To Grandmother's House We Go

...or, "To Grammie Deb's House We Go". We went over to Matt's parents for dinner the other night and the kids had fun playing. I had fun not cooking. Plus, Grammie Deb is one of the few people that Miles will eagerly reach for when in my arms, so he had a good time.

Brooke had fun dancing with Grandpa. She's gearing up for her ballet recital. The other day, "Tiny Dancer" came on the radio and she said, "Hey! How did they get my ballet song on the radio?!?" Spoiler alert for us, I guess.

We also went over to Grandma Audie's one night last week. Miles had fun taste-testing all of her figurines, then throwing them over his shoulder.

...and going after the figurines that Brooke was playing with. She's getting good with the strong-arm.

The kids are lucky to have grandparents who love them so much...and the feeling is mutual!

Friends

We've been able to take advantage of some fun times with friends the last couple of weeks. We took a trip to Brookfield Zoo with Kali and Christy.

Not staged. Have I mentioned that I love our neighborhood?

And of course, Miles doesn't want to neglect his friends. Here he is with Cam and Kellen (see one of their first get-togethers here).

And here he is with one of his besties, Wes.

We're so thankful for all of our great friends!

Spring!

It's finally been warm enough for us to get out and play pretty regularly (when it's not raining). We've taken walks to the playground as a family the last couple of weekends. Miles likes to try to throw himself down slides head first, so that's always exciting. We've also been playing a lot in our driveway and yard. Cute story: this picture was taken one morning after Jamie and I had gone running. As we left, Brooke requested to "go running" with us when we got back. She put on her "running shoes" and ran(ish) with us around the block, of course stopping a few times to rest or give us instructions.

 We've also finally been able to break out some of the spring wardrobe.

It took some convincing, but we think she's finally over the baby swing. It helps that we have the excuse of Miles needing to use it.

Rainy day activities. I swear I do more than Froot Loops bracelets, she just requests we make one anytime we do anything crafty.

Happy spring!

The Kids

 

It's been a little while since I've given a general update, so here goes. Miles continues to army-crawl everywhere, which has posed some problems with keeping his pants on. He's in 12-18 month stuff lengthwise, but ends up wiggling out of several of his pairs of pants that are a little loose in the waist. The army-crawling thing is a little bafffling to me. He'll get up on all fours when he's looking at things, but as soon as he's ready to move, he'll flatten out his tummy. If I learned anything with Brooke, it's not to sweat the milestones, so I'm having fun watching him do his weird crawl.

He's also pulling up on things and doing a little cruising along furniture. I've already had to do more baby-proofing than I ever did with Brooke (which still isn't a ton). He's all about going for the stairs and sharp corners. Then he'll give me this look. Stinker.

He's in the process of cutting 6 new teeth - 4 molars and 2 front, bottom teeth. He's a little clingier, but still not bad. He's still napping twice a day when we're home for a total of several hours. He's kind of "over" baby food. He'll take it from pouches, but is much more into finger foods. And he really likes things in bigger pieces that he can bite off. French toast sticks are a favorite. We're transitioning from bottle to sippy cup at bedtime and in the morning. He's not drinking as much milk, but doesn't seem bothered by the change.

He's talking more, saying "ma" for more, "hi" and "bye", he's also saying "mama" and "dada", but not super-consistently. "Oz" is still a favorite, too. Mostly, though, he points and grunts when he wants things. His favorite toy by far is his little basketball hoop. He'll spend maybe 10 minutes at a time putting balls through the hoop.

He loves his sister, loves to flirt, and has become quite fond of our neighbor, Jill. He does not like dogs licking his face. Can you blame him?

And this little lady is in full-on "3's Questioning" mode. I probably answer 200 questions a day, which I'll take over the tantrums anytime. Not that the tantrums have stopped, but they *seem* to be getting a little better (knock on wood). And the questions, while sometimes exhausting, are actually fun. Have you ever thought of how to explain the words "probably" or "maybe" without using those words? It's kind of tricky.

It's also been fun to see her putting things that she's learned at school or church into practice. We had some great discussions about the meaning of Easter that really caused me to step up my praying for her tender little heart, as well as for wisdom in talking to her. Her Toddler Bible that she got for Easter is her new favorite book and it's been fun going through the Bible with her (AND not having to read Princess stories every night!). She's also been doing some basic addition and subtraction. And while we were in Florida, she mentioned missing both school and ballet, which I took to be good signs. And kind of sent me into a panic about how we're going to stay busy this summer, but I'm sure we'll manage.

Another Visit

We went to St. Louis again last weekend to pick up Ozzie and so that I could attend my cousin's finace's bridal shower. (For those who were wondering, Ozzie doesn't seem too traumatized by the few weeks away from us. My parents who had him, on the other hand...) As always, it was too short a visit but we were happy to fit in lots of time visiting family.

The kids were able to spend a lot of time playing together and despite the sleep deprivation, remained in pretty good spirits. This might have been the best the girls got along for an extended period. Here they are practicing using chopsticks before we went to dinner at a hibachi restaurant.

Miles was a charmer, as usual. He enjoyed head-butting Papa T.

And playing with Gigi. He kept taking a bite of the cookie, then resting it on her neck. As I type it, it's not that funny, but at the time it was pretty adorable.

Matt and my dad took the kids to a carnival while my mom and I were at the bridal shower on Saturday.

(Much needed) Bath time. Miles enjoyed having company. For some reason, Brooke isn't really into them taking baths together. I guess she needs her "me" time.

Fun at the playground. I didn't get a picture of Matt telling Brooke, "I've got you," right before he let her fall. She didn't get hurt and wasn't too shaken up, so it was funny (I can say that, right?).

Lunch at Gigi's.

Amy and the kids came over to Tim and Krissi's. I think this was Lexi "teaching" them out on the deck.

Mati looks so much like Amy in this picture, it's scary. 

Joel brought over his new dog, Mia. It was kind of an intense couple of hours, but the dogs all left on good terms. I think it's safe to say that Ozzie was the least dominant.

Vegging a little after a busy morning. Of course the Timmerman kids are ready with great smiles.

Daddy/Daughter/Uncle/Niece breakfast table.

Ending the visit with some play-dough and "projects."

As great as it always is to see everyone, it's really nice to be home and have no scheduled traveling on any of our calendars for at least a month!

Happy Birthday, Aunt Jamie!

Jamie's birthday was Friday and Brooke was very excited for it. She spent a couple of days decorating her card and on Friday, told everyone that we saw that it was Aunt Jamie's birthday and that we were going to have a birthday party for her that night. Here she is "helping" Miles smile.

Miles sharing his snacks with Uncle Mike.

Brooke helping Grammie Deb cook. Notice her hair - I had braided the Barbie's hair and she wanted me to french braid her hair, and her hair is EXACTLY like mine was/is, so she ended up looking more like George Washington than Barbie.

We had fun celebrating with you, Jamie. Thanks for being such a generous, fun, loving aunt!