Haircut & Missing Teeth

Jack got a much needed haircut. He loved it because the stylist fixed it "crazy" after she was done. He loves any kind of spiky hairstyle.

AnneMarie lost her two top front teeth several weeks ago, but I forgot to take a picture right away. As you can see, the new ones are coming in nicely, and her bottom fronts are all the way in now. She tells me she has another loose tooth.

Explora!

Last Friday we went with Jack's playgroup to the Explora science center down in Old Town. The last time I went there, Jack was riding in a baby bjorn, so that was a long time ago! He really enjoyed it and we could have easily spent an entire day there. We actually stayed just two hours, but it was a total blast. This museum is probably most suited for kids 8 and up, but there was still plenty of fun stuff for our preschool group to do.

Here Jack plays in a water table where they had ping pong balls floating around various obstacles that the kids could manipulate.

In a "wood shop" area, you could build your own gears.

Of course, everyone's favorite area is the giant bubble table. Jack and his friends really enjoyed this part. Of course, he was wet, but it was a nice sunny day outside and we went to the park across the street for a picnic lunch when we were done at Explora.

Valentines

This year we made Valentines out of Family Fun magazine. Given the option, they both decided they would rather make their own than buy some.

Jack thought this design was hilarious. The eye is supposed to be a little more on the forehead, kind of covering the real eyes, but he did that part himself and he wanted it on the nose. He also wrote his name on all 12 Valentines himself. I should have taken a picture of a different one because his name came out better (that is, in the right direction) on most of them.

AnneMarie likes owls and she chose this design. The magazine suggested the slogan "You're a hoot" along with several others. But she actually made up the other two she used "Whoo's my Valentine?" and "Whoo has a heart like yours?" She also made every set of eyeballs different on all 21 Valentines for her class. The owl is supposed to look like it is sitting on branch. The ones in the magazine were a little cuter, they used paper that was different on the back side so the folded over head was a contrasting color, but we didn't have any paper like that.
Overall, making their own Valentines was fun but it was a lot of work for me. If we do it again next year we will get started on the project sooner so that they will be able to do more of it themselves.

Winter Swim Lessons

Last Saturday was the last day of swimming lessons, the "party day". Of course, I forgot to bring the snacks! But it was still a fun time. This was Jack's first time in the Tadpoles, meaning no parent had to get in the water with him. He did great!

He was SO excited to get into the water.

AnneMarie is sensitive to cold and she often looks glum in the minutes between showering off and actually getting into the pool.

Jack is (sort of) jumping in.

Waiting her turn at the top of the slide.

She loves this! Sorry pic is so fuzzy. The teacher waited at the bottom but she didn't need his help.

Some type of water ballet? This was another great round of swim lessons at the Rio Rancho Aquatic Center. It is nice to have the option to do swimming in the winter.