Jamie at four and three-quarters

Lately Jamie has been really getting into different topics. We get books from the library, he plays games about them for days, he builds things out of Legos and draws pictures to go with whatever theme is at hand. Recent examples include beavers, astronauts, planets, natural disasters, the Boston Tea Party, Paul Revere, and nuclear meltdowns, Chernobyl in particular (and yes, we did find a children's book about nuclear meltdowns. who knew??). For the past week or so he has been super interested in the Titanic. It just so happens that there is a big Titanic museum in Pigeon Forge, about 45 minutes from us, so on Saturday I decided to take the boys there (Thomas was busy writing). Jamie LOVED it. There were many areas where I'd have liked more time but he wasn't interested in lingering; however, anywhere that was remotely hands-on, he was in heaven. He loved the models of the ship, the "iceberg" and frigid water we got to feel, steering at the helm, seeing the grand staircase and the recreated third-class and first-class rooms, practicing Morse code, and playing in the small children's area. At the beginning we got boarding passes with actual passengers' names, and at the end we found out our fate -- we both survived, phew. If Thomas had come, I doubt he'd have been so lucky. Jamie spent all day yesterday building the Titanic out of Legos and then "sinking" it. It was awesome to be able to bring one of his current obsessions to life.
I forgot my camera but they didn't allow pictures anyway.

Every day at almost every meal, Jamie finishes his food and announces, "I'm still hungry." And every time I wonder how that can be possible, he explains, very matter-of-factly, "I'm a hobbit!"

We recently watched Despicable Me for the first time. Jamie loved it and talked about it for days (we loved it too!). This weekend we watched Willy Wonka, and he absolutely loved it as well, even the super bizarro parts. It had been a really long time since I'd seen the whole thing, and wow is that a trippy movie. I'm just going to leave this video here...

Jamie has requested Eloise for a bedtime story almost nightly for the last couple weeks. He often wants to play that I am Eloise, he is Weenie, and Jacob is Skipperdee. We've put holds on the other Eloise books at the library and he is very excited to get them.

For the past month or two, Jamie's favorite things to do are draw and color. He especially loves to draw Iron Man and Darth Vader and scenes from books he likes. Some examples:

top: Jamie in a bomb squad detonator suit / Iron Man
bottom: a page from his Weasels book / Darth Vader / a submarine with whipnose fish and deep sea spider underneath it

left column: a rabbit robot and a Gamorrean guard / Baron Zemo / more Gamorrean guards (Thomas helped with the one on the right)
center: another Iron Man
right: he's getting really good at coloring in the lines / a very creative take on Charlotte, Wilbur, and Templeton

Jamie's favorite things right now are Star Wars, dinosaurs, super heroes (especially Batman, Superman, Captain America, and Iron Man), Ninja Turtles, the Hobbit, Legos, reading, coloring, and eating. :)

Do you hear the Jamie sing?

Jamie has become so obsessed with singing this song that I wish he had never heard it.

Jacob's first birthday!

Our baby turned 1 on Monday! I thought Jamie's first year went by quickly, but it was nothing compared to this year. It flew by in a flash. 

We had so much fun celebrating Jacob's birthday. We started the morning opening presents. He was not very excited about opening them, though he did enjoy the balloons I blew up! Jamie loved getting to help open the presents. Once they were unwrapped, Jacob did have fun playing with them (and he still is). We gave him a puzzle and a ball, Jamie chose a xylophone for him, and he also received books, clothes, a few little toys, a birth year coin set, cards, and money.

After Jacob's morning nap, we went to a playground and had a picnic lunch, played, and watched some ducks and geese. 

Some 12 month pictures...

For Jacob's birthday cake, I made him a simple little smash cake and made cupcakes for the rest of us. I used a recipe for banana cake because he loves bananas. It tasted exactly like banana bread with frosting, but he didn't know the difference. He was very hesitant at first and didn't seem to know what to do with the cake, but once he smooshed his fingers into the frosting and actually tasted some, he really enjoyed himself. He actually ate a good amount of cake! We all had fun watching him. :)

Happy birthday, Jacob! It has been so fun watching you grow this year, and we can't wait to see what the next year holds! We love you!

Star Wars day

Saturday was Star Wars day at the zoo, so I took the boys while Thomas worked on his dissertation. It was only Jacob's second time at the zoo, and he was not a fan. He did not want to be in the stroller or be held, but of course he wouldn't stay with me if I put him down. There was a lot of screaming. However, I had fun dressing him up in the Jedi costume I made for Jamie for Halloween a few years ago, and Jamie had a GREAT time dressing up and meeting some Star Wars characters.

 
 
 
 

Jamie and Jacob in this picture really remind me of the next one, one of my favorites from that Halloween.

You can't really tell how angry he was, but he was so mad at me for putting him in the stroller. He has a temper.

watching chimpanzees

my little baby Jedis :)

Jamie's theatre class

One of Jamie's Christmas gifts was getting to take a theatre class at the Knoxville Children's Theatre. The class started at the end of January and ended mid-March. At the last class, they had a cute little presentation of some tongue twisters and a mini-play of The Rainbow Fish, which was pretty hilarious with a bunch of 4 and 5 year olds. I was glad I had seen some of the classes because Jamie was not super engaged during the performance, but he had been really into it during the regular classes. Overall I know he had a lot of fun, which is all that really matters!

None of these pictures are that great, but it was the best I could do.

 
 
 
 

Jamie with his teacher Miss Hana. She was so awesome with the kids.

One of the other moms made rainbow fish cupcakes. Too cute.

Grammy & Papy's visit

Thomas's parents came for a visit during the first part of their spring break. We spent 3 fun days playing, coloring, shopping, eating, and spending time together. It was wonderful seeing them!

Most of these pictures came from Thomas's mom... I didn't take hardly any while they were here!

playing at the park

 
 

 

 

lunch at Stock and Barrel on Market Square

 

 
 

Jamie has been going crazy with coloring lately and got Grammy in on it too.