Tale of a 2 and 4 Year Old

Annette- Oh, Annette! She is very full of life, laughter and opinions. Already I can see that she is very "with it" and she loves to give her daddy his vitamins and remind him not to forget his wallet. Annette identifies with kids ages 4-5 and thinks she is decades beyond "babies." I love to watch her play. That is, if she will let me watch. Usually I am heavily involved and directed in her play time. She is very specific about where I sit, what I say, which doll I hold etc.  Her favorite thing is to plan a "princess party" including tea with the dolls, dancing, and usually Dr. Annette attending to a medical crisis that arises during the party. She is going to be a wonderful sister and helper to mommy. I'm sure they will be great friends, as long as the baby doesn't mind being bossed around. (: 

Josiah is half way through this school year and loving it! His class just finished a theme on community helpers where they engaged in lots of imaginary play (doctors, firefighters etc). He was very excited to walk to the post office and mail us a letter he wrote himself. I am trying to spend more time with Josiah working on letters and numbers at home.  Because he loves to create he enjoys writing with the purpose of giving cards to people. This has been the best way I've found to teach him letters. He is still a snuggly boy and loves to start and end the day with lots of cuddles.  One of my goals this spring is to work on learning Mandarin with him using an online program. I haven't started yet, but hope to soon. I can't believe he'll be 5 in May, that sounds so old to me- not sure I'm ready for it!