Gymnastics!

 We were lucky enough to be able to put Bell in gymnastics for a little while.  She absolutely LOVED it, and we were very impressed with how well she did.  Every week before class, Brandon told her she had two rules: 1) Listen to your teacher, and 2) Have fun!  She always did really well, maybe a little talkative at time, but what did you expect from a 4 year old?  

Love the glasses!

With my very supportive brother!

 Her favorite trampoline.  It was really long, and the kids did all sorts of jumps from one end to the other.

 

Cheese!

 Practicing a front roll

 I was impressed with how many of the bigger things she could do all by herself.

 Working on a full body spin around the bar (and I am no expert on gymnast terminology, so please feel free to correct me).

 Jumping to do a pull-up.  I never could do a pull-up myself growing up.  Hopefully she will take after her Aunt Misty and do much better than me.

 What a good girl, waiting in perfect form for her turn on the beam.

 Even when she stepped off for a bit, she kept form.  I know she is only 4 and this class was just for fun, but she impressed me every time with how well she did following each technique she was taught.

 Hanging out in the corner, waiting her turn again...

 Another front roll...

 And she won!  I love how proud each of the little kids were to stand up there and receive their cute little medal.  We just signed up for 8 weeks, but I think the sessions are usually 12 weeks long.  I wonder how much it goes to their head when every couple of months the kids get another medal.  Isabela sure has been proud of this one.

 At the end of each class, they sing a little song, "Put your hand on your head for a stamp."  She would do it, and sometimes Xander as well.  Right after, though, she would ask her teacher if she could give her Dad and Mom a stamp.  The teacher was so nice, she always did.  So we all got to leave with rainbows, dolphins, and other pretty pictures on our hands after gymnastics!

5/10/13

Bike Rodeo 
Our little town of Silt, CO puts on a bike rodeo each year.  The kids get to ride a little course with road signs, learn their hand signals, and get free helmets.  Isabela can't quite ride by herself yet, but she zoomed around the whole thing with me, and my very pregnant belly, leaned over holding onto her.  It was fun, and now she is excited to learn her hand signals.  Xander didn't ride the course, and I was really surprised that they gave him a helmet as well.

 Brandon pushing her all around the park.

Getting ready for the course, answering all the important questions with the police officer before she could get on.

Xander refused to take off his helmet the entire day!

Historical Parade in New Castle
Unlike any parade I see nowadays, every scene in this parade taught us something about the history of the town.  It was really fun and informational.  Only the kids got a little bored.  They did great for the first hour and a half.  We played at the park for the last little bit.

 Isabela did great when the flag went by... and she did

stand up.

The fire truck was there (although nobody could get on or anything), but they gave each of the kids a sticker.  They gave me chapstick, which Xander deemed his own.  He rubbed it on his lips throughout the entire parade.  (I admit, he loves chapstick, and hasn't quite figured out yet that a glue stick is not chapstick.  Even though he puts glue sticks by his mouth whenever he finds them, he doesn't rub them on the same, thank goodness.)

I am going to miss you soooo much!

Yesterday, Brandon took Isabela to the store.  Before leaving, she told Xander, "Xander, I am going really far away.  I am going to miss you SOOOOOOOOOO MUCH!!  Are you going to miss me?"

"Ummmmm......    Nope!" he replied.  She seemed a little sad, but we were laughing way to hard to try to explain or help her out.  She asked a couple more times, but I don't think he ever said yes to her.
Although, he did recently start saying, "Umm... Yep," as well.  For weeks, whenever he started with Ummm, it was never an affirmative response.

Nueces

Isabela has been learning that there are bones inside of your body.  Today she pointed to Brandon's hand and said, "There are 'nueces' in there."  What she meant to say is, "There are 'huesos' in there."  So she said "nuts" instead of "bones."  Brandon is a little nuts sometimes, so I guess it fits. :D

Then on Sunday, we were walking out the door when Isa says, "I have to go to the bathroom."  Brandon takes Xander to the car while I take Isa to the bathroom.  Afterward, driving home, I whispered to Brandon, "I guess it was good I took her to the bathroom.  She peed like a race horse." I don't know how much of that statement she heard, but Isabela started neighing and making all sorts of horse sounds.

--Also a note from Brandon, the big nut himself.  Isa was watching Dora the other day.  At the end, the show always asks "What was your favorite part?"  This episode was about the different seasons throughout the year.  The final question this time around was "What is your favorite season?"  Isa simply replied, "I like it when it is cold, in the winter" Like father like daughter!  We have a small snowboarder yet.--

We call Xander our bi-polar child.  For the record, he is not bi-polar.  He is just 2 years old.  I remember Isa throwing tantrums, but not the switch of emotions so quickly from happy to angry to happy again.  He loves, loves, LOVES the new baby!   He hugs and kisses my tummy constantly everyday.  He talks to the baby, shares his toys with the baby, tickles the baby, and feeds the baby. One day, he was giving the baby crackers.  I stopped paying attention momentarily, when I realized he had switched.  I then had yogurt all over my shirt.  Yes, my tummy gets lots of attention.  Sometimes he is so possessive, saying "MY baby!  MY baby!" that Isabela gets upset, saying, "It's my baby, too."

Xander is talking more and more, in English and Spanish.  It is our favorite thing to listen to!  Lately, every time you ask a question, he says, "Ummmmmmmm...... Nope."  He loves to say, "I di ih.  I di ih."  I did it!  Then will translate and say "O hice."  Lo hice.  He can say "Isa" very clearly, but prefers to say "Ehah" for "Bella."  He uses everybody's names.  "Icko" is "tickle." We understand almost everything he says, but he is getting more and more clear.  We haven't really had tantrums due to his frustration not being able to communicate.  He has always been able to communicate with us really well.  And now his vocabulary is quite extensive, it is even easier.

Flying the Kite

 One of the girls from the After School Program I work at gave Isabela a princess kite.  She has fallen in love with it!  Brandon has been so wonderful to take her out and fly it.  The kids LOVE it!

 This kid seriously has the best facial expressions.  He is our comic relief and entertainment on a daily basis.

 Xander was mesmerized.  Look at the kid.  He seriously stood around like this half the time when it wasn't his turn to fly it.

 Giving kisses!

 I love you TOO MUCH!

Isa was so kind to take a picture of Mom and Dad.  She did a great job, and we were even centered! (although, I did zoom in on it a bit)

Why I shouldn't neglect my children...

They seemed so happy.  They were laughing hysterically.  They were playing together, not asking to watch a movie or anything.  So, therefore, I was happy.  They shut the door to their bedroom, but I could still hear them laughing.  I wasn't worried.  I spent the next little while talking to Renee on the phone. 

I get off the phone, only to hear Isabela say, "Xander, I have water in this one..."  How on earth did she have water in her room? I thought.  She is great at pretending, though, so I am still not worried.  But... I should check, just in case.  Oh, NO!  Holy Cow!! I open the door only to find they have brought pulled in our 5-gallon buckets of water into their bedroom.  They have proceeded to dump them all over the carpet!

They are now in undressed, wearing only panties and a diaper, jumping and splashing in their new "pool."  Unfortunately, all fun ended there.  I, of course, was the fun ruiner (as I didn't want the carpet or flooring underneath to be ruined).  I ordered them to the bathroom.  We gathered towels, and danced all over them to soak up the water.  And, boy, were they soaked.  Luckily in just minutes, the carpet seemed all but dry.  It is amazing carpet, I would say (after many years of extracting carpets on campus!).  We used towel after towel until no more water would seep into them.  Luckily, it was just water, and only very temporary.  I don't think we caused any real damage!  Oh, the joys!

Stuffed Animal Hand Puppets

Apparently, there is a tooting hippopotamus on the TV show NCIS.  Our friends love the show and ordered one of these stuffed animals.  It just so happens, that you can reach your whole arm in there and move the mouth.  The first time Xander saw it, he got excited.  Then when he saw the mouth move, he was TERRIFIED!  He smiled and laughed at two feet away, but any closer and he looked like he was going to scream.  He walks backwards, never taking his eyes off the thing, if it gets too close.  It took about three months of intermittent visits for him to actually hold the hippo.

It has been a few weeks since we have seen the hippo.  Just two days ago, we went to a different library for story time.  She read all sorts of books about the zoo.  When she was done, she put her hand in a bin, and out came a turtle.  She held it well enough that I am sure some of the little ones couldn't tell her other hand was inside.  Xander laughed and pointed. He was thrilled!  Then came a snake, a little bear, an owl (which we also loved), and a couple others.  He seemed so excited and loves animals!  (He also sleeps with various stuffed animals every night.)

We continued to do our craft project, and all was well.  When we were done, however, some of the kids got out the real-looking puppets.  They left a couple on the floor, and I asked Xander to help me put them away.  He went to the turtle, bent down to pick it up, then stopped short, right before he actually touched it.  He got a little scared, and backed away, but still had a smile on his face.  I am sure he couldn't tell if it was going to "come alive" and start moving if he touched it.

So, being the great mother that I am, I picked up the turtle, put my hand in it, and moved the little head and legs.  The legs covered the eyes and the turtle curled up inside its shell.  Then it came out to play Peek-a-Boo.  Xander laughed and laughed.  He shouted "Boo!" back at it.  I used a funny voice, like a turtle, and asked Xander for a beso.  He nodded 'Yes' to the turtle and came close.  He had that scared look on his face, but he kept coming.  He gave it a quick kiss, then retreated just as fast.  It only got better from there.  He continually came to touch it, then got terrified and ran away.  He wouldn't touch it again at all.  (I, of course, as well as the librarian, couldn't help ourselves from laughing hysterically.)

I put the turtle away and asked him to put away the other animals.  He stood there with a blank expression on his face, shaking his head NO.  He wouldn't speak or move.  But when I put the others away, he wanted to play with them again.  It is the most hilarious thing I have seen.  He wants so badly to play with them, but just can't make himself.  I came home and told Brandon I want to invest in some "real-looking" puppets (not just the ones that look like gloves).  They are a little more expensive than I thought.  We might just have to visit that library a little more often :D

Happy Birthday Alejandro!

 Rockin' my zebra through the house.  He came out riding like this with his hat on, all proud of himself.  What a ham!

 What a cute goober!

 We got to spend Xander's birthday at the "motel" (as Isabela says, it's really a nice hotel) with Papi and Abuela.

 I wonder who's more excited?

 He loves this fox!  (This post is a few months past due, but he still clings to this fox like there's no tomorrow.)

 Are you sure there isn't anything else in there?

 Are you ready?!

 His throwing technique is still a little "off" but he definitely has a good arm.  Thanks Tio Kyle and Tia Erin for my new ball. I think he and Papi played catch all night long.

Holdin' up my new swim trunks from Papi and Abuela.  Still just a tad too big, but very handsome!

(And he still wore them to the pool.  With the string tied and the waist folded down once, they actually worked quite well.)