tasty treats

the girls had a fancy nancy book from the library that taught them how to make tea party treats. for dinner one night that week (while paul was at work), we made these fancy treats: whole wheat toast cut into triangles with strawberry cream cheese, blueberries, and bananas. i love it when the girls plan and make their own food. (ps, they also had ants on a log, but those didn't get in the pictures)

and not to be out-done in the food category, malachi LOVES apples (but not applesauce, go figure). he loves anything big people eat, though he still doesn't really eat baby food. i'm getting creative with it :) also, he got his first tooth last week (12th jan--just over 8 months old), and his second thursday evening (after a MISERABLE night tuesday night, and a not great night wednesday so hopefully he'll be sleeping better now!)

some updates (mostly pictures)

i don't have a picture for rayna deciding she was going to be done with diapers, but she is. i convinced her it was her idea, then after only 4 accidents in 2 weeks (and then 4 in 2 days... oops) she's pretty much done. it's been really nice!

keeping busy when it's cold outside, we use inside (stacking) bubbles! they're always a big hit with everyone 



one of the girls' favorite games lately is "baby Jesus" in this pic, afton is joseph (note her 'man smile') and rayna is mary (i love her hair in this one!). brown baby is Jesus (it's always been brown baby too, don't bother trying to convince afton it's a bear, she won't believe you!)

snuggle time :)

rayna helped edit this picture herself, she LOVES it blue, and she thinks it's a great smile... what's not to love?!

and finally, afton's brachiosaurus hair... what would you do if your 4-yr old asked you to make brachiosaurus hair for her? i didn't know what that was, she told me like one mouse ear on top of her head, way up high would be good enough... this is as close as i got... then i looked it up.

an internet depiction of a brachiosaurus head (afton picked it from the google list :)

afton's ballet

i've been meaning to post these pictures since november. i mentioned in september we got afton dance lessons for her birthday, it was 10 weeks, with the last class not being a recital so much as parents/others were invited to stay and watch what the girls have been doing. my camera died part way through, then started working again, so the pictures were pretty hit or miss.

i really liked the teacher, she did great with the kids, using animals and things to inspire them to have fun and learn some basics at the same time. they learned some basic bar exercises and stretches, but mostly they had fun doing other things:



running with 'balloons' --the whole class was just the four girls



one of afton's favorites was the bat dance: they'd start like this, and a music change would signal time to get up and fly around (aka dance silly), then it would change back so they'd go back to the 'cave'
(ps, sorry about the poor quality of the picture, this was taken as a reflection in the mirror)



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the bat dance/silly dance



another of afton's favorites is the unicorn dance/gallop



and finally, the curtsy :)



we liked the teacher and the class so much, afton's just started another class with her. hopefully when they have their last lesson this time i'll remember to refresh the batteries for my camera first, and i'll get a bunch of great pictures. paul loved the "recital class" so much he said it was worth paying for in itself :). since afton's current plans include being a ballerina when she grows up, hopefully this is a good investment ;)

seventy-six trombones...

okay, not quite that many, but a couple of cute kids are giving it a try :)

8 months and...

standing up all the time, and playing the piano regularly (he thinkis it's funny)

driving along--note how he holds on with his toes, i think it's awfully cute!

climbing on EVERYTHING

he LOVES bathtime. more than any other kid i've ever seen!

he also LOVES his sisters, and seriously, with faces like those, what's not to love?!
i think he even prefers the girls to mom most of the time (aka, unless he's tired or hungry)

works hard, plays hard, sleeps hard

and totally loveable! what a cutie!

i can't believe it's been 8 months already! Malachi's a great baby, and we obviously aren't biased at all, but he's told regularly by at least three different people that he's the most perfectest baby boy we could have in our family :). some of his other achievements include kissing noises, eating baby food, crawling all over, climbing all over (i said that already, but it bears repeating)--usually as he tries to walk, and "talking." he's still super ticklish (with a great chuckle), always moving (we have to tie his arms up swaddle him tight to get him to sleep at night, or he keeps himself awake with his constant movements), he loves faces--noses, eyes, ears, glasses, lips, even hair, and is always grabbing at them, on a realted note, his grip is strong (and it's really hard to keep his fingernails short enough that it doesn't hurt ;). but he's a total sweetheart, and gives great snuggles and kisses (if you don't mind the open-mouthed variety), and he's totally full of love!

we LOVE our little boy!!!