The Williams Family: 2014

I am realizing that November passes very quickly around here, between finishing teaching the Fall preschool Spanish classes, Landon's birthday, Thanksgiving, and the start of holiday decorating and shopping. The month is gone in a flash! I'm having to learn to really work ahead which is not always easy for me, being the detail-oriented, not so much the plan-out-the-big-picture type. :)

So if you read my October post you know that Landon no longer has his two front teeth. Our intention was to make it a fun thing for him and have the tooth fairy come, which we eventually did, though not until a few weeks after they were removed. He was confused at first why this fairy was going to take his teeth, and initially didn't understand that she would leave something cool in return as we tried to explain to him at bedtime. We ended up skipping the 'teeth under the pillow' part and just slipping the money in while he was asleep. The next morning he quickly figured things out as he found these dollars under his pillow, and was quite excited about it.

Our boys come up with more things to build out of these things (not even sure what you call them!)... Here is one example - a phone to call his daddy on.

Making playdough with mommy. Color choice was Landon's own, during a week when red was his favorite color.

Landon thought this mirror at the Science Museum was pretty hilarious as it stretched him out in funny ways.

Caleb's new favorite thing to wear: His SWAT outfit. This day they were arresting Papa for something.

We start 'em young here at the Butcher Shoppe! This is Landon's first 'order' - you can see the faint lines and marks on the paper. All on his own, he started asking me different things that I wanted on my sandwich... "Cheese? ok. Lettuce? ok. Mustard?... " and after each question he would carefully make a little line on the order tag, just like he sees me do when I write down their food orders. By the time he is old enough to work, he will be a pro!

Landon (our chocolate lover) just discovered hot chocolate, and he LOVES it. You can tell he is thoroughly enjoying it!

This is a new thing that Landon was interested in the Tanagrams at the Science Museum...

Landon got to be Star of the Week at Preschool this month for his birthday. I was upstairs getting ready for my Spanish class and his teacher called me down to see them sing happy birthday to him. I'm so glad I was able to watch - he was so excited and loved the attention!

I unexpected stayed at the preschool to sub this day because it was a Pre-K Day (kindergarten prep activities) and they were two teachers short. It was fun to get to watch the kids practice their writing, some with much more attention span for it than others. They were learning the letter 'o', and had specific instructions they had to follow about how and where to color or not color things (practice following instructions), and after they finish they always practice writing their names.

Vinewood Preschool's Thanksgiving Feast, that the kids help prepare themselves - 40 three-year-olds sitting still at the same time!

Papa Jack and Nana Dee came to watch the Feast festivities.

Caleb's friend, Teya. These two sure seem to have a crush on each other, and its cute to see their faces light up when we see each other somewhere. Notice the hand on the shoulder? That was all her!

Caleb's Thanksgiving Feast was the next day. He discovered he really likes Pumpkin Pie!

...Meanwhile Landon and Claire snuck over to the bowl of black olives and finished ALL of them!

I wish I could have gotten one with everyone's faces clear and visible, but these boys were so excited and having a great time hugging each other and jumping up and down together. Caleb, Cameron, Roman, and Landon.

Figuring out some grow frogs that Nana Dee brought the boys. Turns out they aren't immediate like the grow capsule ones, but the instructions say 'requires 3 days to one week for full growth'! A long time to wait for four and three year olds!

Our crazy eater... We had finished all of the dinner I made, but Landon was hungry still so he happily ate the extra pasta sauce, out of the pan.

First attempts at doing color-by-number pictures from our neighbor, Marion. From time to time she brings little crafts, books, or learning tools from working with the students at Vinewood Elementary School. I was a little surprised but the boys did pretty well with the color-by-number after I explained how to do it.

Playing in our leaf pile and Landon grabbed Caleb, gave him a big hug, and pulled him backwards into the leaves.

Thanksgiving weekend was nice and relaxing, and we got to spend plenty of time with Joey, Lindsey, and baby Jack! Caleb absolutely loved loving on him, holding him, feeding him, and walking him. When I told Caleb on Saturday night that they had to go back to their own house the next day, he was very sad, and said that his favorite part of them being here was getting to help Jack walk around.

Though he was more interested in playing that playing with Jackson, on Friday night, Landon told us he also wanted a turn to hold him. A little difficult and wiggly for both, but he did it.

This picture cracks me up. Seems like it needs a clever caption or speech bubble... :)

Cousins right before our Thanksgiving meal. This is Landon's new silly smile... Not sure if its actually new, or just seems different since his front teeth have been gone.

We ended our weekend with the annual trip to Lowes (we've yet to make it somewhere cool and special like Apple Hill) to choose our Christmas tree. It was pouring when we wanted to go, so we just made the best of it with rain coats and a big golf umbrella, and had fun looking at Christmas decorations inside the store while daddy paid for our tree.

Like when we bought our tv this Fall, the tree just barely fit in the back of our car!

The first candy canes of the season! Caleb, who in previous years described them as 'too spicy', now likes them very much. Thanks Tess for bringing them to share!

Yes, THREE years have already passed since Landon was born! He talked for months about his birthday coming, his birthday being in November, and getting to start attending Awana Cubbies at Temple Baptist once he turns three, so there was plenty of excitement for him leading up to his day!

- Very kind, gentle, loving, and giving.

- Likes to be silly

- Sensitive and in-tune to others' feelings - when he is around someone who is upset, whether he knows them or not, he will want to try to cheer them up.

- We've graduated from having to give him haircuts while he naps, to scissor-cutting him at home in front of the tv. Still not willing to do the hair salon, not even with the scissors.

- Willing lets us brush his teeth, but still won't try toothpaste.

- Has plenty of opinions about what he will and won't wear. Its taking some work to get him used to wearing pants, and jeans so far are not on his likes list.

- Loves to eat bread, pasta, beans, pickles and olives - taking after his mama in that department!

- Still our crazy eater. Watch out if he is at your holiday party.... you'll likely find him next to the food table reaching up for more when no one is looking. Black Olives at Preschool Thanksgiving Feast, shredded cheese at a Halloween get-together, you name it...

- Really likes Disney's Planes Fire and Rescue - he talked about having that for his birthday for two months leading up to it!
- Though he mostly uses his left hand for eating and coloring, he definitely has potential to be ambidextrous. His control with his right hand is also quite good, and we find him switching frequently.
- Likes to color, draw, paint, and do stickers. As a result we usually find lots of artwork in his cubby on preschool days.
- His favorite color is currently red, although two weeks ago it was blue, and sometimes its yellow. In general, Landon likes and likes to wear lots of bright colors.
- Can count to eighteen, almost always skipping number fifteen. Starting to learn some of his numbers in the 20s, too.

Caleb was awake before Landon, and as we stood outside Landon's door waiting for him to wake up, Caleb told me he wanted his picture taken. Then he said he wanted three pictures taken. This was his pose for one of them...

Still sleepy but excited to be THREE!

Landon and I had fun playing in the fall leaves at Emerson Park while brother was at school. Way more fun to stomp, shuffle, and throw them when its not your own leaf pile that you've worked so hard to clean up at home!