Here are some of the latest happenings in the Schleicher household:
Visitors
We had the pleasure of hosting our friends Joe and Laurie for dinner early this month. This wonderful couple from church has shared so much love with our boys. The boys enjoyed playing with Joe and Laurie, eating the ice cream cups that they brought over, and reading stories before bedtime.
Thanks, Joe and Laurie, for visiting us and for your generous care for our family!
Later that same week, our friend Doris (also from church) visited us for a morning playtime. I forgot to take a photo of Doris with the boys, but we all enjoyed her company. Doris bought us a yummy chili lunch and brought over some fun new toys for Jaden and Cody. The boys' favorite new gift was this wind-up chick.
Jaden loved trying to catch the chick as it hopped around,
while Cody simply laughed and laughed as he watched the chick jump.
Playtime
Our weather has continued to be too cold and snowy to spend much time outdoors. In fact, our snowfall total this winter has been over 65 inches-- our 3rd snowiest winter on record! Some of our indoor activities, then, have included playing with magnetic letters,
and playing with snow indoors. We tried this same activity last winter, and the boys weren't sure what to think of the cold snow. This year, Cody and Jaden had no qualms at all with touching the snow...
...or with putting it right into their mouths!
Another day, we put various small objects (like pasta shells or coins) into these tin containers. The boys loved shaking the containers or pounding on the lids to make music.
We took a try #2 with the objects hidden in rice.
This time, the boys actually noticed the hidden objects (rather than simply wanting to throw the rice all over creation).
At first, they enjoyed "digging" through the rice to look for the hidden treasures.
Soon, however, they determined that it was much more fun to dump rice out onto the quilt. Our methodical Jaden-man carefully dropped handfuls of rice onto each colored square...
...until the whole quilt was full of rice. Not quite the activity Mommy had in mind, but, hey, it worked!
Lately, the boys have been very eager to play inside their cribs during the day. Once inside, they usually like to run back and forth, fall on the mattress, or play with the light switch. Other times, Cody and Jaden are content simply with their books. What a picture to make Mommy happy! :)
Special Treats
For Valentine's Day, both sets of grandparents sent gifts for the boys. Grammy and Papa gave the boys gift cards to McDonalds. The boys had never been to our in-town McDonalds before, so it was quite the exciting outing. Don't they look so grown up sitting at the table here?
Since the boys are such big ice cream fans, we bought a sundae for each boy to share. Cody started with the chocolate...
...while Jaden enjoyed the strawberry.
Mommy and Daddy were quite pleased to discover that our McDonalds already offers the seasonal, oh-so-tasty shamrock shakes. Hooray!! We had to order a couple shakes, too-- mostly for the boys to try, of course. Cody definitely enjoyed his first taste of what Daddy calls "heaven in a cup".
Jaden was a HUGE fan as well. Good thing Daddy got a bigger size shake to share. :) Thanks for making this fun experience possible, Grammy and Papa!
Grandma and Grandpa also sent money for a special Valentine's treat. Our choice for our chocolate-loving kiddos? M&M's! Grandma will be proud.
These candies sure make our boys smile! Gotta love Cody's orange-tinted lips, too. :) Thanks for the thoughtful treat, Grandma and Grandpa!
Talking
We were beginning to wonder when it would ever start to happen, but it appears as if actual words are finally starting to flow from our boys. Cody, in particular, likes imitating the sounds we make. "Baby" is one of his newest favorites, though he often likes to add an extra syllable or two.
Look and Find
In one of our last blog pots, we mentioned the boys' interest in their Baby Einstein Look and Find book, given to us by Uncle Matt & Aunt Kim. Every morning, the boys pull this book out as one of their very first daily activities. They will excitedly point to all the pictures and say, "zzat, zzat" continually until we answer their "What is that?" question. This video shows how much they love pointing out the objects to us.