Papa Visits

Papa's arrival was met with a variety of responses: Jake was very excited and ran into his arms asking if he could play; Tanner was shy and refused to look at him for the first few minutes, but then quickly warmed up to being Papa's best buddy; and Faith screamed bloody murder upon seeing him, then continued to cry each time she was left alone with him.

It was a GREAT visit. Tanner charmed Papa to no end with his knock knock jokes, baseball and "Perfection"skills, dedication to his sister, and his impish character; while Jake entertained him with game after game of tennis,baseball, basketball, football, etc... Faith watched him warily the entire time with the funniest look on her face, clearly not too sure about who he was or why he was there, despite his many attempts to "make nice". Apparently she is entering the 'stranger anxiety' stage- sorry Dad! That should make the impending arrival of both grandma's, Auntie Sue, and the Evans' clan next month really interesting!

Dad was so patient with the chaos and so good to the kids. He was a great play buddy for the boys and both were sad to see him go. Tanner keeps asking, "Where's Papa?" and when you tell him that he had to leave he looks down sadly and says, "Ohhhhhh!" (I wish I could put inflection into an email because it is classic.).


Some Updates:

Faith still has no teeth. One has been trying to pop up for months but to no avail. She is still walking while holding onto a truck, but has no interest in trying on her own. She turns one in 9 days and I can't believe how the time has flown. And I certainly can't imagine our family without her.

Tanner's knock-knock joke repetoire is expanding daily. He is quite the little comedian. He has a newfound interest in music. His favorite song is one about infidelity by Martina McBride. He asks me to play it constantly and then sings along happily. Most kids choose "I've Been Working on the Railroad" or "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star". Not my boy- he croons about "lipstick on his collar and the smell of cheap perfume". Again... not sure I should be proud of this fact, but I am.

Jake is reading! It has been so interesting to watch. He just took off earlier this month and is reading lots of little phonics books to himself and some British readers that Grandma Joan gave him last year. When the boys woke up early on Sunday Brian and I heard Jake find a book called Superdad and read it aloud to Tanner. Naturally he is quite proud and asks me to type all the books he can read and send them to various grandparents and family members. He starts T-ball next month. Currently we have a pitch back net in our living room- which he purchased with b'day money
from Papa. I guess we figured we already let the kids play football, baseball, hockey, kickball, soccer, and volleyball in the living room- why not practice pitching? Although I am looking forward to spring so I can get access to my couch back!

Everyone is doing well. Brian and I are looking forward to all the visitors we have planned in the upcoming months and enjoying planning our big Roadie to Minnesota this summer. Hardly seems possible the school year is already down to 3 months left!