Two is More Fun than One

This weekend Bob is visiting his brother in Long Island.  Usually, I like a little mommy-daughter time, but lately our days have been looooonnngg, and I have to say I was a little worried about having MiniM.E. all to myself overnight last night (Gram came to the rescue today!!).

To top it off, I also agreed to baby-sit one of MiniM.E.'s friends while her parents went out for a Valentine's dinner.  Again, usually would sound like fun, but MiniM.E. has been quite demanding... add to that her newfound anti-sharing sentiments and I was more than a little concerned about how our evening would unfold.

A. was a little timid at first, but MiniM.E. immediately stepped it up and instead of insisting that A. went home right away (as I expected), she went right over, cradled her cheeks and said, "It's okay, your mommy and daddy will be back to pick you up soon."  Then she brought her in and showed her around.  Dinner was first on the agenda, and once the girls were full of yummy dinner (brought by A.'s mom), they played and played.  Lots of water was involved...

All in all, I have to say having two two-year-olds was much easier than having just MiniM.E.  They kept each other occupied (I washed the dishes after dinner!!) and laughed and giggled and were in great spirits the whole time.  Thanks for coming over, A.!  You made the night much easier for MiniM.E.'s mom :)

Happy 4th of July!

Late, of course.  Hope everyone had a great time.  We ate burgers and went to sleep...

And, I did it again.  We went on a vacation and I didn't even post about the things we did BEFORE the vacation... such is summer.

Here's a recap.

We finally filled up our sandbox, and MiniM.E. would probably stay in it all day if we let her.  Not sure how I feel about so much sand on my child.  And in my house.  And in her bed...

sharing with Baby E. 

and Baby O.

 We spent a lot of time in the yard.

And went to the playground.

MiniM.E. decided she likes to get her face painted.  It would be a lot easier if she stood still, didn't grab the brush, and didn't continuously touch her face while the paint was still wet...

We went to the Peerless Pool at the State Park.  MiniM.E. was adorable in the water, but I had to be in too, so no photos :(

And we had a relaxing afternoon at Congress Park.

Happy Half Birthday!

Yesterday, my baby turned 1/2 a year old.  I can't believe it.  Neither can she:

Everyone was right when they said time flies... Good news is, 6 months is my favorite age so far!  I'm pretty sure that every age has been my favorite.  First she was super tiny and cute and slept a lot, then she started smiling, then making awesome noises, then grabbing and reaching, and now sitting and eating.  I'm not sure it can get better.

We had a busy weekend, now that she can do so many things...

We played some hide-and-seek:

Not a super great hiding spot, but she's getting better...

We went to a birthday party where Stretchy played in the grass and made some friends:

We hung out downtown and Stretchy drank her first coffee:

And of course, it was her 1/2 year birthday.  Which meant I took lots of pictures:

And might have even bought her a cake:

Which she thoroughly enjoyed!

Frosting is kind of like finger paint... proof she's going to be an artist.

The cake after Stretchy was done