Sorry for the lack of posts these days. We
haven’t really been doing much. Lots of outdoor time, playing
in the yard, replanting the garden, building a compost, etc.
This morning we went shopping to use up a gift card from Eve’s
birthday. I don’t normally take them anywhere that I need to
browse, but I was feeling brave this morning. It was
interesting. I had my first real “run in opposite directions”
experience :) Lex likes to move but is good about staying where
I can see him, but I put Eve on the floor and she was gone!
Like the wind! I went chasing her down the aisle, she looked
back, saw me coming, started giggling, and went faster :) She
was almost running! Crazy monkey. We all had fun anyway.

Here are a few pictures from the last few
days. I’m also working (trying!) on updating the photos site.
More later.

Lovely
ladies

Lex has
become very independent lately and most days gets himself
dressed. Some days he does better than others. This picture
cracked me up because he has both his shirt and pants on
backwards.

We went
to Billings Farm on a chilly, rainy afternoon. It was fun. I
love the colors in this picture. Eve found her hat in the car
and put it on, over her hood. I thought it was cute and left it
there :)

Dinner
after the farm. Eve and Caitlin had fun together. I think
Caitlin was hoping for another pretzel
there.

I took a
bunch of pictures of Eve in this cutie new diaper (it has a big
pink heart on the back!) but none came out as good as this one.
You can’t really see the diaper, but she’s adorable
anyway.

Later
that day. I decided to put some pants on Eve, she decided she
needed a hat, and the two of them were playing in the
kitchen.

Snack on
the porch this afternoon. Eve dove face first into Lex’s bagel.
He seemed more interested in her pears. Everyone was
happy!

Thirsty
girl

I just
thought this was cute. I love the hats and
poses.

Finally, I wish I had a camera this
afternoon, after snack (above). Lex asked if we could walk to
the end of the road to see if there’s any snow left. There used
to be a huge snow bank that he played on and for some reason
that came to mind and he asked to go. So we did. Eve was
sitting on our red, plastic push car (that Lex got for his 1st
bday) so Lex pushed her, at full speed, down the road to the
cul-de-sac at the end. We played for awhile and when it was
time to go home Lex decided he wanted to ride too. He sat in
the little car and I put Eve on his lap. It was adorable. He
wrapped his arms around her and away we went. I was half
expecting him to get bored and push her off, but he didn’t. He
held on securely all the way home and they were so happy. It
was adorable.

Happy 13 months to the little girl today.
She is smiley and “talking” up a storm these days. She’s also
cutting two more teeth (either side of her top front teeth) so
the fact that she’s smiley and happy most of the time just
shows what a mellow girl she is. We went grocery shopping today
and she was smiling and saying “hi” to everyone we passed. At
one point I put her down and she was giddy to be walking around
the store by herself. She even started walking along with
another family and the kids in the cart thought she was
adorable. I, of course, took her back pretty quickly :) She’s
getting better with signs and recently started doing
“butterfly,” “more,” “down,” and… I’m drawing a blank at this
late hour. She’s also trying really hard to make words and can
say an almost understandable “down,” “more,” and “hot” (just a
few from tonight). She’s mastered the word and sign for “hat”
:) She has also recently mastered finding and putting on her
own hats, so you’ll frequently find her by the door (where we
keep a bunch of hats) selecting one and then wearing it around
for awhile. She needs to grow some hair to keep that head warm!
:)

I didn’t get any good pictures of her
alone today, but here are some of the two of them in matching
dipes and playing on the bed.

Lex has taken to the potty time thing with
gusto — sometimes. Usually he’s most interested in the potty
when we are trying to get out the door or at bed and nap time.
How can you resist when he asks though? Tonight, well after he
should have been asleep, he came out of his room and when I
went up the stairs he said, “mommy, it’s potty time!” Big smile
on his face. I sometimes think he’s just procrastinating, but
he does pee on the potty and then get back in bed, so I guess
that’s a good thing, right?

He has graduated from spelling words
to phrases, again all unprompted. He did ask for help spelling
"ow" in "brown."

I was talking with Lex tonight about his
upcoming birthday party (he’s getting pretty excited) and I
asked him what kind of cake he wants. He said he wants a pink
heart cake with teal writing on it that says Happy Birthday. I
asked what flavor and he said “chocolate, like Eve’s.” I said,
“Can it say Happy Birthday Lex” and he said no. How about
“Happy 3rd Birthday” and he said “No, just Happy Birthday.” So
we’re looking at a pink, chocolate, heart shaped cake with teal
writing that says Happy Birthday… hmmm…..

I was actually thinking of having a ball
themed party (“have a ball” invites, easter egg type hunt with
colorful plastic balls, ball shaped cup cakes, etc). You’d be
amazed at the vast number of websites and blogs focused
specifically on cupcakes. People really get artsy and creative.
One blogger even said she is an artist and cupcakes are her
medium. I guess whatever makes you happy in life. Anyway, I
think making completely (or mostly completely) round cupcakes
would be pretty cool. A pink heart cake with teal writing is
less cool :) Although I know one little party guest who would
love it!

Lex read “Valley News” (the name of our
paper) upside down today. That’s a milestone they don’t
normally list in the parenting books. :)