Where's Your Bellybutton?

Just Checking In...

I know you haven't heard from me lately...I was flying solo with the boys this week and wrapped up in all things toddler, then I had to make Hubs come home from work because I was so sick yesterday! 

I'm back in the land of the living today, and the four of us visited the library to "read" to a therapy dog!  Which was quite a hoot!  M was so excited, making his "wooh! wooh!" sound, hardly able to wait his turn to attack pet the dog!  Everyone in earshot was laughing, except the little girl who really was trying to read to the dog!  Either way, it was a fun way to spend a chilly Saturday morning.  We're off to have another adventure this evening before the freezing rain keeps us in all day tomorrow.  I'll have pictures soon!

Oh, and I'm making progress on my first crochet project - a scarf that only its mother could love!

Let it Snow

because there is one great thing about paying homeowner's association fees in our townhouse: plowing!  And now that I have two boys, it's also: entertainment!  As with our Friday morning garbage collection, the snowplow elicits "oohs" and "aaahs" and excitement from my little fellas, and better than the garbage truck, it lasts for several minutes!

Snow is much more fun from in here.

That's so amazing!

MN Children's Museum

I finally snagged the library pass to the Minnesota Children's Museum!  Lest you think that's so simple, I dare you to get it!  With our free admission in hand, the four of us trekked up to St. Paul yesterday to explore the awesomeness of the Children's Museum.

We were not disappointed!  It was a kiddie dream come true.  I said to Hubs that if the kids were older, this would be the perfect place to spend an entire day totally entertained.

"Habitot" was an exhibit specially designed for 6-48 month-olds, where we began.  There were different "habitats" for the kids to explore, things to climb and slide, flowers to spin and "pick," bridges to cross, and chimes to sound - for starters.  The guys were running like the wind, so yes, these are the best of the shots we took!

N spins the sunflowers

M climbs up the net

M gets a push down the slide

N giggles down on his tummy

A great shot of N's curls

N learns about animals

N struts his stuff on the Habitots bridge

N sounds the chimes in Habitots

There were several other rooms we checked out, but were geared for older kids, so we didn't spend much time in them.  For the record, I give "Earth World" a big thumbs-down, as it contains a GIANT anthill designed for kids to (literally) crawl through, searching for their "queen."  This might be a gas for a 60-pound 10 year old, but not so much for an, ahem, bigger person, crawling after her 17-month old who is RUNNING through the tunnels.  How did this thing pass fire safety codes?!

So we ventured into Water Works, which easily tied Habitots as the coolest place in the Museum.
There was a "Tiny Tots" water table where the kids were supposed to put ping-pong balls into the tubes and watch them go through as the water moved them.  The boys were mesmerized: I think we could have stayed there for hours!

My two little scientists!

N loads up the tubes

M is concentrating hard!

There it goes!

We finished our fun family day with pizza at Cossetta's, the best Italian restaurant and market in the area.  Since it's just a block or two from United Hospital, Hubs ate a lot of Cossetta's the week I was hospitalized after giving birth.  It's a great fun old place to visit!  The boys gobbled up the pizza, of course, and then zonked out on the way home:

Snow Babies

Most kids in our area are thrilled with the foot of snow we're receiving today.  Are ours?  You tell me:

Where's my caaa?

Hey, it's kinda cold out here.

This is cold and I can't find me my caaa!

Okay, 5 minutes is enough.  Let's go in!

Waaaa!  We thought you loved us, Mommy!

No, Daddy!  Not the scary snowman!!!

Nope.  They hated every minute of it.

We've got about 4 more months to torture them like this!

Your Vocab List

There will be a quiz.  Study hard.

• "shoo" shoes, socks, tissue
• "choo-choo" train
• "eee?eee?" are we going to eat soon?  will you feed me? I'm hungry! accompanied the "eat" sign
• "baba" or "wawa" accompanied by the "milk" sign; I'm thirsty
• "teee" teeth, TV
• "moo" what a cow says
• "baa" what a sheep says, or banana or bath
• "nay" what a horse says, or what M calls N
• "eee-eee-ooo-ooo" what a monkey says
• "wooh, wooh" what a dog says
• "naaaah naaaaah naaaah" what a motorcycle says
• "raaarh" what a lion, tiger, bear, or stuffed animal in hand says
• "coo-kie?" can I have a cookie or cracker or whatever it is that you're eating?
• "jew" juice
• "chee" cheese
• "no" NO, nose, as the boy puts his little finger up your nostril
• "mo?mo?mo?mo?"  can I have some more of that thing you just fed me?
• "ahh duh!" I'm all done with this (meal, activity, carseat, etc.) accompanied by escalating sign language, meaning, if you don't hurry up, I'm going to flap my arms and fly outta here!
• "go, go, go, go" GO, as in the "Cat in the Hat" cartoon song, "We're gonna go, go, go, go on an adventure," or me saying, "Let's go,"  also Go-Gurt (Yoplait's yogurt in a tube: genius!)
•  "caa?" Can I go outside and play cars?  Will you open this diaper wipes box and get my matchbox car out so I can put it back in and close it? I want a car to play with in my carseat.
•  "uh, uh" pick me up and let me get stuff off the counter or open the microwave door a dozen times
• "nigh-nigh" Can I go night night? When is night night?  I just got up from night night.
• "mama" and "dada," of course - my favorites
• "zis?" what's this?
• "zee" Auntie L's name
• "GiGi" Great-Grandma P's name
• "apo" apple
• When M stands by the bathroom door wiping his hands together, he'd like to wash his hands (so he can eat) please!
• "si?" Outside?  Usually accompanied by "shoo?" and an article of clothing to go outside
• "ahma" Amen.
• "Hi," "Bye, bye"
 

Christmas Card Conundrum

I've been using Shutterfly (http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery) for years to make all kinds of special cards and this Christmas is no exception.   I think that if there is not an adorable face on the card, it will eventually be tossed, but who can throw away a picture of my cutie pies?

Thus begins the Christmas card quest.  Here's the link to Shutterfly's Christmas cards page:
http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/christmas-cards  I'm looking for one that is very

"us," that can accommodate our BEST EVER family picture, and says something about Christmas, not "holiday" or "season."  Here's one idea:

But I'd like a little more pizazz.  Here's another one I like from Shutterfly's "holiday" page http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/holiday-cards, but our photo is vertical, not horizontal.  I don't know if either will work:

Good thing I've got...5 WEEKS!?  Eeek!  I'd better hurry up and decide!  What will you do for cards this year?