March Madness

Wow -- So I am not so good at this blogging thing anymore.  Maybe four years is my limit?  I'm actually impressed I've made it this far.  My biggest motivator is that I did not make baby books (my deepest, darkest secret) so this is all they've got.  Okay, maybe that is enough to keep me going ... for a bit.

Here's some March randomness...

Storytime snuggles

 Testing Dad's strength

 Three amigos on the playground on one of the only nice days so far in March (what is with this weather??)

 Member of the clean-plate club.  If you are familiar with Ella's eating habits, you know how momentous this is.

Hanging out with the neighborhood kids.  Better watch out when they are teenagers!

A trip to Richmond to visit this precious girl - Eleanor!  She is the sweetest, happiest little girl.  Loved our visit!

Taking "baby" to the new elephant exhibit at the National Zoo.

 A lamb cake for our celebration with Gigi, G-Pop, Aunt Farrell, Uncle David, Sutton, Mimi and Poppa!  More pictures coming soon...

 Mom, I smash this for you?  (Everything he says he is doing -- he is doing it "for you."  Ex:  "I pour out all the game pieces from this box for you?")

Lunch with the Nattie Cat.

 Not sure what got into my two wild children.  Nat wasn't so sure either.  But they play together all the time now -- and I love it.  I finally have the -- "so this is why we did this" moment.

 A great big "let's smush the bejezus out of Natalie" hug.

Cooper and the Gruffalo

This kid.

I didn't think I wanted a boy.  I had a picture in my head of sisters.  Two sugar sweet little ones.  But oh my goodness.  I'm glad that the big man up there knew better.  Knew that little boys steal your heart and don't let go.  That they wrap their little sticky fingers around their mommy's hand and you never. ever. want. to. let. go.  And the best part is -- neither do they. 

And before I say more, I need to talk about my kitchen table.  Yes, that's right.  There are a zillion things I like and don't like about my house.  And the table itself -- it's junk.  But you know what I love?  The morning light that comes in and lights up our lives in the morning.  It's warm.  It's hopeful.  It makes me feel good no matter what.  And where ever we end up after this house, I need my kitchen table and my morning light.

So, back to Mr. C's big day.  He finally mastered saying that he was "two!" instead of "one!" every time we asked how old he was.  He had birthday pancakes.  We all sang.

Here's the thing about little boys.  One minute he's clinging to me yelling "Mommy, hold you!  Hold you pleeeease mommy!"  The next second he is screaming "Bam, bam" and "Mommy, I bam this!  Roooaaaarrr!  I fighting!  Bam bam!"  And, to my surprise, I love it (most of the time).  I can't stop laughing at my sweet, crazy, little bundle of energy.

Here he is.  My very grown up little man.

Anyone know about the Gruffalo?  Cooper is obsessed.  And I think he has good taste.  It is a super awesome story that I am (nearly) equally obsessed with.  I attempted to make a gruffalo cake.  

So, the cake ain't professional grade.  But all that matters is that Cooper loved it.  He brought each person over to see it.  Including his girlfriend Natalie.  And I use the terms "girlfriend" in all seriousness.

We ate, we partied, we laughed.

Ella was very angry that I wouldn't make her a grilled cheese.

And then we ate cake.

And opened presents.

Cooper was quite excited to get a Gruffalo book.

We read books.

We raced cars.

Ella danced.

These two love birds bonded over an iPhone.

All in all, a pretty perfect little day for my little man.

We Love Penguins

Alright - so I have totally slacked about posting in February.  Sorry :(

Anyway, March must be right around the corner.  It was a balmy winter day today -- perfect for ice skating! (Who goes ice skating when it's cold?? Brrr!).  We decided to finally hit up the ice skating at the Georgetown waterfront.  We had heard about the super cool penguins there that meant kids could actually skate by themselves and you didn't have to break you back helping the kids skate.  Baba joined us as well.  Cooper said he was all done, then screamed to get back on the ice, then decided he was done again, then screamed to get back on the ice.  But it was a beautiful day, the kids were (mostly) happy, the sun was warm on our face, Ella couldn't stop smiling because she could skate "all by herself," and we got to spend some time with Baba.  Overall, a pretty sweet day.

Anyone for tea?

 My mom really wanted me to love horses when I was little.  So she signed me up for riding lessons when I was just a peanut.  I was so small that the horse didn't even know I was riding him, so he never went anywhere, and I wasn't strong enough to pick up the horse to clean out his hooves or reach up and put the saddle on. 

I was not a fan.

I have done nothing to encourage the horse obsession with Ella -- she must have inherited it from her Nana.  So, needless to say, her birthday gift from Mimi, Poppa, Baba and Nana was pretty much a dream come true for her.  Now she has her own "Ella" doll with her very own horse.  Are riding lessons in our future?

On the day of Ella's birthday, all the girls celebrated by taking Ella-doll ("Ellie") out for tea at the American Girl restaurant.  I'm not sure if this was Ella's dream come true, her mother's dream come true, or her grandmoms' dreams come true.