"Yay! I did it!"

Check another one off for the ever-famous Alphabet Town (by vtech)! Micah is now spelling. The spelling is mostly from memorization at this point, but he is learning a number of words at a time, and is working on his phonics skills/letter sounds - so both Jake and I think he will be reading to some extent before he is 3. Amazing! Honestly, I recommend the Alphabet Town toy to ANYONE with young children. I think the toy is technically listed for kids older than 3 or 4, but it quickly became Micah's favorite toy when he had just turned 1 year old, and he has learned SO MUCH from it! Plus, it is really fun and attractive to kids who enjoy buttons and lights. Anyway - there's my plug.

So far Micah can spell just about all the words on the Alphabet Town toy (A is for, B is for, etc.). Some of his favorites are "jewelry," "quail," "railway," and, of course, "Micah". When he spells a word successfully he often shouts, "Yay! I did it!".

Micah & Caden's Photoshoot

Micah and Caden went to Sears for their 2 year and 6 month photos, respectively. Here are some of our favorites...

Sedona Getaway for New Years

Happy New Year everyone! Jake and I were very fortunate to get away for New Years while my parents graciously watched Micah and Caden at our house for a couple days. The boys did very well with their Nana and Granddaddy, so we able to relax and enjoy ourselves and some special time together while we were gone. Sedona is only about an hour away from Flagstaff, and the drive is absolutely gorgeous! I had only done the drive once before and had forgotten how stunning it was.

We stayed at the Apple Orchard Inn - a bed and breakfast just off of the uptown area. The innkeepers were wonderful. It was a really special place to stay. Neither one of us had done the B&B thing before -- I think I prefer it to hotels for sure. Much more personal and comfortable.
http://appleorchardbb.com/



Most of the trip we just relaxed, caught up on valuable sleep, and walked through shops. For New Years Eve we really treated ourselves - a big celebration for all the things that have happened in our lives over the last couple years (babies, degrees, over 4 years of marriage, etc.) - by going to Dahl & DiLuca. We ordered a 6 course meal that included a lovely bottle of Cabernet Savignon. We are not normally red wine drinkers, but both loved it! Personally, I may be a convert now, or at least venture from white a little more often. www.dahlanddiluca.com/




Yes, we took a picture of our food. How dorky are we ;-).

Christmas

We had a great time with Christmas! Micah was old enough to really enjoy it - although, in what seems to be a 2 year old habit, he got very focused on one toy at a time and it was a bit difficult to get him to move from one gift to the other. And, funnily enough, it took a bit of convincing to get him to unwrap the presents because they were so "pretty" :-). Cute.