leprechaun

That silly little Leprechaun came to visit our house and I awoke to Aiden excitedly telling me about green pee in the potty just like at school! His school literally rolled out the green carpet for some fun leprechaun hunts yesterday. He talked about finding gold coins in the tree stump and using his leprechaun hunting skills to find all the silly things the funny guy mixed up - like upside down clocks. He said his imagination was creating day dreams about what the leprechaun was up to now. He was so excited he came to our house and made the toilet green, then he found his flipped art across the room, and some green milk in the fridge! He said it was gross at first so I convinced him it must be green sugar dust that dyed it. So now he believes it is extra tasty! Then he spilled some milk when we found gold coins hiding in the cupboard! Then he was on a hunt to find any disheveled mess in the house and blame it on the leprechaun. (ha!) Then that tricky guy left shamrock socks in his pocket! Oh boy, that tricky guy made a fun morning for us ;) Happy St. Patrick's Day!

shadows

As the trees begin to blossom here in what our neighbors call the urban forest, we still chase the winter sun around the house. Or I should say it chases us out of rooms that get too sunny with all these huge windows. After dinner the dining room wall is the perfect shadow puppet stage, staring Moose and friends.

happy pi day

We started the morning with the second edition of the preschooler moshpit at the other campus of Aiden's school. My mini superheros Super PiA and PiK made an appearance as hype men. That is the way to kick off Super Pi day!

What were you up to at 3:14? We were leaving swim class headed for shamrock crafting at the local toy store - woot!

For dinner, the pot pie and pi symbol pie crust cookie were sorta blah, but our superheroes don't mind undercooked potatoes ;) and lumpy crust.

mahna mahna

The busy weekend called for something relaxing, so we tried the cheap theater for a Sunday matinee of the Muppets Movie.  KC is too young for a movie, but I thought he might sleep or chill out.  He was bouncing in my lap through the opening musical number and was pointing and excited. I was tickled by the cutest Toy Story vignette with rejected happy meal toys at the beginning. KC lasted about 30 minutes and then wanted to squirm and yelp, so daddy took him to the comic book shop and grocery next door.  Aiden loved the muppets and it was a treat to see a movie (thanks to daddy for being the baby wrangler).  I may try again during a baby pictures showing where you can walk around with the kids and they can make a little noise and no one cares.  But in the meantime, we are re-watching the opening muppets movie dance and mahna mahna on youtube... fun stuff.

auction

We had a good time at Aiden's school auction.  They are kicking off the 50th year celebration and I made a logo and 50 collages for them.  The silent and live auctions were packed with a variety of items.  We won this big bird photo and feather which attracted tons of attention from KC and even Aiden was excited by it.  The classroom items (including kid painted shelves and benches) all went for hundreds of dollars.  I had donated a photo session and two people got into a bidding war for it - so I donated one for each of them.  It's a good way for me to donate time to the school.  It was pretty wild to be out past ten around here ;)  

interpretation

The Art Detective busted out the mini clipboard and interpreted a fancy lady painting at the art museum.  He will tell you that he picked up the shading and the colors he saw (Mom, did you know there is orange paint in her face!).  He was also the curator of this paper exhibit complete with frame and pedestal choices.

peacocks and frogs

We kicked off the weekend with another art gallery, the Freer, which hosted a session called Proud as a Peacock, for a guy that was very happy to make a paper plate peacock and bring home his own feather.  Then it was off to one of those good ol library programs, and this science show was a hit in Aiden's book.  He got to "go up on stage and become every color in the rainbow!" 

matchy

These new matchy jammies from Gran and Pop glow in the dark!  

AB and KC think they are out of this world! Thanks!

TGIF

Yay, it's Friday! Look what popped out right outside the playroom window:

And my sampler sweater is slowly coming along - look at my first cables ever!

And here is a video of two of my favorite moments from the week, a new swim class for AB and swinging at the sunny beach with bare feet.

bedtime

Some photos from my folks' visit... Bedtime is a treat with so many people to throw kisses with...

Lotsa reading and smooching... 

puzzlers

Little buddies laying next to their huge puzzle being goof balls - Thanks Gran and Pop for finding and helping with this great puz...

Hey, look I can stretch my arms across it and I am stomping that jaquar in the face!

Hey, I'm a monkey in a tree with a loose jaw!

moovie

Aiden was super excited to make this "Moovie-Theter introducing the Lego Toy Story!". There is a trash can and recycling available at the 'theter' along with a cheering crowd.

good boy

Some outtakes and I can't resist posting... from last month...

interview with AB

Little goof is starting to repeat answers ;) Outside of his answers he talked about a bunch of stuff he loves like: playing with Place My Face on the iPhone, sitting as the driver listening to KidsPlace live on the radio while his brother finishes a nap, and making up new songs...
 One word to describe you would be: Four!
 Why do you like being a kid? Because I can play with many toys!
 If you could be any animal, which one would you be and why? I would be an alligator because I like their sharp teeth.
 Tell about a funny time in your life. When Daadaa gave me a rat's nest in my hair in the night! (Daadaa is a funny made up rat man) 
What is your favorite thing to do? Why? Play with cars toys because I like the movie Cars.
 What do you love most about your sibling? Playing with him in the bath tub!
 What was the nicest thing you did for someone? Making everybody dance at my school while daddy played guitar.
 What do you think you will be doing 10 years from now? I would like to be doing homework - any kind like algebra!
 What is the grossest thing you can think of? Stinky cheese because it smells gross!
 What is your happiest memory? Visiting the Port Discovery with daddy!

rockin monday

Jason Brennan Facebook Status: "My kid's Montessori School has parents play musical instruments for the kids each Monday in March. This morning I played Hendrix, Clapton, Van Halen, SRV, and Ozzy for the kids, and more or less created a pre-schooler mosh pit."





Aiden's school hosts a March Music in Schools program where they invite parents to play their style of music. The music Mondays really kick off the week. The teachers let their kids come out in the lobby and some kids were still arriving. At first the kids were all sitting in a semi circle bopping their heads, then Aiden stood up and jumped over to KC kicking in my arms. He started grooving and eventually got all his friends dancing. Even the bigger kids got in on the action and I heard Aiden proudly explaining that was his dad! There are only so many years where your kid is not embarrassed by you and dances without holding back. It was a fun way to kick off the week!

creative movement

Beck, one of Aiden's buddies from school, had a birthday party at a local studio where they hosted a creative movement class (aka. dance/yoga for kids who don't dance or people who think dance isn't for boys...). Aiden looooves this kind of thing and even said it reminded him of his old yoga class. The other kids in the class weren't too sure and they had trouble even getting the birthday boy to go back in for the second part of the class. Aiden raved about it as he rummaged through his treat bag on the way home... His favorite was making the letters in Beck's name with their bodies. Little buddy KC stomped around the party and wanted to peek in the window. There was a nice lobby area for all the parents to mingle... It was an ideal party set up.

imaginary

The second class in Aiden's Art Detective series kicked off this rainy Saturday. It was focused on imaginary animals in art, like dragons and Aiden's elephant scorpion pigeon person he drew himself. We explored the Sackler and African art gallery right by the Smithsonian Castle for the first time. It was fun to see some blossoms emerging and we'll be back again soon.

11 months

Hey Keaton Carter,

I've found that calling your full name really draws your attention. You usually reply with your sly smile and shy guy eyes. Then you will pull out the babbles. You really babble with such intention and inflection in your voice. You know how to say it like you mean it and you may even bust into a growl at the end for emphasis. Your brother loves to play a baby talk translation game with you. He'll ask you how to say words... How do you say lunch, you'll reply nananaaah!

This month you spent the majority of your awake time wanting to stomp around the house.  You would stick out your gingerbread boy legs and squawk if I tried to simply sit you down.   You wanted to stand and cruise along.  If only my arms where just a little longer and it would save my back.  You will tromp from mirror to mirror and fast step your way straight to your brother or dad.  You will sometime hold one hand, but if you feel shaky you look right at me, squeal and flap your hand to be held.

Your big boy moments are blowing my mind.  While watching you sitting in the second row through your brothers mousey show eating up a bag of Cheerios like popcorn, I was amazed that you were calm and the show kept your attention.  You love to dance during your brothers tumbling class and I let you play on the mats when there are fewer kids there.  Your own little guy story time grooves are really fun for you and you seem especially interested in your bigger buddies.  

You are content tagging along and seemed to enjoy the National Art Gallery for your brother's programs. You wanted to try to walk around the galleries in your big boy shoes. Your favorite Calder mobiles in the east wing make you reach out to grab.  The shadows are just as interesting to you.  Your shadow chasing makes me appreciate the sun that streams in through our big windows here.

You started wrestling with Aiden, who is pretty careful with you.  You usually end up laying back against his tummy and pinning him with your head, which Aiden knows is fragile. You loved riding next to your brother in the two wheeled rocket ship cart at Harris Teeter.  You moved to the big boy car seat and you like the better view of your brother next to you.  You and your bath buddy brother figured out how to add to the fun in the tub: screaming and splashing.  The decibel level of the screams are off the charts.

We've reached the beginning of kamikaze toddling days. At the beginning of the month you biffed it on the backside of your walker toy, and you didn't want much to do with it for a while after that.  We rearranged furniture and you became very interested in playing with the divets in the carpet and any little piece of smidge you could find on this textured Berber funkadelic carpet. You are a pro at finding smidge and pinching it to try and eat it.  A friend joked with me that her kid could find bits of scotch tape on the ground but she is somehow never able to find the tape.  

You continue to like things that aren't really toys and especially helping me with my yarn and Aiden's huge puzzles.  You love finding alternate ways to 'play' with toys - aka dismantling them - like pulling the shoes off your octopus ball toy.  You seek out any dirty shoe and a highlight was playing with Poppop's big shoes.

You are a flexy guy that can do a perfect downward facing dog yoga pose (and hold it longer than me!). You will sometimes go into the splits from standing and sit like that is no big deal. You like to stand holding yourself with one arm and reach down to pick something else up and bang it around.  Your face is just as flexy as the rest of your body, and you love to open your mouth super wide for a good yelp or make the cutest fishy face possible.

In the afternoon you like sharing cheese and crackers (aka cheese and Cheerios) with me.  You sometimes take two bites out of a tiny Cheerio. Sometimes the perfectly sized Cheerios will wrap around your little top teeth and you will smile with a Cheerio chomp face.  Feeding us toys or bits you find on the floor is a long time favorite, but this month you seemed like you were genuinely sharing.

Your gravity testing is in full effect with very intentional throwing your cup experiments. I think for crafternoon we need some art project where it involves throwing things off the side of your chair.  It could involve tearing napkins and paper into teeny tiny pieces and then throwing it onto sticky paper below. Sounds artistic, eh?  Your hair also likes to try to defy gravity with a little static action.

Your teething causes you to want to nibble just about anything including your dad's shoulder. If you encounter something flat it becomes more f a slobbery kiss. If I point out a picture of a baby or dog in a book you like to give the page kisses. I have a feeling the mirrors in this house will all have a schmear right at your height for a while.  Your raspberry lips seems to make your gums feel better so you are either munching your hand or rattling your lips in a raspberry.

This was a very mobile month and it sure felt like we were running through it despite having an extra leap day.  It was the first February in a while where I can remember feeling healthy and happy, so I was thankful for that extra day. And I think I have your little pitter patter feet and slobber kisses to thank for that happiness... and the fact that we didn't buy a new furnace or have a water leak!  Eeek!

You like to play a pointing game where you point at something and I tell you what it is.  One of your favorites is hat and you giggle when I put anything on your head.  When I point to you and say baby, you look over your shoulder to see what I'm pointing at... because somehow you don't think of yourself as my baby?  I have news for you kiddo, you'll always be my baby.  

I love you, mamamanamama