, but that hurt!" Lee looked over at me and said, "I think he broke it." I went over and he did have some swelling on his forearm by his elbow, but we were not sure if it was broken. The amazing part was he did not have another scrape on him! Not even on his arm! He just fell straight down on his arm.
Lee rushed home on the bike (we were about a mile from home) to get the truck and I sat with Zac on the curb. He was so good the entire time. Never cried and was sad that we never made it to the park. I was so glad that Lee was on the bike ride with us! It was nice that we had someone did stop and ask if we needed help, but Lee was close to coming. I just felt so bad sitting there with Zac because he really is SO good at riding his bike. He has been doing it for 8 months now, so it was not like he was just learning. It just was one of those sad accidents.
Lee showed up a little later with some ice and we drove to San Ramon hospital to get it checked out.

We got to the ER and were the only ones there, but still it took FOREVER. We finally got in and they did xrays and indeed it was broken. The doctor that helped us was really not friendly. Kind of a weird experience. We had to wait an extra hour for the orthopedic doctor to show up to either cast it, or tell us what we were going to do. Thankfully he was SUPER nice. And wanted us to come to his office in a few days after the swelling had gone down to get a hard cast put on. He ended up putting a soft cast on Zac that was huge! But it made it so his arm stayed really well in the sling that he also had to wear.  Four hours later we were leaving. We stopped at Jamba Juice (the treat of choice) before picking up Jane who had been picked up by Grandma and Grandpa Cooper (thank you!).

What a LONG day. He was so good about it all.

 On January 29th we went in to the doctors and Zac got x-rayed again. Looking at the bone it was at a 20 degree break. Anything over 15 degrees they have to set the bone. So we set up an appointment to have it set on the 31st. Sleeping at night with the soft cast was a little tricky. He would yell to have us help move it to a new position. He was very careful with it. He was super cute about always having an arm under it if the sling was not on. He also loved to wear the sling and we were very happy about that!

He wanted to draw his cast. How cute is that?

The morning of the 31st Zac could not have anything to eat. We had a 10 o'clock appointment. We dropped Jane off with Grandma for the morning. After doing paper work and getting Zachary all ready it was after 10:30. The hospital was great at having some toys, a Thomas book, stickers, and coloring book for Zac to use and take home. He actually was doing really well. They had given him some medication to relax him. And he was getting really silly. His speech was all slurred and he was having a hard time communicating, but was coming up with the funniest things. After a while the nurses came and said the doctor would be another half hour. By this point he was getting about done. He all the sudden started to cry and say "this is not fun." He just really wanted to go to Super Franks (one of his favorite play places) and I had a hard time talking him out of it. This was probably one of the hardest moments of being his mom that I have had. He was just so sad. He had been SO good about his arm for an entire week. Never complain and never even crying. It was hard seeing him be so sad about wanting to just do something fun! The medication was making it really hard for him to control his emotions I think. Thankfully the doctor showed up and they quickly took him. They put him completely out for the procedure.

Our doctor came and showed us xrays of the set bone when it was done. Everything seemed to have lined up well and we waited about 10 minutes for them to call us back in when Zac started to wake up. He was so cute waking up. He had picked out an "electric" green color for his cast. Just like his bike. (There are no hard feelings toward his bike!)

Afterwards we went to pick up Jane from Grandmas and he wanted to play. While he was trying to play trains he feel over from still being on the medication. So we had to watch him closely. We also tired to get some liquids and a little food in him. It was one of those days where he pretty much could have/get what he wanted.

For about a week he wore a sling with his cast. Then one day he decided that he was done with it. We saw the doctor the following week to make sure everything was still in place. Everything looked good and we made another appointment for a few weeks later.

On February 19th we had another appointment and things were still looking good. We thought he might get a new cast, but the doctor kept him in the same one. We were surprised when the doctor looked at his hand the cast was on and saw it was rubbing. Zac had never said anything about it hurting! So thankfully he put on some moleskin and it's doing much better. It is crazy to see how the skin on his hand has been peeling from not using it. So, as of right now he will get it off on March 5th!! It will have been 5 1/2 weeks of a broken arm.           

I do have to say it has been super nice that he is left handed. He can still pretty much do anything. Playing with cars, eating, writing, and just physical activities are still easy for him. He has been SO good. Like I said, never has cried (other then at the hospital). He did ask Lee one night "when is this going to come off?" But he has been so positive. Wanting to do everything by himself. And not complaining when he cant do something. It has been such an eye opener at how positive he can be in a hard situation and how I can do better many times. We are excited for long baths (with bubbles!), bike rides, being able to play on everything at the park, and to jump on the tramp again. Even if we will still have to keep it slow for about 2 weeks after getting it off, it will be nice to have it back! :)

Jane the Dancer

A lady in our stake put on little dance class once a week at our church. She did two sessions: 2-4 year olds and 5-8. It was once a week and the kids loved it! I was so glad that Zac was doing it with Jane because he would keep her focused (for the most part) and they loved to "practice" at home. It was also so nice to see them in a little class together.

Because it was free and anyone could come, it was a little crazy with kids just running around (for the first few weeks), but I think my kids got out of it what I wanted them to. They were both super good at listening, following directions, and just having fun! I would love it when they would finish a song and Jane would come running to me (watching them while sitting up on the stage) and say "I did it!" just so happy and then run back to the class.   

Zac ended up only doing it for 3 weeks. After he broke his arm he said, "I just can't jump high enough." And so he didn't want to do it. It also was probably not the same not being able to use both hands. But I wanted him to decide on his own that he didn't want to do it. He was beyond happy to play in the nursery with cars and come "check" on Jane in the gym every few minutes. He would always hug her and tell her she was doing such a good job. He really was proud of her.

First Class

Zac in the red/white and Jane in her little leotard.

I didn't know how Jane would react to not having Zac in the class with her. She actually ended up doing really well! She continued to love it! She would ask me to record it every practice and she would come home and watch and practice dancing on her own.

Practicing on stage for the performance.

The lighting was not good during the performance, so these last two videos are probably the best I have of her doing the dances. She was so cute up on stage in her little tutu. We all were excited that we could get some good use out of her Halloween costume! Even if it was getting a little small already!

 At the end of 6 weeks they did a performance. Jame was super excited to have "Daddy come to dance class." She also got to have Grandma and Kenzie come too (Grandpa was in Canada)! They split up the groups into smaller groups, so everyone could be seen. Jane was adorable up on stage. For the first song "Move it" she was supposed to be an animal. She told me she wanted to be a cat and thankfully I easily found an outfit. For "Don't Worry Be Happy" they were supposed to dress up like a cowboy/girl. I'm totally biased, but she was the cutest one on stage!

 

To tell you the truth I never would have guessed she would have loved it as much as she did! She has not stopped dancing since the performance. She will randomly stop in stores, at home, while we eat, in the car, etc. And put her hands on her hips an dance. She LOVES it. And whenever she can she will get my phone and watch all the videos of her dancing. To say she is obsessed might be an understatement. :) It's fun watching her be so into something. And seeing her little personality shine.