Quarantine Day Twenty Four

- Nolan made a self portrait
- Received a letter from Ms Kaster in the mail
- Day 9 of online learning

Quarantine Day Twenty Three

- Birthday party for the Pokémon stuffed animals
- Lots of Playing outside
- Simon loves his new car

One Grape

Lately, Livi has been fussing after bedtime about being hungry and needing a snack.  When we ask her what she is hungry for, she says "one grape." I'm sure that makes a big difference. <eye roll>

Simon's First Birthday

We had plans for an awesome Peanuts themed birthday party as our sweet Simon turned one, but it was not meant to be.  Due to the pandemic, we made the easy/sad choice to not risk the health of our loved ones by gathering in a large group to celebrate.  But, this was not the way I envisioned celebrating my last baby's first birthday.  Good thing he's too young to know the difference.  We started the day with his favorite breakfast of oatmeal pancakes.  Since Katie couldn't take pictures of him, I attempted to take a few and do a birthday cake smash.  The poor thing was afraid of his cake!  Livi and I made him an absolutely delicious, super moist, dairy-free chocolate cake and every time he got near it he cried.  He wouldn't even try it!  

Simon,

You have grown so much over the past year!  You are close to walking, but are a lightning-fast crawler. You LOVE black olives and sloppy joes.  You have nine teeth, nod your head, dance when you hear music and wave (but only on your terms.) You are a little bit surly and have a mind of your own.  You like to throw food off of your high chair, pull open the gate to the stairs, try to eat dog food, and empty as many kitchen cabinets as you can.  You LOVE your baba and faceplant onto it when you see it.  You make us laugh and your sweet snuggles for mama are the best...even though you won't say mama!  You have made our family complete and we are so grateful for the amazing blessing you are to our family.  Simon, you are so loved.  Happy Birthday, sweetheart!

Love,

Mom

Quarantine Day Twenty

- Bruised up biker legs!
- Porch talk with Grandma and Grandpa for Simon's birthday.  He gets a Little Tykes police car!
- Livi helps make Simon's chocolate cake

Quarantine Day Nineteen

-  Walks have turned into a community event! It is fun to see our neighbors out in their yard with their families.  We visit from a distance with the Kremers, the Townes, the Lindners, and the Dornfelds.  The sunshine and comradery are calming.
- Disney was supposed to release the movie, "Onward" this spring.  After its first week in the theater, the shelter in place orders were implemented, so Disney+ released it to be streamed into homes.  We snuggled up and watched it together.
- A porch talk with Grandma Patti yielded a cool Pokemon shirt
- Auntie Sara dropped off some day brightening goodies!

Biker Nolan!

 One of our goals during our virtual schooling was to get Nolan to ride his bike on two wheels.  We knew Olivia was close from using her balance bike for so long, that we wanted to make sure big brother made the jump first!  At first he got really frustrated and grumpy about it.  Every time he started to tip, he let go of the bike, and it caused him to get all tangled in it and bang his legs.  We practiced using it like a balance bike with no pedals and teaching him to glide.  Within two days he got the hang of gliding down the driveway.  Then we started to add the pedals.  He was so proud of conquering this childhood milestone and we are so proud of him for persevering!