Mason, Rylan, and Elli
This month’s weather was snow some days and spring temperatures other days. We got to go to a couple Awana events (Journey & Trek and then later Sparks and T&T) which were hosted at our church this year - yay! Mason, you did great in Sparks-a-Rama (Spark-a-Rama?), even though you were really nervous and said you weren’t going to do it.
We got to visit with Katherine and Riley one day this month. We picked them up from the Charlottesville airport and then went to Bodo’s afterwards. Mason, you and Riley had fun playing together and trying to impress each other. Rylan, you got to go to school with Nonni that day since it was a a workday and I knew it would be hard to have all 3 of you in a restaurant.
Pap came to visit one day this month to take the boys on dates to Dap’s. Rylan went at lunchtime and Mason, you went with him after school. He stayed until Daddy got home from work and he ate supper with us too.
This was a month of haircuts for everyone in the family…mine was maybe at the end of February- I’ve lost track- and maybe Daddy’s was the beginning of April, but basically everyone got their hair cut in the last month ish.
We had an art practice day with Nonni one day where she taught Aunt Michele and I to draw cows. We ate at McCallisters with them and Jill after that.
One Friday night it was so warm that we went to Stump to play on the playground right when it was getting dark. It was a late night, but all three of you had fun.
We also made a spur-of-the-moment trip to Highland County this month for the Maple Festival. Daddy has wanted to go to that for probably the last 10 years, but we always miss it. This year, when we found out it was the last weekend, we decided to go! It meant naps in the car and a weird schedule for the day, but it was nice to finally see it. We bought kettle corn, maple ice cream, a maple latte, a peach cobbler pie thing, maple pulled pork, oatmeal raisin cookies, and a maple donut. Wow, it felt excessive then, but it sounds even worse writing it out!
It was also Pretzel Day at Miller’s at the end of the month! I’m so glad we didn’t miss it this year….it’s always so delicious.
We also had our first evening of our family baseball season! Nichole and I decided we were going to skip signing up for t-ball leagues this year and play together as families on Saturdays instead. We had a sort of practice where all the kids got to hit and play in the field. Well, except Elli. She sat in the dugout and stood in the outfield and looked cute. I think it was a good decision. Everyone had fun, everyone got more playing time, and then y’all even got to play on the playground afterwards.
Rylan, our date this month was super fun! To start with, we went on a Friday night, which is an unusual time for a kid date. But Daddy was home early enough for us to go. First we went to the miniature golf place in Waynesboro and played a round of putt putt. We listened to our fun kids music playlist on Spotify on the way there and back. Then we went to eat at Waffle House. You expected it to be a house made of waffles, so I’m not sure if you were excited or disappointed when we got there. You got a waffle shaped like Mickey Mouse with whipped cream and chocolate chips for supper, though, so I’m pretty sure that made up for any possible disappointment about walls that weren’t made out of food. You had a date with daddy a few days later. The two of you went to the auto parts store together and then later went to McDonald’s where you got a happy meal. Ry, you made me some jewelry this month, which was super cute and sweet. The first was a necklace made of floss and beads you got in Cubbies. You wanted me to wear it everywhere for a few days. The other one was a necklace made out of yarn and a big piece of paper in a triangle shape (like Superman)….or was it supposed to be a heart? I forget. But you love Superman triangles right now. I didn’t wear that one in public, but I did save it. You’ve also been picking lots of flowers for me again lately. You are also very interested in, but confused about, the time changing. Every time you think it seems brighter outside than normal in the evening you say, “Did the time change?” as if it changes or doesn’t change on a daily basis. You went through a phase this month where you slept in a box in your room for a few weeks, which was cute.
Mason you’ve gotten to play disc golf with Poppy and Daddy several times recently and I’ve gotten great reports about how you’ve done (attitude, skill, all of it.) Over all you’ve been doing a lot better with your behavior too. There were a few days where things were really not going well, and then you came down with strep throat again (exactly one month after the last time). So I think that may have been affecting you before we realized that you had it. I am really hoping that you don’t get it again now that you finished your second round of anabiotics. You are so excited for all the things coming up in April like your birthday and the baseball game with Uncle Tony. You’ve been playing a lot better with Rylan for the most part, and it’s fun to watch you two play together.
Elli you are saying more understandable phrases, and you’re still saying new words every week. I think the worst thing you’ve learned to say is “bad guy,” because that’s now how you greet every stranger you see. Since you say it with a smile and it sounds like “hi, dad dye,” I don’t think anyone has gotten offended. You are insanely good at following directions, even ones that aren’t directed at you. You say “uh huh!!” and do whatever I asked someone else to do. I am pretty sure that you love Nonni more than me right now, but sometimes you feel bad for me when you give her too much attention and then you give me a hug. You are good at giving around-the-neck hug’s and saying “pop” afterwards. Your nightly routine is to cuddle daddy on the futon before he lays you down in your pack and play. It’s amazing how good of a sleeper you’ve become since being in your own room. You went to the doctor this month and have moved way up on the percentile charts for weight to the 20th or 30th percentile. The nurse even looked at me and asked if I thought it was right. You’re certainly not big, but you’re pretty heavy compared to how light you used to be.
Here are this month’s quotes!
“Ry.....no, no!!! *counting in indistinguishable words, but very distinguishable counting sounds*”
“It looks like someone was remote trolling that helicopter!”
“No no, Me Me”
“How did you even know I was out???”
“You stopped at a hiffclainer!!!”
“But I still love you. Even though I won.”
“I only like the food that NONNI makes!!! The only thing I like that you make is frozen pizza and that other soup!!”
“I’ll get you two of these. One is to eat....to fry.”
“Watch me twirl my R’s!”
Loooooove you!