++For the record++

For the record, there is only one kid in the photos below.
Only one budding football star,
and two has-beens.
You wouldn't know it from the photos though.



Not quite sure I've ever seen this move in the NFL:

Does he look for real or what?

I still can't figure out who had more fun...the little kid or the two big ones.

++Fifteen Months++

Seattle sure hasn't brought us much sunshine recently...so it's a good thing we have our own little sunshine. Here's a little update at fifteen months:
++She can pretty much do anything now. She is almost running and quite adept at climbing. Just recently she mastered getting up on the couch. Sorry Wyatt, your private domain is no longer.++I'd have a hard time saying what her favorite foods are. She really isn't that into eating. She loves loves loves blueberries and grapes. I hate hate hate changing diapers the next day.

++She loves to play outside. She's getting better at staying out of trouble so it's a little easier to take her out. She loves balls and bubbles and riding on her bikes. That and rock collecting. She loads them into her basket on her bike or under the seat in her digger.

++She is still into shoes. Well, she's into all things fashion. Hats, scarves, necklaces, sweaters. You name it, she wants to wear it. Is there a kid out there that doesn't have this photo of them? it doesn't matter how many times you see it. It's still cute.

++There is a new love in her life: BABIES. Said just like that, clear as day, always plural. She hugs, she kisses, she mainly just moves them around. Wherever we go to play she beelines for the babies. I'll have to be honest. It's kind of fun.

++She loves to read books. We often find her in her room just flipping the pages. She likes when we read to her too. Her favorites are Ten Little Ladybugs, anything with flaps, anything with textures, and those simple word books with pictures. She doesn't have patience to actually listen to the stories quite yet.

++Another obsession: Wyatt's play-doh stash. She doesn't get to play with it yet (she is way too much of an mouth-putter-inner still) but she just loves to move the little containers around. Those and my spices. I always cringe when she's walking around with cayenne pepper though. If she were to get that one open it could be a bit alarming!++And, she loves her bath and running around naked afterward.

We just love that smile...and the sassy little girl behind it!

++Clear the roads!++

Someone has a new set of wheels.
Meet the "Stinger". It's tough and rugged. Perfect for our daring son who won't ride it anywhere but in a small circle in the flat part of our driveway. He's thrilled though and graciously passed his trike onto his sister. Don't worry, we took the tag off after the initial spin.

++My guy++

I feel like I do all sorts of updating on the little one since she is changing so much...and not much gets said about this one. Don't worry. Come spend a day in our house and you will see he pretty much runs the show around here. I should have done this recap at three-and-a-half, that was a couple of months ago. Let's just pretend.

At three-and-a-half Wyatt:

++Is full of energy. Lots of running and jumping. Our poor couch takes a beating every day.

++His favorite TV show is still Imagination Movers (have I mentioned we haven't watched the Wiggles since November 1?) followed closely by any movies in the "All About" series that we get at the library. Included are such masterpieces as "The Post Office" and "Garbage and Recycling." He sometimes likes to watch these on his DVDVDV player. He recently discovered the headphones and thinks they are cool. Can I say heaven?

++Loves being outside. He could spend a couple of hours out there with his dad helping with yard work. He also loves the park and does such a great job there basically on his own. I'm usually 110% consumed with his daredevil sister.

++Loves school. The main attraction there is his buddy Isaak. Closely followed by the other boys in class. But, only boys. If you ask him he is not friends with the girls.

++Is into dress up. I know. Unbelievable. Of course, it all has to be his idea and on his terms. He wore this for almost a week. You may recall the drama that surrounded this costume when it was originally purchased. Note: he took off his hat so I would know it was him. Thanks buddy.

++Is nice to his sister some of the time. He likes it when she plays with him if he initiates it. They "chase" or she tackles him. Otherwise you will hear "stop bothering me". Today I told him that she is sitting so close to him because she just loves him. He informed me that he doesn't love her anymore. Oh well.

++Insists every night after we read books that his father tells him a "silly story". Usually these stories include the trials of Vern and Rocky. In case you are wondering. Very happens to be the goofy star of the firehouse show at Legoland and Rocky was one of the firemen we met when we toured a local firehouse a few months back. I wonder if they have any idea what an impact they made on a certain little boy.

++At the beginning of the year I told Mark that my goal was to get Wyatt to add one food to his readily accepted list. I think I may have written about that on here. Well, I think that has been achieved. He will now eat tacos and spaghetti. Just the components, not combined. Small victories. Have I ever mentioned that his go-to order when we eat out is fish and chips? It is only a problem when they don't have it on the kids menu and we have to pay $15 for it. It's moments like this that we should just lie to him and say they don't have it, shouldn't we. At least he eats it.

++If you ask him he will tell you when he grows up he is going to play football. He isn't quite sure about the fact that this may require going to college. As for now he is not interested in college as it may mean he has to move out of our house and he wants to stay living with us forever. He gets very emotional about this so I try not to bring it up. Just a guess, but I think when he is 18 he'll feel quite differently about this one. Along with this has come his desire to wear his jersey all day every day. At least he has his team colors right (Go Gophers!)
When did our baby get all grown up?

++Ten on Tuesday++

1. I went to the dentist this morning with an appointment to have some teeth "sealed" as they called it. Somehow I left with two fillings, complete with Novocaine. I was shot up before 8am but still couldn't feel my tongue at noon. There has to be a better way.
2. I told Mark tonight that once you get the epidural, childbirth and dental work are really kind of similar. You are all numb and you just do what they say. He told me not to tell anyone that. I say it's a great advertisement for epidurals...or against dental work.
3. My friends Tiffany and Sara booked flights today to come out to visit me (us) in July. So excited. I miss my girls. This will probably just make me miss them more though.
4. I think it may slowly be turning into a spring-like season in Seattle. I am so excited to start showing off Claire's cute little legs. Wyatt? He has been wearing short-sleeves (upon his insistence) for two months now and now begs for shorts daily. He has boy legs--covered in cuts and bruises.
5. I'm trying to plan our summer. There are tons of week-long day camp options for Wyatt. Maybe they have these everywhere. He's just finally old enough so I'm paying attention. I'm tempted to send him to one every week we are home. He gets so bored with us. I think we'll keep it to two or three.
6. I can't believe this is #6. It's the reason I haven't been blogging or getting ANYTHING done these days. Wyatt is no longer napping. We made the choice after bedtimes were becoming unbearable if he napped. We're still working through how to handle our two hours while Claire is napping. He isn't quite getting the memo on Mommy Time and independent play.
7. Wyatt isn't done with school until mid-June. I'm a huge fan of this idea. I am really sad about it being over though. I love his teachers and his classmates (and so does he!)
8. I'm attempting to follow The Fly Lady's plan for keeping your house clean. I'm not great about everything but I like how she gives you one small assignment to focus on every day. Today it was wiping down the kitchen cabinets, yesterday it was cleaning the stove.
9. I think our kids have a pact. They must discuss it before bedtime every night. They like to trade off who sleeps in and who gets up early. Heaven forbid they both sleep in. That would be too easy on us.
10. We ran out of our Costco size box of Cheerios and Mini-Wheats the same week so we went down the cereal aisle at the grocery store yesterday. I became afraid very quickly when Wyatt said "let's try something new". What? This is the kid who never tries anything new that I cook. How long do you think we can keep him from knowing that cereals like Lucky Charms and Froot Loops exist and some kids get them for breakfast? Instead we got multi-grain Cheerios which I didn't realize until we got home were sugared. He was quite pleased with them. We're safe for now.

++My Wish++

I had a wonderful Mother's Day week. As the kids get older it just gets more fun. This year Wyatt's class hosted a tea for their mothers. Really, we just had punch. They prepared for it for two weeks.
The first part was a little singing program. As you may recall from Christmas, this is where Wyatt really shines. The other kids sang and danced and Wyatt did this:
Notice that every other kid is xylaphoning away. Not my guy! (the hilarious part is that his teachers came to me and apologized afterward and swore that he always participates...I feel like I owe them the apology. I'm not concerned. We know he knows how to sing and dance. We get it all day long at home)

They also made us hats to wear at the tea.On Sunday I was treated to breakfast (and a card from Wyatt where he wrote MOM without help on the envelope...so proud!) and cooperative kids and husbands at church. On the way home I informed the crew that the one thing I really wanted more than anything was a nice picture with my two kids. They did fairly well. I promised Wyatt that we could have silly pictures in between our nice smiles.

Does this constitute putting my children in danger for the sake of a photo? The bushes below are soft, I promise.

And for our silly shot (you'll have to imagine the monkey sounds he was making.)

Later on our hike I even got a bonus shot (notice a theme here? place your kid precariously high on something and they'll think it's cool and you might get a smile).

There you have it. My children may now know that they weren't solely raised by their father when they look back at photos. Check back next Mother's Day if you want to see me again!

Oh---and Happy Mother's Day to Nana and Grandma my two most loyal readers! We love you!

++Fourteen Months++

Time just keeps on passing us by and our little one just keeps growing up. I was blogging when Wyatt was this age too so it will be fun to look back and see how they compare.


At fourteen months precocious could be the best word to describe this one. She is full of personality and always greeting people when we are out in public. She thinks she needs to go to preschool too and really wants to join in on Wyatt's class (let's see if she's as excited about it when her time comes.)

She has had a small burst in her vocabulary which now includes: shoes, duck, bus, car, hi, mama, woof woof, ball, quack, uh oh...and probably a few more. She is full of ideas and opinions though and resorts to a lot of pointing and grunting to tell us what she wants.

She loves playing outside which includes putting lots of rocks, sand and mulch in her mouth (still!) She loves the swings and the slides too.

Like her big brother lovey is #1 in her world. Followed closely by mom, dad and Wyatt. It's hard to tell if she has a favorite. She is always happy to see the one who has been gone. We are immediately greeted with a smile and giggle and a demand to be held. This one is a cuddler. We really don't mind that.

It is so amazing to watch the gender differences develop. She plays with Wyatt's trucks and trains and sat fascinated at the window watching the garbage truck the other day. But she also is into a world of things that Wyatt never was. She loves to dress herself. If she sees a hat or sweater (regardless of who it is supposed to belong to) she wants to wear it. She is also into babies. She takes them in and out of things, hugs them, and then tosses them on the ground.

Did we mention she's a climber? This must be a second child thing based on watching her brother. She is always on top of the train table. I let it go as it seems she knows how to get down. Emphasis on SEEMS.

I discovered by accident the other day that she can identify her eyes, nose, mouth and tummy. She is also pretty good at following instructions like give me a hug or kiss, give that to Daddy, etc. She is not good at following instructions like "no no Claire." Funny how that works.

She kind of has us wrapped around her fingers though. Can you tell?