ok nevermind what i said about valen not knowing his abc's... he can totally sing them! i will try to get it on video soon. but he usually stops whatever he is doing when i turn on the camera.

this is a serious forcefield, dont even try to steal my O's Valen jude or you will be sorry!

dahlia and i went to a mother daughter tea with justins mom. dahlia was very shy at first and was making this particular face for some time, it was funny. eventually she warmed up and started doing a few dance moves and being silly for attention, she made me proud (:

dahlia helped me make some cookies justin was going to take to a meeting.... but he never went. unfortunately we had to eat them all ): dahlia loves cooking with me, that and doing crafts is a daily request.

valen will be two years old june 1st. we are so amazed and in love with this little boy. i couldnt have possibly imagined such a child, he is stupendous!

valen has a very sweet spirit. he is so gentle and loving. i just love that about him. i imagined a rough wild boy, which he is, but he has such a sweetness about him that makes me so happy. he must get it from his daddy (:

valen talks SOO much. dahlia said about five words by the time she was two years old and they were barely understandable, valen can say anything and does. we can literally have a conversation with him and he talks in sentences. it is adorable. i can understand him 90% of the time. he knows how to say "dahlia" but for some reason always calls her "goya"

valen knows his alphabet and he just learned it casually from reading books and dahlia singing it all the time. he can also count to 10. not kidding you! he doesnt really understand counting entirely but he knows the order and points to things as he says the numbers. dahlia helped him learn that. she really is a good teacher. he is working on his colors. his favorite color, i kid you not, is pink! anything pink in the house he loves. if he finds a pink shirt of dahlias he will insist on wearnig it... and when i asked him what his favorite color was he said PINK! hopefully that will pass(: sooner than later!

he loves to eat! if i go into the kitchen he immediately drops what he is doing and gets on his chair. and usually says "applesauce". even if he just had applesauce, he will still ask for it ALWAYS. he doesnt really understand how eating works i dont think. he avoids chewing most of the time and just inhales things. i just dont understand it. food is so much better when you enjoy it. i am amazed at what a good eater he is still though, there isnt much i try giving him that he wont eat. he even likes broccoli and peppers and cucumbers!

a week or so ago justin went in to get valen from his room and found him diaperless and smiling. pointing to some poop and pee in his bed! he had taken out the bottom of the pack and play and threw out everything, including some poop. YUCK! we usually leave him in there after he wakes up in the morning for about an hour because he just talks and doesnt seem to mind and we are still sleeping. but now he has found some mischief to get into and we dont feel safe leaving him alone that long! we are trying to put valen and dahlia in the same room, but it is complicated and just causing many sleepless nights for us all. hopefully we can get this figured out!

alright i think that was enough of an update, i will write more later after his birthday party next weekend!