Story Time

One of our family's favorite times of the day....story time. Post-dinner, post-bath, the kids have one last treat before bed: a shared story with Daddy. Katie usually makes the book selection, but we're sure that will change some day. Michael usually just gets a kick out of getting to be on Katie's bed; but, lately, he's been paying attention to the stories as well. The story is usually just enough to get to the kids to wind down a bit before taking their spots in their respective beds/cribs. Maybe someday in a year or two, Katie will actually take the lead in reading the story??

Hellooooo...BYE!

Tried to capture Michael and his buddy Colleen (2-year-old) conversing on their "phones" today. All we got was Colleen running away and Michael giving us a perfunctory "BYE!" Perhaps they got camera-shy once the mamarazzi showed up!

Night in the City

What a special night!! Our very good friends from Chicago - Chad, Lisa, and twins Drew and Sydney (6-years-old) - are in town for their spring break. So, OF COURSE, we had to meet them in town for dinner! The night could have been disastrous in so many ways: We had had a rough night of sleep the evening before. We had inadvertently picked a restaurant attached to the Verizon Center, which just happened to be hosting a hockey game this evening. We waited over an hour for a table. We were taking an 18-month-old to a pretty nice restaurant. Etc., Etc.... But, the dinner turned out to be so fun! Katie fell in love with her new hero, Miss Lisa. Traci had fun showing Drew and Sydney some secret passageways in the restaurant. And Michael had fun stroking the top of Chad's head...for some reason?? Anyway, even though we got the kids in bed 2 hours late, the evening was full of way more smiles than tears.

And, here is a picture of Katie, gossiping with her dear Miss Lisa. I think they were plotting out the next package of hand-me-down dresses that Syd was going to send Katie. Boy, oh boy, does Katie idolize Miss Lisa and Sydney!!

A Small Man among Giants

Well, hello up there! This was about 15 seconds before Michael almost shoved one of these giants over. Visits to stores are a little tougher these days...

BALL!

Well, we've only had two sessions of speech therapy, and we're already reaping the benefits many-fold! (Actually, we think that Michael's speech development is kicking in on its own, but who are we to argue free speech sessions?) Anyway, Michael is finally consistently using his first word: BALL! He knows to retrieve one when you ask for it, he can say it himself, and he sure loves to heave it across the room once he gets it. In fact, we may have celebrated this "ball" milestone too heartily. Now, he will pick up anything (toy, remote control, cup of water, etc.), yell "BALL!," and throw it with all of his might. Needless to say, many toys got time-outs today. He's also vastly improved his receptive/identification skills, pointing at objects in books and at dogs at the park ( while yelling "Woof! Woof!"). We may just have a talker on our hands sometime soon.

Spring!!!

Yesterday the twig was brown and bare;
To-day the glint of green is there;
Tomorrow will be leaflets spare;
I know no thing so wondrous fair,
No miracle so strangely rare.
I wonder what will next be there!

L.H. Bailey

The Land of Rillyobbins

Katie is really moving into a fun and fascinating stage of imaginative play. She has been perfecting her realistic pretend play for awhile, assigning her toys as characters in familiar surroundings and pretending to be a mommy with her dolls. Now she is taking the imagination to the next step: creating magical places and worlds of her own! Today, as I cleaned up from dinner, I noticed her meticulously parking her cars on our super-soft couch pillow. I asked, "Oh, are the cars cuddling up on 'Snowy Mountain'?" She replied, "No. This is the Land of Rillyobbins, and everybody wants to come here." She had elaborate stories about Rillyobbins, complete with heroes, rescues, and the such. I think one of the cars was even an evil villian. Later, after bath time, she revisited some stories about Rillyobbins. Do we have a future writer in our midst?