Almost 3.5 Years

I can't believe it, but Gavin and Vivian will be
three and a half years old on November 9th. 

Total. Craziness.

As almost-three-and-a-half-year-olds, they are both very funny. They intentionally try to be funny (Vivi more so than Gav) and are quite frequently unintentionally funny. They try to say jokes (even if they don't make any sense) and they say words that they know are bad (like "poopy face" or "pee pee!") to laugh hysterically at each other and to see how we react. They push the boundaries with their language use and try to phrase things correctly, but fail miserably. This is very funny at times.

They're also super into using their imaginations (together and separately) to pretend play. They love playing "store," "castle," "princess and dragon," "firefighter to the rescue," "tea party," "cowboys and cowgirls" (you know the kind that like to lasso dinosaurs), and "mail carrier" to name a few. And in recent weeks, they've started playing with one another much better (i.e. they don't fight as much any more about who is going to be who; they have a routine down). 

Lastly, Vivian and Gavin are best friends. They are rarely apart. And when they are separated, they ask about each other and complain of missing one another, even if only apart for an hour or two.

 Miss Vivian Grace:
Bossy, Opinionated, & Clever

 

Mr. Gavin Charles:
Observant, Easily Frustrated, & Talkative

 

We love them.

4.5 Month Photos

Because you know I can't go a whole month

without staging a photo shoot for this kid.

 And my favorite of the bunch:

He's Like Somebody Else I Know

Paxton is a lot like somebody else I know. Similar to his big brother, Paxton is already showing signs of wanting to crawl. Gavin crawled when he was just under 7 months old, but had been desperately trying to get around for months prior to then. Well, it looks like Pax may be following suit.

When Pax is put on his stomach for tummy time, he plants his face on the ground, sticks his butt up in the air, and pushes off with his legs. This is exactly what Gavin did at his age.

Here's a video of him doing it from his 4-month photo shoot:

Dinner Party

Last month, we went to Alison (my colleague from JMU) and Derrick's house for dinner with another JMU colleague (Sharlene) and her husband (Chuck). And then last weekend, we hosted a dinner party at our house with the same people. 

The twins were SUPER excited all week about our little party, talking about it several times a day. Then when Saturday arrived, they were over-the-moon about it.

They helped clean the house all day and helped us pick out food at the store for that night. 

At the dinner party, we snacked, ate dinner, and played outside. It was definitely a fun night and we can't wait to have everyone over again!

Ol' Paxie, Blue Eyes

Children's Museum

On the 22nd, we got to go to the local children's museum. It used to be a small little store-front with a few sensory tables and and arts and crafts hour (i.e. it sucked), but now it's in a new, much larger space, has a ton of cool pretend play areas, and is totally awesome! And to top things off, it was FREE from 3 hours that Saturday due to a promotion by McDonald's and the local dairy farmer association. There was an adult cow and a baby cow out front and free milk inside (along with a TON of really fun activities). Here are the highlights:

The mama cow, baby cow, and beauty queen outside.

The mock auto garage (BTW, sorry for all of the blurry-ass photos; the lighting was terrible inside the museum).

The cool train set and train.

A farmer's market equipped with a scale to weigh the fruits and veggies and a cash register to check out.

A play house complete with lowered countertops, real appliances, a kitchen table and chairs set, and TONS of food, plates, cups, bowls, pots, pans, serveware, and silverware.

Vivian decided to take the toy house dog (that had a dog bed inside the house) out on the front porch to feed it. She filled it's bowl with veggies, took the bowl out on the front porch of the play house, and brought the dog out, propping it up at it's food bowl. When I asked her why she fed him outside, she said (with a very matter-of-fact tone), "Dogs don't go in da house, Mom."

A farm where you could ride a tractor, milk a cow, brush a horse, herd some sheep, or pick food out of the ground.

A puppet show.

A construction zone/engineering center where you could play with a giant lite-brite, build a fort with these huge foam things, or create little building with blocks.

A real ambulance that you could pretend to drive or help people in the back. The ambulance was hooked up to a health science area with a giant Operation game, a bunch of interactive health exhibits, 

An art center.

And a TV Studio, a theater with costumes, curtains, a stage, and makeup for all of the actors, a science center where experiments took place, a playground area, and a few other things I can't remember. Overall, it was a GREAT time with the kiddos (did I mention that it was free?). We will definitely be going again.

Class Picture

This is Gavin and Vivian's class at school. We heart everything about this school. Especially the people.

A few things to note:

• The girl sitting next to Vivian is Gavin's little girlfriend, Olivia.
• The boy in the front row on the far right is Cooper, who is Vivian's little boyfriend.
• Amelia (she's in the back row on the far right) and Olivia are Vivian's best friends and Courtland (he's in the "sitting down row" on the far left) and Cole (not pictured) are Gavin's best friends.