February 29

Have I mentioned that Daisy adores Caleb?

Most of today's pictures feature her gazing adoringly at her brother. And why shouldn't she? Kids this cool don't come around every day.

This is what mornings look like in our house: a groggy boy with crazy hair in his pjs and... Mommy's shoes?

(Side note: this photo isn't entirely factual. Most mornings, Caleb gets up when it is still dark outside. Lately it's been around 5:45. So when this picture was taken, he had been awake for nearly two hours. I suppose that would explain why, at 10:00 this morning, I put Pandora on the computer and let Caleb sit on a chair to watch the video-less screen. Minutes later, I returned to find him nodding off, almost falling off the chair.)

See? Gazing adoringly at her pajama-clad brother.

Guess who this loving look is directed toward?

Yep.

But again, can you blame her? He's pretty cool!

Girl is totally into her play table. Still won't pull up on it, but totally into it nonetheless.

Later, I opened up our big sliding door to let Caleb run on the deck. I turned away for a moment, and when I looked back, Daisy had scooted right out the door. She loves to be outside, and boy is she quick!

"Who, me?"

She got into everything out there!

More adoring gazes at her brother. She's mimicking him, too. See the gumball in her hand?

Caleb, meanwhile, decided he was Diego and needed to rescue this monkey. His tricycle became his "rescue motorcycle". I'm not making this up.

"Clap your hands with me! Clap, clap, clap!"

Diego says that. I had no idea Caleb would repeat it verbatim! He's getting to the stage where it's scary what he notices and repeats. I think Chris and I may be in trouble soon!

February 28

I know. You worry about me when I haven't posted by 10:30 pm. And to post a full twenty-four hours late is just cruel. But I have a reason, really. I was at book club pretty late last night, then got home and Daisy needed me rightthissecond and then we had the house re-appraised today (long story; the outcome of the appraisal doesn't affect us at all) so I spent the day cleaning and organizing and trying to make it look like we aren't living in a hovel (though sometimes it feels like we are...).

So. A post that is twenty-four hours late. Sorry.

How about some cute pictures of the kids to make up for it?

Tooth #2 did not make its appearance today, despite Daisy's best efforts. Maybe tomorrow.

I just want to squish her sweet little face!

She is in love with her "Who Loves Daisy?" book! It's the only non-touch-and-feel book she likes.

I love her face and the face she's making on the cover of the book. Too funny.

(Also, she's wearing a dress with BabyLegs. I generally don't prefer this because there's always a patch of exposed skin between the diaper and the top of the BabyLeg, but we had to do it because she had no clean pants to wear. She only has six or seven pairs, and this scooting thing gets them dirty so quickly. Plus, she's kind of a messy eater, so she can go through three pairs a day easily. So no pants today, and she got her one pair of sturdy tights dirty, too. She can't wear thin tights because she'll just scoot a hole in them. What's a mama to do?)

See glimmer in her eye? It's because she's about to scoot toward me at lightning speed and make a move on my camera. Don't worry - my cat-like mama reflexes still beat her baby reflexes, and she didn't get her grubby little hands on my camera. But she's determined, and I have no doubt that she will soon get the camera.

Later, we enjoyed the beautiful weather and went on a walk to the lake.

Caleb insisted on getting out of the BOB so that he could go "see" the geese.

Apparently "see" means "chase and generally harass" in Caleb's world.

On the way home, we stopped at the playground and had a major play-breakthrough: 

This non-climber climbed up and mounted the bouncy horse all by himself.

Can you tell how proud he is? 

I sat on a bench and talked him through how to mount the horse, and he did it! All by himself! Once he got on, we just looked at each other with shock and amazement. It was a pretty big moment for both of us.

February 27

So far, so good. 

Caleb and Daisy seem to be (mostly) done being sick. My stomach has hurt all day, but I've managed to refrain from emptying its contents, so I'm hoping I've avoided The Sickness, too. And aside from a cold, Chris is fine.

So maybe we're ok?

I forgot to take pictures today, which is funny because we did a whole lot of nothing.

But can I tell you how Caleb woke me up this morning?

Caleb and Daisy both woke up around 5:30 am. Chris took charge of them while he got ready for work; I got to  attempt to sleep. When Chris had to leave at 7, he handed Daisy to me in bed and left Caleb playing in the living room. I tried and tried and tried to stay in bed as long as I could, but then...

In my groggy, sleepy stupor, I heard Caleb coming down the long hall, dragging something heavy. He entered my room, unceremoniously flipped on my lights and began banging on his toy drum (thanks, Sara), yelling, "I'm like the red monster on Muppets!"

And with that, I was awake.

Dinner tonight was equally fun. Caleb refused to eat his beef stroganoff. He smelled the egg noodles cooking and thought we were having macaroni and cheese.

As if.

Sorry, kiddo.

He asked, "Can we have macaroni and cheese? Can we have macaroni and cheese from Bread Company?" When I told him no, he said, "I will go get it. Here is my quarter. I will go get it."

Then he went into the living room and whipped up his own batch of macaroni and cheese.

Pink play-doh in a little pot. He even brought it to the table so that he could eat it.

Caleb may not have eaten it, but Daisy liked the beef stroganoff!

As we waited in vain for Caleb to eat, we played the Clapping Game. It's a game Daisy and Caleb invented. Daisy randomly starts clapping, and the whole family joins in. We all love it. 

See? Daisy claps,

Caleb gets excited and decides to start the game,

And we all join in. It's pretty fun.

Daisy loves being the center of attention, and also loves being able to control what everyone else is doing!

Yay!

(Now she's excitedly waving her hands in the air. Guess what we all did?)

Yep. We waved, too.

So. Much. Fun.

Just a normal Monday night for us. You know you're jealous of our awesomeness.

(Also, Daisy's tooth #2 should be making an appearance tomorrow. Stay tuned for details!)

February 26

I've been hearing about the nasty stomach bug that's been going around, and today it hit the kiddos.

Daisy was sound asleep at 5:45 this morning and just started puking. Ugh. Poor baby. And this time, she was in our bed. So the bed, the baby, and the mama were all gross. After two more episodes in the next hour, she was totally fine. No fussing or anything!

Daisy and I stayed home from church, but sent Chris and Caleb because it was our Sunday to work in the nursery. We couldn't leave them with no one to watch the babies!

Caleb came home, ate lunch, napped, woke up, and wanted to snuggle. That's when I knew it was going to hit him, too. I enjoyed our snuggle, but made sure to keep a trash can nearby. Boy, did we ever need it!

I know it's just a matter of time before it hits me, too...

Daisy, dreaming of life in a home where the children aren't vomiting.

Checking to see if anyone is watching...

the attempting to escape.

As if. 

Sorry, baby. You're stuck here in this sick house!

February 25

Why does Daisy love her daddy so much?

Because he can do things like this: 

He's caring for both children so that I could have a break (they both took crummy naps and I was at my limit). But rather than just playing with them, he took them outside and did yard work.

Can you say "Dad of the Year"?

February 24

Happy birthday to me!

What a great day! Chris and the kiddos woke me up this morning with presents; I was groggy and half-awake, but Caleb sweetly helped me open every single one. Funny boy. Then we went to breakfast. Daisy fell asleep in the car on the way to the restaurant and - miracle of miracles - stayed asleep when we brought her inside! She must have been really tired. Caleb was an angel the whole meal, and drew admiring glances from every person within twenty feet of us. Daisy eventually woke up and was also a delight. Really, that alone was a perfect birthday gift. Adorable, well-behaved children at a restaurant for a yummy breakfast? Sing it with me: "These are a few of my favorite things..."

Later, we had a little (tiny) family celebration, involving a pizza smorgasbord and this amazing triple-chocolate mousse cake. It was more complicated than most recipes I make, but well worth the effort for a birthday dessert. It was on par or better than most restaurant or bakery desserts!

Caleb took advantage of all of the adults willing to indulge his outside-y longings. He and Jenny walked to the sewer lid to make it wobble and hear its funny noise, then ran back to the house.

Our pizza and salad feast. We each brought a pizza from a different place. I'm famously indecisive when it comes to food (and many other things), so this method satisfies my longings.

Daisy loves Grandad!

Blowing out my candles. I was woefully out of practice because I typically outsource this job to Caleb or Ryan. But Ryan was home sick (poor kid has pneumonia!!) and Caleb was busy snuggling with Grandmother, so I had to do my own candle-blowing. It took me four or five tries!

Emily and Max

I called upon Caleb's suddenly-impressive gift-unwrapping skills, and he was eager to oblige.

I love my sweet boy! He wasn't sad, just curious about this yummy-smelling candle from Sally.

What a good day!

February 23

Finally our empty kitchen is not so empty - we have a banquette!

OK, I know it doesn't look like much in this picture. But that's because it only shows 1/3 of the situation. I took this before our neighbor brought over the other half of the bench and the table he built. Also, it still needs to be painted, installed, and have cushions made for it.

But let me tell you: it is pretty fantastic, and I think it will turn our little kitchen into one of my favorite rooms in the house. I'll post more about it on the house blog when I get a chance.

This girl is finally feeling back to 100%. And now when she bites my nose, I can feel her sharp little tooth. Hooray!

This boy? I asked him to show me a handsome face, and he gave me this: 

Then this: 

Then this: 

And finally this: 

While Daisy napped this morning, he kept asking, "Mommy, can we go on a 'venture?"

It broke my heart to tell him no, especially since it ended up being right around 70 degrees today. Tomorrow is supposed to be yucky, but Chris is taking the day off work in honor of my birthday (really, it should be a bank holiday anyway, don't you think?). So maybe we'll find time for a 'venture then.

February 22

Today, naps were had.

The sun shone.

There were no runny noses.

No one was vomited upon.

And that, my friends, makes it a good day.

Lunch today was so fun that I had to get out my camera, despite the raging headache that made me want to crawl into bed, pull the covers over my head, and ignore the children. (I did none of those things, by the way.)

Daisy ate broccoli, Cheerios, and string cheese.

The girl was crazy about the string cheese - as soon as she saw me tearing a piece for her, she would begin wiggling her legs and lunging in my general direction. When I handed her a piece, she gnawed and slurped and gobbled in a most unladylike way. It was entertaining.

Happy about the string cheese!

(She gets it from her daddy.)

Once the string cheese was gone, she resumed eating in a ladylike manner.

Yum!

(Have I mentioned that she signs "more" now? It's very rudimentary - more of an excited hand-waving than anything, but then it settles down into a clap which is clearly her interpretation of the "more" sign. She also signs "milk". Unfortunately, she often signs "milk" when she's sleepy, because I'm a terrible mom who still nurses her baby to sleep instead of teaching her to put herself to sleep. It's just easier. So "milk" equals milk, but it also equals nap.)

Caleb has taken to disassembling his sandwiches and then smearing his face with the contents during lunch. It is not pretty, and it is quite messy. But there are no tantrums at lunch.

After naptime, my headache was gone and the sun was shining, so we headed to the playground. As we walked, clouds started gathering, so that by the time we arrived it was dark and gloomy instead of bright and sunshiny. But it was still above sixty degrees, so I can't complain.

Have I mentioned that these kids love to swing?

I'm sure I haven't posted any swing photos lately.

Oh, I have? Sorry.

Caleb also wore his snazzy hat today, but I didn't manage to get a picture of him in his whole dapper getup. But, can I just tell you? We put on the button-down shirt, rolled the sleeves, and donned his snazzy hat. I looked at him and said, "Wow, Caleb! You look handsome!" Then I busied myself with getting Daisy ready for the park. A few minutes later I found him in his room, standing in front of his mirrored closet doors, inspecting his reflection. He looked happy and proud and it was so, so sweet.