A little man after Damian's heart

Jackson: Why is your belly so big?
Me: Because there's a baby in there.
Jackson: But don't you exercise?
Me: Yes (a little white lie), but the baby needs room to grow...
Jackson: But what do you eat?

Apparently, I need to keep a food journal to assure a 3 1/2 year old that I'm not packing on the pounds unnecessarily! I love that little guy -- he reminds me of someone 37 years his senior who also has a way with words.

Who will lose his lunch first: Daddy or Charlie?

Ellie and Charlie both LOVE being dizzy. I can't spin them fast or long enough to please them (without being sick myself), but Damian is a pro!

The monkeys visit the zoo…pictures

On a gorgeous day in February, we packed up the kids and went to the zoo.  It was SO MUCH FUN!  Definitely my favorite family fun day so far!  The weather was absolutely perfect and we got there early enough to enjoy the exhibits without fighting the crowds.

I think Ellie is at the perfect age to enjoy the zoo – she was SO excited to see the different animals.  There were a few animals that she couldn’t see (i.e. the lion who was laying very still in the grass, the gorilla who was partially hidden, etc.), but she was super excited about the giraffes (definitely her favorite since she got to feed them!), the elephants, the purple-butt monkeys, etc.  Charlie didn’t really see/notice the animals, but he had a great time nonetheless – he was just thrilled to be outside with his family.

Once Ellie lost interest in the animals, we headed over to the children’s area where Ellie rode a pony, petted (and laid down with) goats, and checked out an awesome koi pond/tank.  There was also a great play area with a little stream in it and in a stroke of parenting genius, we decided that February was a perfect time of year for the kids to go wading in it.  They loved being able to walk through it!

This blog entry is a big mess, but here are the pictures and I’ll post the videos in a separate entry.

The monkeys visit the zoo...the videos

Here are (a ton of) videos from our trip to the zoo...

We need Toodles!

This morning, Ellie got her arm stuck in a toy. It was seriously jammed in there and I was starting to go through my options (pour oil on/down her arm, call the fire department) as I yanked harder and harder on her arm. Through panicked tears, Ellie said "we need Toddles!" Oh how I wish Toodles really existed.

By the way, I did finally get her arm free...and found that part of the problem was that she was clinging to a piece of bread and her clinched fist wouldn't come back out of the toy. That girl and her food!

Baby Love

As I mentioned in my last post, Ellie is really into babies right now! It’s so fun because she definitely understands that there’s a baby in Mommy’s tummy. And when she’s not pretending to be a baby or the mommy of her various babies and puppies, she’s very interested in our baby -- she loves to kiss the baby/belly and blow raspberries on it. Yesterday, she wanted to give the baby a sticker, so I walked around like this the rest of the day – it was just too sweet to take the God Loves You” sticker off!

That got awkward

The kids and I were at Costco the other day and they were sitting next to each other in the shopping cart. I was grabbing something off of the shelves when I heard Ellie say "I want Charlie's milk." I didn't think much of it until I (while still searching for the best cucumbers) remembered Ellie's sudden fascination with all things related to babies...including nursing. Sure enough, I turn around just in time to see Ellie trying to lift up Charlie's shirt and lay in his lap. Let me tell you, it's not at all awkward to try to explain to your very determined, persistent 3 year old, in the middle of Costco, why it's not socially acceptable to try to nurse off of her little brother! She thought it was hilarious and every time I turned around she was back at it. I just hoped that no one could understand her saying that she wanted "Charlie's milk" and thought she was just tickling him -- he went along with it and was in hysterics every time she tried to lift his shirt.