More pics in their matching pjs - just playing on the chair one evening. Elijah loves climbing up in this chair - he thinks he's such a big boy!
Both of the kids responding to the question "How big is Elijah?"
One Sunday the surf was supposed to be really high so we drove out to see the big waves. Here is Ryan and I at Waimea.
And here we are at Pipeline, where there was a surf competition wrapping up.
And here we are at Pipeline, where there was a surf competition wrapping up.
Just swinging at the playground before walking up to the shopping center for a coupon book dinner (A weekly routine.)
Cuddling on the couch after a nap one afternoon.
Now that we've caught up to the present, here are a few things the kids have been up to lately. Feel free to skip this long section if you're only here for the cute kid pics.
Cora's been going to preschool - at least that's what we call it. It's basically a really organized play group, but it's super fun and has been really good for her. We go on Monday Wednesdays and Fridays in Hauula. They have storytime and an activity that the moms sign up for, and then play on the playground and snack. She loves it.
She is growing up so fast. She insists on doing things by herself, like climbing into her car seat and, closing doors, brushing her teeth. She still has not decided that she cares about going on the potty, despite great efforts on our part. She doesn't like being called anything but Cora - when I call her CoraDora she says "no! My name is Cora Fey Nielson." In fact she likes to give everyone their proper name - she has a habit of calling me "sawah" and Ryan "wyan" that we have been trying to break. We're not quite hip enough for that - we much prefer "Mommy" and "Daddy".
She hates the dark and would sleep with every light in her room on if we let her - which we don't, because then she plays all night and wakes up every two hours and comes into our room. She has to sleep with a blanket barrier on the side of her bed "so the monsters dinnit get me." She has been a stinker lately at bedtime - she comes out asking for drinks, kisses for Elijah, more books, claiming she needs to go potty or needs a diaper change, or just wants a different book or toy to take to bed. It makes our bedtime routine pretty long as we have to anticipate every excuse and make sure to give her a drink, something to take to bed, tell her only one book, etc.
We gave her a bunch of Dr. Seuss books for Christmas and she loves them - I never knew how funny Fox in Socks was! She can "read" (recite) Hop on Pop all by herself, and parts of other books. She says funny things all the time. One night at dinner she asked Ryan for a story - I don't remember what his story was about but afterwards she said "Thank you, that was a good story." She asked me to play a game on the computer with her and noticing that I had the internet browser up, said "Oh, you have to check your email first?" I didn't even know that she knew what email was! One night for family night we were giving her options of what we could do, and she said "I don't wanna eat ice cream, I wanna walk and see the temple." Sometimes when the washing machine in the garage is agitating, we can hear it in our kitchen. Cora always says "I kink (think)... the washing machine is hungry for laundry clothes!" She is so funny how she talks about Elijah. She has many names for him - little boy, little baby, little brother, and lately it's been "your baby." As in, "Your baby is so sitty (silly) mommy," or "your baby is so cute!" I also love how she calls him "E-why-jah"
She is getting better at brushing her teeth - but she wants to do it all by herself and when we ask to take a turn, she says, "no, the germs and plaque are all off." She loves playing on the iPad, when we let her. She has also (finally!) figured out how to jump with two feet at once - which she now has to do every time she encounters a crack/line in the sidewalk. She is getting better at independent imaginative play - I love listening in on her when she's not aware of me while she plays with her little doll house or other dolls and toys. Some of her favorite things to eat and drink are rice sandwiches (rice wrapped in nori), spice juice (soda), fruit snacks, apples and carrots.
Elijah is also getting so big. He's a good eater and has been growing fast lately. He loves drinking from a cup, sippy, anything. He especially like my morning green smoothies. He is always sucking on his lower lip - it's his pacifier, like Cora's thumb is for her. He's had 6 teeth in front for several months now, and just recently got a couple of molars. He still loves snuggles, and I love the feeling of his little arms squeezing my neck or his little hand patting my back when I first pick him up. He loves his sister but is always hitting her and pulling her hair. He's learning how to tattle - if she takes something away from him he'll yell and look at me with a beseeching/frustrated little look. He gets into everything - especially what he shouldn't. He loves wires, plugs, the broom, the trash, the cupboard under the sink, the pantry, the bathroom, his baby monitor, eating sand, our dirty shoes, pulling books off the shelf and generally making a mess. We moved his crib into our closet - it's a walk in and while it's cramped now, it's been working much better than having him in the room with us. All three of us are getting better sleep. While he is learning to express his own opinions, he's still overall a great baby, very mellow and sweet.
Stay tuned for a big birthday post coming up soon!
Now that we've caught up to the present, here are a few things the kids have been up to lately. Feel free to skip this long section if you're only here for the cute kid pics.Cora's been going to preschool - at least that's what we call it. It's basically a really organized play group, but it's super fun and has been really good for her. We go on Monday Wednesdays and Fridays in Hauula. They have storytime and an activity that the moms sign up for, and then play on the playground and snack. She loves it.
She is growing up so fast. She insists on doing things by herself, like climbing into her car seat and, closing doors, brushing her teeth. She still has not decided that she cares about going on the potty, despite great efforts on our part. She doesn't like being called anything but Cora - when I call her CoraDora she says "no! My name is Cora Fey Nielson." In fact she likes to give everyone their proper name - she has a habit of calling me "sawah" and Ryan "wyan" that we have been trying to break. We're not quite hip enough for that - we much prefer "Mommy" and "Daddy".
She hates the dark and would sleep with every light in her room on if we let her - which we don't, because then she plays all night and wakes up every two hours and comes into our room. She has to sleep with a blanket barrier on the side of her bed "so the monsters dinnit get me." She has been a stinker lately at bedtime - she comes out asking for drinks, kisses for Elijah, more books, claiming she needs to go potty or needs a diaper change, or just wants a different book or toy to take to bed. It makes our bedtime routine pretty long as we have to anticipate every excuse and make sure to give her a drink, something to take to bed, tell her only one book, etc.
We gave her a bunch of Dr. Seuss books for Christmas and she loves them - I never knew how funny Fox in Socks was! She can "read" (recite) Hop on Pop all by herself, and parts of other books. She says funny things all the time. One night at dinner she asked Ryan for a story - I don't remember what his story was about but afterwards she said "Thank you, that was a good story." She asked me to play a game on the computer with her and noticing that I had the internet browser up, said "Oh, you have to check your email first?" I didn't even know that she knew what email was! One night for family night we were giving her options of what we could do, and she said "I don't wanna eat ice cream, I wanna walk and see the temple." Sometimes when the washing machine in the garage is agitating, we can hear it in our kitchen. Cora always says "I kink (think)... the washing machine is hungry for laundry clothes!" She is so funny how she talks about Elijah. She has many names for him - little boy, little baby, little brother, and lately it's been "your baby." As in, "Your baby is so sitty (silly) mommy," or "your baby is so cute!" I also love how she calls him "E-why-jah"
She is getting better at brushing her teeth - but she wants to do it all by herself and when we ask to take a turn, she says, "no, the germs and plaque are all off." She loves playing on the iPad, when we let her. She has also (finally!) figured out how to jump with two feet at once - which she now has to do every time she encounters a crack/line in the sidewalk. She is getting better at independent imaginative play - I love listening in on her when she's not aware of me while she plays with her little doll house or other dolls and toys. Some of her favorite things to eat and drink are rice sandwiches (rice wrapped in nori), spice juice (soda), fruit snacks, apples and carrots.
Elijah is also getting so big. He's a good eater and has been growing fast lately. He loves drinking from a cup, sippy, anything. He especially like my morning green smoothies. He is always sucking on his lower lip - it's his pacifier, like Cora's thumb is for her. He's had 6 teeth in front for several months now, and just recently got a couple of molars. He still loves snuggles, and I love the feeling of his little arms squeezing my neck or his little hand patting my back when I first pick him up. He loves his sister but is always hitting her and pulling her hair. He's learning how to tattle - if she takes something away from him he'll yell and look at me with a beseeching/frustrated little look. He gets into everything - especially what he shouldn't. He loves wires, plugs, the broom, the trash, the cupboard under the sink, the pantry, the bathroom, his baby monitor, eating sand, our dirty shoes, pulling books off the shelf and generally making a mess. We moved his crib into our closet - it's a walk in and while it's cramped now, it's been working much better than having him in the room with us. All three of us are getting better sleep. While he is learning to express his own opinions, he's still overall a great baby, very mellow and sweet.
Stay tuned for a big birthday post coming up soon!
