January Birthday Parties, Dancing, Sliding, Sledding & Mandatory Snuggling.

Here's a look back at January. It's so nice for me to me typing this post in Spring (almost Summer), because January is one of my least favorite months of the year.

When it's miserable outside, it's hard to keep 2 active boys entertained, luckily we have 2 friends' birthday parties in January.

The first one was Ike's 3rd birthday party at an indoor, heated pool in Lawrence, KS.
We've been there before--for Ike's 2nd birthday--and the boys had a blast, so we were happy to be invited again.





Last year, Oscar couldn't go down the slide by himself, he was so proud of himself in this picture.



Otto loves, loves, loves the water.










As the boys grow, it's so entertaining to see their totally different personalities emerge. Here's a video I posted on FB several months ago. It shows Oscar & Otto watching Dora the Explorer on Nick Jr. Note how Oscar is answering all the questions thoughtfully and Otto just says "no" to everything. So funny.


Otto is pretty fearless when it comes to bullying is older brother. Being that they're close to the same size, Otto doesn't hesitate to show Oscar who's boss from time to time. As I type this, Oscar is screaming because Otto just knocked down Oscar's lego tower. Awesome.

In the picture below, Oscar is playing with his toy car that he filled with snacks, while Otto tries to swipe the treats.


It was hard not to laugh at this moment. Oscar was looking at me, like "do something," but these boys are gonna have to learn to handle their own battles. I officially sound like my mother, I know.


Here's Otto at our friend, Mabel's 3rd birthday...a fairy tale ballet-themed party.


Otto wasn't tu-tu into the whole thing at first, but warmed up to playing with the different ribbons.


Then, out came the bubbles, and Oscar was all smiles.






Oscar's favorite part of the party was when they got to decorate their own crowns.


He's pretty serious about his artwork, just like his daddy.


After the ballet, we went out with our friends, the Skorupskis, for some Indian food. Otto and Millie are pals.

This pic (below) makes me laugh. It looks like Otto's doing some sort of magic trick and Millie is all like, "Otto, you are so dreamy." I can't remember what was really happening in this scene, but I think it's fair to say Millie only has eyes for the Otto-man.


And can you blame her, check out Otto's rockin' dance moves in the video below. He's watching one of his favorite shows: "Yo Gabba Gabba," and this is the part of the show where they tell the audience to "go crazy."



While Oscar tends to dance more like his dad. (tee hee)
Wondering if my mother-in-law recognizes the dog. She bought it for Oscar a long time ago and the boys still enjoy it.


Oscar loves to wear his daddy's watch.


He also loves to eat popcorn, almost as much as he loves watching it pop.

But, what Oscar REALLY loves is playing in the snow.












Here's a video of Oscar sledding with David. David took him sledding, but Oscar actually went down the hill solo.




I'll tell you what Otto doesn't love, his weekly physical therapy sessions with Jessica. Every session starts out the same: Otto is so happy to see Jessica, then she puts the weights on him and he quickly remembers the hard work that is about to take place.



Jessica uses a weight belt (around Otto's middle) and wrist weights on his ankles. In this exercise, she's working on developing Otto's core strength (in his abdomen) and leg strength so that he can walk and run more correctly. He tends to stick his gut out when he toddles around, which is a sign of weaker core strength. He also loses his balance pretty easily, so Jessica's been working with him on that, too.

I know I shouldn't say this, but does he not look like he has an explosive device strapped to him? I mean all he needs is one of those little hand detonator things and this picture would be oh-so-disturbing.


Another thing we've been working on with Otto is to get him to sit upright while going down the slide. He prefers to lay down or go down on his belly, but he needs to work on his core. Here we are (sans Jessica) working on Otto's core. He is so enthusiastically yelling "Yay!" after he successfully slides down the slide, I just had to share this:


And here's a typical cold, winter's weekend morning in our house. Both boys are still in their pajamas, playing with trains and cars, while Cody supervises.


And here's an example of how an ordinary household item can be a super fun toy...if it's cold enough outside and your kid is bored enough to play with an oatmeal can.


I posted this on FB several months ago, it's Oscar singing a song he made up...about all his favorite things. I think he might have a future as a stadium concessions worker. Thoughts?


I call this little segment of pics and videos, my poor Cody, poor Sasha section of the blog.
Cody puts up with so much "cuddling" from Oscar.


I know my mother-in-law will love this video I call "Sweet Cody." My mother-in-law came to visit us the very first weekend we had Cody--about 5 years ago. He was 5 months old and very puppy-like. She took him for walks for us and bonded with him pretty instantly. Even though she won't admit it, we all know Cody is her favorite grand-pup. (Sorry, Aunt Sara, but it's true).



Oh, and poor Sasha. When Otto loves, he loves hard. I don't know why she doesn't scratch him more, because he kind of deserves it.

Yep, Sasha was definitely not enjoying this moment.


And I will close with my current most-favorite video. I just posted this video to FB this week, because I love it so much. I never even knew we had it, in fact, I stumbled across it while looking through all the videos from January. I'm pretty sure David shot it while I was sleeping in one morning. Anyhow, it's Oscar and David watching a Sesame Street video called "I'm a Little Airplane." It's clear to me that Oscar loves airplanes just as much as his daddy loves them.