Happy New Year!

Happy New Year (a little early, since we're lame and are going to bed) from Corey, Niki, Charlotte, and Peter!  Hope your year was as fun-filled as ours.

Our New Year's resolutions include potty training (Charlie), getting completely rid of the bottle (Petey), and getting a babysitter once in a while so we can get out and have some adult fun (Corey/Niki).  

When cousin love goes bad...

I forgot!  We do have at least one shot of Sonia just about loving poor Peter to death.

Usually she had her arms flung right across his face, which really ticked him off.  Better too much love than too little though, right?

Cousin love

I've mentioned before that my sister, Erin, and I consider our kids to be like half-siblings, since their mothers have identical DNA.  Yeah, it's kind of a stretch, but it amuses us.  When we visited last week for Christmas, the kids were super cuddly with each other (when they weren't stealing toys and screeching about it).  Was it because of their shared DNA?  Yeah, probably not, but we caught some of these lovable antics with the camera anyway.  First, here are the girls . . .

At library craft time:

On Christmas Eve in the toy box:

On Christmas morning on my lap:

In Sonia's new easy chair:

While dancing to Christmas music:

It wasn't just the girls -- Sonia and Peter were always palling around together, too.  Sonia actually loved Peter a little TOO enthusiastically, and she had to be stopped quite often from hugging his head right off his body.  We didn't get any shots of that because we were too busy sprinting over to break up the affection.

There was lots of rolling around together on the couch:

 At Little Monkey Business:

On Uncle Jordan's air mattress:

And in big boxes.  There was a lot of time spent in boxes, of course.

Such cuties!

Growing big and strong

Petey did great at his 12-month checkup!  He measured in at 30 inches long (50th percentile) and weighed 22 pounds (30th percentile).  The doctor and the nurse were highly impressed with Petey's boisterous, happy nature and his inability to sit still for a millisecond.  I argued a little with them because I was SURE Petey must weigh at least 50 pounds, but they said that squirmy babies always feel heavier. I'm mad at myself for forgetting my camera, but at least I got some shots on my cell phone of Petey playing in the famous mirror next to the exam table.

It's Been an Interesting Fall Around Here

Since Charlie has started speaking, things have been interesting around here.

December 5, 2010:

Corey: Did you just drop an allen wrench into the subwoofer?



Charlotte: Yep. I did it.

Corey: *&^%$!!

December 4, 2010:

Charlotte: See Mommy? My tongue can be a tissue!


Niki: Sigh.

November 17, 2010:

Niki: Charlotte! Don't touch your brother!


Charlotte: It's called "pushing", Mommy.


Niki: DON'T DO THAT EITHER!!!

November 4, 2010:

CJ was walking around with an outlet cover in her mouth (with the two plastic prongs sticking out. She took it out and told me she was a vampire and laughed an evil laugh.

November 3, 2010:

Charlotte: MOMMY!!!!


Niki: Can you think of a better way to say my name?


Charlotte: NIKI!!!!

November 1, 2010:

Perhaps it was a bad idea to teach Charlie Jo to say "you're welcome" after she burps.

October 31, 2010:

When Charlotte woke up, she demanded to know where the feather was that the duck gave her. She was very insistent.

October 27, 2010:

Charlotte: (picks her nose)

NanaB: Charlotte, do you need a tissue?

Charlotte: No, I'll just put it in my belly button. (proceeds to stick booger in her belly button)

NanaB: (horrified silence)

September 27, 2010:

Charlotte just provided an excellent dramatic reenactment of the time a bug "chewed" on her. I hope she will repeat the performance when Daddy comes home.

September 25, 2010:

My favorite Charlotte quote of the night: "Good golly tamale!" (over and over and over and over and over and over...)

September 23, 2010:

Niki: Charlotte, why did you throw Cookie Monster off the balcony?

Charlotte: It's my job.

September 16, 2010:

FYI - Charlotte has announced she is going to grow up to be a giraffe.

August 28, 2010:

Niki: Charlotte, are noodles your best friend?"

Charlotte: No, noodles don't have a face like me.

Niki: You need a face to have friends?

Charlotte: (nods solemnly)

August 25, 2010:

Niki: Charlotte, what made you spit the apple out?

Charlotte: My mouth. My mouth do it.

Niki: SIGH

Just what Charlotte needs -- a pair of high heels

I am not sure when the last time I wore heels was, or if Charlotte even saw me in them.  As soon as I came downstairs in my heels tonight before going to a Christmas party, Charlie Jo asked me to take them off so she could wear them.  She then told me, "I can show you how to wear these!"  Who is this child and where did she come from?

And yes, I would like a tutorial on how to wear them since I haven't done it since before Charlotte was born and I suspect I have lost the knack of ignoring foot pain for the sake of fashion.  Clearly, I'm going to need to get a pair of purple socks to wear with them.

Reason #498 why I love Charlotte's Early Learning Program

They send her home with Christmas gifts for the parents like this tile adorned with Santa made by Charlotte's own little hand:

My Little Pony Charlotte

I used to be able to put pigtails or barrettes in Charlotte's hair while she was engrossed in a TV show. Now, she's wise to my tricks and protests even if Diego or Dora is on. This morning, I got her engaged in playing with animal beads and an empty egg carton and she actually allowed me to put her scrawny little locks in a pony tail.  

Doesn't she look so different with her hair up off of her face? Yes, I am aware her bangs start waaaay too far back, but growing those out will have to happen slowly over time. I have only tried putting her hair in a pony tail a couple of times because (1) it would probably get thrashed whenever she rode in her carseat, and (2) naptime would wreak havoc on her 'do. She looks so cute that I'm going to have to get over my laziness and wrestle her hair into a hair band more often!

Feliz Cumpleanos to Peter!

Our weekly Trivia Night fell the day after Petey Pie's birthday, so in grand Trivia tradition we brought some cupcakes and had the waiters sing their tuneless rendition of "Happy Birthday" to the little guy. Peter, of course, had no idea what was going on. Why are these people putting a huge sombrero on my head? Why do I get this awesome cupcake with an open flame placed within my reach (don't worry -- my quick-thinking teammate pushed it beyond Peter's reach before disaster could strike)? Luckily, he was too fixated on the candle to notice the entire restaurant staring at him.

The whipped cream the waiters sprayed on the plate was actually a bigger hit than the cupcake itself.

Y'all are CRAZY!

 CRAZY!!!!!!

Thank goodness not much of it ended up in his hair, because Petey and Charlotte got their daily baths before dinner (because we get home too late on Monday nights to get it done right before bedtime). There is only a faint whiff of vanilla about him this morning, despite the vigorous scrubbing I gave him with wet wipes in the restaurant. I'm not sure, but I think there was a collective sigh of relief when we left there last night.

NanaB & Santa

I don't know which is funnier -- the fact that Southwest Airlines had Santa Claus hanging around the terminal at the Nashville Airport yesterday, or the fact that NanaB decided to sit on his lap and tell him what she wanted for Christmas while she waited for her flight back to Detroit. It was probably the first time in about half a century, huh?

Peter's Birthday Party Day

We celebrated Peter's birthday a day early on Saturday, December 11. It all started with a trip to Peek-A-Boo Playtown.

Ballpit! Looks like GrandDad is about to bean the birthday boy.

Peter had us push him back and forth on a scooter for a while.

Surprise!

Wheeeee!

His sister had a good time, too.

Here goes Charlie the Fire Chief. She rescued animals from high places.

After Peek-a-Boo Playtown, we headed back to the fort for pizza and cake. The Marshalls joined us for lunch, and we opened some presents.

Peter showed us his mittens and hat from the Marshalls.

Time for cake? Yaayyyy!

Alicia made a beautiful cake for Peter -- chocolate with mint frosting inside. Yum!

Our rule is that our kids may invite one kid for each year they are old. We decided the Marshalls together counted as one.

Our annual family birthday picture.

After the Marshalls left, and before naptime, Peter opened up the giraffe that his Great Uncle Dave and Great Aunt Lisa sent him. He loves his giraffe. He kisses his giraffe and hugs his giraffe and talks to his giraffe and lays on his giraffe. We are accepting suggestions for a name for said giraffe.


What a day! Whew!

Surliest Santa ever

My kids were in a good mood for Santa, but Santa was a little cranky yesterday evening.  We got there over a half an hour before the posted closing time, but since the mall was kind of dead because of a "blizzard" of snow (about an inch and a half!), Santa had decided he was closing up shop a little early.  We got there before he was officially closed, and it was clear from comments I overheard him making that he thought he was done already.

He acted like he was doing us a huge favor by letting our kids sit on his lap for a whole minute.  He just sort of grunted when I told him it was Peter's birthday, and he pretty much ignored Charlotte as she told him she wanted "lots and lots of presents" for Christmas.  Jerk.  Oh well -- the picture actually turned out okay, despite the lack of smiles.  Stupid Santa.  As Corey said, we will be taking our Santa business elsewhere next year.  Here is Mr. Surly with his two biggest fans:

I do think it is the same mall Santa we had last year.  He looked a little happier then, though.

We can't tell if he is the same one from 2008:



It might be fun to make this a birthday tradition for Petey.  Seeing Santa could give him a chance to ask for everything he didn't get in his present haul that day for his birthday!

Happy Birthday, Peter!

Happy Birthday, little Peter! We have really enjoyed the last year getting to know Peter and watching him grow up. Peter has gone from a little wrinkly little bean to a strong, happy little baby. He's turned out to be a perpetually happy, very cuddly, very chill little kid. Thank you to all of you who have played a part of Peter's life. He wouldn't be the great little kid he is if it was not for all of you playing, cuddling, and caring about him.

We had a great day today celebrating Peter's birthday. Heck, we started the day with GrandDad and NanaB, and ended with seeing Santa for the first time. Meanwhile, we got about an inch and a half of snow.

We'll post more pictures from Peter's birthday weekend later.

Charlotte the Explorer

After Thanksgiving, GrandDad took Charlotte on an adventure (a la "Dora the Explorer", one of Charlotte's very favorite shows).  Whenever they go on these adventures, they follow all Dora procedures, including the procurement of a map to lead them to some sort of goal.  Charlotte LOVES these adventures and talks about them for weeks afterward.  It's pretty cute to watch.

Charlotte goes house hunting

Charlotte has decided our brick & mortar house is simply too boring. Specifically, it doesn't taste good enough. Instead, she would much rather live here:

It's the gingerbread house in a hotel up in Rochester. It really is all edible. COREY! Knock it off!

Charlie Jo found a little gingerbread friend and promptly fell in love.

The toddler-sized Christmas tree was a big hit too!

Aaaand, in case you would like to make a gingerbread house of your own, here is the recipe: