Splash Pad

We hit up the zoo this morning with some friends. It was CROWDED and all 6 kids were a bit cranky so we decided to ignore the animals and just hang out at the splash pad. It was the perfect idea and almost immediately we had 6 amazingly happy kids!

I'm in LOVE with this suit! Amelia received it as a birthday gift from her friends the O'Farrel girls, and I can't get over how adorable she looks in it!

Trying to get a drink

Happy Girl!

Despite the snack, blaring kid music, and a Barney episode on the ipod in an attempt to keep Graham awake and salvage his afternoon nap, he just couldn't keep his eyes open. I love the animal cracker hanging out of his mouth!

PS I'm still going through party pictures. They'll be up eventually...I promise!

Happy Birthday, Amelia!

It's party day! Since we're having a birthday bash for Amelia later this afternoon, we're spending the morning at home getting things ready. For Amelia, that meant she got to enjoy her favorite type of morning, a lazy one! Miss Amelia slept until 10:00, had a chocolate donut and as many cups of apple juice as her little heart desired for breakfast, then got to open a few gifts...all in her pajamas! If there is anything our Amelia hates in the morning, it's having to get dressed right away-our girl loves to lounge! :) Stay tuned in the next day or so for a full birthday blog post...party pictures are on the way!

Happy 2nd Birthday to our sweet and caring ,Princess Amelia!

Green Eggs and Ham

Graham has been attending a camp in the mornings and I naively thought that he and Amelia would appreciate the time apart. I was WRONG! Dropping Graham off proved traumatic for Amelia who cried that she couldn't stay with him. Today, when we returned to pick Graham up, the classroom door opened, Amelia ducked under the teachers arm and ran straight into the circle of children screaming "Am!" at the top of her lungs. What happened next is something straight out of an old love movie and I laugh even thinking about it. Graham stood up and ran towards Amelia who was running at full speed towards him and they embraced in a very tight and long bear hug. The teacher actually stopped what she was doing and said "Goodness Gracious!" then invited Amelia into the circle for the good-bye song since it was clear that if Amelia couldn't participate, Graham was done for the day!

After camp, we happily headed home for lunch and Graham announced at the end of our meal that he wanted to find the "Green Eggs and Ham" book and read it to Amelia. He found the book, they got comfortable on the couch and he began to recite most of the story to her. Then, I heard him suggest that they play "Green Eggs and Ham". Graham announced that he was going to be "Sam-I-Am" and that Amelia would be......are you ready for this......."the ham". He told her to lay on the floor like a ball and not move, because ham doesn't move. So, being the good little sister that Amelia is, she curled up on the floor and said with a giant grin "I ham" while Graham marched around her yelling "Sam-I-Am". Honestly, this was one of the funniest interactions I've witnessed between these two. They make me laugh on a daily basis, but this was the best. I'm just thankful that Amelia is too little to care that in her first play, she was cast as a piece of nice, juicy pork. :)

THE CAST

Graham as "Sam-I-Am"

Amelia as "The Ham"

"Sam-I-Am" and "The Ham" rehearsing a particularly intense scene

Busy Days

I have no real news to share. Our days have pretty busy lately, which appears to be the new normal for us. Graham is attending toddler camp in the mornings, we're preparing for Amelia's birthday bash this weekend, and we're enjoying the freedom to play outside each day without layers upon layers of bulky clothing. Summer is certainly here, and we're taking advantage of every minute of it!

I snapped this picture right after we picked Graham up from camp. To say these two are excited to see each other after they've been apart is an understatement!

DIRT Part 2

At the zoo this morning, I thought Amelia might be working towards conquering her fear of dirt. Her interest in the gritty sand lasted only a split second and you can tell by the expression on her face, that she's not quite there yet....

Yep, that's my girly girl for you! :)

Dress Up

The concept of dressing up in a costume is very popular at our house these days. Graham has been on board for quite a while, his favorite identities most often being a fire fighter or a scuba diver and recently, Amelia has taken an interest as well. She runs around the house wearing her cape screaming "HERO!" her version of 'Superhero', and yesterday she received this lady bug costume from her Grandma which she has worn around the house all afternoon! I'm sure it's just a matter of time before our little lady bug insists on making public appearances!

Tummy Time

You're not the only one who doesn't get it...I promise. I can't explain the behavior either, but I do know they thought they were hilarious!

DIRT

Yesterday afternoon we enjoyed free entertainment right from our front step. Our street is being torn up and resurfaced and the heavy machinery had the kids mesmerized. Graham immediately had to grab his tool belt complete with his orange Black and Decker tools, "in case the workers needed help", and Amelia seemed content to just observe. Things eventually got very loud and the ground actually began to vibrate. Amelia became upset, yelled "Scary!" over and over and over and seemed to be in the verge of a real melt down. I assumed the noise and vibrations were the cause of her fear but I was wrong. As it turns out, she was afraid of the dirt. Just for the record, Amelia's fears currently number three. Strangers, all men (unless you're Daddy or Grandpa), and dirt. Yep, Amelia's going to have an interesting life! :)

After she calmed down, she was able to tell me through her tears "dirt scary". I had to try and hide my smirk as I realized she was completely serious. Although I found the entire scene rather amusing, Graham took Amelia's fear very seriously, scooted next to her, put his arm around her and explained that dirt really isn't scary. The kids have been driving each other crazy the past few days, so their interaction seemed especially sweet! What made me really happy, was the fact that they stayed in that pose for quite a while. Long enough for the noises to stop, the dirt to stop flying around, and long enough for me to grab my camera!

Graham enjoyed watching the ants. Amelia was completely disgusted and pulled her feet as far away from them as she could.

A spontaneous display of sibling love. Are they cute, or what?!?

NOT a morning girl...

We had a 10:00 play date on our calendar for today. When the clock said 9:45 and Amelia was still fast asleep I realized that I really needed to wake her up. Amelia is a SUPER sleeper. She loves sleep. She's happy to go to sleep at 7:30 pm, happily sleeps until at least 9:30 each morning, and she normally takes a 2 hour nap in the afternoon. So really, super sleeper doesn't even begin to describe it!

9:45 am...a very normal time for Miss Amelia to still be sleeping

"I am so not a morning girl!"

I was quickly forgiven for waking Amelia up with a bright flash as she waited for her good morning kiss. Each time Amelia wakes up, she makes this face, waits for her kiss, then begins to chat with me.

Totally Toddler

I'm going to start with an apology for the fact that the blog has been quiet for many days now. I have no excuse other than being extremely busy! When school ended a few weeks ago, I was wondering how we were going to keep busy. The reality is, we currently have a busier schedule now, than we did while school was in session! We've got play dates, and zoo dates, and museum dates, and park dates, and beach dates, and splash pad dates, Graham has a pre-school summer "camp" coming up, our summer music classes begin shortly, and we've even got the occasional brave Mommy who is inviting the entire class over to play and have pizza for lunch. The first few weeks of our summer have been a whirlwind of activity, and I'm know the rest of the summer will be the same. It really doesn't get any better than having complete freedom over my schedule. I can't imagine a better way to enjoy the summer than with friends and a handful of kids running around!

Anyways, back to this "totally toddler" business. Although Amelia doesn't turn 2 until the end of this month, I'd say we're already a two toddler household. Amelia can talk, has her own (strong) opinions about certain things, understands everything we're saying, and doesn't look much like a baby anymore. Last year at this time, I was admittedly overwhelmed with caring for two babies. Now days, those babies seem more like "kids". Graham and I have long and intelligent conversations. He's quite the comedian and has proven to be good company. Never wanting to be left out, Amelia will sit patiently through an entire conversation, often interjecting a "yes" or "no" just to feel part of things. I feel like she's learning things much faster than Graham ever did-probably because she's got such a great role model. I know these next few months will be huge for Amelia in terms of emotional and physical growth, so I'm holding on to the fact that at least for a few more weeks, I can say she's still only a year old because, honestly, I'm having a hard time with the fact that my baby girl is getting big way too fast!

Ice Cold Water

It doesn't take much to please these two...ice cold water and a hot day up at lake over Memorial Day weekend and they were thrilled!

First drink from the hose-summer is officially here!

Graham begged (honest, he did!) to have ice cold water dumped over his head!

I see this smile at least a hundred times each day and it still melts my heart...

Amelia is in LOVE with her crocs. She would wear them in her sleep if we let her!