April Roundup

April was a wonderful month for us!  Paul celebrated his 2nd birthday and Michael celebrated his 25th.  Michael also finished his last semester of classes!  I can't believe three years of optometry school have already flown by.  One more year until we have a doctor in the house!

Each month Paul grows and his personality really takes a more definable shape.  It is so fun to discover new aspects of his nature and it gives us an idea of what we might have to look forward to.  This month, we've realized how Paul can at one minute be the life of the party, laughing and silly and full of joy, then the next be off on his own, playing with a stick, or playing with Michael or me.  I think he might get this duality from me, as I tend toward being reserved but at times I can be the loudest, silliest person in the room.  (Michael has a more stable personality! ;) )  It might be his easy-to-say name, but he clearly makes an impact on his peers, who often talk about him when he's not around (or so I've heard!).  One thing that is hard not to notice about Paul is how athletic he is.  He is on the small side for his age (he wears 18 month shirts and 12-18 month shorts) and often I see much younger kids who look almost bigger, but he has great sports skills nonetheless!  He loves basketball and baseball especially, but will play soccer and golf and tennis.  He is an excellent climber and loves the ladders at the park.  We are still working on his jumping skills but as long as he's holding a hand, he will jump from a decent height.  He can count to around 10 and will sing along to the ABCs although not extremely well.  He is certainly a bright light in our life and we are so grateful to have him!  

The birthday boy on April 2.

Loving his new train set from the Sowells!

Such a fun book!

Grammy treated us to a camel ride!  Paul loved it!

We bumped into Krystal, Brock and Will at the zoo.  Paul and Brock were so happy to sit next to each other for the sea lion show.

What a cool kid.  Already lost these sunglasses, though.  :(

Birthday cupcake from Muddy's!  Of course he picked out a strawberry cupcake, took a little bite and decided my chocolate was better (duh!).

My uncle Jack gave this rocking chair to Paul and he loves to sit in it to drink his afternoon milk.

Paul finished eating his Cheerios and drank the milk.  I'm not sure where he got this from, since neither of us do it.  It must be instinctual!

There was supposed to be a piece of paper between the marker point and the table...  Good thing they're washable!  (Also found traces of marker on several window sills and the floor.  And of course all over Paul's face and hands.)

One of our highlights of the month was our visit to the Fire Museum of Memphis!  Can't wait to take him to a real fire house one day!

Ready to hunt for some eggs!

We had to sit in the balcony for mass on Easter Sunday.  We were so high up!  It was a little disorienting but it was interesting to see the church from a new visual perspective.

We decided to test Paul's reaction to eggs since we haven't noticed hives lately.  The result: he thought they were amazingly yummy and requested them twice more that day!  Unfortunately, the more we let him have them, the more we started seeing the hives again, so now we won't give him any.  He asks for them often and I wish I could give them to him!

We broke in our new jogging stroller with a trip out to Shelby Farms.  We went around the lake and ended the outing with a picnic lunch.

I think we must be shining a flashlight in his face here... every once in a while he finds a flashlight, gets attached to it and carries it around everywhere.

Our friends the Kowallises had a can of Pringles they shared with Paul one day.  Ever since they have been a staple in our house.  He can eat a ton of Pringles.

This is a family photo hotspot at the zoo.  Paul always jumps in with whatever kids are grouping together for their picture to be taken, and I have to pull him out before he ends up in some other family's photo album.  (This actually happens pretty frequently with Paul.)  This day it was just him and Daxon, so I got to take a picture!

The Kowallises had an awesome backyard mud puddle party for Daxon's 2nd birthday.  They have a great backyard and Paul had a blast!  I got a few cute pictures.

Swinging with his friend Brooklyn!

 

Sharing the hose with the birthday boy!

 

We have since lost this hat, too.  :(  May was not a good month for me keeping up with Paul's stuff!  More on that later.

I grabbed these pictures (above and below) that Kelsie took because they were just too cute!

These two boys were born exactly a month apart and it has been so fun to watch them grow up and learn to play with each other at each different stage.  When they get together, you know there will be a lot of laughing!  (Also from Kelsie!)

At a goodbye (indoor) picnic for our friends the Curtises and the Johansens who moved at the beginning of May. 

The Kings have such a sweet dog!  She was so great with all the kids.  I guess it didn't hurt that they kept hand-feeding her food from her dish!

Michael celebrated his 25th birthday on the 27th!

Birthday month buddies!

Paul was pretty excited about Dad's swimming presents.

At the end of every semester, the guys and all the families (as best as we can!) get together for a celebratory breakfast after their final exam.  We have made such wonderful friends!  It is so hard to believe our time here is almost over.