The 3.5 foot 2-planker

As mentioned in the previous blogs, Jonah has been fortunate enough to get free skiing lessons courtesy of Snowbird Mountain School. I knew he was talented and athletic (come on, look who his parents are... hehe), but I had no idea how he was progressing...

Since I haven't seen how he truly was doing on the 'big' hill, I decided we would spend the afternoon together on skis. So much for that...

Jonah is a mad man! I knew I was already a spazz on skis, but he truly makes me look like a slow spazz on skis. And he'll jump off of anything!

Ethan was able to join us for a couple of runs and that made me look even worse! Here I am, following an amazing snowboarder and a 5 year old that makes me look silly. On a specific run, I wanted to get pictures of Jonah going off some jumps so the plan was for me to ski down first and assume the position. As we were making it down the hill, Ethan & Jonah were already getting ready... He asked Papa, "Papa, where's Mommy? She's such a slowpoke!"

Naomi's 6 Month Checkup

Poor girl...

Naomi has had a couple of ear infections in the past few months. Luckily, the infection seems to have cleared. However, she is still holding some fluid in her ears. With the pediatrician's recommendation, we are making an appointment with an Ear, Nose & Throat Specialist to put tubes in her ears. Yes, I am very sad about this. I don't know what the process is, although I do know it is common. Regardless, as a parent, I'm sure it isn't any fun. Her consultation is scheduled next week...

On a lighter note, she's progressing just fine. She is nearly 17 pounds! At the moment, she is crawling backwards! She gets easily frustrated when something is just barely out of reach and instead of moving forward to get it, her arms are stronger and proceeds to move in a backwards direction. She has, however, learned that she can lunge forward and then sit up in a new position... taking her closer to the desired object... rather than backwards... it's a funny sight to see!

Jonah can read!!!

Jonah's preschool Reading class is paying off...

As of last week, Jonah is able to read small words. He has been sent home with a couple of mini books and is reading to anyone that will listen. We are so proud of him!!!

I have such cute kids!

At Jonah's school, the teacher 'highlights' each child as their birthday approaches. The birthday kid is sent home with a project... a hanging mobile for the class to see. This mobile consists of a picture either drawn by the child or an actual picture that is pasted on. Alongside this mobile are the child's 'favorites'. And in case you were wondering... here are Jonah's favorites:

Food: Pizza

Sport: Soccer

Book: Where the Wild Things Are

And last, but not least, the last one was 'People'. So I asked Jonah who his favorite person was. And without hesitation, his answer was... "Naomi".

Naomi's First Solids

For a while there, we thought Naomi's first solids were going to be tissue, paper or anything else she could get her little hands on. Instead, she opted for the rice cereal spoon fed to her by Mommy...

Surprisingly, she didn't pull any bad faces. I think it's because she'll eat just about anything! She finished half of the cereal before she got bored with it. Later, we gave her banana 'stars' that quickly dissolve. And those also seemed to come with ease for her. Stay tuned next week as we introduce a different flavor... maybe then she'll pull a different face???

5 going on 15

Believe it or not, Jonah is another year older! Yes, 5 is the big number.

His birthday party was a hit. We had friends join us at Brasstun's Family Entertainment Center near our house in Murray. The kids threw on their bowling shoes and bowled a mean game... received 6 tokens each for the arcade... had pizza & soft drinks... watched Jonah open presents... and, of course, birthday cake to finish off the party.

His big ticket present was his Gary Fisher bicycle given to him by Nana. And he absolutely loves it! He definitely made it look cool with his red helmet covered in flames.

He now knows he'll be in Kindergarten this year and is looking forward to it!

Meet the Grandparents

Naomi was finally able to meet her great-Grandparents in Arizona...

This would be her first airplane ride... and she was absolutely wonderful. I always get nervous when it comes to traveling with the kids. But just like her brother, Naomi did wonderfully and things went smoothly.

Grandpa-Great & Nana-Great were able to enjoy the grandkids & great-grandkids for the weekend, courtesy of Nana (Ethan's Mom). This was their Christmas present... sure beats a tie or sweater! It was a big group, but that also meant big fun. The weather in Arizona was in the mid-70's. It gave me Spring Fever, but I also know it's only February...

Jonah enjoyed Randy's company (Ethan's cousin) the most. He was basically his shadow. It's always funny to me how Jonah is partial to 'older' kids. And Naomi loved Grandpa-Great's oxygen tubes... to her, he came with toys!

We hope to see them again soon. Just like the rest of our family, we never get to see them enough and there never is enough time...