Love,
The Howlands
Saturday, January 1, 2011
Tuesday, December 21, 2010
Friday, December 17, 2010
Thursday, December 16, 2010
Not Zoo Lights
Today we....
gave Papa a workout...
and tried to go to Zoolights with our friends, the Clarks. This has become an annual tradition with our families and is pretty fun. Today happened to be a dry day and apparently everyone else in the Portland metro area realized this and so it became absolutely impossible to find parking there. We regrouped at a nearby restaurant for a snack and to wait out the crowds hoping that if we went later there would be less people. Uh. No. There were more. A lot more. So we quickly came up with a Plan B. In Portland there are a few blocks that are known for their annual Christmas Display, so we headed over to Peacock Lane to take in the lights.
went to preschool..
gave Papa a workout...
and tried to go to Zoolights with our friends, the Clarks. This has become an annual tradition with our families and is pretty fun. Today happened to be a dry day and apparently everyone else in the Portland metro area realized this and so it became absolutely impossible to find parking there. We regrouped at a nearby restaurant for a snack and to wait out the crowds hoping that if we went later there would be less people. Uh. No. There were more. A lot more. So we quickly came up with a Plan B. In Portland there are a few blocks that are known for their annual Christmas Display, so we headed over to Peacock Lane to take in the lights.
We saw Santa...
Watched lighted trains and cute animals on seesaws...
And enjoyed the good company!
I think Zoolights would have been a better fit for our energetic 3 year old boys (and you can sit and sip hot apple cider), but taking a stroll down Peacock Lane was a good second choice for the night. It was dry out after all...
And enjoyed the good company!
I think Zoolights would have been a better fit for our energetic 3 year old boys (and you can sit and sip hot apple cider), but taking a stroll down Peacock Lane was a good second choice for the night. It was dry out after all...
"Yook at Me!!"
We hear this phrase constantly throughout the day.
Often it sounds like "Yook at me dada. Mama yook at me!"
And then we have the opportunity to see Tyson doing something like this:
"I'm a present wrapped under the tree. But don't open me yet."
Often it sounds like "Yook at me dada. Mama yook at me!"
And then we have the opportunity to see Tyson doing something like this:
"I'm The Man"
(yes, he is wearing a plastic bowl on his head while helping Jason move the fridge)
"I'm a present wrapped under the tree. But don't open me yet."Tuesday, December 14, 2010
I blame Word World
Word World is probably one of Tyson and Kaiya's favorite TV shows. They watch it together and dance, shriek and laugh. Tyson likes the catchy little songs about letter sounds, and honestly, I like singing them to him. Both kids love to read, and we read a lot. I guess I don't know how much other families read, but, every time our kids bring us a book, we read it to them. The other night I read Tyson two books, which took about 20 min and in that time Kaiya brought Jason almost every book from her room to read, one by one, and he kept reading each one she brought out as long as Tyson and I were reading. It was pretty fun...did I mention we love to read? :O)
Tyson wants to learn how to read. He WANTS to learn how to read. I don't know how to teach him how to read. He's 3 years old. I don't need him to learn how to read. I like to read to him. But he wants to..so he's learning how to read.
It's probably because of Word World.
This afternoon I was, um, reading with Kaiya, and Tyson came in with a letter d and a letter b. (He has a magnetic set of letters and numbers they play with on the fridge). He wanted to clarify which one was which. So we sang the song from Word World, ' a line then circle is the letter b, a circle then line is the letter d'. He smiled and walked back into the kitchen. A few minutes later he called for me to come see what he did. I walked into the kitchen to look at the fridge.
"Look! Buh-ed. It says bed!"
"What?!?! What are you doing?! You spelled that? Are you trying to spell and learn how to read?!"
Tyson wants to learn how to read. He WANTS to learn how to read. I don't know how to teach him how to read. He's 3 years old. I don't need him to learn how to read. I like to read to him. But he wants to..so he's learning how to read.
It's probably because of Word World.
This afternoon I was, um, reading with Kaiya, and Tyson came in with a letter d and a letter b. (He has a magnetic set of letters and numbers they play with on the fridge). He wanted to clarify which one was which. So we sang the song from Word World, ' a line then circle is the letter b, a circle then line is the letter d'. He smiled and walked back into the kitchen. A few minutes later he called for me to come see what he did. I walked into the kitchen to look at the fridge.
"Look! Buh-ed. It says bed!"
"What?!?! What are you doing?! You spelled that? Are you trying to spell and learn how to read?!"
Which, being a defiant 3 year old, makes him want to spell all the more...
I'm so proud of him. :O)
Besides, I haven't even read the book yet about how to teach him how to read...
Sunday, December 12, 2010
Sick days...
We've been pretty sick here the past week or so...this is probably the worst cold I have ever experienced.
Tyson was the first to come down with it. It was a fever for 24 hrs, then coughing, sneezing and a runny nose that seemed to be trying to run to the south pole.
Once the fever went away the coughing started and continued to get worse and worse to the point of having to go get a prescription cough syrup with codeine. We were doing everything we could to help him, humidifier with eucalyptus, honey/thyme throat coat, over the counter cough syrups, etc, but the coughing was interfering with him even being able to eat..so we took him in. The doctor was momentarily stumped..he sounded a lot worse on the outside than he did on the inside, his lungs were clear and his throat wasn't flaming red or anything..so she agreed that it was a cold and that the cough syrup would give him relief. Well, the first dose certainly didn't, but by the second dose he was feeling better. They did tell us that the codeine would make him a little drowsy...we never saw the effect of that..but it was nice to have him breathing more comfortably, eating better and sleeping better.
And then Kaiya started..
And then Mama started, just the milder, more like the average cold, version...
And Papa is taking care of us all....
*cough, cough*
Tyson was the first to come down with it. It was a fever for 24 hrs, then coughing, sneezing and a runny nose that seemed to be trying to run to the south pole.
Day 1 with the fever was pretty great...he just laid around all day looking tired..
and occasionally making a nest to sleep in...
Once the fever went away the coughing started and continued to get worse and worse to the point of having to go get a prescription cough syrup with codeine. We were doing everything we could to help him, humidifier with eucalyptus, honey/thyme throat coat, over the counter cough syrups, etc, but the coughing was interfering with him even being able to eat..so we took him in. The doctor was momentarily stumped..he sounded a lot worse on the outside than he did on the inside, his lungs were clear and his throat wasn't flaming red or anything..so she agreed that it was a cold and that the cough syrup would give him relief. Well, the first dose certainly didn't, but by the second dose he was feeling better. They did tell us that the codeine would make him a little drowsy...we never saw the effect of that..but it was nice to have him breathing more comfortably, eating better and sleeping better.
And then Kaiya started..
And then Mama started, just the milder, more like the average cold, version...
And Papa is taking care of us all....
*cough, cough*
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