'Tis The Season for Citrus

Clementine oranges have been a huge hit in our household this citrus season. So much so that I have enough material for a whole blog post dedicated to them. Really? A whole post just about oranges? Yes, it's true! Just keep reading. Here's what my children have been saying about Clementines this year...

Story #1
Isaac's two favorite things in the whole wide world are food and balls. The clementine gloriously unites two favorite things into one extremely favorite thing. He knows where I keep them on our countertop. Throughout the day, I find him pacing back in forth in front of that spot, pointing to them and saying, "Ball! Ball! Ball!..." He then occasionally rubs his hand against his chest, signing "please." This happens 8, 9, 10+ times a day.

Story #2
I've been working with Miranda on synonyms, so I frequently tell her, "Another word for Daddy is Father" or "another word for sofa is couch." You get the point. Yesterday, we were all eating clementines, and she confidently declared, "Mommy, another word for orange is lemon time." Apparently we've been having a lot of lemon time around here lately. Maybe next we should work on pronunciation.

Story #3
After handing Isaac his third (maybe fourth?) clementine at breakfast, I said, "I should tell Santa to fill your stocking with oranges." Miranda immediately got a panicked look in her eyes and a split-second later she yelled, "tell Santa I want chocolate!" It's true...as much as we like oranges, we still like chocolate better.

Catching Up...Isaac (part 2)

And here is what Isaac's been doing the past few months...

Isaac turned one in September! Everyday he is more and more a little boy and less and less a baby. Because of his allergies, instead of a birthday cake, he had a birthday balloon. He didn't know the difference and ran around with a death-grip on his balloon for weeks :)

This fair boy actually likes wearing sun glasses. He's so cool.

Isaac is a climber. It doesn't matter what - a bed, the jungle-gym, the sofa, chairs, whatever.

The beach might just be his favorite place on earth. It's dirty, there are birds, he can scream and shout. If only there wasn't water, it might just be perfect.

I just love this sweet, gummy grin. It is slowly being replaced by a sweet, toothy grin. In the past month, four teeth have come in. If you look close, you can see the beginnings of the two bottom teeth.

Isaac LOVES his daddy, so, so much! Every evening, as soon as Isaac hears Zane at the door, he screams "DADADADADA!" and runs to the door.

Last weekend, we went to a Christmas lights boat parade. Isaac sat, pointed and said "Santa Claus!" at every boat. (No kidding!) He is talking more and more every day. He can say Mama, Dada, book, truck, ball, and Santa Claus.

Isaac's role model is Miranda. Whatever she does, he wants to do. This is the table after Miranda had been making crafts all afternoon. As soon as she left the table, he hopped up and started imitating her.

One of my favorite things Isaac does is just lay down when he's tired. It doesn't matter where. If he's tired, he just stops and rests for a few minutes.

Catching Up...Miranda (Part 1)

Here's a peak at what Miranda's been doing the last few months...

Miranda took her first dance class this fall.

She LOVED it!!!!

Miranda's hair is finally long enough to French braid. She prefers pigtail braids. Actually, she prefers not to have her hair done at all. It's long and curly and beautiful!

Miranda also took swim lessons this fall. She does well in the water and is quickly becoming an independent swimmer!

Miranda is so active. We go to the park every day! She knows all the parks in Sarasota by name and definitely has strong opinions about which is her favorite.

And her favorite by far is the beach! Here she is climbing on the life guard's stand.

Although sometimes she has to improvise and make a park...at home...with her mattress.

When she's not running around outside, you can usually find her at the table making something. She cuts, colors, glues, paints and marks for hours.

Last weekend, we went to a Christmas boat parade. Each boat was decked with Christmas lights, and Miranda stood and clapped the whole parade. It was so cute. She talked about the boats for days after!

That's our silly girl!!!

New, New, New

Yep, it's been a long time since I've updated the blog. We have been just a little bit busy with some new things in our lives...like a new city. Zane has a new job. Isaac has a new skill...walking! (well, actually running) Miranda has a new school, and she loves it! With a new city, we have all been exposed to new germs and had to visit our new doctor's office 12 (yes, 12!) times in the two months since we moved. Overall, we love living in Florida but definitely miss St. Louis. A lot of things have changed, but Miranda and Isaac are still their sweet, fun, adorable selves. Here's a few recent videos. You can see how much they have grown in just a few weeks.

Isaac could climb like this ALL DAY!


Miranda is working on her dance moves.

Thinking About It

Isaac isn't walking yet, but you can see it in his eyes, that he is thinking long and hard about taking those first steps. He will even let go of whatever he is holding onto and stand on his own for a few seconds. My guess is that in about two weeks, I will have to strap on my running shoes (again!).

Sibling Resemblance

Zane took these pictures at lunch on Saturday, and later we realized how similar Miranda's and Isaac's expressions are. I wonder who they learned that look from.

Sooooo Not Ready For This...

That is, I am not ready for Isaac to walk. Isaac, on the other hand, is clearly ready.