Anglophiles, Unite!!!

Did your house get swept up in royal wedding mania today? Ours sure did!! Traci still remembers watching Charles' and Di's wedding back in 1981, so she wanted to share a similar experience with Katie today. First, Traci woke up bright and early at 5AM (30 minutes before her alarm!!) to watch for a bit in peaceful solitude before the rest of the household stirred. Thankfully, Katie did not wake up until nearly 7:30, so Traci got to see most of the ceremony live with just Michael on her lap. Once Michael went down for his morning nap, Katie begged to watch some of the wedding with Mommy. We did watch....THE ENTIRE THING...from car processions to carriage rides to the fly-over, in 30 minutes chunks throughout the day! Katie was enthralled! Traci's favorite parts? The DRESS (so lovely!), the vows (always nice to actually hear their voices), the carriage ride, and the two balcony kisses. Katie's favorites? The bridesmaids (her age!), spotting the queen (bright yellow!), and the funny hats. Michael's favorites? The trumpets and drums (he liked imitating them) and the HORSES (many neighs emanated from our living room). And, Mike??? Well, he might watch the fly-over later...that's about it.

Overall, wonderful watching a gorgeous ceremony with such pageantry and happiness all around. Cheers!!

Pardon the Interruption...Again

Sigh. Here we go again with more technical difficulties. Our point-and-click digital camera is once again out of service for the time being, so we are not going to be able to update the blog with pictures for the foreseeable future. (This is the second Canon Elph in a row which has had a jammed lens. Perhaps Canon is not the quality brand it claims to be...) We'll try to update here and there with videos or stories when possible; and, of course, we'll try to get our camera back up and running as soon as possible. In the meantime, here's a fun recent story:

Traci was surprised yesterday when she pulled up to Katie's preschool and saw some of the daycare kids riding ponies. When Katie came out of her classroom, she was bursting to the seams with stories about an "animal show" that came to her school. (Traci and Mike knew nothing about this event beforehand...) Anyway, she got to pet baby chicks, ducklings, goats, and lambs. And, most significant of all, she got to ride her first pony! Now, we've gone to many a fall festival where we've offered her pony rides, but she has always shied away from them. Leave it to peer pressure to get her to give it a go, without us there to watch and enjoy. And, she loved it! Guess we better get used to having to hear about fun milestones second-hand....

Contemplating Easter

Would have loved to have titled this one "Happy, Smiley Easter!" But, alas, it's really hard to get a family picture with any smiles from these whippersnappers. Once again, we hope you had a delightful Easter weekend!!

Happy Easter

We're having a fantastic day with the kids and just wanted to wish everyone a very blessed, happy Easter! Couldn't resist sharing some of our morning festivities via the attached video. Looking forward to a delicious ham dinner (i.e., finally, something not laced with sugar)...

Lucky Strikes

 

We had a brand-new adventure today, thanks to Katie's good preschool pal Jaden (3.5-years-old) and his sister Jenna (6). They suggested that we go bowling over Spring Break, and we did it! With a little help from some gutter bumpers and a ball ramp, the kids were able to bowl their hearts out. They bowled two games, cheering loudly for each other. Although Katie didn't bowl any spares or strikes, she always had a smile on her face. After bowling, the kids then ran around the alley, checking out all the arcade games and lights. Finally, they dug in for some pizza, chicken tenders, and fries. Traci's main job on this excursion? Keeping Michael the heck out of the way....much easier said than done...

Lion Princesses and Princes

We had our buddies Ms. Kim, Patrick (4.5-years-old) and Colleen (2-years-old) over for some Spring Break fun. The kids basically went wild playing Matchbox cars, dinosaurs, and...of course....busting a major move to the Lion King. Enjoy!!

Such Concentration

It was Easter egg coloring day in our house, and we went the easy route: we waited until Michael was deep asleep in his afternoon nap to get started. Katie was very into handling pretty much all of the egg duties herself this year, so there was a lot of concentrated preschooler silence. Not a single egg was cracked or dropped, but we already have bets on how many will actually make it intact until Easter. (The eggs are now sitting as a centerpiece on our table where both kids can just about reach.) It was a nice way to kick off our Easter/Spring Break week!

Impromptu Dance Exhibition

Don't ask us why, but Katie was in the mood to display some unconventional dance moves last night before bathtime. This is either "artistic genius" or a "70-year-old lady gig." We think she has a future as one of the corpses in the next Michael Jackson "Thriller" video. What? No chance of that? Oh well...

Left Behind

Poor Michael... Big sister Kate (you know, the one he wants to emulate every minute of the day) has become fast friends with a 3.5-year-old girl named Nora who moved in directly below us. We've met the parents, so Katie is allowed to go downstairs whenever Nora asks for her (and vice versa). Obviously, Little Brud is left behind. Here he is just staring out the window, watching them play in the courtyard below. Someday, Michael, someday.

Blue Fingers

We could make today's blog entry an annoying political tirade about the recent, ridiculous kerfluffle involving the male child model in a J. Crew catalog wearing toe-nail polish. We could claim that we painted Michael's fingernails in solidarity, laughing off the crazy "experts" who are claiming that J. Crew is waging a "transgendered child agenda." But, there are already too many absurd political blogs out there, aren't there?

Instead, we'll claim it as it really was: just another example of Michael wanting to do everything (and we mean EVERYTHING) that his big sister does. (Here is the trendsetter herself.) The minute I took out the blue finger nail polish for Katie, I started to hear the "Oooh-oooh-ooohs" from across the room. Michael would not calm down until I finally painted his nails. Obviously, being 18 months old and all, he immediately smudged them all over the place. But he sure looked gorgeous at the playground!

Principal's Office

Is it bad that Michael is already infamous at Katie's preschool? Case in point: Almost every day after school, Traci lets Katie and Michael play on one of the school's playgrounds with some of her buddies. This morning, Traci was chatting with another mother when she noticed that she had lost sight of Michael. (Usually she can spot his red hair a mile away.) Suddenly, she noticed a large group of the preschoolers gathered in a circle around something. Upon investigation, she found Michael in the middle of the circle, completely drenched from head to toe, jumping wildly in a large mud puddle. Not only had he made himself wet, but he was also splashing everybody else. The preschoolers were actually watching in silence and awe, wondering what they should do. In yet another proud parenting moment, Traci immediately apologized to all of the other parents and removed her drowned rat from the scene of the crime. Sigh.....just another day in the life of Michael.

Let the Hunt(s) Begin!

Let the Easter Egg Hunt season begin! The church which houses Katie's preschool held its annual Easter Festival this weekend, complete with crafts, games, story time, and a crazy egg hunt. Katie was absolutely stoked for the hunt and made Daddy look all over the attic for our largest Easter basket. Unfortunately, due to some rainy weather, the hunt was held indoors in a relatively cramped space. Ever the timid one, Katie was repeatedly boxed out from grabbing eggs by her more "rambunctious" peers. But, don't fret for our resourceful, little one! She never stopped looking, and she finally found a secret stash hidden under a chair. All Mike remembers - in the wink of an eye - is seeing a lightning-quick Katie literally dive underneath the chair to proudly grab 8 eggs!! She's got some spunk in her, after all!

And, where was Michael through all of this? He was over at the "Egg Recycling Box," quietly removing all of the eggs that everybody had deposited after the hunt. Needless to say, we had some clean-up to do! Next year, we'll make sure he actually participates in the hunt.

Dream On

Katie has said that she has had dreams before, but this morning marked the first time that she actually remembered enough to tell us anything about one of them. Apparently, last night, she dreamed that "I saw a Triceratops...and it tried to eat me!" Did you run away? "No, no, no...I hid in the car where Mommy sits [i.e., the driver's seat]." Did the Triceratops find you? "I think so." Was it nice or did it try to eat you? "I don't remember."

Her new favorite show, "Dino Dan" on Nick Jr., is definitely having an impact.

Ol' McG Had a Farm

The kids and Mom trekked out to Frying Pan Park (a 1920s-era working farm) for some good, ol' fashioned animal fun this afternoon. Michael was especially excited to see the animals, as we have been working hard on animal sounds with him. He loved "baaa-ing" at the sheep and "mooo-ing" at the cows. (Katie, on the other hand, felt that some of animals - the roosters, in particular - were a little too loud for her liking.) We enjoyed feeding the animals some hay, riding in a tractor-led wagon, playing on a playground, and even (almost) milking one of the cows. (Katie, ever the clean freak, did not want to get her hands "sticky.") We were also excited to learn that Frying Pan Park has an equestrian center that hosts free horse shows on the weekends. (Hellooooooooo....what 4-year-old girl wouldn't want to go watch beautiful horses prancing around a ring?) Shouldn't be too long before we return to this childhood wonderland! Meanwhile, here are the kids commandeering the ride-on tractors...the nice, quiet variety.

Little Big Man

We had Michael's 18-month check-up today, and all was well. We didn't have too much to talk about since Michael's speech delay is already being addressed with therapy. The doc was especially pleased that Michael's vocabulary is now up to six words: Mama, Ball, Hi, Bye, Dog, and Bird. The only other things that came up were his increased food pickiness (normal), aggression (completely normal), and ear infections (well, we'll keep an eye on that). Last, but not least, he's growing like a weed as always: 34.75 inches (94th percentile) and 26 lbs. 4 oz. (77th).

Baby, It's HOT Outside!

Wooooo-ee! Is that right? Could the thermometer have really registered 86 degrees today? To celebrate, we spent a vast majority of our day outside, running, swinging, sliding, and rolling. To prove it, we should have taken a picture of the grass-stained knees of Katie's pants. Instead, we'll give you this shot of Michael, enjoying his first solo popsicle. Inside in the perfect temperature of our condo, of course.

Daddy's Choice

Since Mike's birthday actually fell on a work day, we decided to hold our big celebration today. We gave him the choice to do whatever he wanted, and he took us all to Annapolis to walk around town and visit the US Naval Academy. (The last time we visited was January 2, 2007...two days before Katie's birth!!!) We all had a wonderful lunch at an Irish pub, where Michael entertained the patrons with his antics. We then walked over to the harbor to watch the boats and sea gulls (BIRRRRRRRR in Michael-verse). Finally, we strolled the kids over to the gigantic quads on the Naval Academy to let them run wild.

Speaking of running wild, here is little Admiral Michael, commanding his fleet. He already looks like such a little leader, urging his soldiers onward to battle!!

Katie meets Peter

Meet Peter, Katie's newest buddy and her pre-school's polar bear that has been with us all week for a class project. Katie just submitted her journal entry summarizing her week with Peter, which we've included below (more or less in her own words)...

"I was excited to bring Peter home. Finally! He is cute and I like his soft fur. I didn't believe that polar bears swim, so I had Mommy show me videos on the computer. I like polar bears so much. They jump in the water and go splash. I would like to see a polar bear drive a car. Peter came to dinner with me downtown. I got some ravioli on Peter, so he took a bath (Mommy wiped him off). I'm going to miss Peter, but I'm O.K. with giving him back because maybe I'll get another bag/animal...maybe!"

Three Dozen

Happy 36th birthday to Daddy! Wow. Traci and the kids gave their April Fool a great day today. It began with a "super special birthday hug" from Katie around 7:00am, continued with a rare afternoon off from work (i.e., complete with the Cubs opening day on T.V. and some time to myself), and ended with purple cupcakes with sprinkles (i.e., Katie's choice) and some great presents. And this birthday weekend is just getting started!

Here, Katie shows off her hand-picked, purple, flat bed truck and drag racecar "so that Daddy can have something special to play with when we play cars."