Back in the swing of things

We had a great time during our trip to Oregon, but it's taken us a couple weeks to get back on top of things. We had quite a few unexpected expenses come up that really hit hard (like the shower in our rental property needed to be replaced, the alternator on our car going out, our prior renters not paying their water bill for months, the water heater in our rental needing repairs, etc...). It was pretty stressful, but it's looking like things are settling down once again.

Aria is still a cute, feisty, little girl. I wish I had a mind as sharp as hers. She's picking up language so quickly it amazes me. Yesterday, she saw something pretty and told Tara, "Mommy, don't you think that would make a nice center-piece [for the table]?" I'm pretty sure as a 3 year old I was only saying things like, "Me want ball." :) She's now getting into having Tara read her chapter books, and is even a good helper when I'm pulling weeds. She's growing up.



Zade's understanding of English is really picking up. He still can't say many words, but he'll point and whine until we say, "Do you want X?" And once we finally guess whatever X is, his face will just light up since he knows he has been understood. It's so cute. He's getting pretty rambunctious and has picked up on Aria's zeal for having stickers pasted on him (see his melon below):

But one of his cutest traits is that he loves to cuddle:

Now that he's almost 17 months old, he's finally beginning to show a little interest in watching TV (but only for a few minutes at a time.) Aria on the other hand was hooked on TV before the age of 1, so it's an interesting contrast. In general, Zade prefers to roam the house, climb up on things and explore. He frequently will walk up to his high chair, climb up, and sit down inside. He's an animal.