Catching up

Well, I'd say we are pretty settled in, here in Hannibal. It definitely feels like home in our house and we are feeling like we've got a pretty good routine going on so far. Keith will have his first off-shift day on Monday where he'll go into work after lunch (maybe 3?) and then work until 2 or 3 in the morning. He'll have a few late nights next week to try and meet with all the leadership team members for the late shifts. There are three total shifts that his areas will cover so he has to find time to be present for all of them at some point. That system is yet to be figured out, but otherwise he's usually at work by 8, sometimes a little earlier, and home by 5:30 at the latest so far. We were proud that we made it through until our first paycheck--Keith is quite pleased getting a paycheck for more than $300! Goodbye student jobs. Hello, real world pay! :)
Alex has a couple new friends. His bestest one is a little girl named Ellie. On Thursday I was sending her mom a message on facebook when he saw her profile picture with the whole family. He said, "That's Ellie!" "I miss her. I miss her 10 days (which is the longest period of time that he uses)." So we planned a trip to the park the next day. When I told him about it he was jumping up and down and yelling in excitement. It was so cute. As soon as they saw each other they joined hands and went off to play.

Here is the beard that Keith grew while in New Orleans. It was getting pretty long, but still not soft, so it had to go!

 We went to the Zoo in St. Louis. It was pretty neat. This is a metal sculpture--it took a few times around the round-a-bout for me to actually get a picture of it, so appreciate it, please! :)

 They had a really neat penguin area--there were some outside but also a freezing area inside with some other kinds too.

 Our double stroller broke the last day in New Orleans, so we took 2 strollers to the Zoo--Alex was nice enough to share water with Savanna, while strollering next to her. :)

 Alex was delighted by the hippos. He ran back and forth as they swam past around and around. It was a pretty neat sight, I must admit.

 Can you tell what's lurking above them?

 Savanna LOVES rocks! Here she is using one as a phone.

 Alex wearing many bead necklaces. We were given a ton in New Orleans, and they are a favorite for the kids. He looks sad because he wants to take the pictures--he really LOVES taking pictures right now.

  Savanna and Alex both had fun finger painting--especially themselves. (oh and a note about Savanna's pants--she is really into Hello Kitty. Anywhere she sees anything with it on it she wants it. )

Downtown this morning was a Family Fun Day put on to raise awareness of some programs that a local program puts on--things like Head Start, Kids in Motion, Early Head Start, and CASA. Alex had so much fun, he was very sad to leave. he went on this slide over and over. He was all smiles the whole time.

He also LOVED the fishing game--where you actually went away with a fish! They had goldfish in ziplocs--Alex won two of them and they are now a part of our fish tank. We'll see if they live. He thought the dunk tank was pretty funny and putt-putt fun too. I liked that instead of starting at the tee off area he moved his ball right close to the hole and then hit it in. Three shots and three balls in! Way to go, Alex! Grandpa would be proud!

Savanna has been giving hugs lately. They are so sweet. She makes sure to climb all the way into your arms and gives you a big hug. Keith gets the most of them, but she's starting to give me hugs throughout nursing lately. She is babbling up a storm, she is actually getting a little clearer with some words--she says "cheese" really well, "Alex" isn't clear probably to anyone else but me but it is the same thing consistently. "Momma" and "Dadda" of course, "Balloon", "Hello", "Bye", that's all I can think of right now, but she is also practicing nodding her head "yes" and shaking it "no". It is pretty cute.

She loves to dance and listen to music. She will stomp her foot and bob her head or do a bouncy squat like thing, and/or pat her belly/chest/legs. One day we were sitting in the living room and Keith and I were mimicking her as she danced. Keith stopped doing as she was doing for a minute and she got upset and was gesturing at him until he started again. Then she got right back in her rhythm of bouncing/patting. She also really loves books. She has specific ones that she will go and pull off the shelf and want read to her. She will bring one to me, hand it to me and then sit down right there wherever we are. She is such a sweet girl and it's so fun to see her learning and figuring things out. She likes to step up on the little step we have in the bathroom and ask for her toothbrush--she loves to "brush" her teeth (mostly I think she likes the hint of toothpaste she can taste on it, but a good habit anyway to get started). She is a joy.

Alex is quite the mother hen with Savanna. He has realized that he can pick her up and so will forcibly remove her from a spot (he picks her up, turns and puts her down--usually knocking her over in the process). She is not very happy about that. He also will reprimand her for doing something she's not supposed to. He's funny. We found a coloring page on LDS.org and he has spent quite a bit of time coloring pictures there. It is a lot easier on the laptop where he can position the mouse and then click on a button separate from where the mouse moves. He gets frustrated with the loose mouse since it moves when he goes to click. It takes him both hands. He is also really enjoying the piano and will come and sit by me when I play and ask me to show him what notes to push. He and Savanna will play on the piano quite often together. Part of his nighttime ritual has become to give us a kiss. We both always give him a kiss and say goodnight, but now he'll stop us and say, "I want to give you a kiss". Most nights he asks me if I want to sleep with him, meaning I sit by his bed and hold his hand or lay my head on the edge where he'll share some of his blanket with me and maybe put his arm around my neck. I don't stay too often since Savanna gets upset when I am in there but not with her, but the nights I do I feel blessed to have such a sweet boy who loves his Mom. We've been talking about preschool programs for him to go to, it scares me a little to send him off on his own for something like that. I think he would love it, but I can't believe he'll soon be old enough for it! My little baby is such a little boy now.