August 2021!

This month was a fun one!!! We visited with Mema in LA and spent some time at the beach with our friend, Nika ("Auntie Nika" to Ben and Nora!). We were sad to leave California, but the kids did great on the car ride back! We got a bit of a break from the heat in Phoenix to boot, so we spent some time outside at the zoo and botanical gardens. We also made it through the whole month without any major illnesses! Ben and Nora both moved to new classrooms - Ben is now pre-K and Nora is in a toddler class.

Ben is as silly as ever. He continues to make up words - our favorite this month is "splapped". Ben: "I almost splapped my milk". He also loves the original American Gladiator's theme song and has come up with American Gladiator names for us. Ben is "Rocket Speed", I'm "Mosquito" (because I never sit still), Craig is "Hamburger" and Nora is "Pickles". Your guess is as good as mine on those last two. LOL. In addition to being silly, he's super creative and loves to draw/paint stories with Craig. He seems to have great fine motor skills for his age (he always has, really) and does a great job writing and drawing.

Nora is at that magical age where she dances on command, which is basically the best. She also loves to give hugs and kisses, which is also the best. She can now pull herself up on the sofa and our bed by herself. She added a few more words to her vocabulary ("hi" and "yes") and can also make several animal noises (snake, elephant, monkey and lion or anything else that roars). She's also starting to combine sign language signs to make short sentences like "more milk". She apparently follows directions very well for her age - her teacher told us how impressed she was that Nora can follow instructions. Hopefully she keeps it up :)