We are battling off some residual sicknesses that have been running rampant through our town this week. On the plus side, that has meant a couple sick days for Jared, and it's been so nice to have him around at home. On the minus side, he had to flake out on the Party Dad birthday party he set up for Jack and I had to jump in and make the cake, manage the party, entertain the parents (we were hoping we'd reached the age where parents would just drop off their kids, but two parents opted to stay mostly because they were worried their kids would tear our house apart without their supervision). Jack had fun so we're calling it a success, but Jared has gotten sick the last several Februaries so next time I'm going to push for a fun little birthday trip instead of a friend party. We have a hard time making family trips happen anyway (other than visiting family in Utah), so it could be a good two-birds-one-stone strategy.
Jack impresses us often. He can be a handful at home, but after spending time in primary and at his birthday party and witnessing how truly wild most of his peers become in public/social settings, I find myself counting my blessings that we really never worry about that with Jack. He is wonderful at church, and he was given an award at school for being the most respectful and quiet in his class while they had a substitute all last week. As a submissive people-pleaser peace-keeper of a child (and adult) myself, it is an absolute joy to watch this respectfulness go hand-in-hand with a strong sense of assertiveness for Jack when he's out in the world. At his football practices he's great at following instructions but he's also unafraid to ask a coach, "Can I run the ball first?" His bus driver gave each child a small toy as they got off the bus on leap day, and though Jack is pretty quiet on his bus and in school settings, he was unafraid to ask the driver, "Could I have an extra one to give my little sister?" When the bus driver smiled but said no, he was completely unfazed and got off the bus happy as ever, excited to show me. I just really love that he's never afraid to ask for what he wants, in a respectful way, and that he stays cool no matter the response. I'm sure he will carry this trait into adulthood and I love that for him. I'm taking notes for myself.
Alice is the cutest, funnest age. Jared and I both really enjoy the stage around 18 months. It is difficult for many reasons, but it is also the time when personalities start to shine and communication starts creeping in more. Alice is attempting more words (our favorite is "dip! dip!" as she dips whatever she's eating in a sauce). She'll often attempt the first two letters of a word when prompted. She'll point at a balloon and say, "buh!" or a ball and say, "ba," or a duck and say, "duh!" She has good understanding when we ask her to do something and seems to have developed a pretty good understanding of "yes" and "no." She'll nod her head "yes" when she means it and shake her head "no" as well when she doesn't want something. She can name and ask for anyone in the family ("Mama, Dada, Dah [for Jack], Ali, and ah-ee [Savvy]).
Alice will bring me the tv remote and start dancing if she wants me to turn on some dancing music. And she LOVES music and dancing. My favorite is when she squeezes her eyes shut and moves her lips open and closed to pretend she's singing along with a song. I also love when she approaches each of us one at a time with her arms up, squeezing her fists open and closed to indicate that she wants us to pick her up and dance with her. Even Jack will participate and she LOVES his jerky dancing with her. She often has her face set in her trademark offset lower lip, and she does these slurpy sounds to "talk" to us. Probably 90% of her language seems to be slurps and grunts. She also loves books. If I'm sitting on the ground she will often find and hand me a book and then plop herself into my lap for me to read to her. She is all kinds of adorable.
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