matchy

 I just got a bunch of shots from my dad's camera from Florida, so here are some flashbacks from earlier last month.  These are my matchy guys ready to celebrate Poppie's 90th birthday:

snaps

KC had some rare only baby time while we were in Ohio visiting the Waldamere fan club.  Great Uncle Gib and KC liked the crazy giggle people around the camera trying to get them to smile.

The ride home with just KC seemed like a breeze. He slept in the ergo from right after security all the way through half the flight. The woman who chose to sit in the middle seat next to us (which I found strange on a not full flight) was shocked when he woke up and emerged from under his wrap. She thought I was hugging a pillow under a blanket?! Then he cooed and babbled out the window a bit while shaking his favorite ice cup rattle. He deserves an A.

ohio

KC enjoying some family time in Ohio... Even meeting Uncle Gib for the first time. More photos from the big camera coming soon.

go pats!

Go Pats!
Are the Patriots going to win it!? It's big boy's weekend while KC and I are in Ohio. I heard the Trader Joe's freezer aps section was raided. The cute boy is dressed in his mini jersey chilling at the Port Discovery in Baltimore before the game with dad:

brothers

The soundtrack to these images include some cute baby babbles and yelps combined with preschooler giggle fits.  These guys interact more and more every day.

 Hey mom, my jammies are all too big and my foot is stuck in a twisted leg!  Brother to the rescue:

 Aw, thanks bro!  How about a cuddle:

AB interview

A great month of fun between all the xmas toys we are still slowly bringing out to enjoy and traveling for some fun in the sun.

One word to describe you would be: Little!

 Why do you like being a kid? Playing with toys

 If you could be any animal, which one would you be and why? I would say alligator because they are like dinosaurs.

Tell about a funny time in your life. When Lizzie was sleeping with me in Florida because usually I sleep by myself.

 What is your favorite thing to do? Why? Play cars because it is fun to have fun!

 What do you love most about your sibling? Playing with him and not letting him fall over!

 What was the nicest thing you did for someone? I helped you find the right pieces to my zoo Playmobil.

 What do you think you will be doing 10 years from now?  Doing homework like the Electric Company people on the ipad.

What is the grossest thing you can think of?  Slugs because they are sooo slimy.  When I was doing the gs on the moveable alphabet I saw the gross picture!

 What is your happiest memory? Being in the pool at timeshare!

groundhog!

Happy Groundhog's Day!
We celebrated groundhog's day by watching the online stream of Puxhy Phil come out and tell the inner circle of Pennsylvanians that there will be six more weeks of winter. Some heckler in the crowd said it could already be spring right now since it is so mild. Hey, I'll take six more weeks of this version of winter. Here are some giggly guys showing off Aiden's groundhog creations.

10 months

Dear Keaty,

You broke out the friendly boy moves this month by blowing kisses, waving hello and bye bye, and making a noise that sounds like yay!  Your little shy guy look with your chin down is usually paired with a flirty smile and you love to charm strangers.  Thanks to our trip to Florida I think you learned to say mama and really mean it.  Both your dad and I solidly think you understand mama and dada as us now and not just as babbly words.

Who knows where my curly ideas for your hair come from, but in the Florida humidity it sure did curl up on the bottom.  The old man hair that usually sticks out over your ears got all curly cute.  You have thin bird feather hair that sticks to every hat and pillow with a dry winter static.  You like me to gently rub your cute little ears when they get tickley from the staticy hair.  The longer your hair gets the more wave I see on the underside.

You've also started really curling your legs under you and shimmying around in a circle in addition to your backwards squirm.  It does appear that I will have two boys that aren't really into tummy time or crawling.  When I put you down you much prefer to try to walk around.  You want to stand, so you will stiffen your legs out like a gingerbread guy.  You will kick your legs out one at a time and shift your weight back and forth.  You are testing out your balance.  Every time you do that, I joke with myself - Do infants stand up and try to walk?  What happened to my infant?  You love to dance in my arms either at music class or just if you like the beat.  On the balcony in Florida you could hear the poolside tunes and ooh boy you loved dancing in the breeze.  I had to hand you off to Poppop's strong arms you were so excited!

You are famous for grabbing something and not letting go.  You will hold on to something when we pick you up no matter how big, like lifting your walker up in the air. Your brother is getting good at finding a good trade for you when it's something you both want to play with... but oooh boy, you let him know if you don't think it's a fair trade.  I frequently watch you trying to dismantle toys.  You will rock something back and forth and then quickly try to snap it like a karate man chopping a board.

My mom's friend gave you a new nickname: hole punch - because for most of the month you had one tooth on the bottom and a new tooth right above it up top.  You could munch a new hole in all your cheerios.  Just in the last day or two the matching bottom tooth peeked through and I suspect the top pair will match within the week.  You have been working on some slimy teether biscuits.

We spent this month enjoying the most relaxing moments napping together on the beach and suffering through long nights of very little sleep due to the cold of all colds.  We got you checked and rechecked but nothing more serious than a creepy little virus that just hung out in your head causing trouble.  I sorta prefer the set plan of attack that includes fix em drugs, but I guess I should be grateful that your ears are clear and it's nothing more serious... Hey, you're building some good immunity and hopefully you can be like your big brother and get all the little icks out now so when you're a big kid you don't miss a beat.

Your favorite toy food item is a chicken drumstick.  I call it the magic chicken leg because if you are fussing and I hand it to you you'll giggle.  It's usually missing in action so when we find it you light up. It's funny to watch you slobber attack it like a baby neanderthal.  You are much more interested in eating chunky food like rice, cheese, and even bits of meat.  You will munch away and even clack your  matching teeth together.

The Cat in the Hat insect book and Mr. Brown Can Moo books top the list of favorites.  You are interested in books with baby faces like the sign books, but board books are usually headed into your mouth.  You think the cool books have real pages.  You helped me pick up some new Magic Tree House paperbacks for your brother the other day and you insisted on helping me carry them and didn't even try to put them in your mouth.  You know they are for big kids ;)

You love trying to steal your brother's favorite little red chair.  You can flip it around fairly well, and I secretly let you play with it when your brother goes to school.  You really think it's a special treat ;)  Your fascination with anything that isn't actually a toy (baby contraband!) is sorta an untapped opportunity for learning.  I do promise to keep you safe and as germ free as I can with these ideas of fun you have... although that barf bag on the airplane was just desperation to keep you quiet.

You were a little feverish this month which makes me believe that teething can cause a little reaction.  You officially have three and a half now and some really tough gummies.  We had your doc visit this month and you still love smiling at the doctors and nurses.  Your darty big eyes checked out all clear and I can already see your face growing to match those blue saucers.

You loooove your brother.  He gets the biggest smiles and you are interacting more and more.  Your favorite treat is to gently pat his hair as he snuggles you.  You love drumming at the table and giggling with delight when you get your brother to copy you.  When he goes to hug you, you lay back on his lap so that you can really cuddle.  You also know that this will get your brother laughing and by far your favorite is to get him giggling with you.  You love visiting his school and when you spot him those lucky legs nearly jump out of my arms.

I felt like our trip to Florida went smoothly all things considered (some gastro games were trying to play us). Last year I floated around with you in my tummy thinking about all the sand you were going to try to eat this year.  I was pretty amazed that you did not try to eat any sand and I look forward to more beach trips here on the lake this summer.  We've been so lucky with such clear beautiful winter weather and it just gives me more of an itch for a sunny summer.

You were all suited up for your first snow play during what I called the picture perfect snow.  We were all home as the big puffy snow fell fast. You watched from the window and kept looking at me and babbling as if to say, "mom do you see that stuff?!"  When we rushed out there before the sunset, you looked around and as your head turned your hat stood still. It was classic crooked hat.  You did manage to keep it on to keep warm which is more than you will normally allow.

We are headed to Ohio today just you and me to remember your Gigi at her memorial service.  I know your cuddles and smiles will make me feel better and I hope they do the trick for other family members.  It  is sad you won't remember her, but I'm so glad you got to meet her and she got to smile with you.  I look forward to more cuddle days as you slowly get more mobile and those smiley faces start squirming out of my arms more and more often.  

Love, Cuddle bug's lucky mama

chocolate!

Come share an afternoon of chocolate decadence at the Inaugural McLean Chocolate Festival.Everything and anything chocolate will be found at the First Annual McLean Chocolate Festival. Candy, Cakes, Cookies, Ice Cream, Cupcakes--If you can make it out of chocolate you can find it at the Festival. Taste the specialties of area chocolatiers. Enjoy fun and games for the whole family.

With this kind of advertising how could you resist? Well, a few hundred people couldn't and it was a mob scene. A crowd that was totally worth it since we came home with extra treats to spare. Yep, I have a chocolate dipped twinkie in my possession and don't even get me started on the delicious cupcakes. They had a room with high school students running kiddie games with shirts on that said Gym, Tan, Lead (a la Jershey Shore's Gym, Tan, Laundry). The highlight was a find-the-M&M-in-a-plate-of-whipped-cream game. Aiden expertly found his pretty quickly because this kid is not hesitant to smush his face into a plate full of whipped cream like some other little kiddos. Then there was a round of pin the hershey's tag on the giant kiss where Aiden won a brownie for getting the tag on. We left the chocolate mob for Amoo's which is delicious Persian food with a meatball the size of the baby's head in a scrumptious tomato herby sauce. Aah, now Aiden and J are off to kiddie yoga and I'm trying to resist eating more chocolate goodies...

mouse

We headed up to Bethesda for a really awesome early childhood theater performance we'd previewed a while back at Imagination Stage.  The theater stage is in the round and all the kids are sitting right up in the action.  Each kid is given a suitcase with props that they use throughout the show.  Aiden loved helping the ladybug find its way home, matching up the giant flowers, warming up the baby starfish ice cubes, and especially ringing his bell when they spotted the moon.  They traveled all the way to the moon with hungry tummies and found out it is not made of cheese after all!  But lucky for them, the big cat delivered a big hunk of cheese when they made it back home.

Aiden seemed mesmerized and Keaton woke up about five minutes in while the kids were chanting that they saw the moon... and he danced around the rest of the show.  I thought it was really well done, and I look forward to going back for more shows there.  J does too since he can't get enough of the perfect wings at Hard Times across the street.  We also found a fun yogurt shop and played some air hockey and foosball before heading back up the road.

chess

It's official that Aiden can play chess better than I can after being introduced to the game today. His school has a Chess Club for any kid over four. They sell it as an opportunity for them to learn reasoning, logic and math skills which are all areas Aiden craves. Yep, I know it's nerdy but Aiden was jazzed as I expected he would be - He skipped out of Mr. S's class saying KC and I were pawns and he was a knight... That's my silly buddy...

zoo

We had a nice visit to the Palm Beach Zoo. There were cute tiger cubs that came out to roll around during the Tiger Talk and we caught the pelican feeding. KC slept through the majority snuggled up in the ergo, while Aiden was bouncin around for every photo op.

made it!

We made it home! Both boys get an A+ for the super smooth ride home (averaged with their B- for the ride there, where both were squirmy worms). I let KC play with some contraband in the form of a clean barf bag (cleaner than the magazines I think, but not by much - he refused my offers of clean toys)...so he was either sleeping or pretending to barf into an air bag. Aiden spent over two hours playing with one of those magic ink pen pads which I believe makes them truly magic.  We passed around some tummy bug while we were there and I'm hoping that everyone feels healthy again soon!  Here's some more video from our fun in the sun...more photos coming soon

gumby?!

We had two surprise visits from what Aiden calls a big green guy - one at the beach! Ha!  Aiden says Gumby has Lulu's feet... Thanks Gumby for making us giggle.

hugs

Four way hugs and a big thumbs up with great Poppy on a fun Florida visit! Thanks for everything! Now let's hope the feverish baby, hyped up four year old, and tired mom make it home smoothly! Can't wait to see daddy.

snaps

Still enjoying the pool and the beach!

kaleidoscope

Great Aunt Lulu is a kaleidoscope collector, so as a thank you Aiden picked out a kit to make one with her. The breezy balcony was a refreshing spot to work on coloring, sticking, folding, and stuffing what turned out to be a pretty cool scope. KC helped by sitting nicely playing peekaboo with the wash cloths. Thanks for taking us on the boat and hosting us!

ninety

My grandpa is celebrating his ninetieth birthday today! The old photos were scanned and my creative mom wrote the fun 'this is your life' messages. The Poppie Express Airline Flight 1922 went on a pretend flight which Aiden thought was pretty neat especially because the flight included cake. Happy Birthday Great Poppy! We love you!