Caution: Dirty children at play

 In between fixing broken fence posts and putting the garden in a new spot, our back yard is all sorts of dug up. Good thing kids love dirt.

 This was our little miss' first time wielding a bucket and shovel. She had a wonderful time.

 Nathan found a broken piece of fence and said, "this is a sion." Which is his pronunciation of sign. So we had to put it in the dirt, and then we had to get some paper for the sign. He thought the sign should say "Kill dragons." I suggested it should say "No killing dragons." So we compromised. Our back yard is now definitely a worms safety zone.

And don't miss the lovely mud ring around Clara's mouth. I hope she didn't eat too much.

A Dinosaur Train birthday

 Well, not really Dinosaur Train, although that is one of our favorite shows around here. But, for this kid's birthday, there were dinosaurs and trains.

I'd decided we would use our passes to the dinosaur park if it was nice on Nathan's birthday, and then I made the mistake of telling him. So, we went even though it wasn't nice. And we had several cousins nice enough to join us. Because what's a little rain, snow, or hail when you're having a good time?

It rained lightly most of the time we were there, but we could still play outside. When it started hailing, though, we went to check out the indoor museum.

 On our way home, we stopped at IFA to see the baby bunnies, chicks, and ducklings. They were a big hit. Exhausted Clara, who had been asleep in the car, wouldn't stop cooing over them. All the kids got to pet a bunny and it was very fun. Then home to take naps and prepare for the rest of the birthday fun.

 Ever since January, Nathan's been wanting to know when his birthday would be. And he knows about birthdays. You have presents, and cake, and people come to your party. You also have to have party hats. Too bad Clara's too young to enjoy this fun thing about birthdays.

Overall, Nathan had three birthday cakes: one with each set of grandparents, and one on his birthday, so I decided to make this one small. I made a pound cake and cut slices of it into the shape of a train engine. Then we each got to add wheels and a smokestack to make our own engines. It was very fun, even if the results were pretty amateur.

Happy Birthday, Nathan. We love you.

Busy baby

Just a minute to tell you about our recent accomplishments.

This morning, instead of throwing her sippy and any remaining food on the floor, she looked at me, waved her arms, and said "ah dah." Which, as only a mom can know, means "all done." She smiled. I smiled. Ah, communication that doesn't involve screaming.

For her birthday we got her some play food. Which, to be honest, has been played with more by brother and cousins more than by her. She's done a fair amount of chewing and sucking on them, though. In the last couple of weeks, though, she's started picking up a piece of food and pretending to eat it. She'll hold it close to her mouth, smack her lips daintily, and then hold it to your mouth to "eat." She's really enjoying playing like a big kid.


She's been doing a little bit of standing up lately, but Saturday she really discovered how cool it was. All day Saturday she'd pull herself up, let go, and stand for as long as she could. And, AND, she took a couple of tiny steps. !! She took a few more yesterday. So, walking. Is on the way. Happy fifteen months.

Watching Paint Dry

Friday morning this kid fell at the park and scraped his hands. And far from being his usual stoic self, he fell apart. He wouldn't get back out of the stroller and play. When we got home I weeded the flower beds and he sat in the stroller and nearly fell asleep (he had skipped napping on Thursday). He refused to eat lunch and insisted on going to bed. When he woke up a few hours later I had to feed him lunch because he walked around nearly the whole day doing this:

He was a very pious boy on Friday. He walked around in an attitude of prayer all day. After lunch he sat in the stroller in the garage and watched me paint. Dad and Clara joined him for a while. Because I guess watching paint dry was literally the coolest thing going on. He kept his hands like this until halfway through dinner, when Dad tricked him by offering to let him drink out of the pickle jar. He got really excited and started using his hands again, although he soon realized that he didn't want to drink pickle juice.


Last night while settling into bed, he lay back with his head on his hands and said, "There are so many things I could dream about. I could dream about..." I forgot what he said, but it was things like Thomas, volcanoes, diggers, and maps. Then he said, "Clara can dream about bottles." Who knows? Maybe she does. Whenever she sees a lucky baby with a bottle she stares at them, even though it's been more than a month since she's had one.

Then he went on to tell what mom and dad were going to dream about. Dad got to dream about work, or fixing things, I forget what. And I get to dream about bottles. Lucky me.

Exploring new interests

 I've given myself until the dryer buzzes for computer, so I'd better hurry. Those clothes are drying fast. Here's what we've been up to. Cleaning out the dead flowers from last year. You know, just in time for it to snow the next two mornings. My daffodils are about the bloom and the tulips are coming up. I thought snapdragons were annuals, but it seems like they have lived through the winter. I'm going to try growing columbines this year.

 Clara does this every Sunday. We read the paper, leaving it in a nice pile for the next person. If she is the next person, though, the paper is scattered all over the living room. She seriously peruses each paper, some more than once. Here she is solemnly contemplating an ad for Steven's Henager College. It's never to early to plan for your education. She spent over half an hour doing this yesterday.

And a little setup for the next picture: Last week I was laying on my bed when Nathan climbed up and said, "Want to look great, mom?" He then tried to apply the still screwed down lipstick he had onto my face. So I put some on, and then he wanted some. I regret to say I let him put some on, not because of the inherent wrongness of a boy wearing makeup, but because of this:

Today when I got home I didn't hang my purse on its hook. If I hang it up, it's safe. If it's anywhere else, its contents are scattered. Nathan likes to play that all the cards in my wallet are train tickets. And he had a lovely time with my lip gloss. He tried to shove it back down with his hand when he was done. Luckily though, the damage was minimal. I took him up and cleaned lip gloss off his teeth and lower lip. He had a great time, though, admiring his "mustache" in the mirror. Mustaches are manly, even if they're made by lip gloss. Right?

After a week's hiatus, mostly for self defense, we're back in underwear today. Not me, I always wear underwear. Self defense, for whom? Mostly my couch.

So, barring diapers for sleeping time, we've gone accident-free all day.

After the frustration of last week, though, I took  my revenge. I put the green potty away.

Today he asked where it was, and I told him the green potty was on vacation.
I really hated cleaning that thing.

As for Clara, she says "hi" sometimes. It's really cute. Right now she's being cute, hoping I'll let her type. It will soon devolve into screaming, though, so I better keep it short. This kid can scream.

Sorry, lappy don't got no pictures. It's not like we're withholding pictures to cover up any major injuries or anything.

No, really, the kids are fine. No bruises or anything. Just one snotty nose.

Learning new skills.

Knock on wood, but potty training is going spectacularly. Yes, the potty did stay in the kitchen for a couple of days. But, the green potty is now in the top of the closet (I got tired of cleaning it). And we've progressed to wearing underwear, and, AND, Nathan woke me up last night to go potty. I was so happy I had a really hard time going back to sleep. His diaper was still dry when he got up this morning. I'll remember that he did pee on the kitchen floor yesterday, though, to keep me grounded...And now we're on to the second pair of the day. Ah, reality.

Also this weekend, Clara learned to go down stairs. I'm really happy about this one as well. As she is. My kids are getting all sorts of independent. I'm loving it.