20 MONTHS

Silas hit the 20 month mark in November.  This little guy so desperately wants to keep up with his siblings.  When we went to the Children's Museum he insisted on climbing through the big bee tower with them.

He loves to figure out how things work.  He also likes for things to be where they belong.  He will often put the kids shoes away or clean up toys all on his own.  He continues to be really good at emptying things.

He loved the helicopter out on the patio at the Children's Museum.  He sat and pretended to drive the plane for what seemed like forever.  He also loved the slide on the back end of the helicopter.

He has figured out that he can push chairs around the kitchen to get where he wants to go.  A few times I have had to put chairs in timeout.  Silas is so determined and will figure a way around any barrier I put in his way.

He loved our visit to the Toy aisle this month and definitely had his favorites.

He loved the first snow of the season and he lets me know if one of his gloves falls off.

He often says "No Mama" if anyone but me tries to do something for him.  He has been working on another molar this month and has been extra clingy.

 

In so many ways he reminds me of Phin at this age.  Some days it feels like I am getting a mulligan.  We have neighbors that even call him "mini Phin,"  We sure love this little guy of ours.

NOVEMBER

On November 1st we went to the Children's Museum in the afternoon for their free Dia de Muertos Day.  We hadn't been to the museum since our membership expired in June and the kids had so much fun.

Millie LOVES scissors.  She could sit and cut paper for hours if I let her.  I keep scissors well hidden at our house so her dreams came true at the museum.

Seth took Phin down to the International Board Games Day at the Viridan Event Center/Library.  I took Millie and Silas down to the PBS reading kick off at the library.  Millie cracks me up with this pose.

My mom was an angel and watched Millie and Silas while I went to the temple.  I wanted to make it to a live session before the temple closes at the end of December.  It was so busy...they were running multiple seatings for each session.

Millie does a pretty good job of keeping herself entertained when Phin is at work.  Here she is flying on a broom.  She played with this box for hours too.

I threw my back out in November and Millie and Silas came with me to the chiropractor.  They were so good...so I rewarded their sweetness with a treat from Schmidt's Pastry Cottage.

We also made it to Firefighter Park one afternoon.

Phin was invited to his first friend party.  Shiloh from his class invited his entire class to a trampoline park.  Seth took Phin up to the party and it looks like Phin had a blast.

Millie striking a pose in one of her "princess" dresses.

We went to a free Olaf Lego build at JoAnn's one day.   The kids did a great job putting together their little treasure boxes.

We also had some family pictures taken in November.  Bree from Bluebird Pictures was doing family mini sessions at a tree farm up in Heber.  She took Silas' newborn photos.  The setting was gorgeous and she did a great job with our family.  

After photos we stopped by the store to see what kinds of toys the kids had their eyes on for Christmas.

November also brought the first snow of the season...Silas was a fan.

Phin had been waiting for snow since his birthday in June...so he headed right out to make a snowman.

We went to the tree lighting in our city.

Phin was chosen to come up and help a music group out with Jingle Bells.

Millie and Phin both had Thanksgiving activities at school.  Phin came home with a new name "He who builds Legos."

We set up our tree the weekend before Thanksgiving.  I just couldn't wait any longer and we were in need of some Christmas cheer.  Silas LOVES the tree and can't keep his hands off of it

We went up to Wild Wednesday (free day) at Hogle Zoo.  It was snowy and cold but the kids still had a great time.

Seth's work also rented out a theater the day before Thanksgiving for FROZEN 2.  Millie was so excited.  She wore one of her FROZEN dresses and insisted on wearing her high heeled shoes.  We were spoiled with reclining chairs, candy and popcorn.

I ran in the Thanksgiving 5K at our rec center.  It had snowed so much the night before...it felt really crazy to be up running in it all.  It was surprisingly fun to run in the snow and focusing on my footwork was a good distraction.

After the race we braved the roads and headed up to Hyde Park for Thanksgiving.  The dinner was delicious as always.  The kids loved all of the art projects that Grandma Jo had planned for after dinner.

The next day we got out to play in the snow.

Seth, Phin and cousin Jameson started to work on a snowman.

Uncle Jami also joined in on the fun...they ended up making a snowman that is taller than Seth and Jami.