Christmas

Christmas Break 2012 was lovely.  The past two years, school has kept me busy right up until Christmas Eve. (As in, we barely managed to put the tree up.  Or didn't.)  But this year...ah, this year!  I finished finals the first week of December.  We decorated the tree.  I made the kids each an advent calendar.  We baked gingerbread cookies.  We hand-stamped our own wrapping paper.  Craig aptly observed that I clearly have some creative needs that aren't being met by doing legal research.  (Hard to believe, I know!)  

 

Our wrapping paper.  We cut the star stamps from a potato.

 My little elf making chocolate-covered pretzels.  Isn't she adorable in her little apron?  My mom got both the kids chef hats for Christmas and they love to wear them and help us out in the kitchen.

Downtown at the Christmas Parade.  The Doodlebug just sort of sat there until Miss Winter Parade or whoever came by in her dress and tiara, waving.  Then he jumped up and waved at her and yelled, "Merry Christmas!!!!  Merry Christmas!!!"  For some inexplicable reason, he also stood up and started applauding like mad for the motorcycles.

***

Two days after Christmas.  We are finishing our breakfast.  Snow is still on the ground.  

"Atticus, go get dressed," I say.  

He speeds off and strides back in like this less than two minutes later, leans up against the counter like he's Mr. Joe Cool, casually crosses his legs, and looks at us like, "What's up? I'm ready to go play in the snow."

Two more pictures of smiling faces:

Craft Projects

Today I'm camped out on the couch, studying. (Thanks, Nana and Papa!) Just taking a quick break to post a few pictures.

The kids made their own Easter baskets this year from some stuff we had laying around the house. We did it after we finished dying eggs. First, we cut the bottoms off of two oatmeal canisters and painted them.





Then we just stuck scraps of construction paper onto the wet paint to decorate. Atticus did his all by himself, but we obviously helped Franny with hers while she did some fingerpainting. We poked holes in the sides and ran ribbon through for handles. They were the perfect size for little people hunting eggs.



By the way, we were worried about Atticus picking up all the eggs before Franny-bug had time to find any, but we shouldn't have been! She totally held her own in the Easter Egg Hunt.

Yesterday, there was a garage sale around the corner, so I walked over while the kids were napping. I picked up some pretty hideous framed pictures for $2. We emptied out the frames and painted them black. (When I say "we," I mean my awesome husband, obviously.) Then I framed some of the Doodlebug's artwork and hung it in his room.

Here is a watercolor titled "Helicopter and Boat."



This one is called "Dinosaur Teeth." (His names, I swear!)
He was excited about hanging them in his room.



Oh! One more picture of the Doodle holding his new second cousin Judah on Easter. His face is absolutely glowing with joy. He was blown away over getting to hold such a tiny baby. Hopefully they will have many fun years of cousin-ship ahead of them.

Well, we knew this was coming...

We took the kids to the Farmer's Market this morning, and two separate people stopped us to ask if the kids were twins. Actually, one guy just assumed they were and started telling us a random twin story. It's the first time that has happened but I'm willing to bet it won't be the last.



After the Farmer's Market, we went to an outdoor fair. Atticus rode a pony, which he thought was great fun. We were going to let Franny-girl ride a llama, but she didn't want anything to do with it.

They were also doing elephant rides, which we didn't do, but we did get within about four feet of the elephant. I told Atticus, "Look at how that elephant is eating the grass!" He gave me a Look, sighed, and said "That's not grass, that's hay, mom." (He was right.)

Sweet little ladybug at the park:



The Doodlebug playing with his trains:



The Doodlebug has two teddy bears, Stinky and Bert. This afternoon he told them it was bedtime and rocked them both in his little rocking chair (while pretending to listen to Yo-Yo Ma). Then he made Bert go to bed but told Stinky he could stay up and watch Cars. Goofball.

I've been working on the railroad...

The Doodle got this little wooden train set from my Dad quite some time back. He's been getting more and more into it, and for Christmas he got some more track and two more train cars. Lately, something about this has really started clicking for him, because he will completely immerse himself in playing with the trains. Anyone who has spent time with a two year old will understand my amazement that he will spend over an hour playing quietly with anything.




He has built little tunnels out of his books for the trains to go through. He has a few matchbox cars, which he will put on the train tracks. "Oh, no! A car on the tracks! Stop the train!!" (Acting out the final scene from this fun little book):




It is so fun to see his imagination taking off!

Snow Day!

Needless to say, we all stayed home today. The Doodle has been waiting ALL WINTER to make snowalls. Here are the kids preparing to go outside:



It was, of course, freezing outside, so we didn't stay long. Atticus still wanted to play in the snow, though, so here's what we decided to do:



Snowballs inside! We filled bowls with snow and let the kids play in them to their hearts' content. They are young enough to think this was really fun instead of incredibly lame. :)

A few more random pictures from last week:

I threatened to post this one with a "Daddy combed our hair" caption, but Craig insists both kids just woke up from their naps when this picture was taken, and that they are normally well-groomed. (They are.)



The kids enjoying the awesome weather last week at the zoo with their friend Jasmine. Is the Doodle roaring like a lion?



Oh, almost forgot to mention that Atticus put his hand on the hot stove last night as we were fixing dinner! We got it under cold water right away, but two fingers blistered up and he was pretty tearful for about an hour. Poor kid. Everything seems much better today. One finger is still blistered but it doesn't seem to be bothering him. He told me this morning, "I'm not crying some more."

Three Cheers for the Public Library

I just have to take a moment to praise the amazing institution that is the public library. Public libraries have to be one of the greatest resources that exist for parents of young children. Ours offers various storytimes, music classes, crafts, summer programs, and books and music to check out, as well as parent resource books and interactive materials. Plus a great place to hang out and interact with other kids while playing with blocks, trains, or the puppet theater. And it's all FREE and available to everyone. Our children's librarians are amazing and clearly love their work.

I don't know how much time people spend appreciating what a great resource this is, but they should! We love it. Support your library! :)

Here is Atticus doing "storytime." He holds up the books the way the librarians do and reads them out loud. (He also walks up to random kids at the library like this and insists on "reading" to them.)



The book he is reading is "Bailey Goes Camping," ordered from the Weekly Reader Book Club in 1987. We just got it out two days ago and it immediately displaced "The Cat in the Hat" to take the top spot on the Doodlebug Favorite Book of the Moment list. He has it memorized already.



Inspiring us to build the tent below.



I told Atticus we could build a tent like Bailey's, which was initially met with enthusiasm. However, when I pulled out the sheet I got a scornful look and a "Mom, that's not a tent. That's a blanket." Once we got it together, though, he was delighted (and so was the Ladybug).

*****

I have to add: The Doodle did some watercolor paintings of dinosaurs this afternoon. After they dried, he had them lying in a stack on the floor. I picked them up and said, "Wow, let's hang these on the refrigerator."

Atticus: "No! That's important stuff. Not to hang on the refrigerator. Important stuff, about songs."

He turns to them, furrows his brow, and mutters to himself, "Now let's see what these say..."

Outdoor Adventures

Just a few pictures from playing outside today. We took advantage of the nice-for-January weather and got out of the house for a little while this afternoon.

Frances is now at the age where she does NOT want to stand still and have her picture taken. She thought it was a fun game to run away from me every time she saw the camera.



I did catch her checking out a bug.



The Doodle found a feather. He actually did have a much bigger one he wanted me to take a picture of, but it blew away. Luckily, we found this one.



I should mention that this is the outfit Franny-bug picked out for herself this morning, jacket included.



Atticus found some dirt to play in, and he is excited about it:



Besides that, we haven't been doing much. The library programs started back up this week, and Atticus was thrilled to see all the librarians again. (Have I mentioned that he knows all the children's librarians by name?)

Also, Nana and Papa got us PAINT for Christmas. We broke it out a few days ago. Here is our little artiste at work:



We didn't get any good pictures of the Doodle painting, but he loved it as well. That's all for now...

P.S. Our sweet little Franny has already figured out exactly how to drive her big brother crazy, and does it with devious glee.

Return to "Normal"

Finals are over, and I am over finals! One semester down. I actually have really, really enjoyed classes, and even studying for and taking finals. But I am now ready for a much-needed month to catch up on my real life! Because while I walked out of a test on Friday feeling pretty good about how I did, I was even more giddy about the fact that on Thursday, the Doodlebug had pooed in the potty for the first time. Yes, this is my life. :)

I finished up on Friday morning, and on Friday afternoon the kids and I went to the dinosaur museum (giving Daddy a much-deserved break). Here's the Doodle standing next to a mastodon. (It was too big to get them both in the picture, so I went with my handsome boy.)



When I came home Thursday night, someone had made some "muffins" and left them baking in the "oven" (under the rocking chair). They were delicious!



Franny-bug rocking her shades at Grandma's today.



She looked so funny in her little outfit I had to take pictures! Here she is using the oven door as a mirror to make crazy faces at herself.



So how are we? Pretty great. I remember panicking a little when the Doodle was only 7 months old and we found out he was getting a sibling. In the early months of two-under-two we kept telling each other, "It gets easier." Of course, we had no reason to know that but we had to say it to keep our sanity.

Turns out, it does get easier and easier is now! We don't have to hold their bottles, spoon-feed them, or swaddle them and trick them into sleeping. For the most part, when they find small objects on the floor, Atticus ignores them and Franny conscientiously delivers them to me.

Although, truth be told, Craig went into Atticus room the other day to find Franny balanced on the foot-board of Atticus' bed, heel-to-toe, like it was a balance beam. (We have to admit, the girl does have an uncanny sense of balance.) And when we try to sing along to the ABC song from their CD, Atticus witheringly says, "Mom, don't sing!"

What's not to love? :)

Just a few pictures from today. Franny's new look:




She was wearing this around this morning and she thought she was hiLARious! I wasn't really able to capture the fahbulous attitude in just a picture, so you will have to use your imagination.


The Doodle making playdough:



He has played with playdough before but we had never tried making it. He was bored this afternoon and I asked him if he wanted to help me make playdough, and you would have thought I had asked him if he wanted to go to Disneyland.



The finished product. A little sticky, but not bad. He's making "muffins:"



By the way, anyone with a two year old boy who doesn't have a tea set might not realize what fun they are missing. Ladybug got a little teapot and cups for her birthday, and Atticus thinks they are the most wonderful toys in the world. He also puts his blocks in the teacups for ice cubes. The things he might have missed out on if he didn't have a sister!

We were at the library this morning and found out that they now have these activity kits you can check out and take home. Each one has different activities designed for babies from birth to about two years. We brought home this one with modeling clay.

And a picture of the sweetest little girl ever: