Kyler -- March 2017

March is always a very fun time when the weather starts to change and we are all able to go and stretch our legs out in the nicer weather. Kyler also had a lot of other fun adventures, including getting to go to Calvin to learn about turtles and of course the fun of the March Madness brackets. There were fun times at the museum for school and with mom and dad as well as visit from friends. Kyler also had his first stitches in his life, but I am not sure if they will be his last. Here are more of his March adventures. 

• We have had a lot of fun setting up Dominoes and watching very complicated Domino set ups on YouTube. 
• His reading has been great and he has been reading "Go, dog, Go!" to me in the car on longer trips
• He has such a big heart and will clean up the living room without being asked so we have more "snuggle time" after Devin goes to bed
• Grocery shopping with the boys used to be easier, but now they both do not fit in the cart, and when at Family Fare both cannot fit in the car cart and Kyler gave it up to Devin, what a sweetie
• Had fun having him try a Fluffernutter sandwich
• Loves to "Rough house" with Grandpa 
• Dancing is always fun, but Kyler's new dance move lately has been a lot of spinning
• Has been doing so well getting his hair cut lately, and chatting with the workers
• He loved watching the Kids Baking Championship with me, maybe a future baker in my life!
• Made a space station at school out of trash and recycled things. He really liked to focus on "symmetry"
• Our great friends came to visit it us from Ann Arbor and Kyler had so much fun playing with their oldest boy after a big crash, we did not hear anything until their son told us that Kyler was bleeding. He had jumped and fallen, and then went to his room to cry but then came up and had a huge gash in his eyebrow!
• We had a long time in urgent care and 3 stitches. He did not cry and was very brave until they had to put a band aid on it! 
• Very grump at times and starting to complain about things being fair often
• Kyler loves to pet the kittens in the vets office 
• There have been times with people have not wanted to share or play with him and that has been a hard lesson for Kyler to be exposed to, mommy as well
• At school there was a field trip to the Planetarium! You had so much fun playing with kids and learning about the stars! 
• Pointed out a statue and yelled that it was the Statue of Liberty which made your teacher giggle and it was just so precious
• He loved doing the bracket and liked to pick Butler because of "Butt and Ler"
• Has really started liking watching PacMan on television as well as the game too
• Devin was at school so he had a great time going to the museum again with mom and dad to see the Whale Exhibit and crawl through the giant whale heart replica as well as playing games about a whales shape and speed
• We had breakfast at Anna's house, which you seemed to wonder "who is Anna?" but still loved his M and M pancakes
• We are starting to look at bikes for you too! I think you are going to love having a two wheeler!
• Had another kid at school say that he did not want to be Ky's friend anymore, and poor Kyler is just so heartbroken, this poor sweet boy, what a kind and caring kiddo
• It has been fun sharing old shows with Kyler, like Double Dare and David the Gnome.
• When Devin was having a very grumpy day, Kyler came and told me that he was sorry that it was a hard day and gave me a hug. He is just so precious
• "Mom, your boobs are in the way" when he tried to shut the door by my bra was hanging off the door knob.
• Has become so good at riding his scooter!
• This boy loved getting to feed a bottle to Lawson his cousin
• loves his neighbor, but now we are going to have to say good-bye as they are going to be moving away
• Loved getting to play with cousins at Grandma's retirement party
• PJ day at school, so much fun wearing his slippers and jammies! 

He is loving all the Star Wars coloring

Exploring turtles at Calvin

He had a great time making his own turtle

Time to go shopping!

He ruins his pants, but only on the right leg!

Well he played hard...

...got stitches like a champ!

The band aid upset him the most

Looking good as it heals! 

Making marshmallow sculptures

So excited to set up his bracket!

Hanging with his buddy Sam

These boys all had fun at the museum

Leading the way

His "statue of liberty"

My NASA guy?!

What a fun cookie from Ida's!

Time to get the stitches out! 

Always a great helper and big brother

The bracket is up and he loves it! 

Enjoying a little Chic-Fil-A with mom and Dad

Out feeding the ducks

He LOVED getting to feed his cousin Lawson!

Devin -- February 2017

February is of course the month of love, but when it is hard to just communicate you wonder if your son knows what love is when he cannot talk about it. It was great though to see all that he has done this month and how quickly he is learning. He has been loving school and doing so well. He is almost going the full day four days a week. We also had a nice little vacation to Ann Arbor so Devin had a wonderful time with the grandparents. Here are a few more highlights of the month!

• Has been waking up dry but still not going on the potty
• Dev has been putting his own winter hat on
• At school they tried sugar snap peas and Devin was the only one to try them, and then ate three more of them!
• He also notices any time his schedule is changed at school too
• Devin started going to Little Lambs rather than staying in nursery at church
• After a nap, there is a lot of times that Devin will wake up screaming, wonder if he has nightmares
• One of Devin's favorite things at school is music class and has handled transitions well
• For conferences for his schooling, it was great to hear that he was becoming braver and working on communication with pictures called "pects cards"
• Valentine's day we decorated cookies and he loved getting to eat all the sprinkles and frosting first.
• While at school, Devin had a low grade fever but soon perked up and felt better
• At a family birthday party, did really well sharing love with cousin
• We picked up Taco Bell for dinner and Devin tried everything!
• Loves to play Peek-a-boo with Daddy and I love the giggles
• When Ryan would change a light bulb, Devin always wanted to climb the ladder too
• I would often have Devin help me pull the trash cans in from the street
• Sometimes Devin will run from Daddy and only snuggle with me, but always giggling when Ryan would put a blanket on him
• We brought cupcakes from Ann Arbor and Devin wanted them, so he problem solved and brought a chair over to the counter to get them
• Upset when I brought him to the car, but I did not know what he was upset until I looked and saw that he had lost a boot. 

My boys and buckets?

"Hi Mommy, love you!"

Yep, we eat breakfast on the way to school!

Yep this is still from November and he loves it

Playing his Tablet with Duncan

This is how Devin plays with Play-Doh

He loves the ball pit

...and the balls too

Working on pulling his own wagon soon

Decorating cookies is not as much fun as eating the frosting

Boy pile on Daddy

What? You don't eat the whole apple? 

Kyler -- January 2017

It has been such a great time to celebrate Christmas but the start of the new year brought with it many fun and new adventures. We are continually blown away by Kyler's kind heart and love for those around him. He has been learning so much and loves to pay with friends but often has to be reminded to wait his turn when speaking and to think about how his words will affect others even if they are true. Here are a few fun things that happened this month.

• Loved getting to help take care of other kids in nursery
• Became very emotional when the tag came off his lovey and grateful when it was sown back on
• Has fun playing Alpha-betty with Ryan and even found a word on his own "Soma"
• I loved getting to have a quiet and fun hot chocolate with just him
• He continues to love making projects like bird feeders and doing yoga
• Tried my fitbit on and loved running around the house to make the numbers change
• Ky plays so many games and will often add levels and make up his own versions, so fun to see his imagination 
• Had a lot of fun watching great Muppet shows on our new Roku
• Was very kind to his brother when he was upset about getting his hair wash "Be brave Dev, I know you can do it"
• Was so excited to take Boomer home from school and then after a snow day was able to have EXTRA time with him
• Special time going to a Ninja course with Ryan, loved it
• When Daddy was hurt, you asked where it was hurt so that you could give him a kiss
• Up front at church told pastor Dave that you were saving up to get a Wii U.
• Loves the Lego Movie
• Talks about how Jesus is living in our hearts
• For silly sock day at school, he choose my Halloween socks
• Had fun singing and getting his cousin Sully to dance and sing with him
• Went out for dinner and raved about how the grilled cheese was the BEST EVER
• Loved getting to make his brother laugh by making a box move on top of him
• His kind heart loved picking out books at story time that he new his brother would like
• Wanted to give to my sick friend even when he did not know her
• Had a lot of fun bringing Duncan to show and tell
• Continues to love anything Angry Birds and Ninjago
• Did not follow the rules with the guinea pigs and one got hurt
• When the guinea pig died, Kyler cried and begged God to heal it, it was very sad
• Had a fun day at school with Daddy coming in to teach the class about snakes
• When leaving his class he told a kid that he was proud of him making better choices today in front of their mom

• 

  Drinking Hot Coco with Mommy

  
  

  

  Playing with Kinetic Sand

  
  

  

  Time with Boomer from school

  
  

  

  Having "G" food with Boomer

  
  

  

  Showing Boomer a game

  
  

  

  Doing crafts with "Glitter"

  
  

  

  Guinea Pigs meeting Boomer

  
  

  

  He loves making things with Play Doh

  
  

  

  Want to eat my dinner mommy?

  
  

  

  Tumbling time

  
  

  

  Enjoying some climbing 

  
  

  

  Tablet time with friends

  
  

  

  Boxes are really the best gifts

  
  
  

  

  They make great cars 

  
  
  

  

  Big Eyed boy!

Kyler -- February 2017

This kid just keeps us on our toes and boy is he full of curiosity and heart. I love to see how he thinks and cars for others. He is such a sweet friend and thinks about others in a way that I could not imagine a 5 year old boy would! What a great time seeing how this love bug shares love during Valentine's day. Here are a few of the high-lights we have had this month!

• When we went to drop off Devin at school, he noticed that there were not as many kids in his class and thought we should pray for all the kids that were sick and missing school in Dev's class
• Had a great time visiting my friend Lisa and helped her with Candy Crush!
• We had lunch at Calvin in Johnny's Cafe! How fun to share this experience with him!
• A very sweet girl in his class gave Kyler a toy because of the loss of Zane the Guinea Pig
• So fun to see that he is learning and singing most of the songs at church
• At conferences, his teacher Mrs Cole said just how much she loves him and how she has never met a smarter and yet kind kiddo in her teaching! Wow!
• Kyler has been having fun doing word games like Alphabetty with Ryan at night on his phone
• We have been trying to play more games together like Ticket to Ride Jr and Star Wars Yatzee
• "I'm so handsome mom!" when he wore a Seriously Handsome shirt
• Kyler and parents became a bit obsessed with a game called Nemo's Reef
• "Sam is my bestest friend"
• Has been taking Spanish classes and learned what "bano" ment
• We had our friend the Leerar's over for games and he loved getting to play with them
• He had a special guy time going out with Daddy to see Lego Batman and had a whole Freeze!
• When I took Kyler grocery shopping, he reads me what I need off my list 
• With some warmer weather, Kyler designed a chalk obstacle course on the driveway
• For Valentine's Day, Kyler invited Great Grandma Van Dyke to go to school with him and wanted to wear a tie so it would be special
• Likes to be "stealthy" when coming up the stairs
• Having fun figuring out the Big Wheel outside
• Discovered the phrase from Uncle Matt, "When you mess with the bull, you get the horns"
• Loves to give hugs to friends at BSF and then go and feed ducks afterward
• Made a Solar System at school
• Gave Kyler his own huge box of crayons so that his brother would not break them
• Ryan and I went to Ann Arbor for a basketball game, but Kyler was upset when he could not see us on television
• He loved getting his first game from the Vault of Midnight! 
• So helpful learning to match socks and making his own sandwhiches
• Had a fun play date at his friend Sam's house!

Lunch at Calvin 

Hanging up his picture at Tom + Chee

Lego Batman with Daddy

Making V-Day cookies with cousins

Big boy on his big wheel

Cleaning up in February!

Look at him Climb!

Showing off his Yoga Skills

Fun time outside exploring

Mommy and Kyler time

Feeding the ducks!

Sharing tablet time

Having fun with Dominos