Dirty and loving it

Spring is here... and with it brings one dirty little boy. We've been having fun digging in the dirt and getting muddy. (Let's ignore the fact that it might snow tomorrow. Sheesh!)

A few days ago, this was all that remained of Graham's 3-foot-tall snow mountain. (We had A LOT of snow mountains.) "I'm king of the mountain!" he would yell after climbing atop it. He has since cried over the fact that our snow is now gone.

Dirty fingernails seem to make up for missing the snow, though.

One is never enough!

We are currently losing the battle to wean Graham of his beloved "dragons" (pacifiers). I guess we need to let go of this for a bit...

Spoon Man

He makes up all his own tricks.

There's always room on the lap

Keeping it simple

A friend and fellow mom recently advised me that the best way to make it through this first year of raising two kids is to "keep it simple." Jeff and I keep going back to that phrase. So, while we had planned today to go to the zoo, midway through the day we were already exhausted, so decided to stay home. Keeping it simple.

While Lola napped soundly amid the chaos that is entertaining an almost 3-year-old, G and I played with Play-doh and a box. Two boxes, actually. One was big enough for Graham to fit inside. After the lid was closed, I spun the box around three times on our wooden floor and pretended to mail him to the destination of his choice.

"Want to go to Hawaii?"

"No!"

"To China to visit Uncle Fun?" (My friend Greg)

"No!"

"To New York to visit Uncle Greg?"

"No!"

"Um, how about the beach in Florida?"

"No!"

"Want to be mailed to Iowa? To the farm?"

"Yes!"

Then he would pop out of the box and say, "I'm in Iowa!"

We used the second, slightly smaller box to made a robot head, complete with rolled up tin foil for antennae. We took turns wearing said robot head, talking like a robot, and chasing each other through the house, acting like robots.

Meanwhile, Jeff napped (or attempted to) upstairs. And yes, my dear husband let me sleep in this morning (a life-saver!) and was owed a well-deserved nap. We'd like to give a shout-out to the folks at MPR who sent us a basket of flowers that were delivered in the box that later turned into a robot. So many uses for a simple box!

xo,
A, J, G & L

Ho-Ho-Ho! with Santa Steve

We went to a great little restaurant near us Saturday morning for "Breakfast with Santa." (Also known locally as "Santa Steve"— he's amazing!)

It was a totally last-minute thing. We haven't made a big deal of Santa to Graham yet, and after hearing from friends how utterly scared their kids are of Santa in-person, I had decided, why torture G by dragging him to a crowded mall only to witness him crying and/or refusing to sit on a bearded stranger's lap?

But, we asked this morning if he was interested in this breakfast shindig and he enthusiastically nodded yes. So off we went. Not only were the breakfast options delicious (and included mimosas for non-preggers adults!), the atmosphere was delightfully festive.

(Photo below by Studio Laguna photography.)

We were SHOCKED to see Graham not only emphatically wave across the room at Santa, but then to RUN to him with wide eyes and the hugest smile ever. The people around us were laughing and smiling because I don't think they'd seen anything quite like it all morning. Most kids G's age are either freaked-out crying or understandably shy about visiting with Santa. (And Graham is usually shy with strangers.)

He immediately crawled up onto Santa's lap (fortunately there was no line for this small event) and said, "Merry Christmas, Santa!"

We'll post a link to the professional photos a lady was snapping off (which I'm sure will cost an arm and a leg) as soon as they're up... supposedly by the 27th.

(Powdered sugar donut face.)

 We suspect an annual Cheeky Monkey Breakfast with Santa tradition-in-the-making! Merry Christmas!

xo, 

A, J + G

Deck the halls...

We hope each of you are having a wonderful holiday season so far!

Much love from G, J, A + baby-on-the-way

Big boy bed!

Yesterday Jeff and G dismantled his crib to make way for G's new big boy bed! Graham was a fantastic helper and loved working side-by-side with his dad using screwdriver, holding up pieces of the crib and dragging them away into our room.

But... we felt a bit sniff, sniff! about the whole thing. He's definitely not a baby any more! G was SO excited about his big boy bed though and did pretty well on night 1. He slept well though the night though we did have to go up three times initially to give him extra cuddles. We came in around 11 p.m. to gaze at him and hug each other, marveling at how quickly it all changes.

We told him that he needs to stay in his bed all night and to call us if he needs us (this will obviously change once he's potty trained). So far he has really stuck to it! This morning he called for us, "Mama, Dada, I'm awaaaake," just like he usually does. But once I went in, he didn't want to get out of bed! So I snuggled in with him (it's nice to have a twin bed so we can fit in alongside him) and we read books for a while.

Unfortunately, he refused to nap today (frustrating) and tonight he asked me to lay with him until he fell asleep, which he normally doesn't ask for. It's easy and oh-so comfortable to snuggle with him, so I certainly didn't mind... and I fell asleep, too. :) I think he'll get back to his good sleep habits with a bit of adjustment time. Then it's onto potty training and getting rid of those pacifiers! No small tasks...

Enjoy the pics of the tear-down/set-up!

Here goes! Bye-bye crib!

Daddy's little helper.

Mixed emotions. 

Gotta love IKEA projects.

I've got a screw driver and I know how to use it!

Spider Man slippers, IKEA directions + tools.

Good morning!

Let winter begin!

Booooooo-haaaaaa

Graham wasn't messing around with his first real Halloween. While some toddlers refused to wear their costumes, this little bunny (yes, he picked it) wore his for four days. And even when he wasn't in costume, he kept hopping around the house. Talk about staying in character!

Tonight was his first-ever trick-or-treating adventure, which started at his friend Julia's house (where her parents kicked things off with a bonfire, cupcakes, and beers for the adults).

Once we started knocking on doors, Graham remembered to say "trick or treat!" and "thank you!" at every house... proud parents are we.

The most memorable part of the night was that for some reason Graham thought he needed to trade his piece of candy from the previous house in order to get a new piece. As a mother who would love it if her son's teeth didn't rot out, I thought that was perfect— he would end up with only one piece of candy at the end of the night! But once he tried to put an already sucked-on lollipop into someone else's candy bowl in order to get a new treat... then we had to break the news that in fact, he got to keep everything and didn't need to trade.

And the stockpiling began.

Happy (almost) Halloween!

I never get tired of this view

So. Much. Love.

Brush 'em, brush 'em, brush 'em

Because good oral hygiene now is the start of fresh, happy breath for life. 

New lunchbox

Our future rock star

More cabin fun

Morning play with the Spencer kids included 

lots of happy, loud giggles and squeals!

Noodles = Yum.

The whole cabin gang. Cabin life is way, way too wonderful.

Mmm... s'mores

You can't necessarily tell by the look on G's face, but he very, very much liked his first campfire s'more experience...

Little fish for a little kid

We spent Labor Day weekend a couple hours north at a wonderful lake cabin someone let us borrow. (THANK YOU!) The Spencer family went with us, which made for tons of fun, laughs, kiddie play, and good food. It was a monumental trip: Graham caught his first fish! Ate his first S'more! And had lots-o-fun with Harriet and Emerson, both of whom he adores.

Here's Joe teaching Graham how to fish.

Next, Graham gave it his all. Then he learned the fishing-waiting game (not so easy for a toddler).

Then, Mama and G held the fishing pole together and tug! tug! A little fish! G's first!

Joe unhooked the little fish, showing Graham, who then reached forward to feel it. When we asked later what the fish felt like (expecting a response such as "wet" or slimy") he responded, "fishy."