Anna turns 2!

We've been having some interesting weather. It tried very hard to snow a few days early last week, but nothing ever stuck. Zane and Nora were very disappointed. Then late one night, it really started to accumulate. The weather man said it would be rain by morning. I thought it was so sad that the kids wouldn't get to enjoy it, so Kevin and I went out at about midnight and built a snowman for them. They enjoyed him for about a day and a half before the rain completely washed him away.

Zane trying to catch snowflakes.

Lyla get very restless when the rest of us are eating and she's not. She started solids this week and here's what she thought about that:
She's generally pretty happy unless she's tired or hungry. She is LOVED by her siblings and they often fight over who gets to play with her. She is pretty "talkative." She babbles a lot. She is a good sleeper and will usually sleep from about 7:30 until 7:00. However, Friday night she was up ALL night. Happy as could be, just babbling away. If Kevin or I went to try to quiet her, her eyes would light up and she would squeal and babble even more.

Nora is just a happy girl most of the time. She's easy to please. She loves to take care of Lyla and is a big help when mom is busy (until she's too much help). She likes to clown around. She is very thoughtful and generous. She likes to wear her clothes backward. Sometimes it's just her shirt, sometimes her shirt and pants. Sometimes it's everything. She is enjoying Joy School. Her best friend is Blythe. She loves being a Sunbeam.

Zane is also enjoying Joy School. He is the only boy in his primary class so he really enjoys interacting with the other boys in Joy School. He is really growing up and getting pretty independent around here. He is learning to read and LOVES it. He's always ask, "What does that say?" and reading words everywhere in his environment. He also loves to take care of Lyla.

Anna just turned two. She is a girl of many personalities. She can be super sweet and kind and generous. But, she is also very headstrong and can throw quite the tantrum. She also likes to be a clown and get a laugh out of Zane and Nora. She will often do whatever they do, but also likes to just go off by herself. She can spend a long, long time by herself just looking at books. She also really likes stuffed animals and every week seems to add another one to her growing pile of "stuff" that she has to sleep with. At bedtime I will put her in bed and she will get all "my stuff" and try to get her arms all around them and lay on top of them. As of now she has a hippo, bear, bunny, sheep, kitty and two blankets.

We just celebrated her birthday! All day, she sang "Happy Birthday to Anna." She spent the morning with daddy, then after nap we went swimming. She had a blast. She got to
Skype with Grandma & Grandpa Tolman. Grandpa & Grandma Pickup came over for pizza, presents and cupcakes. She had a great day and we're so glad she's part of our family.