Twinkies

 

Gabe and Gavin look so much alike that people often ask if they are twins, even though Gabe is a year and a half older than Gavin. Well now they look even more alike with their matching coats and matching Spider Man bikes. (I didn't do it on purpose, I promise!)

They got new bikes for Christmas and they love riding them. Gavin has even gotten the hang of pedaling all by himself in only a few chances to ride and practice. It has just been to frigid up here to get out for long rides. This particular day, it was a brisk 50 degree evening but it was worth freezing for them to get out there and ride up and down the street and around the culdesac a handful of times. They loved it and after about 20 minutes, when we were all pink and frozen to the bone, we came inside to thaw out.

Looking forward to warmer weather and more matching outfits to ride in. :)

Reading and Writing

Gabe has been reading for several months now, moving from sight reading to actually sounding out words. Now he can pick up a new book and read it to himself with only a few mistakes, which makes story time interesting since he wants to read the story to Gavin.

Recently though, he has been writing as well. He can write his own name, first and last, and loves to practice other words. He also writes numbers one through ten and is practicing basic math.

He doesn't turn four until next month.

Sah-wing batter batter

Gabe is a natural at many sports. I am constantly amazed at how well and easily he throws and kicks a ball. And he has been able to connect ball with bat since he was two.

We took advantage of the nice weather last weekend to get in some outside time. It took a second for him to get back into it, but once he did he was clobbering anything thrown his way.

Dino baby

For Christmas, the boys got their very own dinosaur: Kota the triceratops. Kota moves and roars and growls and even snores when he falls asleep. Gavin was riding him this morning, and we discovered that when you bounce up and down on his back he makes a galloping noise.

I think when I was his age, my best toy was a paper bag. And I liked it.

Gabriel-san

 

As Gabe approaches 4 yrs of age, he's expressing an interest in something new. He says he wants to get a black belt in karate. So, at Christmas he got a Karate uniform and a month of lessons.
He quickly got into the spirit when he went for an assessment and his first class. He goes 3 days per week and learns about punches, blocks, and kicks. He is learning some basic calisthenics and seems to be getting the hang of it. When I told him he had to put on his white uniform, he said "Mommy, it's called a gi". Guess he really does know. He can earn awards and patches for his gi by performing well in class and getting good marks from us on his "task list" at home. We'll just have to wait and see how long before he starts using the moves he learns on Gavin???

Florida Rocked!

 

 

The boys and I took our annual trip to Florida, to see family, just after Christmas this year and Florida really ROCKED. Gabe and Gavin had lots of fun seeing family, opening gifts, riding their new bicycles from Gramma and Grandpa, enjoying the sunny 80 degree weather, going to Dino World and the TRex cafe' and more....but I think their favorite part of the week, was playing their cousins drum set! They couldn't get enough of being ROCKSTARS!!!
Happy New Year from our "Band of Brothers" to yours!