Lots of pretending

We had a luxuriously lazy weekend at home - just the four of us.  Everyone was in a happy, relaxed mood.  Miles and Hadley are really into imaginative play - at times they are Jake and Izzie from the Disney Junior show Jake, other times they baby dinosaurs trying to crack out of their eggs and most often (and my favorite) they are Frankie and Boo-Boo - 2 little puppies who like to eat treats, get petted and sleep on little pillows. 

Miles is practicing his manners (asking with a please for things instead of demanding everything) and helping out more around the house.  One of his jobs is now to take his plate from the table to the counter after meals and tonight he helped me dry the lettuce using the salad spinner.  When done he asked "now what can I help you do mommy?"  Love it!

Hadley also has been using good manners.  When we give her something her reply is "thank you, your welcome!"  We also hear often these days "Hadley does it" and "Hadley's turn."  She's my little go-getter. 

Finally we got to play outside!  Miles said he was "digging a hole."

Cozy Coupe train

Immediately after their bath tonight they climbed into this box together.

Squeaky clean and oh so sweet

A cold Fargo weekend

We always pick the coldest weekend to visit Matt, Janelle and Bradyn in Fargo-Moorhead.  This year we stayed in a two-bedroom suite with the Sievers so that we could spread out a little, make a mess somewhere besides one of our own homes and swim in the pool.  Although blustery and frigid outside (it felt like the Arctic) we had a fun, kid-centric weekend indoors which included a yummy breakfast each morning in the hotel restaurant, swimming, a pizza party and Yunker's Farm (a local, eclectic children's museum).

My favorite moments were: spending time with family, pounding on the piano and playing instruments as loud as we wanted with the kids at the museum, chasing Corey and Miles around in the planetarium, watching Hadley run around the pool - pumping her fat little legs and arms while her chubby cheeks jiggled up and down, celebrating with some bubbly the many blessings our family members are experiencing, taking time to drink coffee in the morning and chatting into the evening with the adults once the kids were (mostly) in bed.

I asked Miles what his favorite part was and he said hanging out with Corey.  He then launched into a long explanation of how "Corey is [his] sister and Bradyn is Hadley's sister because we're big and they're small."  I think he was making a statement about the big boys versus the little kids.  He's got many, many more years of the "little kids" hanging out with the big boys.

If Hadley had answered the question she probably would have said that her favorite parts were playing little mama to baby Kenny (she tries picking her up by her pjs like a puppy) and loves to give her lots of overly loving hugs.  She'd also say swimming, singing Alleluia (she often breaks into sweet song when she's happy singing "lula, lula, lula," and she'd say laughing her head off.  She has a great laugh in which she throws her head all the way back, opens her mouth really wide and laughs very loudly. 

Hadley likes to be a baby too.

Playing with all of Kenny's toys

Fun at Yunker's Farm

Hadley got right up in between Raggedy Anne and Andy.  These dolls reminded me of the ones we used to have as children.

Cruising with her cart.

Baby Mozart.  (I think I got more pictures of Hads because, despite the innocent face, she's such a wild child that I have to be right next to her 24/7)

Wheeling around the shopping carts and picking fruits and veggies was by far the favorite activity at the museum.  It was nice because we had the place practically to ourselves!

Our little mama

Playing the drums

Acting goofy and ready to go for a swim!

My cute little dumplings at the pool

Snuggling in bed in the morning

Where is that baby?  Miles found her!

So big!

We experienced a lot of growing in our household this week.  Miles didn't have his paci (which has been his comfort item practically since birth and an integral part of his bedtime routine) at nap one day this week.  Amy reported that he whimpered for a little while but eventually fell asleep.  That night we continued with the "missing paci" story and after a few minutes of panic from Miles he slept soundly through the night.  There was no looking back for us at this point and he slept the rest of the week without it.  Although it's a big adjustment he's doing so well and got to pick out a very special gift at Target this morning for going through this rite of passage.

In other Miles' news he lived the sad reality of having to be on lock down at his preschool due to a very real threat made at the high school.  All schools throughout the district went into external lock down mode.  Preschool went on and all of the little kids didn't even know what was going on other than that they couldn't play outside.  It's just such a sad state of our world when school is no longer a safe place for children.

Hadley also had a big week.  She has been going to the bathroom on the potty at least once per day (and trying many more times).  One night she went pee-pee and poo-poo.  Once she realized what happened she burst into tears and then quickly became really excited.  It was an emotional experience. 

We had our first family fun day in a long time on Saturday.  Fun days mean no work, household chores, etc - just fun!  We started the day at Nickelodeon Universe at Mall of America where Hadley went on her first amusement park rides.  She liked them so much that she cried when it was time to get off of each ride.  We later baked 2 kinds of banana breads and went out to dinner.

Brushing teeth

Hadley's first ride - the train at MOA

Blue's Clues - a wild ride

Up and down and round and round

Driving the big rigs - Miles said that this was his favorite ride

Merry-go-round

The special "I grew out of my paci" present Miles picked was a Hot Wheels car carrier - he's been playing with it all day and is still playing with it right now

Hadley not only loves to sit on her potty - her dolls do too!

Our two baby girls - Hadley likes to pretend that Kenny Rae is her own baby doll and even tried to pick her up today

Family dinner

A new year

2013 will be a year of change and hopefully lots of joy.  You make your own joy though and I'm determined to be more creative, exercise regularly and just do much more in the coming year. 

One major change is the transition from having Miles and Hadley in full time daycare to having them home full time with a brigade of super nannies.  The kids had lots of fun with Amy and her 4-year old, Daren, last week.  Things seem to be a bit more relaxed around our house - the hustle, bustle and rigid schedule of daycare can take a toll after awhile.  We know that these 'second moms' watching over our little ones will care for them well, nurture and help them grow. 

Miles also started preschool at Little Saints at St. Huberts this week.  He'll be attending Tuesdays and Thursdays from 9:10-11:40.  His teacher, Miss Emily, reported that he had "an awesome first day."  There were no tears and Miles seemed to fit right in with the other kids and the fun activities. 

Our little man says the funniest things (as most parents of 3-year olds can attest to).  Here are the two I wrote down this week. 

Miles was singing the song "I've got that joy, joy, joy, joy down in my heart!  Where?"  He belted every word until he got to the refrain when the lyrics changed suddenly.  Instead of singing "I've got the love of Jesus in my heart," his version goes "I've got the love of cheeses on my shirt!"

Today when I was waiting to wipe Miles up after a #2 on the potty he announced very authoritatively, "you're the cleaner of my butt."  Yep, that's me!

Our baby officially crossed into the realm of toddler-hood this week.  We've been hanging on tightly to her babyhood but try as we might she's growing.  You know your baby's not a baby when she pretend-plays that she's a baby.  She wants to be cradled and will cry out in a little, high voice like a baby.  She also takes very good care of her own babies (dolls).  We found her in the bathroom this weekend lovingly smearing Desitin all over the clothes covering her dolls bottom, happily announcing "butt!"  It's also beyond cute when she pats her baby on the back to burp it and gives it little kisses.

Amy took the kids sledding on what we now know to be the best toddler sledding hill in the neighborhood (our newly landscaped backyard!).  She's the photographer behind these pics.  Sledding was so much fun that Hadley didn't even wait her turn on the sleds and just went down belly first in the snow.