Boy + Cars

One sweet boy and some of his favorite things. Photo by CH.

Baby Girl 23 Months

It seems like a lot has happened in the past month. Sunshine, snow, Easter, learning how to get out of a bed.
Yeah... that last one has had the most impact. Since little miss has figured out how to get out of her crib (although not back in) mornings now consist of a bright eyed, eager little person coming into our room whenever she happens to open those baby blues. It is always before I would choose to be awake. It's incredibly sweet when she climbs up into our bed for about the first minute (or less) while she elbows and kicks and climbs on top of us. And sits on my head. While we try to kid ourselves that we can still be asleep. It become clear very quickly that sleep time is over.
As luck would have it The Bee is also usually awake, and more than happy to play/join her/partner with her in making sure that we all know the sun is up.
When she couldn't get out of bed, the boys would often go and play in her room and entertain each other so that we could pretend to sleep a few more winks. Now their show is on the move.

This has also changed nap time. For the first many days, she would simply get up and play in her room. No napping. Tired grumpy girl at dinner time. Not fun.
Although I think it was her daddy who had a stroke of genius and put down a little pillow and blanket on the floor at naptime, and now she will lie down and snooze a bit. At least on a good day!

The other great accomplishment this month is figuring out she can reach her own snacks! And who doesn't like some cereal for a nice snack? I just make sure the bran cereal is on a higher shelf...

Wow, only a few more weeks until we officially have a two year old in the house again. I have to say I look back at when she was born and I had TWO OTHER TWO YEAR OLDS ALREADY. No wonder I have grey hair. And I can't spell anymore. And I don't remember much...but we made it. Everyone is still in one piece. And so I'm sure we'll survive this time too.
And I think we might even have some fun!

Summer Plans

My plan for the summer is the spend as much time outside as possible. Doing this sort of thing. For some reason I get totally bored at the playground, but I could watch the kids throw rocks in the river all day long...
(now we just need the snow to get lost for good - this photo was from Monday, before the dump)

Family of 6 - A Portrait

Shishi's Hair

My sister has fantastical hair. Not that it's easy to care for, but the end result of her efforts are well worth it! More here.

Easter Weekend

I was having a hard time getting geared up for Easter/spring this year with all the snow we've had. Luckily Easter came anyway and we quite enjoyed ourselves.
We made these little nests (via Crafty Crow). I love how realistic (sort of) they look. They were a bit fragile, but the kids thought they were great.
We spent Friday with Nana and Papa and had a wonderful day. It started with a treasure hunt around the yard for all kinds of treats and goodies. It was sunny and warm and we played outside, climbed trees, had a snowball fight with the last remaining patch of snow, and visited.
Then the rest of the weekend we had our favorite Auntie Shishi over to play and have fun with. The Easter Bunny brought eggs and treats and chocolate fun. We found a few hidden eggs still this morning!
We had a great Easter feast on Sunday.
Charming Husband always cooks the big meats at our house, and he made the fantastical Drunken Pig. Oh so good.
We ate, we played, we watched Celebrity Apprentice...and I went to bed early when I couldn't keep my eyes open any more.
Happy Easter!

Say Goodbye to Winter Toboggan Fest

There's no doubt that we're tired of the snow, but what better way to say 'seeya later' than a big snowy hill, a toboggan, and some fantastic sunshine...
Unfortunately the first run down the hill ended in a big dump in the snow. The Bug was a bit traumatized and has some 'snow rash' to show for it. Oddly, this did not stop The Bee and he was up and down (a shorter run) and loving every minute of it.
Soon enough though, the kids all discovered that 'sledding' down the slopes on their bums was way more fun than the toboggan. They climbed and slid and ate snacks and ate snow and laughed their heads off throwing snowballs down the hill.
It was a perfect send-off to winter. Now we just need the sunshine to work it's magic this week and welcome spring!

Some Linky Love

I have a somewhat vague notion floating around in my head that someday I will make a quilt. There's a lot of quilting in my family. When I stumbled across Kellie's work I was in awe. Have you seen more beautiful quilting??
(except perhaps a quilt handmade by a loving grandma/mother/aunt especially for you)
Enter her giveaway!
(I want to win!!)

And this really grabbed my attention this morning. Struck a nerve perhaps??!!
Extraordinary photos, but I think the description hit it home.

Julie's work investigates "the need to simultaneously escape and connect." She says "We live in a culture where we are both 'child centered' and 'self-obsessed.' The struggle between living in the moment versus escaping to another reality is intense since these two opposites strive to dominate. The expectations of family life have never been more at odds with each other. "

thanks Spring Chick

oooh, I had to add this too. Wonderful!

Happy Weekend!

Baby Girl 22 Months

Oh my goodness this baby girl is not for the faint of heart!
And the 'terrible twos' are swirling over our heads and all around us like storm clouds a brewin'.
She is such a go-getter right now. She is getting much louder and more opinionated as time passes. I know this is part of the process, but wow. I am wondering if I ever had a calm, cooperative child or if I just imagined it all.
Not that it's all bad...

She is getting quite good at stringing a couple of words together. And it's quite fun when I ask her a question and she gives me an answer. Even something simple as 'do you want more' and she says 'yes'. I think it's quite satisfying for both of us.

She is bright and energetic and sassy. I find myself wondering how much of all this will remain as her personality and how much is simply this stage. I can see Sassy sticking around.
She is also sweet and loving. She is the first one to bring the boys a blanket or a toy if they are hurt. Or even if they're in time out. Not that they always appreciate it...

I can't remember if I've mentioned it before, and if you have spent any time with her you already know, but this child is the biggest mooch EVER. Oh she loves to eat. It's great at mealtime. She never complains and usually eats without a fuss (although not without a huge mess). But even if she still has food in one hand she always wants what someone else is having. Her favorite mooch opportunities are the other kids at playgroup and daddy's dinner plate. At least she's adventurous trying new food! (however embarrassing)

The one thing that often gets me (and saves her from being sent to live with gypsies) is just how beautiful she is. As all little kids are, at least to their parents. And it's not that I don't know she has kind of fuzzy weird hair, or she's sometimes snotty and gross. It's just the texture of her perfect baby skin, or the way her eyes light up, or the way her neck feels when you tickle her. Or how tiny she is, all little fingers and toes. You just want to breath it all in...
And then she digs her tiny little nails into your underarm and squeals with delight and runs away to hide!