The trip to the park

Well with winds practically blowing the trash cans over Addie decided she wanted to go to the park (really bad). I have in and said we could go, and then she hit me with it; she wanted to ride her bike. Normally I would have said no, but she said she wanted to ride her bike like daddy (Damien is at a weekend of Dirt bike races this weekend). So, I have in and had the longest walk to the park ever....probably 15 minutes. Addie kept having issues with the bike an riding it and finally fell off it after the first 10 minutes/1block. So I had Calvin, the stroller Addie and the bike. I thought about abandoning the bike on the sidewalk but Addie didn't want to go on without it but refused to walk it (and it had already been a long block and a half walk). So. I figured out how to mount on the handlebars and was quite proud. So, 15 minutes later in a walk that should take 3 minutes we get to the park. And, well, Addie didn't make it over to the playground (76 feet inside the park) before she said she wanted to go home, she was cold.

The walk home took 3 minutes.

He is crawling

Calvin has been scooting for a while but hasn't gotten onto his knees to crawl yet, that is until yesterday..... I wasnt worried but just thought it would be easier for him of he didn't have to scoot (plus less dirt and dog hair all over his onsie). Well, today he is up on his knees, not all the time but it's a start.

PS he LOVES that football. A possible sign of things to come.

Portland

We spent the weekend childless in Portland. It was a great time and involved a lot of catching up on last sleep interrupted with beer and meals. We went to the famous Voodoo donuts (my donut was chocolate glaze with Oreo cookie chunks an peanut butter) and Damien got an apple fritter with peanut butter, peanuts and chocolate chips. We had lunch at Descutes brewery and had some great burgers. Then a nice nap/downtime for Damien and a walk through the Pearl district for me. Sunday morning was a great brunch at Mothers after which we headed home. All in all it was a great trip!

Mommys little helper

Addie got to come with me to clean my old office unit out. She loves spraying the windex and vacuuming, she easily gets carried away with the spray bottle so I have to watch her or else all the wall ends up with spray marks. I would have her start her own service but she tends to miss a few spots; ok a lot of spots....but at least it keeps her entertained.

Poor Calvin has been cranky the past few days so while we were cleaning D took Calvin to the Dr and he has another double ear infection. It is always one of those happy sad moments when you hear it; I feel bad he has another ear infection but am happy that we can treat it and the cranky disposition should disappear. Addie is now in the habit of telling everyone we meet "my brother is a crankster" and that shouldn't be the identifying phrase one uses with their brother.

Look, we match

I had matching children at dinner, Calvin had prunes and Addie had pudding.....they both managed to get it all over the place. Calvin also had a nice big helping of cubed carrots, he is starting to eat more and more large food but seems to be a picky eater like his sister. Half the time I think that Calvin just likes to feed himself and gets frustrated when I try to get something in his mouth (he will often swat it away, getting whatever it is all over the front of his shirt). I have tried many a bib on him and that seems to be something he will have nothing to do with, he has gotten very good at pulling them off, or, if I put one on that he cant get off he freaks out and wont let anything near his mouth until the bib is off. So, I have given up on that battle and have learned to live with a child that often has his breakfast on his onsie.
As for miss Addie and her pallette; Addie likes anything with cheese. She doesnt seem to have much of a sweet tooth since she wont finish an icecream or a cupcake, but still ikes to have a few bites. Lately her favorite thing to do is ask for more (or whatever Calvin is eating) have one bite and then say she doesnt want it..... good times for Damien and I. My Aunt sent me a book on what Chefs fix their children, I am looking forward to reading it and preparing one or two dishes for my children, but I have a feeling it will be a long road from the standard Cheese stick, reasperries and goldfish to Curried chickpea salad.

Saint Patty's Day Party

We had a great time on Saint Patty's, the kids never seemed to run out of energy and were able to play together really well (which is great since it lets the parents relax a little more). To finish the night off they even offered to level out our fridge which was something all the kids took an immense interest in (you can see Damien in the background enjoying the fact he is watching everyone else toil over how to level it). Overall it was a great time.

Some of the kids enjoying dinner and making faces

 Calvin partied so hard he somehow got a goldfish on top of his head

A favorite activity is riding the scooter and the bee doing laps in the house

Here is everyone else helping to level the fridge....see Damien in the background :)

Recovery

Well, the kids were up til 9:30 without a nap... I don't know how they did it. We had 6 three year olds and 2 babies for a really fun St Pattys day party. I will have to upload some photos we took with the good camera later today. For now Addie and Damien are spending some recovery time in the couch. Addie is exhausted and Damien is hungover.

Happy st pattys

Happy saint Patrick's Day. We are having a kids party after Addie and Calvin have been at the Y all day (neither napped). We will see how they fair. The red on Addies cheek is face paint from the Y, not to worry.....

Old McDonalds

Addie calls McDonald's old McDonald's since she knows the song... I guess it's good, this way people don't know exactly what she means since she also refer to happy meals as happy campers. The newest toy exposure is a my little pony that he likes.

The audience

Addie has found a way to make drums out of her toy bins.... Fortunately she doesn't play for too long. At first Calvin just watched and now he is taking a turn banging on them.

The balloon

We got a balloon for Addie a few weeks ago as a reward for potty training strides (we are almost off diapers). She of course forgoes all the princess/mermaid/hello kitty and chose the car balloon. It has turned out to be one of Calvins favorite things. Calvin is; well; Calvin is moody to say the least, much more than Addie was so anything to help him sit through a meal without a temper tantrum is welcome. The balloon can entertain him for a good 15 minutes which is great.... See the smile :)

Snow day?

Seriously, it is march. It is march and we woke up to snow this morning.....nothing too bad, we could still drive but seeing snow in March isn't as much fun as snow in December or January.
Our nanny has been sick for the past 2 days so I have been at home with both kids. By mid day today the snow had melted and the sun was out so at least we could get out of the house for a bit; I think we were all going a bit stir crazy. We walked to the park and Addie played on the slides and rode some bikes and Calvin got to sit in a car and go on his first swing ride (he never quite made up his mind about the swing) and I was happy to catch him in the nonsecond that he was smiling. About half way down you will notice Addies new DIY mittens (they are green with white polka dots) she has started using Calvins old socks to cover her hands.... really anything with polka dots Addie will find a way to work it into her outfit; there are even polka dots on her shirt under her jacket :)

Weekend recap

Well, back to back bad weekends. Calvin got taken into the dr on Friday and had a pretty bad ear infection. When the doctor tells you that you probably won't get much sleep you know it's bad. Fortunately Calvin did sleep Ok but when Addie woke up she had gunk coming out of her ear and was crying so back to the doctor we went. Turned out Addie had an ear infection too (the gunk was all the infectin leaking out of her ear via the tubes we had put in last spring, so they are doing what the should). Needless to say the day was spent on the couch for everyone. After watching Nickelodian all day D an I decided we need to invest in some more good kids movies like Toy Story or Cars (ones that won't make us as miserable as the kids).

By Sunday the kiddos seemed better but we still laid low with the exception of Damien taking Addie to the park for a bit. Sunday night we decided we all needed to get out of the house so we went out to dinner. The kids did really pretty well so it was an enjoyable dinner out for everyone. Calvin's favorite part was drinking via straw and eating puffs, Addie colored and had a quesadilla.

Fireman Addie

Today at preschool the theme was fireman... They had coats, hats boots and hoses for the kids to play with. Addie liked driving the pretend engine.

Addie's new favorite activity

Calvin seems to be better now... Addie's new favorite activity is burying Calvin in pillow pets. Calvin seems to like it quite a bit.