Family of 5

We celebrated Dane's birthday a few days early so that his special day wouldn't get overlooked because of the new baby.  I made Dane's favorite food: yellow thai curry, then we covered a cake with whipped cream and berries because Dane loves fresh fruit.  Afterwards Dane went and played softball while I put the kids to bed.   It ended up being good timing because the next night we were at the hospital delivering Ryzen.

You never know what Zade is going to get into next.  On this particular night we found Zade covering Mira with toilet paper.

The past few months I've been teaching the kids a couple letters a week.  We would color the letters, then look up pictures on the internet of objects that start with that letter, print the pictures and glue them onto the sheet of paper.  Zade made excellent progress and now knows his entire alphabet.  It was also a good review for Aria, who not only knows the letters, but also all the sounds.  Aria also loves to write the letters, and frequently asks me how to spell words so that she can write messages.

 This is our first attempt at a full family outing, two kids on bikes and baby in the stroller.

Unfortunately, we didn't get very far before both kids gave up on the biking idea, and all three were in the stroller.  We need to build up their leg muscles and their endurance level.

Ryzen is so fun to cuddle with.  He is so sweet, and an excellent nurser.  

Aria loves to hold her baby brother.

We love it when Ryzen's eyes are open.  He has such an innocent and open expression as he views the world and those around him for the first time.