The Arboretum

 

Since we've moved here, I've been to the Morton Arboretum several times with friends (I miss you, Beth!) and always had a great time, so this year I decided it was worth buying a family pass. We've only had it a few weeks, but I'm going to go ahead and say I was right. We've already been twice (once as a family and once when my parents came up) and the kids have had a great time both times.

Yes, we do spend most of our time at the water features, but my children (Brooke, at least) are creatures of habit - much like their parents - and know what they like.

 

The Arboretum tends to draw a rather "earthy" group who I'm guessing were torn between applauding my decision to let Miles play in the water without his clothes and turning up their noses at my use of disposable diapers.

I love the varying expressions on our faces in this shot. Seriously, what was going on behind the camera?!?

Maybe next time we'll got some shots out of the water. Maybe not. 

Sunday Funday

Jamie took Brooke out yesterday for a few hours. Brooke was so excited to go with her. She had her purse all packed and told her friends at church that she was going to lunch with Aunt Jamie and going to meet Will's doggies.

They had an authentic Cinco de Mayo lunch at Chipotle then spent some time at the playground. She had a blast! I'll let the pictures Jamie took speak for themselves.

I guess she actually requested to come home because she was tired, then when she got home at 5, asked if she was going to take a nap. Gotta love a kid worn out from too much fun! Thanks again, Aunt Jamie and Will!

Trouble

This guy.

Really, in the grand scheme, he's easy, but he's definitely reached a bit of a mischievous stage. And I'm kind of loving it. (And yes, *we* were watching Project Runway. I couldn't figure out how to edit Heidi Klum's face from that shot. I also love that he's too young to have opinions about what's on the television.)

He's pulling up all over the place, and cruising a little along furniture. He really likes music and books.

And irritating his sister. He loves messing with the cable receiver when she's watching her shows. Also, he really does have more than 2 shirts. He just happened to be wearing this shirt on a couple of days when I took a bunch of pics.

Oh, and there's this. I was in the kitchen the other day and noticed that the grunting that he typically uses for communication was sounding further away, so I went in to take a quick peek and he was a couple of stairs up. It's now one of his favorite things to do around the house and makes him so proud. With a face like that, how can I say no?

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.