Nana Mary and Papa Beard Visit

Nana and Papa, Aunt Jen and cousin Zoe came for a visit to meet Sydney. We had full calendar of fun things to do. Shopping, dining and the amusement park were enjoyed at the Mall of America. Seeing how much fun Zoe had on a ride encouraged Colin to finally get on a ride. They rode a few and then he surprised us by asking Dad to ride the Log Chute with him. There are two decent sized drops in the ride which he handled pretty well. We toured the train museum. An interesting historical building at Bandana Square with model toy trains. Unfortunately the model trains you can play with were not open during the week only on weekends. So noted... And the "kids" ran amok in Adventure Peak, a several story climbing structure. The Peak is in the same building as Colin's school, so he gets to play on it once a month through school, but he's never been to the top! With everyone's encouragement, he did the big red slide at the very top. Nana Mary even climbed to the top with Zoe, Colin, Bill and Jen!

Welcome Sydney Katherine

Sydney Katherine May 6, 2012 3:53 AM 6 lbs 15 oz 20 inches Sydney has been a good sleeper. She's not prone to too much crying and if she is upset it's usually one of the following: needs to eat, poop or sleep. Then you swaddle her and she's ready for a nap. Swaddling and shushing work well...for now. It's been a nice maternity leave with my folks and having Bill home. I'm able to get a nap in (when I don't try to do too much in a day). Sydney is now 5 weeks and in 0-3 mos. clothes. We are just in awe of her size (which really is average), we are just use to Colin having been such a peanut for so long. I think he was in NB size until 3 months. Colin adores his sister. He loves to hug her and try to soothe her when she's crying. He has been jealous of all the time she requires (all the nursing and rocking when he wants Mom!). He started sucking his thumb and fingers and "can't" do a lot of things like walk up stairs or put on his shoes...usually when he's tired and whiny. So we are working through that. Overall, he's adjusting well, only calling his sister "stupid" in a whisper on occasion.

Bill's Birthday

We celebrated Bill's birthday at a mediterranean restaurant complete with belly dancers. I'm not sure how authentic the dancers were, but the boys enjoyed watching them, and the kids enjoyed dancing with them.

Art Show 2012

While not the same caliber as his old school's art show evening, Colin did have some great pieces to share with us at his new school's spring art show.

Such a weirdo...

Colin has taken an interest in "writing" words and practicing his letters as well as drawing and coloring. I did keep one page of his alphabet letters at age 4. It's too cute. As he was drawing an army (a usual subject matter), I wanted to take a picture of him consentrating. Once he noticed what I was doing he went into silly mode.

Easter 2012

Coloring Easter eggs...

On the hunt...

Checking out their loot...

4 Year Old Logic

"You get what you get, and you don't throw a fit." said Colin when I explained this is what is for breakfast, bud.
Where did you learn that?
"At my old school."
What does "fit" mean? Asked Nana.
"Not 'fit', it's 'fet'. Fet is a feather and if you throw it you don't get any food.