Delaney Alina is Twenty-One Months Old - 04.30.2021

Delaney Alina is twenty-one months old! Only three more months until she's 2 years old!

Delaney has picked up phrases like "aw man!" and "I wub you" and "c'mon!" She's started to repeat us a little bit more clearly most of the time. Me: You're gonna play with your friends? D: Pay fends.

For words that start with the C/K sound, she uses the T sound. Cold is told, cup is tup, etc.

Delaney knows more shapes: circle, triangle, square, and generalizes pentagon/hexagon/octagon as oh-ta-don [octagon]. She knows nearly all the basic colors: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple, pink, white, black, brown. Now she can count from 2-9 (still leaves out 1). She can quantify two things: "I hah two bears!"

While we were doing our pictures, she stepped up on the porch step without using her hands - I haven't seen her do that. She's become more reliable around stairs and we've moved the baby gate to the top of the stairs going downstairs, leaving the set of four stairs going up to her room open. 

Delaney is picking up so many new things! We love this phase. It's hard to believe Everett was this age when she was born!

Everett Matthew is Three and a Half Years Old - 04.10.2021

Everett Matthew is three and a half years old!

Everett has been waiting for his half birthday for over 2 months now and only recently accepted that he would be turning 3.5 not 4 years old (thanks to much correcting from a certain sister).

Since turning 3, Everett has started going to preschool three mornings a week. He has learned 23 Bible verses (one for each letter A-W; e.g., the verse for F is "Fear not for I am with you, says the Lord.") He plays on a slide, ride-along cars, with blocks, in a play kitchen, and his favorite - with Play Doh. He's beginning to attempt to write some letters and numbers.

Everett can read probably 20 words and tries to sound out words he doesn't recognize. He is learning to add single digit numbers. He loves board games and adding the numbers on the dice helps him practice. 

Everett loves playing games, doing puzzles, playing at the park, playing basketball and football, playing our old Nintendo, playing computer games, typing on the computer, and watching game shows and sports.

Everett's favorite color is red, and he's recently added brown to his list. He's pretty opinionated about what he wears and likes comfy clothes, particularly if they're red.

After Thanksgiving, Everett stopped wearing diapers at night and has done so well! He generally sleeps well at night, though his daily naps happen more like 3-4 times a week rather than every day.

Everett is a tender boy and even if he gets told no and gets upset, he wants a hug while he cries it out. He's sensitive to his sisters and generally quick to apologize. But as a middle child, he's pretty possessive of his favorite toys. He does not like to be alone and always wants someone to play with him or accompany him to another room.

We are so excited to see all that he will learn in the next several months. What a joy!