Sister Knows What She Wants

And what she wants is to choose her socks. When socks aren't needed.

Photo Friday

I was going to make a post about how stubborn Catie is (she's sitting here with me insisting that I allow her to chew on the USB cord that connects to the camera...and by "insisting" I mean "whining, crying, and general tantruming"...I had to completely remove it and put it away) until I realized it's Friday again! Some photos from the week:


My parents were here this past weekend and Catie cajoled my dad into reading Otto. Afraid, however, that she'd be pigeonholed as an exclusive "baby book reader"...

...she got Dave to read some Tolstoy. (Nice mustache, Dude.)

Will's been eating a lot lately, so we've resorted to making him earn his keep.













Who knew that the toys my kids have long outgrown and were going to a garage sale would bring so much happiness?

Tell Me a Story...

Will is obsessed with us telling him stories. He usually gives us a very detailed outline about what he wants to hear (tell me about the time you fell down the stairs because I left a toy at the top and you cut your head and were bleeding), and this morning was no different. Here are some of the stories he asked me to tell:

Tell me a story...

...about the time when Aunt Kim was a big girl and she cried when Aunt Pam took her to a car wash. (this is a version of a true story of Kim being a little girl and my mom taking her through a car wash and Kim cried)

...about the time when I (Will) was a little tiny baby and Laura came to visit me and I peed on her leg. (true story)

...about the time when Laura was an itsy bitsy baby and she came to visit me when I was a big boy and she peed on my leg.

...about the time I was itsy bitsy and I was scared of the L train. (true)

...about when I was a big boy and I took the L train to work and you (Angie) were sad.

...about the time you and I were big kids and we went for a ride on the L.

...about the time you were a little girl and you went for a ride on the city bus and you did not like it.

...about the time Laura was an itsy bitsy baby and she had a big poop and she cried and cried. ("I really like this one!")

Work It!

Sweet!

Now I'm wondering if I've been had. I just talked to the Internet Sales guy about the Civic I want to buy and I got it for the price I stated. No negotiations. So either internet dealings are the only way to go, I've been had, or I'm a master negotiator. I prefer to think I'm a master negotiator and that he could hear the authority in my voice. Yeah...that's it.

So we're picking up our new car tonight.

A Bunch of Stuff (and Happy Birthday, Beans!)

We had a great weekend! Saturday we drove up to Cedar Falls to hang out with Grandma Neva, Aunt Pam and Uncle Dennis, Aunt Lois and Uncle John, the Johnson kids (Laura, my 16-year-old cousin, is now Will's very best friend), and my parents. We came home Saturday night and then on Sunday my parents drove down to Des Moines to hang with us and to visit Grandma Hazel and Grandpa Bud. We went to breakfast yesterday and and after a visit with Grandma and Grandpa, spent the rest of the beautiful day out in the yard. Well, Dave, Will, and Grandma Jean did...I spent lots of time researching our soon-to-be new car purchase. We're buying another Honda Civic. And keeping our old Honda Civic. We're going to be a two-Civic family. You're probably thinking we're crazy, right? A Civic with two kids? But you know what? It's really not that bad. Sure, it's small and we can't stretch out. But really, can the kids stretch out in their car seats? And no, it doesn't have much cargo space, but do we really need lots of cargo space? When you crunch the numbers with the way gas prices are today, it really only makes sense for us to buy a smaller vehicle. AND we're being good stewards of the Earth. So I can be smug about that. :)

(Hey Mom! Remember when you said I don't write much on my blog? I'm making up for it today!)

Last night Dave and I were awakened by Burt's gutteral growling and hissing at the open bay window in our bedroom. I jumped up and looked out and saw something grey scamper away- I assumed it was a cat. But a cat on our roof? About 30 seconds later Burt was at it again, and this time I saw a little raccoon face peering in the window. She wasn't to be deterred by my banging on the window or by Burt's fierceness (ha!), but the light of the bedroom made her run. Of course Dave had to Google raccoons on roofs and found that they often try to nest in attics and chimneys. Weird. But for for your viewing enjoyment, we also YouTubed raccoons and found this funny video...

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Photo Friday!

At the Asian Festival

We go to the Farmers' Market every Saturday morning, and this past weekend they had an awesome setup of emergency vehicles, which put Will over the moon! There was this Blackhawk helicopter:

and this firetruck:

and even bomb squad vehicles, police motorcycles, and a bomb-sniffing dog. So cool!

This type of couch shenaniganry happens daily:

We have a friend who sent us an awesome package filled with fun baking things! Both kids now have personalized aprons, and we now have 101 every-season cookie cutters. We did a little baking yesterday.

And perhaps I'm a little more desperate for Catie to get hair than I previously thought. (Can you see it? The little tiny barrette? It's totally unnecessary and useless and it came out within 3 minutes.)
Some day....some day.

Catie Talks

Catie talks pretty much nonstop. I think she thinks she's coherent.



She's not.

Spoon

I gave Catie her first real go at a spoon today...I know, I know, she probably should have had this opportunity long ago...I'll blame it on 2nd Child Syndrome! She did a pretty good job with her yogurt, though!

?!?!?

"I'm going to pretend this milk is beer.
Just kidding."

-WDB, age 3 1/2

High Five

Will got a subscription to High Five (the toddler version of Highlights Magazine) for Christmas from my parents. He loves it. He got the most recent issue about 3 weeks ago, and I'm not exaggerating when I say we've read it from front to back at least once a day since then.

The other day he amazed me. We got the magazine out to read before bed and he told me he wanted to read some of the stories/poems. We opened to the first page, a poem titled "Crescent Moon", and Will proceeded to "read" the whole thing, moving his finger along the words at approximately the right pace. The next page was a comic strip that he read as well. He can also read "Old Mother Hubbard" and a couple other things.

I totally know that he's not really reading the words, but I can't help but think he's not far from it!

Auto/Otto

Background: This is Catie's favorite book at the mo'. She walks around talking about "Ah-ooooh" all day long and will read the book at any time.

So we're leaving the mall this morning and this is the convo I near from the back seat:

Will: There's the Sears Auto Center!
Catie: OTTO!

Will: Not Otto, Catie! Sears Auto Center!
Catie: OTTO!

Will: No, Catie, not Otto. Just Sears Auto.

Catie: OTTO!

(Side note: We've had two Todd Parr books and they're a huge hit! I really should get more.)

(How do I fix this formatting?!?!)

Getting Our Party On

Our family was invited to a 30th birthday party thrown by a woman who used to work at the courthouse with Dave, Adrienne, for her husband Tanner. I think we were the only ones who brought children (I didn't stay all that long with the kids, so it's possible more kids came later...but I doubt it), but let me tell you, they were a hit! The first thing Will did was pull up a chair and announce, "I want to eat that food!", which elicited giggles from all the people on the patio. Adrienne had made gourmet kiddy food: Fluffernutter sandwiches with Nutella on homemade bread, baked macaroni and cheese bites, adult-style cheese and crackers (peppered goat cheese, Manchego, Roquefort, and pepper crackers), chicken on a stick, fancy sausage in a blanket, fruit skewers...all incredibly delicious. So I got him a plate, and no kidding, he oohed and aahed about how awesome it was practically every bite! Catie was pretty excited about the food too, pushing away everything with a "eeh!" and pointing only to the Fluffernutter sandwich with a "peeeeeee?" (please in Catie-speak)

Pretty soon Will was talking to everyone, but he really took a shining to Tanner. He asked Tanner to play with the stuffed frog with him in the basement. He asked Tanner to play ball in the yard. He looked for Tanner when he wasn't around so he could wish him a Happy Birthday "just one more time". He declared Tanner his best friend.

At one point, I returned to the patio from the house and heard Will talking about "party names". He named someone "Tonky Tonkerson" and then turned to Tanner's boss, a woman who had been talking to Will quite a bit, and declared "Cupcake" to be her party name. I later asked Dave who had brought up party names and he said it was all Will's idea.

When we got home, I asked Will if he likes getting his party on. Of course the answer was "YES!"

Thanks!

I just wanted to give a proper thanks to my dear friend Sarah who made the adorable header for this blog!

You rock, Sarah!

Photo Friday

I've decided to start Photo Friday since Beans is constantly harassing me for new pictures of the kids. :) However, since I decided to do this just this morning, I only have a couple photos to share from this week and they're probably not all that exciting. Will's been quite the pill about having his picture taken in the past 6 months and I just can't get good ones of him! (I told him I needed to take pictures for Aunt Tina and he actually said, "Sorry, Aunt Tina! I can't do it!") So here you go:






So I guess this means I better start carrying my camera around with me at all times. I don't want to embarass myself! Be on the lookout for some great photos next week because the weather is going to be "fab-lee-ous" (or so Will told me this morning!).

On the Phone

"Here, talk to Grandma Jean! You'll like her!"

-Said by Will to his friend Ashlee who was over to play.

Did You Know...

...that Will and Catie were in my tummy at the same time and they "played all sorts of games" and "made pie"?

Catie's a Shrimp!

We had Catie's 15-month appointment today.

21.75 pounds (25%)
29.5 inches (18%)- why is it when I measure her at home she's an inch longer?

But her melon is huge. 18.5 inches- 75%

Will had 7.25 pounds and 3.5 inches on her at this age.

Dr. Uthe is pleased with her physical and verbal development (and even said "advanced"!). She also told us that she loves it when we come to visit her- Will is one of her favorite patients. Granted, he wasn't her patient today, but he goes with us. Dr. Uthe said she tells everyone the story about Will getting a doctor kit for Christmas- when he told me that doctor kits are "girl toys" because he's only ever seen a female doctor in action. She also likes to tell the story about Will telling her she looked like a princess (she was wearing a skirt), asking why, if she's a princess, she was wearing shoes (apparently princesses don't wear shoes?) and then the next time he saw her, commenting on the fact that she was wearing pants that day and maybe she's not a princess? Not to play favorites with kids in the same family, Dr. Uthe was sure to point out the very fine points about Catie...the regulars like "she's so sweet", "she's so cute", and "she and Will are so different!"

And then, as we were driving home, I witnessed the power of advertising. Will knows we drive by a McDonald's on the way home. As we left the hospital grounds he asked if we could go there for lunch. I said no. So we're driving down the road and Will gasped when he spotted a McD's billboard and exclaimed, "See right there, Mom? They want us to go to McDonald's! We're supposed to go to McDonald's!"

I didn't give in.

Happy Belated Mothers' Day, Mom!

A conversation with Will this afternoon as we walked out of the house to the car:

Will: Mom, how old are those trees???
Me: They're very old, Will. Older than Grandma and Grandpa.
Will: Grandma Bonnie and Grandpa Curt are not even old, Mom! They're good!
Me: You mean they're young?
Will: Yes, they're young!

First Words

Will has always been a HUGE talker. At 15 months (which is what Catie is today), he had about 150 words- including words like sunshine, Chicago, sweatshirt, vacuum, and Dwight. (yes, Dwight, as in Dwight from The Office...Dave set his image as the background on our computer and Will was interested) He knew all our family members' names. He could tell me what he wanted to eat by saying "applesauce", "sausage", "yogurt", and "hot dog". I realize this is unusual for a 15-month-old, but it doesn't make it any less shocking or frustrating when your 2nd, an average child, has to whine and point to let you know what she wants.

Catie has about 15 words, none of which are all that clear. Sure, you can't miss "uh oh" or "icky". "Daa-y" is a constant. "Buuuu" is Burt and "Dada" is Will (?). "Ba" is bath and "Bah-y" is Barry, her bear. Today she added "ca ca" to the list. Can you guess what it is? She loves it, and it's something I had every day of my pregnancy with her and every day while nursing for over a year.

Yep, one of her first words is coffee. Grandpa Curt will be so proud!