Happy Birthday, Daddy!

We are having a great weekend. Today is Kevin's birthday, and he loves to be busy on weekends, so this has been a perfect 2 days for him. Yesterday, we went to a picnic held by the Anesthesia Department. It was fun, mostly because they ordered an ice cream truck, and we all got free treats! Then, in the evening, we went to Macaroni Grill with some friends. I think you know most of them from previous posts. You know - Nash, Margot, Alex, Keira, and James. The regulars. Anyway, we had a great time, and it was actually a very relaxing evening, despite having 6 little ones with us. The kids were great, but they eventually lost their cool, once bedtime was approaching. Anyway, today we are going to another little picnic with Kevin's work buds. I'm excited to see them, and will keep you posted on our fun times.

"James and I played in Alex's car on Thursday. Where's Alex though?"

"I kicked James out."

"We went to the zoo on Friday. See the giraffes behind us."

"This is my new friend, Sasha. We met at the zoo."

"Happy birthday, Daddy! I love you!"

"Kiki, look at the camera!"



"Whatcha eating, Alex? Looks good... Can I have some?"

"Mommy, I think Margot like you, but her Mommy might be upset if you take her."

"Mom, look at Kiki and Margot! What a couple of cuties!"

"I tried a lemon with dinner. I made some awesome faces. It was sour, but I kinda liked it."

"As you can see, I don't smile in pictures very often anymore. I am way too busy for that."

"This was the point in the evening when all the babies were ready for bed. Can you tell I'm whining? Sorry, Mom. I was trying to be happy, but I was so tired. Daddy's birthday dinner was exhausting!"

Maya's Magic House

Kevin was home today, so we took Maya to the Magic House, which is the Children's Museum in St. Louis. It happens to be right near our house, which is an excellent bonus. Anyway, Maya had such a good time. We've been hesitating to take her there, because we weren't too excited about her crawling all over the museum, but now that she can walk, we were happy to set her free. She absolutely loved every second of our trip - especially going up the stairs. It was so much fun to watch her playing so sweetly. I'm sad that we won't have more opportunities to visit the Magic House. We'll definitely miss it!

"A giant water table! This is awesome!"

"Pretty flowers..."

"Just taking a little break..."

"I don't do slides myself - it's more fun with Daddy!"

"Mommy, look! I'm going up the stairs! Can you see me through this glass? I'm so good at this!"

"Watch me!"

"What am I supposed to do with these giant legos?"

"Hi, Momma!"

Weird Looking Doggies...

We took a walk to Grant's Farm yesterday, to visit the animals. It's really fun there. You get to take a tram up to the top of a hill, and on the way, you get to see a lot of different animals. When you get to the top, there are goats, eagles, kangaroos, turtles, parrots, an elephant... and free beer! Anyway, we had a great time, but Maya did not know what to make of these goats. She loved them, but they scared her to pieces. It was really funny. This seems to be her general attitude about animals. It's a love hate relationship.

Bubbles!

We bought these long lasting bubbles today. Maya loves them! Can you tell?

"Wait, can I hold one of these?"

"Wow, Mommy. This is amazing..."

"Obviously this photo has nothing to do with the bubbles, but I look good, don't you think?"

Our Little Shopper

We paid a visit to a toy store in the mall this afternoon. We didn't intend to buy anything, but they have a nice train table, and Maya likes playing there. Well, she wasn't all that interested in the train table, but she loved the mini shopping cart. She walked all over the store with it, putting all her favorite toys inside. She really had a blast, and was not amused when it was time to leave.

We Love Music Day!

Friday morning is music morning, and we had a good time today. Maya was in a very serious mood though, so she didn't liven up until the very end. Anyway, we got to play with a parachute today! The kids sat on top of it, and we dragged them around in a circle. They loved it. When we got home, I got to work on a new recipe for yogurt and cereal bars. I am desperate to get Maya more interested in a variety of foods. She's asleep now, but I can't wait for her to try the bars when she wakes up.

"It's time for my close up."

"I really enjoy lounging. Lazy babe..."

"This is my friends and me on the parachute. I was little nervous, but it was really fun!"

"Did you know I can play instruments?"

Seriously?!?

Um, within 5 minutes, I get our first vote on the poll, and it's "return both?!?" For real? Show yourself! Who are you, and what kind of shoes does your kid have?! Please leave me a comment and tell me why you don't like either pair!

Okay, I'm not over it, but I'll move on. We are officially down to 1 nap a day. It has definitely been a hard transition for Maya, but I think she's ready. I'm still putting her down in the afternoon sometimes, just so she can relax and enjoy playing and resting in her crib, but she's not sleeping. She's been sleeping really well at night, too. The only problem is that she's definitely fussier throughout the day. This is a brand new routine for her though, so hopefully she'll get used to it soon, and she'll be fine.

"We finally got our 'SOLD' sign! Yay!"

"Charlie and I played together this week at our friend Sarah's house. Her baby is too little to pose with us."

"Look at me, petting Jenny Bojangles! This is the first kitty cat I've ever touched. I'm so proud!"

"Mommy, I can't wait to play dress up with your shoes!"

"We went to the sculpture park again yesterday. Daddy and I love this sculpture of the chemical makeup of sucrose. Daddy is a chemistry geek."

Please Vote!

This morning I bought Maya a pair of sneakers for the Fall and Winter. Oops. We apparently already had a pair for the fall, in the same size. Now let's be realistic here - the child doesn't need 2 pairs of sneaks, so we unfortunately have to return one of them... But which one?? Please check out the photo and tell us which you like better. I'm trying to think practicality, plus cuteness. Any thoughts? I purposely did not add the option "keep both," because it seems way too silly. The photo of the shoes is to the right, but I'm also attaching a larger version to this post. So... what do you think?

"Mommy, can we keep both?"

Welcome to the Family!

Maya finally has a whopping FOUR teeth! The second top tooth made an appearance yesterday, and is now fully visible. I am also happy to report that Maya is officially walking about 90% of the time. She learned to stand up from the floor, as opposed to pulling up on something, so now she just walks everywhere. She's very wobbly still, but she's working really hard to fix her wobbles.

Anyway, this weekend was great. Yesterday, we went to a Strawberry Festival at Eckert's Farm. Unfortunately, it was sort of a flop, since the weren't allowing strawberry picking during the festival, and that was really why we went. We ended up going on a tractor ride and getting free ice cream though, so it wasn't a total wash. After the fest, we went to Laumeier Sculpture Park, and took a long walk through the grounds to see the sculptures. It's really such a peaceful and beautiful place. We don't spend enough time there, but I think we should make good use of it in the next few weeks before we leave. Anyone wanna come?

"We waited in line forever for a free ice cream cone yesterday at the festival. It was worth it though! Yum yum!"

"Mommy held me tight during the tractor ride. It was bumpy!"

"This is my family and me. Daddy asked some other daddy to take this picture. Thanks, Other Daddy!"

"I stood up and looked out the side of the tractor during the ride. We all had very dusty hair from all the wind and dirt."

"Laumeier Sculpture Park is very sunny, so I wore my "Girls Rule" cap. Girls do rule, don't you think?"

Shout Out to Maya's Honorary Aunty

Today, Maya's honorary Aunty Sarah came to visit. Sarah and I worked together as fourth and fifth grade teachers for 2 years, and last summer, she moved back to Colombus, OH, to be closer to her family (how dare she!). She came back to surprise one of her friends for her graduation, so we had a chance to meet her for coffee this morning. Maya has met Sarah a few times, but only when she was itty bitty, and it was a while ago. We had a great time visiting, catching up, and playing at the park. It will probably be a while before we see her again, though I'm hoping she'll consider taking a vacation to New Hampshire. She is quite outdoorsy, so maybe we can convince her to take a little hiking, skiing, snowshoeing type of vacation. Sound enticing, Aunty?

"Hmmmm... I think I like you..."

"You know, Jayme always said we were lucky not to have a spikey ball tree in our yard, but I think I like these spikey balls! I can pick up 4 at a time!"

"I love you, Daddy, but I need sunglasses, because I'm squinting like crazy."

"Aunty Sarah, please put me down so I can play."

"This is a good walk. Did you all know I can walk now?"

"I can ride horsies too!"

"I like the swings best. A park without swings is like a day without diapers!"

"I can be serious on the swings, too."

Best Buds.

Playing with friends is so much fun. I hope we have friends when we move to New Hampshire next month (can you believe it's next month?!). We have some connections to a group for babes and parents there, so hopefully it'll be a good way for us to meet people. Anyway, this morning was full of action. First, we had our "Tunes for Tots" class. I hate to take photos during the "class," since I don't want to distract the kiddos, but I managed to squeeze in a photo or two. Afterward, we went to James and Keira's house to play with their new sand and water table. Brooke, Nash, and Margot came too. It was fun, but Maya was a little leery of the water table. At first she sort of whined and tried to get away, but I think she warmed up to it eventually. Grammy and Grampy bought Maya a water table (it's waiting for us in CT), but it doesn't have sand. I have to admit, after watching all the kids "sample" the sand, I'm glad we don't have that option! Ick. Remember eating sand as a kid, and the sound it made? Crunch crunch.

"Kiki and I were cooking dinner at Kangaroo Kids on Thursday. Kiki, can you pass the paprika, please?"

"We played with scarves at music class today. After we danced with them, we played peek-a-boo. This is the life!"

"The water table is fun, but this big ball is good times, too."

"Thank you, Kiki."

"Nashy just gobbled a handful of sand. Can't you tell by the look on his face?"

"James! How did this giant ball get onto the water table?"

"I honestly don't know what to make of this 'water table' thing. It's like a tubby on a table. How odd."

"What's over there? Snacks?"