A Week with C & H

Now to our week with C & H.  Last week was the second time C & H visited us.  (Remember the first time?)  They were about a month earlier than last year, so no carousel or baby ducks... but lots of playgrounds and running around!

I wasn't sure how having two toddlers in the house was going to go, but both kids (and moms) were excited to have company and were really well behaved.

Naps and bedtime were a little tricky:

What? We're supposed to be sleeping??

But baths were WAY more fun with two!

We started out the week by taking the wagon to the playground by our house.  H. loved it!  MiniM.E. was pretty excited too (she's always up for a trip to the playground!) but I have a ton of photos of her there.

such a boy- vaulting over that springy thing!

Monday morning we ventured to the library while it was still too chilly to play outside.  H. dove right in and had a great time playing- MiniM.E. didn't even need to show him the ropes!

Then we walked over to Congress Park past Ben & Jerry's (too early to be open for ice cream) where the kids got their photo taken in the B&J's billboard.

Next we fed just looked at and chased the ducks. (There are lots of DO NOT FEED THE DUCKS signs...)

In the afternoon (after a couple micro-naps) we took a walk on the trails at SPAC with J. & A.  The end goal was the playground in the park... 

Wow! One slippery slide!

The best part of the playground for H. was the new construction (for a new playground coming soon). He just wanted to play on the digger!

We wore the kids out and they went to bed early.  We took advantage of the early bedtime and hit the sack early too!!

Tuesday we started our day at the mall playground after a few quick shopping stops.  (Still too cold to play outside in the morning!)  

making wishes at the fountain

finally on top of the flowers!

In the afternoon we met up with my normal playgroup, T. & H. and J. & A. at Kelley Park.  

and he's off!

water break.  too bad it's not our water.

A. was jealous and wanted to try too.  But MiniM.E. and H. were done...

The three girls

Wednesday morning we went to Kindermusik! C. & H. had a blast.  We drove over to Gavin Park afterwards to wear the kids out.

But again, micro naps...

Thursday we did brunch and just hung around.

Here is a series of photos so adorable I might have to frame them...

We squeezed so much into three days we were all tired out!

The kids might have been getting a little tired of each other. (or MiniM.E. might have been done sharing her toys...)

playing nicely

H. goes in for the hug

MiniM.E. pushes him away and launches herself onto the floor.

It was really nice to have company for a week and to see C. and H.  We had a great time and hope they can come again soon.  MiniM.E. still asks for H. in the bath and points to things he played with and says, "MiniM.E. shared ______ with H.!"  Too cute!

A Blogging Hiatus

Wow.  Should I even begin to make excuses about why I haven't posted in weeks?  Probably not.

But I will anyway.

First off, we had house guests.  C & H came to visit for a week during C's spring break.  It was awesome to see them, as always.

And... well, we've been busy.  Enjoying being outside in the warm, sunny weather.  That's it.  Who can sit in front of the computer when it's gorgeous out?  I will do my best to post over the summer, but with my outdoors-crazy toddler and short naps, I can't promise anything.

So let's go back a while...

MiniM.E. turned a year-and-a-half last time I posted.

The weekend before our visitors, we spent a lot of time outside.

Sniffing the flowers and searching for acorns

 At Kelley Park with Baby E.:

swinging!

a contemplative ride on the tire swing

 And at Gavin Park with S.:

And we visited the Saratoga Winery to see Rich Ortiz play.  It was a great place for the grown-ups to sit outside and drink wine, and it was pretty kid-friendly too!  (No playground yet... we should propose one!)

dancing queen!

must have: baby adirondack chair

We will definitely be back to the winery!! 

18 Months

I really cannot believe MiniM.E. is 18 months old.  She's definitely not a baby anymore...

She wants to do everything "all bine self" (all by myself), including walking down the stairs.  She carries on conversations with us and narrates our days, beginning to end.  She's extremely strong willed and has preferences for everything from food to clothes to stuffed animals.  I'm loving (almost) every minute of it. 

Sometimes she terrifies me because she's so fearless (like when she wants to go down slides and stairs "on tummy" or when she went down this slide all by herself).

I'm so proud of her for helping- putting toys away, cleaning, sweeping and mowing the lawn.  She even helps me make my coffee in the morning! (How much longer until she can make me coffee all by herself?)

She's becoming much more independent too.  Which is nice.  Not that I don't love having a toddler glued to my leg 24/7...

MiniM.E. feeding the ducks:

And chasing the ducks:

Just taking a walk:

Loving slides, mulch and teddies:

It's so exciting to watch her grow up!

Hello Spring!

I think I can officially say that spring has arrived.  The snow is melted, the bulbs are sprouting and the weather is WARM!

Gone are the days of trying to fill every indoor moment with exciting activities.

(painting and reading books, we still love you... we'll just need you once or twice a day instead of all day)

And here are the days of spending the whole day outside.

After toddler yoga, MiniM.E. couldn't pass up the chance to play outside.

even a bike rack makes a good jungle gym

"smiling" for the camera

 We went to Congress Park to see the ducks.  The ducks are getting to be old news though, and MiniM.E. is finding other things at the park to entertain herself (not the carousel yet though... not until MAY!!)

waving at her shadow

contemplating how to catch one

just walking

eating the duck food (Cheerios)

tresspassing

 MiniM.E. is always asking to "go in outside" when we're home too, so we've been spending lots of time in the yard.

"Dolly wear mittens! Dolly swing too!"

"Monkey swing too!"

aren't they cute?

"sweeping" the yard

"mowing" the lawn

Then over the weekend there was a Daddy-daughter playground visit.

is this "smiling" for the camera?  and is that Daddy's shadow taking the picture?

 Then we all went to a "different playground", Kelley Park in Ballston Spa, which is awesome.

more "smiling"

 Sunday (the coldest of days in our warm streak) we decided to have a BBQ.  It was a little too cold for my liking... but it was fun to try.

so that's where she got it...

discovering a love for dipping

and a love for "saa-saa"

 And yesterday we went to still another playground, Gavin Park in Wilton, where MiniM.E. would have stayed all day if I hadn't convinced her to come to the car where there were cheddar bunnies waiting for her.

LOVING the weather.  Unfortunately it appears there's going to be a bit of a cold rainy spell coming up... and MiniM.E. doesn't understand that cold and rainy is NOT fun playground weather... wish me luck!!

Toddler Quotes

I will admit that I have a very bright toddler on my hands.  I love that she's been talking since before she was one and that she can now talk in sentences and carry on a conversation fairly well.  I will also admit that I often feel sheepish about how well she speaks when I'm around other moms.  I know every kid has their talents, so I'm not sure why I always feel inclined to play it down... I guess I don't want to be that mom that always brags about her kid.  AND, though she's a great talker, she still doesn't sleep through the night, she's extremely strong-willed, and she pretty much lives on cheddar bunnies and cherry tomatoes (though that's getting a little better).

In the past month MiniM.E.'s ability to construct sentences and to appropriately comment on what's going on around her has drastically improved.  To the point where half of what she says each day floors me.  Like I stare at her and cannot believe she just said, well, whatever she just said.  Like a few weeks ago when she asked if we could go in the swing (we were driving up the driveway) and I said, "not tonight, it's too cold."  To which she replied stubbornly, "In swing, couple minutes!"

Which led me to the realization that my blog needs "Toddler Quotes".  Impressive, hilarious... inappropriate?  We'll have to see what she comes up with!

Today's quotes:

"Where'd he go?" (after calling for Daddy multiple times- he hadn't come upstairs yet)

"Much better!" (said after taking shoes off in the car)

Color Matching Cups

I hate to admit it, but my adorable little baby has a problem.  An addiction really.  I'm not sure how to break it, but we've certainly been trying...

She LOVES YouTube videos.  And asks for them by name, repeatedly, throughout the day.  "Watch Puppy Balloons!" "Hokey Pokey!" "ABC Train!" "Monsters Walking!" "CUPS!!!"

Here is the cup video.  Educational, yes.  Entertaining, not so much.  Especially the 4,354th time.

Anyway, I bought MiniM.E. some colored cups from IKEA.  I haven't found balls yet, but as a substitute, she's been using Easter Eggs.  Which she is not very happy with.  "Find Balls!" she'll exclaim, then reluctantly use the eggs.  She's pretty good at it though, and rarely makes a mistake.  She even puts the cups out by herself and puts them away at the end.

So yesterday she finds the cups and takes them out.  "Play cups!" she demanded.  But I couldn't find the eggs.  (Bob must have put them somewhere...)  "Hold on," I said and rummaged in the kitchen looking for them.  When I returned to the living room, I saw this.

Pretty impressive since she had to decide she wanted to use balls instead, find them where they were put away in a closed basket in a bookshelf, take them out and get them to balance on the cups.

She amazes me.  All. The. Time.  Love this kid...