Who's Cooking Now?

A big thanks to Melissa and Heather for the cooking set. Elle's gonna make dinner all next week. 

Defeat, Snatched from the Jaws of Victory

Well, it took a little over a month, but this:

has turned back in to this:

Such is life.

Music Lovers

Elle rocking out in Jersey...

...and looking like she has her first "musician crush."  If she's anything like her mom, it won't be her last.

Laughing Boy

Long Weekend Bliss

Cheers!

This weekend we braved the subzero temperatures in Vermont to warm our hearts with a visit to the Coburns.  While we're psyched to have additional reasons to visit VT, man I miss having these guys in the city.  

This is how they serve toast in the morning.

How excited does David Andrew look to have a cute girl in his tub?

It was SERIOUSLY freezing out, but we tried to go sledding anyway.  The mission was aborted when Ellie wouldn't stop crying about how much the cold hurt her face.  Cry baby.

The next day we sensibly stayed inside and visited a local museum that had a toy train exhibit.  Ellie could have spent five hours pushing the red button that made the toy billboard switch advertisements.  She didn't approve of anyone else taking a turn.

Isn't it a little like wonderland?

We had a great time playing with the kids, but ADULT DINNER on Sunday night was a definite highlight.  John and Becky left the city over four years ago, and I'm so grateful we get to see them often.  Not often enough, mind you, but a girl's got to take what she can get.

Crawling!

When Gabe first started schooching around backwards I was certain he'd be crawling by Thanksgiving.  Then Christmas.  Then New Years.  I should have said Martin Luther King Day from the beginning.  FINALLY, the kid is moving around, sucking on power cords, and generally causing unprecedented levels of mayhem.  I am in so much trouble.

Up, Up, and Away!

Gabe's very first time pulling himself up.  Way to go, kid!

Sunny Days

60 degrees on January 7th?  We'll take it.

Two Years Old

So say you’re two years old, and you see your milk-cup from across the living room.  Do you:

a)      calmly explain to your mother that you would like your milk-cup, please

b)      scream “Milk-cup!  Milk! Milk Cup!  Milk!” at the top of your lungs, shattering your mother’s eardrums and making her reach for a beer-cup at 11am

c)      independently walk across the room and retrieve the desired milk-cup yourself.

Or, say your mother lovingly made you a grilled cheese sandwich for lunch.  Do you:

a)      eat the entire sandwich while murmuring sounds of appreciation

b)      eat half the sandwich, declare yourself “all done,” and wait to be excused from the table

c)      scream “No want it! No want it!” while pushing the plate off the table and dissolving into hysterics.

Or, say it’s time to read books, and you want to read the “pink book.”  Do you:

a)      helpfully show your mother which book is the “pink book” since she clearly has no idea what you’re talking about and could swear none of your books are pink.

b)      Find another way to explain to your mother what on earth you mean by “pink book.”

c)      Throw yourself on the ground in agonized protest of the fact that your idiot mother won’t get the god-forsaken PINK BOOK.

I think you can see where I’m going with this.

Who Loves Mama's iPhone?

Helicopter Madness

How could I have forgotten to post about this?  Last week we visited Allie and Mike in New Jersey.  One of the benefits of Jersey?  Remote controlled helicopters, of course!

10 Months

Dear Gabey,

Today you're 10 months old.  You still like to start every morning at 5am, but I've almost gotten used to it.  You're pushing yourself around the apartment backwards, and this morning you and your sister played peekaboo with the curtains.  The sound of you laughing together is the best thing I have ever heard.

Love, Mom