The Wilkinson Family Blog: 2015

I believe there was one big holiday in there. Thanksgiving. My parents came. We had 14 for dinner. But of course, no pictures were taken. Agh! Ah well, I've got lots of others to commemorate the month.

The biggest highlight of the month was Thanksgiving. Not only did the kids get a much-needed week off from school, but we also got to spend almost a week with Grandpa and Nana. We always love it when they come visit. This time they came bearing Lego kits, which the kids have spent probably close to 24 hours using at this point. Clara is remarkably good at it, making a tricky parrot, fly, frog, and iguana nearly all by herself. They read the kids books, cooked us all dinner, and just generally made things a little bit nicer. It was sad to see them go.

Another highlight of the month was taking part in a "get outside" challenge. The kids and I spent at least one hour outside every day for a week - which can be tricky when it's rainy and gets dark so early. All in all, it was a really great experience. We did a few playdates, lots of playgrounds, bike rides, a few walks - and even one nighttime walk, complete with headlamps and flashlights.

Grady in the middle of a 5.5 mile bike ride. He outdid himself a few weeks later with a 7.5 miler!

First time down the big slide

Nighttime adventure

This peanut butter bar ended up being a mistake. See following two pictures.

Here come the ducks

Getting swarmed

Running away from the ducks

Made it out just before dusk (and closing time)

On our last day of the challenge, it hailed!

Theo and I are getting into our new routine. We are taking a messy art class and a music class. We have started going on some more non-class adventures, like the science museum. And he is a big help cleaning up the house.

At the science museum

Excited to go to the museum

Helper

Theo is a lot of fun to be around. He loves to laugh, even if he doesn't understand the joke. He has fabulous facial expressions, even perfecting the eye roll. He is also starting to follow his sister in her fashion ideas.

He's just generally a big goof.

He idolizes Grady. Whenever Grady enters the room, he'll excitedly shout "Gadee!" Today at art, I made a snowman out of playdough, showed to Theo, and he said "Gadee!" Not so much. He loves his sister too, though he is a bit rougher with her (in his defense, it's in his defense). They spar a bit more, but also love to chase each other and play games. His language is booming. He has acquired many more words, and has become a master mimicker. If you ask him about his day, he will go on and on, though not a lot of it is words.

Clara and Grady both had their first parent-teacher conferences of the year. They are both doing well, learning lots of French, and getting accustomed to new classrooms and friends.

Grady is really interested in swimming, drawing, running, biking and poop jokes. He is starting to write phonetically now, which makes for some pretty interesting Christmas lists.

Grady's is on the top, Clara's is on the bottom

Clara is interested in telling stories, yoga and making up games where we have to do whatever she says. She is getting good at her letters, and can write her name now.