Chicago Seidlers

Mathias started preschool at our local school on Monday, and he’s loving it so far. He’s in a morning class with 20 other 3- and 4-year-olds, heading off for 2.5 hours every day. It’s a nice break for Lori and a lot of fun for him.

Ready for school in front of our place.

Some highlights from the week? He reported that his teacher “might have gotten a little mad” when he tried to play with the computer. She’s told us that he’s doing really well but needs to work on his “criss-cross applesauce” (what we called sitting Indian style in less enlightened times). But all in all, it seems a great fit so far.

Standing in front of Waters School.

Here’s a shot of Lillian rocking Lori’s old dirndl–she’s ready for Germanfest at the end of the month! Our little fraulein is getting bigger and bigger. She’s doing plenty of standing (although no real walking yet), and it also seems like a couple words are starting to slip out. (English, so far–maybe Lori can work on the German when Oma is in town.)

We celebrated Mathias’ third birthday at the start of the month with a sports-themed bash in our apartment. Oma and Opa came up to join us, and Uncle Mark and Aunt Janet were in visiting from Tucson as well. It was a good time, from sausages on the grill to euchre to close out the night. Mathias even made it through his gifts without crying this year…

Yeah!

The whole family poses together (with cousin Aubrey too!)

Papa came to own the theme–we was tossing out Cracker Jack and “Old Style! Cold beer!”

See all the photos from the party!

Mathias got a little medical kit for his birthday, and he spent the days afterward giving us checkups. His favorite part seems to be giving us a shot and then reassuring us afterward, “That didn’t hurt.” Lillian also gets some good standing in in the background.

Lori snapped this photo of Lillian enjoying a day in the park to celebrate the 8-month mark. Apparently while Mathias hit the slides, Lillian was content crawling around in the grass, searching for sticks to put in her mouth…sounds fun!

We’ve been enjoying warm weather the past week, giving all of us a chance to get outdoors (and letting Lillian get her feet dirty for the first time). Here’s a picture of Lori and the kids enjoying the summit at nearby Horner Park.

Lots of changes with Lillian lately–we think she’s crossed the barrier for “officially” crawling. She pretty capable of scooting all over our living room, so we have to be even more careful about keeping an eye on her…and watching what her big brother leaves lying around.

Judging from some severe late-night crankiness and a pronounced desire to chew on anything at hand, she also seems to be teething. Hopefully a little tooth will pop out soon to give her a break!

We hosted Easter this year, with James’ brother, sister, mom and her husband Michael (or Mickey Mike, as Mathias calls him) joining us for dinner, games and tons of candy. Lori made an awesome Easter spread, and we all dyed eggs and explained to Mathias he’d be hunting for candy the next morning. Best of all, unlike last year, there was no trip to the emergency room!

Here are a couple select photos. You can see them all here!

Dyeing eggs at the table.

Mathias was happy to find most of his eggs contained candy.

Our little bunny smiles

Lori offers this update of some city building going on at home. Apparently it’s a very exclusive community. As he told her, “Only Mama and Mathias allowed.”

A snapshot from Lori and the kids’ recent trip to visit Oma and Opa in Florida shows our little lady lounging by the pool.

Occassionally we’ll get both those kiddos in the tub together. Here’s a recent video of them having some fun splashing around (don’t worry, all the naughty bits are kept behind the porcelain). Lillian gets some good laughs in, and Mathias does a little reading.