Friday, May 30, 2008
Our life as we know it is over
It's official. Dylan's a walker. That means the path of destruction he leaves behind as a crawler is about to double in size and intensity. Oh, and he also likes to climb. It may be time to pad the walls.
Thursday, May 29, 2008
Oh, so that's what nice weather feels like
When we moved to the northeast we fully expected to deal with the shock of our coldest winter we've experienced. I'm proud to say we now truly understand the term "ass crack cold" (given to me by my friend Amy), which is when you can actually feel that your ass crack is freezing. I'm also proud to say we survived that just fine, ass cracks still in tact. What we were not prepared for is the length of the winter. I mean, it's the end of May and it is just now getting consistently warm. That's a relative term -- today's high is 74 degrees, but tonight's low is 55. Still, I finally feel confident putting our winter coats, scarves and clothes away ... now that we're almost halfway through the year.
Anyway, Memorial Day weekend was the most amazing weather -- clear skies, almost 80 degrees, beautiful. So we packed up and took a day trip to the Jersey Shore! In less than 1.5 hours, we were in Point Pleasant, NJ, a nice beach town that looks like it belongs in a 1950s movie, complete with a touristy boardwalk and quiet, clean residential streets that look like everyone on the block knows each other.
We had a great time at the beach, although the water was too cold to get in. Dylan didn't much like the feel of the sand, which means he actually stayed put(!) on our blanket, shoving fruit into his mouth by the handful and throwing beach toys only to discover sadly that they wound up out of his reach. Kelsie, on the other hand, loved playing in the sand and finding shells.
Once we got tired of the beach we headed to the boardwalk where Kelsie rode a bunch of rides and we all had corn dogs. Back in car, home by 8:30pm. So glad to know how easy and fun that was. We'll definitely be making more trips there this summer.
Next day we outfitted our redneck backyard with patio furniture and a fire bowl, and had a lovely outdoor dinner and wine by the fire. Redneck b/c we haven't yet laid grass or fixed the fence so we've got semi-nice stuff sitting on a dirt ground next to a shoddy chain link fence. Goes nicely with our upstairs neighbor's redneck roof deck, decorated with Florida Gators patio furniture, a baby pool and a speaker that blares country music. Yes, we southerners are fitting right in here in New Jersey.
P.S. - I challenge you to find a piece of writing that uses the term "ass crack" more than this one.
Anyway, Memorial Day weekend was the most amazing weather -- clear skies, almost 80 degrees, beautiful. So we packed up and took a day trip to the Jersey Shore! In less than 1.5 hours, we were in Point Pleasant, NJ, a nice beach town that looks like it belongs in a 1950s movie, complete with a touristy boardwalk and quiet, clean residential streets that look like everyone on the block knows each other.
We had a great time at the beach, although the water was too cold to get in. Dylan didn't much like the feel of the sand, which means he actually stayed put(!) on our blanket, shoving fruit into his mouth by the handful and throwing beach toys only to discover sadly that they wound up out of his reach. Kelsie, on the other hand, loved playing in the sand and finding shells.
Once we got tired of the beach we headed to the boardwalk where Kelsie rode a bunch of rides and we all had corn dogs. Back in car, home by 8:30pm. So glad to know how easy and fun that was. We'll definitely be making more trips there this summer.
Next day we outfitted our redneck backyard with patio furniture and a fire bowl, and had a lovely outdoor dinner and wine by the fire. Redneck b/c we haven't yet laid grass or fixed the fence so we've got semi-nice stuff sitting on a dirt ground next to a shoddy chain link fence. Goes nicely with our upstairs neighbor's redneck roof deck, decorated with Florida Gators patio furniture, a baby pool and a speaker that blares country music. Yes, we southerners are fitting right in here in New Jersey.
P.S. - I challenge you to find a piece of writing that uses the term "ass crack" more than this one.
Friday, May 23, 2008
Thank God for girl trips
Last weekend was the annual LSU girls trip to Destin, FL. We had 12 girls this year and about 12x the amount of alcohol and food that would be considered "healthy" according to "experts." But that's okay because we worked it off by sitting by the pool and/or beach, and we broke an occasional sweat by dancing to Thriller (props to Critter for bringing the 25th Anniversary DVD ... yes, it's 25 years old).
Sometimes these trips are very restful. This one was not. The most childish of us never went to sleep before 3am. We regressed to our college days, and loved every minute of it.
I hate to say it, but I thoroughly enjoyed being kid-free and mostly responsibility-free for a few days. I even caught myself cursing under my breath at the noisy kids upstairs for waking me up at 10am.
A few of my favorite things:
Pizza rolls. Mudslides. Splotchy sunburns. Cougars. Jamaica. Flavor Flav. "These shoes aren't made for bull riding." Tweeners. Cookie cake. "Write that down." Amanda jumping the fence. Crazy lady jumping the fence. C.D. corners.
(how embarrassing that most of the things I want to add to this list aren't PG - man, we really did regress)
To any of the girls reading this, I love y'all! I'm so thankful to have such a smart, successful, warm, loyal group of friends and I'm a better person for knowing each of you. Honestly.
Now it's back to real life ... so far since my return 3 of the 4 of us have gotten a stomach bug and my work world got turned upside down by the departure of my closest colleague. Sigh.
Sometimes these trips are very restful. This one was not. The most childish of us never went to sleep before 3am. We regressed to our college days, and loved every minute of it.
I hate to say it, but I thoroughly enjoyed being kid-free and mostly responsibility-free for a few days. I even caught myself cursing under my breath at the noisy kids upstairs for waking me up at 10am.
A few of my favorite things:
Pizza rolls. Mudslides. Splotchy sunburns. Cougars. Jamaica. Flavor Flav. "These shoes aren't made for bull riding." Tweeners. Cookie cake. "Write that down." Amanda jumping the fence. Crazy lady jumping the fence. C.D. corners.
(how embarrassing that most of the things I want to add to this list aren't PG - man, we really did regress)
To any of the girls reading this, I love y'all! I'm so thankful to have such a smart, successful, warm, loyal group of friends and I'm a better person for knowing each of you. Honestly.
Now it's back to real life ... so far since my return 3 of the 4 of us have gotten a stomach bug and my work world got turned upside down by the departure of my closest colleague. Sigh.
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
Dylan at his finest
I realize I haven't posted about Dylan in a while, so lest you think I forgot about our little wrecking ball, here he is at his finest (make sure your volume is up).
Other Dylan updates:
- His newest words are hola and gracias, thanks to his wonderful teacher, Julia (pronounced Hulia) who doesn't speak much English. He absolutely adores her and I think he's rubbing it in our face by choosing to speak Spanish words instead of the words we're trying to teach him.
- He still refuses to walk, even though I KNOW he can do it. He's just lazy/stubborn/chicken.
- He has developed a discerning palette for crayons and markers, and Kelsie has a knack for leaving hers out and unattended. So we often catch him with a Periwinkle tongue or Burnt Sienna teeth. Good thing they're non-toxic.
- He is all boy. Where Kelsie would acquaint herself to something new by examining it closely, Dylan will taste it and then throw it as far as he can. He crawls with full force and has no qualms about running into things, and he prefers everything within his reach to be tossed on the floor and kicked around.
And man, he is demanding!
Other Dylan updates:
- His newest words are hola and gracias, thanks to his wonderful teacher, Julia (pronounced Hulia) who doesn't speak much English. He absolutely adores her and I think he's rubbing it in our face by choosing to speak Spanish words instead of the words we're trying to teach him.
- He still refuses to walk, even though I KNOW he can do it. He's just lazy/stubborn/chicken.
- He has developed a discerning palette for crayons and markers, and Kelsie has a knack for leaving hers out and unattended. So we often catch him with a Periwinkle tongue or Burnt Sienna teeth. Good thing they're non-toxic.
- He is all boy. Where Kelsie would acquaint herself to something new by examining it closely, Dylan will taste it and then throw it as far as he can. He crawls with full force and has no qualms about running into things, and he prefers everything within his reach to be tossed on the floor and kicked around.
And man, he is demanding!
Young love is rough
"I'm not going to marry you anymore because you're only three," said Kelsie to her good friend Aryan, who is 8 days younger than Kelsie.
The birthday party
Sometimes I forget how literal you have to be with Kelsie. We had her party on Saturday, 3 days after her actual birthday. So every time someone would wish her happy birthday, instead of saying thank you she'd say "No, it is not my birthday. It's just my party."
Anyway, the music and puppet show was great -- he involved the kids in a treasure hunt that included pretending to swim in the ocean (complete with a bubble machine to set the mood), chasing a monkey puppet, finding mardi gras beads, magic tricks, singing songs, etc. And it was funny -- the adults were entertained, too, which was a nice surprise -- but I think a lot of it was us laughing at Kelsie.
The premise of the show was that a witch puppet named Grizabella was supposed to present the birthday crown to Kelsie but she decided she was going to keep it for herself, so the kids had to go through a series of adventures to find it. Well, Kelsie was determined to get that crown! She even tried to take it from the witch puppet. At one point the performer said they needed to trade something for the crown (of course he had something planned for that) and Kelsie, panicked, jumped up and said "TAKE MY WATCH!!" and tried to give her new watch to the puppet in exchange for the crown.
You'll see in the video that the performer had to get Kelsie and the other kids to back off from time to time!
Victorious with her crown:
Dylan enjoying the show, with a little help from Aunt Betsy:
Anyway, the music and puppet show was great -- he involved the kids in a treasure hunt that included pretending to swim in the ocean (complete with a bubble machine to set the mood), chasing a monkey puppet, finding mardi gras beads, magic tricks, singing songs, etc. And it was funny -- the adults were entertained, too, which was a nice surprise -- but I think a lot of it was us laughing at Kelsie.
The premise of the show was that a witch puppet named Grizabella was supposed to present the birthday crown to Kelsie but she decided she was going to keep it for herself, so the kids had to go through a series of adventures to find it. Well, Kelsie was determined to get that crown! She even tried to take it from the witch puppet. At one point the performer said they needed to trade something for the crown (of course he had something planned for that) and Kelsie, panicked, jumped up and said "TAKE MY WATCH!!" and tried to give her new watch to the puppet in exchange for the crown.
You'll see in the video that the performer had to get Kelsie and the other kids to back off from time to time!
Victorious with her crown:
Dylan enjoying the show, with a little help from Aunt Betsy:
Thursday, May 8, 2008
Rock star
Here's one to file under "What Were We Thinking?" Kelsie's main birthday present was a pink guitar. How cool is she ...
Check out Brian trying to teach her how to play ... I hope the humor in that is not lost on his friends and family.
Check out Brian trying to teach her how to play ... I hope the humor in that is not lost on his friends and family.
Wednesday, May 7, 2008
Birthday Girl!
Kelsie is 4 today!! She was too excited to fall asleep last night. We kept hearing her in her bed singing Happy Birthday over and over again to various friends and then to "me, me, me, me, me, me ..."
We brought some donuts to her school this morning and gave Mardi Gras beads to each of her classmates. She's the one with the giant pink birthday crown.
Her real birthday party is this Saturday. It will be a Mardi Gras-themed music and puppet show at a bookstore in Hoboken, NJ. All her school friends know that she is from Louisiana, so we decided to run with that theme. Should be fun. I'll post pictures.
We brought some donuts to her school this morning and gave Mardi Gras beads to each of her classmates. She's the one with the giant pink birthday crown.
Her real birthday party is this Saturday. It will be a Mardi Gras-themed music and puppet show at a bookstore in Hoboken, NJ. All her school friends know that she is from Louisiana, so we decided to run with that theme. Should be fun. I'll post pictures.
The problem with smart kids
... is that they are sometimes right. I've mentioned before that Kelsie has been arguing a lot lately so we're working hard to correct that. Well, yesterday she was arguing that our house was on a different street and I was explaining why she was wrong. We went back and forth a couple times until I told her that she was arguing and she needed to stop. So she thought about it for a minute and then said, "but Mommy, you were arguing too."
Dammit. She's right.
Dammit. She's right.
Thursday, May 1, 2008
Now what?
Oh Kelsie. Last night she was having trouble falling asleep and kept calling for us. I finally gave in and went to check on her to find this ...
She was oh so proud of herself for putting dots on her forehead. We tried our best to get it off but she went to school this morning looking like she had just gotten a bad chemical peel.
What do we do with her??!! This isn't exactly out of character lately. She is definitely trying to establish her own set of rules. If we tell her "no" she sees that as a starting point for negotiations (and she's a pretty good negotiator for a 3-year-old ... scary). So we are having some serious battles of wills these days. And it doesn't help that Dylan eggs her on by laughing at everything she does, especially after we've told her not to do it. They are already teaming up against us!
She was oh so proud of herself for putting dots on her forehead. We tried our best to get it off but she went to school this morning looking like she had just gotten a bad chemical peel.
What do we do with her??!! This isn't exactly out of character lately. She is definitely trying to establish her own set of rules. If we tell her "no" she sees that as a starting point for negotiations (and she's a pretty good negotiator for a 3-year-old ... scary). So we are having some serious battles of wills these days. And it doesn't help that Dylan eggs her on by laughing at everything she does, especially after we've told her not to do it. They are already teaming up against us!
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