uncle "Bave" is way cooler than that toy

this toy is cool!

It's a little finger puppet theater, with sound effects and lights.

Here L. is telling us the story of the three little pigs, with a superman finger puppet, of course.

living in a world of women...

...can mean playing with your trucks, in heels. yowza.

march snowstorm

yeah...they lasted about 10 minutes.

I'm two!

Today is BR's birthday! He was really, really proud to have a lot of fuss made over him, and LOVED the balloons and cake.

Mostly, though, he loved having Uncle "Bave" as the honored guest at his party, especially since he brought the gift of a "B-ball." BR is OBSESSED with basketball. He just loves it, and anytime we walk or drive by a basketball hoop in a park, or someone's driveway, he screams "B-ball! B-ball!" over and over and over again, until someone acknowledges him. And then he starts all over again, just in case we forgot in the last 10 seconds.

(ps, Uncle Bave & Aunt Kay: BR slept with the B-ball in his crib last night. I think he liked it.)

i will NOT smile for the camera

she loves the new birthday apron from Mom, can you tell?

a perfect way to start the day...

...an oatmeal bath!

who wants $50

It's yours if you can guess what book from her mama's childhood inspired L. to draw this picture. (ps: I don't make any money, so I'm not really going to give you $50.)

ooohhh, pretty

Thanks, Gramom!

pretty enough to eat

7 minutes later (yes, i timed them): absolute victory!

Knock Knock

We were driving. L. wanted to hear a joke. It was the first one I could think of, while also thinking of the road.
A. was listening, but I guess she got pretty impatient for the punchline. Well, more like enraged:
"NO MORE BANANAS KNOCKING ON DOORS!!!"

easily amused

I don't know if the lesson here is that they really don't need sophisticated educational materials and cultural outings for healthy stimulation and growth, or that they really need to get out more.

the biggest grin in the widest world

for the Grandmas: you've both been wondering whether L. enjoys her swimming classes... Well, this is what she looks like for the entire 1/2 hour, twice a week.

hey, Billy...

This afternoon, L. leaned over and whispered, very seriously, "I'm going to celebrate...with a lemon!"

the coolest pop up book Ever

that would be Brava, Strega Nona, by Tomie de Paola. We LOVE it.

In fact, it's so cool, the kids are not allowed even to touch it without total mama supervision.

Thank you, Billy and Christine!

a sweet one

BR loves to snuggle and hug and give kisses. In the mornings, when he wakes up before the girls, he climbs into bed with me and we cuddle until they wake up. He gets bored really fast though, wondering where they could be. He eventually starts calling for them: "Ooo-see! Ah-mee!"

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50% snuggle and 50% aggression (no audio):

treasure hunt

Now that L. can read, we can do all sorts of fun games. Like treasure hunt, where I leave clues on bits of paper around the house and she follows them to find the treasure. Today she volunteered to do one for me. Take a look:

and what was the treasure? thanks for asking.

to all those mothers who claim it doesn't get easier as they grow older...

this evening's conversation:
Mama: "L., what has gotten into you today? You are not behaving!"
L.(thinks about it, then says): "Well, my tummy hurts so that's why I'm being naughty."

Okay, babies cannot do that.

birthday girl

"Ah-mee" turned 3 last week! We had planned a big party for last Saturday and then 4 out of 5 of us got sick... I made cupcakes anyway, and she opened her presents and cards, and had plenty of offers of help along the way. She wore her pretty blue dress, and L. got dressed up, too (so she could be "pretty for A.").

I even offered to make a special birthday breakfast, "like chocolate chip pancakes or something?"

"I want oatmeal!"

It's so easy to please a 3 year-old sometimes...

Later, we managed to find a day when everyone could make it to the party, and so we made even MORE cupcakes. A. ordered an entirely pink party, so we had pink balloons, candies, pink lemonade, pink candles and streamers and so on...

And again, there were plenty of volunteers when it came to unwrapping gifts. We played games, had prizes, pizza, and L. made up this poster so we could do pin-the-tail-on-the-donkey. And the pictures of tails very thoughtfully included a picture of a pin.

picnic lunch in the backyard. in february.