Happy third birthday!

Due to both the kids birthday and Grandma Johnson's doctors appointment in the middle of the day, Daddy took today off.  So Daddy took care of getting the kids up today.  For whatever reason, Jonathan decided to not enjoy every part of his birthday.  He started the morning out being somewhat defiant and upset.  He is usually good about getting dressed in the morning, but today he decided he didn't want to get dressed.  Lydia is usually good about getting up, and she did ok today.  Anna can be a toss-up most days.  Sometimes she gets up just fine, and other days she fights it.  She decided to get up ok today too.

Since Grandma Johnson's doctor appointment was at 11:30, we held off the birthday celebrations until later in the day (besides, Mommy had to pick up the cake before Grandma and her came home).  Around 3:00 p.m. we finally gave them their presents.  They got several books, a set of diecast cars, a Thomas The Train starter set, ice cream necklaces for the girls, a doctor's kit, Pound Puppies, and more.  The biggest hit seemed to be the doctor's kit.  Jonathan loves to take the stethiscope and place it on Mommy or Daddy's ears and then place the bottom end on Mommy or Daddy.  The all like alot of the other pieces from the set too.  The Pound Puppies from Uncle Eric were sent unwrapped, so we put them in some gift bags we had saved and let them randomly pick a bag.  It was ironic that Anna chose the dog that happen to have the longest, floppiest ears.  Funny how someone obsessed with her bunny would end up with the long-eared dog too.

We took them for a ride after the opening of presents.  We wanted to get them out of the house (and us too).  But as we expected, they fell asleep in the van almost right away.  They haven't been napping very well lately, but a ride in the van still seems to do the trick.  We went into Toys-R-Us to look at bikes for them (but forgot the $3.00 gift cards they each got for their birthday).  The girls instantly wanted to get into the motorized pink Cadillac Escalade.  Jonathan was obsessed with one of those "Freddy Flinstone" style cars where you get in, and use your own foot-power to move around.  We eventually got them to try out some bikes, and we think we know what ones we'll get for them.  We hope to go back tomorrow night and make the purchase.

Although we didn't get a good picture of the kids with Santa Claus at Christmas, we did get an ok picture with the Easter Bunny this year.  Jonathan was actually the most unsure about the whole process.  So the girls sat beside the bunny while Jonathan stood on a step-stool they had right in front of the bunny.  We never really gave the kids much chocolate until this Easter.  It seems they now really like chocolate.  Anna was really good at getting the candy out of the wrappers.  And Lydia would keep saying, "Um, this is GOOOOD".  For Easter we went with a really inexpensive ham this year.  We've tried the expensive hams in the past, and we really didn't see where the expensive hams are really worth it as the inexpensive ham tasted pretty darn good too.  Jonathan likes his ham.  Anna decided to eat a few pieces of corn.  And Lydia ate one or two small pieces of ham and alot of the rolls we had.

Jonathan's verbal skills are really taking off over the last two months.  He will get in a mode where he'll copy every word you say.  When he is in that mode, it's a good time to introduce him to new words or phrases he hasn't heard or used before.

Anna is improving her verbal skills some, but not quite like Jonathan yet.  However she now likes the concept of "Anna's turn".  Which she'll announce to you for things like diaper changes, etc.

We sometimes put pull-ups on the girls.  They seem the most interested in sitting on the potties we have.  Jonathan doesn't seem to care for the ones we have in their playroom.  But lately he does like to sit on the smaller seat we put over their toilet in their bathroom after he's had his bath.  Only once did Anna actually pee a very tiny amount, and she didn't even realize it (nor did we right away).  But the other night Lydia did tell Daddy "wet down there" and grabbed at her front.  And she wasn't kidding.  She couldn't have put any more pee in her pull-up without overflowing it.