First day of school!

Today was Zev's first day of school for the new year in the 3's.  He has two new teachers who seem great, Gail and Lana.  He has an amazing new classroom. The school was just redone last year, and the classrooms have new furniture, kitchens, toys, etc.  He also has the last room down the hall that overlooks all the playgrounds.  It is a great view. 

Here is Zev when Ari went in to get him for the morning. 

He started his morning off on the right note with a "Goofy" pancake! He told me, "this is making me happier and happier!"

Yum! I still make him wear a bib at breakfast if he is already dressed for school...

Now he is giving Goofy a hug good-bye.  When he got home, he rushed for him to tell him hello.  

Zev is really into this backpack that he got last Christmas from Aunt Li Li and Aunt Julie. He was excited to wear it to school today. 

Zev and daddy on the way to the car. 

This is the best picture Ari could get with Gail, one of Zev's new teachers. 

Zev and Ari in the new classroom. 

 He told me that he had a great day! He went to gym and played on the playground.  He also loves going to "Stay and Play" after the regular day.  He is doing this so Tahl can nap from 11:30 to 1:30, and Zev loves that he gets to skip his quiet "rest time" at home.

Here are a few pictures from earlier in the week.  Zev used his blocks inside of this bucket to build seats.  He said it was a rocket ship for himself and Tahl.  Tahl was so excited that Zev was playing with him!

We got a new washer and dryer last week because ours broke.  Zev and I started by drawing a window on the box.  Next thing I know, he wanted handy helpers, Mickey, and Goofy.  Suddenly we have our very own Mickey Mouse club house.  I found my old Goofy hat in the attic.  I bought it when I worked at Disney World, and I used to wear it on crazy hat day every year at my school.  Now everyday is crazy hat day at our house, and everywhere else that we go! I did put my foot down about him wearing it to school today though.

I am never going to get this box out of my house.  Zev likes to watch Mickey from inside of it. 

He even lets Tahl come in, but he has to come in where Zev says the door is. 

This was the best picture I could get of the two of them.

I'm sure it is obvious how ever present that Goofy and Mickey are in our lives right now.  I think it is a combination of Zev loving that show instead of Dora now and him being excited about our upcoming trip to Disney World in October.

Phone dump

Here is a picture of Tahl after his haircut on Monday. He loves the fan remote.

Zev wanted a picture of himself in this bucket. 

Earlier Tahl fell asleep reading in the car; getting a haircut is tiring stuff. 

Today we went to the zoo.  Zev rode the carousel for the first time.  He really liked it. 

Tahl liked it for about the first 30 seconds, then he wanted down.  Both boys had crazy hair because they were taking turns wearing our zoo keeper hat. 

Zev was really excited to ride on this tiger.

Later after naps, Zev and I tried to build a giraffe.  

Last, here is a picture of Tahl just relaxing with a cup of milk.  He likes to sit in my floor chair.

Tahl's first Haircut!

Tahl and Zev both got haircuts today.  Here are Zev's before pictures.

His hair is extra crazy because he is just about to get in the shower. 

Tahl's hair has gotten out of control and really tangled. 

Ari did not want him to get a hair cut, but I decided it was time. 

Just a little backside shot for cuteness sake. 

Here he is on the way to his haircut. 

Here is a shot of Zev getting his hair cut by my friend Catherine. 

I don't have any pictures of Tahl because I was holding him.  He did NOT like it. 

Here is Zev after.  He was happy with his new haircut. 

Tahl was still mad after it was over. 

He did not like the scissors, sitting still, or having Catherine so close to him. 

Here are the guys together in their matching shirt right before we got in the car. It is very hard to get them both looking at the camera right now. 

I think Tahl's hair looks cute, and it will look even better in a week or two. 

Tomorrow we have a play date with friends so the boys can show their new hair cuts off!

Tahl loves to sing

Tahl has decided that he loves to sing!  I am posting a few videos of his favorite songs.  This one is he and Zev singing "If all the Raindrops were Lemon drops and Gumdrops."  Please ignore my voice. Tahl requests this one all the time in the car by just saying "ah, ah, ah, ah..."

This is Tahl singing about his favorite subject, ducks! He is saying "quack" though I, of course, think it is obvious.

This is another video of Tahl singing.  Zev's favorite song has been let it be for about a year now.  We listen to it all the time.  Zev also "plays" it any time he picks up the guitar.  Apparently Tahl had been paying more attention than I thought.  Here you can hear him singing "b, b, b, b..." 

This isn't anyone singing.  It is just a cute picture of Tahl sharing lunch with a friend.

Tahl also loves to sing the Raffi popcorn song and yell "POP!". He will say "pop" at just the right time in his "lollypop" song too.  That used to be the only song that made him stop crying in the car, so he knows it very well.  We are having lots of fun with these two guys over here.

16 months!

    I have only made one post since Tahl was 15 months! Whoops.  Tahl is another month older and even more fun.  This month has also brought him more independence and a bigger attitude when he doesn't get what he wants. Tahl is very different in what make him angry than Zev.  Zev would get so mad at this size if he dropped something, or if things didn't work out just like he planned.  Tahl just lets those things roll off his back, but he is very persistent about wanting something even if I say no.  There has been a war over if a few kitchen tools are his or mine this week.  He also just panics that he is starving as soon as he sees me start to cook.  He does not have the patience to wait for food whether it takes two minutes or thirty to make his dinner, he will scream the whole time.
    He also seems so much more mature too! He is completely climbing on and off of Zev's bed.  He is getting even more words too. He says "help please" and makes lots more animal noises. I think he is at about 30 words now.  He loves to take a shower, run, read books, and be outside. He loves to color and color up in his high chair. He also loves to HUG. He hugs all the other babies his size, if they want it or not.  He was hugging and kissing his friend Anthony in the baby pool this week so hard they both almost fell in. This month Tahl has also switched from two naps to one long nap in the middle of the day.  Zev and Tahl have been getting along pretty well this month, and we see them interacting more every day. Hopefully they will get along well enough to share a room one day!

Yikes!

 It has been a LONG time since I posted to the blog.  I have to get better about this!  

Here is a picture of Tahl and his friend Ella.  He somehow got her to feed him about 80% of her snack. Yum. 

One of the things that was keeping us so busy was our high school reunion.  Abby, Ari, and Julie worked hard to plan the reunion. It was last weekend, and it turned out great.  I was really proud of Ari for stepping up and planning so much of it. I would not have guessed that ten years ago!

Yesterday at the mall I bought Zev a Goofy doll and Tahl a Mickey.  Ari was not pleased that I am such a push over, but the boys love their new toys. Zev has been taking Goofy everywhere and telling him everything he does.

I went in to get Zev in the morning and found him in his laundry basket with Goofy.  

We went to the park this morning.  Tahl had so much fun.  He has been wanting to get out so bad, but the heat has been too much.  This morning it was only 85, so we headed to the park. 

Zev made a new friend, and he SHARED his toys pretty well the whole time.  They were playing games together and talking. I was so excited!

They even let Tahl dig a little.  Zev was still afraid of the sand box at this age. He did not like to get dirty, but Tahl does not have the same issue. 

I have never seen a kid as dirty from the sand box as Tahl was.  It was all over his entire body and especially his face.   He gave the sand several kisses.

The other little boy's mom said that her son told Zev he was sinking.  She said it was so funny as Zev took him seriously and tip toed over to save him, trying to make sure he didn't sink as well.  She said the look on his face when the realized he wasn't going to sink was completely like, this other guy is an idiot...

I am apparently really bothering Tahl while trying to get him to smile. 

He was all over the park.  He he is playing music. 

walking...

back in the sand box

 back to trying to climb

He was not into making a cheese face for me. 

 Tahl was enjoying the slide today.

When we got home from the park, I got Zev to say "cheese".

They were so dirty, Zev decided to just undress. 

Finally Tahl is happy! Is it any coincidence that he is eating? 

He is busy saying "cheeee!"

I tried to get a video of Tahl singing, but he was too busy eating.  I will try to post again soon!