Mom's Group fun

Early WWF moves.



Pip the sailor man:


Charlie and Natalie's first date:

Tricycle mania

Today Pip hosted his friends again for another play date. Natan, Drew, and Isabelle all stopped by and had a great time running about the house, making trains, tossing balls, and jumping on the mat. Just before they left we snapped a quick picture:



Later Pip found his new helmet and was excited to try it on. Seemed to do wonders for his pedalling skills. Prior to the helmet he insisted on "pedalling" with one foot and using the other to scoot the bike forward. Despite numerous attempts by Phil and I to instruct him otherwise, he insisted that was the proper way to bike. With the helmet, though, he decided to trust mommy and try it her way. He was pedalling like a champ around the kitchen in no time. I was so proud and impressed we went outside to try it out on the sidewalk. He went all the way around the block!

Dad Day, part 2

Today was the second of a two-part series. Nat went off work, leaving me and the kids to fend for ourselves for the day. It started off looking pretty grim, with Viv having a somewhat restless night and early wake-up. She was exhausted all morning, but instead of a nice, long mid-morning nap, it only lasted 45 minutes. Uh-oh.

But it's amazing what a little fresh air can do for these two. We made a quick trip to the Dunkin Donuts, where Viv charmed the locals and Pip covered the floor in munchkin debris. When we got home, we spent some time in the backyard. I love how removing half the deck has opened up the space. We soaked up some wonderful mid-day sun. Viv even got a ride in the wagon; she loved it!

Things were going fine until I turned my back on Pip. He promptly shoveled a load of sand onto my coffee cup. Luckily, just a few grains made in down into the cup, so I was able to salvage the caffeine. He also worked on making sand crabs with the mold. He learned that dry sand doesn't make much of a crab, but adding some water makes it stick together.

Vivian rocks the xylophone

Vivian discovered the xylophone that Aunt Martha gave us. She was very exited to be able to hit the keys and make music. I love this smiley gal. She's a joy to watch discover. Here's some pics and a video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KPPwVRcImNk

St Pat's Mom's Group

It's March 2009 and we have a gaggle of kids in green. We attempted a group photo because we still haven't learned! This time we bribed them with brownies, which worked like a charm for the toddlers, but the babies just didn't get the incentive.




Pip enjoys his well-earned brownie.

And then there were three

Pip now has three imaginary animals in his room. The original dinosaur, a duck, and now a bird. All three seems to live peacefully but are not allowed to sleep there when he naps or at night. We have a routine where after his book and his song he reminds us to get his dinosaur, then he points out the duck who usually hangs out on his bookshelf. I had both in my hand and was walking out when he stopped me today and was like ... 'um, mom ... the bird please." Apparently a bird has joined the duck on the bookshelf and also needed to be escorted out.

New digs

I went to Old Navy today to use the gift certificate Dad got me and found (among many things) this blue sweater and a new hat for Pip. We posed for some shots in our new digs. Even better was that Viv sat still for some cuddle time on my lap.

Daddy's day

Today Daddy stayed home with Pip and Viv when I had to work -- I usually have Wednesdays off but something came up. Pip, of course, wanted to go outside and play in what we hope was the last snow of the season. So Phil plopped Vivie in this carrier Jodie gave us. She LOVES it!



Pip did some shoveling and jumping in puddles:





They had a fun day, but I was validated when I came home and Phil was exhausted. "They are berserk!!" he puffed, as if their wild behavior was somehow more intense for him. I think every stay at home mom can relate ... no Phil, that is how they are EVERYDAY.

Watermelon face

Pip and Viv both go nuts for watermelon. Today after school Daddy broke some out and let the madness begin.

Seriously, this better be the last snow

Pip was the only person in New England happy about this last snow. He made some snowballs, shoveled his heart out, and plunked down in it for snow angels.

Abundant energy

Pip and I hosted his first playdate with friends from school. We had a blast with Isabelle, Drew, Natan, and Morgan this afternoon. Pip was thrilled and basically spend two and a half hours at full speed. One would think this would have tired him out, but apparently he had some more energy to burn before bed.

How better to spend it than couch jumping.



This was dangerous, but not quite as bad as the angle makes it seem. While he did clear her, rest assured we explained that jumping over Vivian was perhaps not a good idea going forward.


Pip had some suspicions that Daddy may have pooped. An interesting discussion took place.

Pip decided to check:

Vivian is just cute.

PARK!!!

Finally we reached the park after a long, cold, snowy winter. In truth, Pip and I tried to go a few weeks back, but everything was still covered in snow and it was not too fun. This time it was much much better. Pip dove into the sand box without hesitation and spent equal time covetting the dump truck a younger boy had and marveling at the castle building skills of an older boy.




Vivian got in on the action. I wasn't too keen on this since the sand was wet and cold and the thought of what bacteria might be swimming in it as she stuffed it into her mouth was unsettling.

Can I eat this?

Pip persevered until the younger boy had to leave then pounced on the truck.

Later Pip showed his prowess on the swings and Vivian bravely followed suit.

Back in the groove

Well it's back to life in the tundra. We were welcomed home by a nice coating of snow, but our neighbors having dug us out certainly made it easier to take.

Here's Phil's report for his first morning getting the kids back at school:

Pip started making noise around 6:45. He was calling out for mommy, daddy, anyone who would listen. I croaked that it wasn't time to get up yet, so he chattered away in bed until 7. He was in a cheerful mood and immediately ran off to have dinner...uh..breakfast. He wasn't too interested in my offerings, and finally agreed to strawberry yogurt. He
then rejected that and asked for the other one (blueberry). Overall, he didn't eat that much. He was more interested in Thomas videos and his trains. Viv was squeaking by now, so we got her squared away. She had a pretty good breakfast and then got busy crawling around after Pip. Later in the morning, Pip disappeared for a while. I eventually found him in the downstairs bathroom attempting to open the package of cookies from JetBlue. He had been working on it for some time since the package was all crumpled up. He promised to be a gentleman for the rest of the morning, so I opened it up and give him one. We got loaded up without further incident and headed to school. On the way, Pip was excited to tell his friends all about his trip. At school, everyone was happy to see the kids and asked
about the trip. Pip told James about the big sandcastle that kept the water out and Isabelle about the airplane ride. Amy was already there (I don't usually see her in the morning), so Viv was excited out of her pants to say hello.

At pickup I learned that both Pip and Viv had great days and were very happy to be with their friends again. Cynthia was duly impressed by Pip's easy reintegration into the classroom, as I guess it is typical for kids to struggle a bit after vacation.

In other news, Vivian is 100% out of her swaddle even at naps (she was clinging onto it at school for some time) and eating only finger foods. She hates being fed now, preferring to do it herself. I am trying to remember what foods I can give her but so far she loves bananas, macaroni and cheese, peas, and baby goldfish. She's luke warm on hot dogs. Not so hot at all about avocados.

Florida: Day 7

Our last day was spent packing up and saying our goodbyes. Mom helped us organize and entertained Pip and Viv as we packed up. Pip was sad she wasn't coming on the plane, but he was excited to go home and watch his Thomas and Fireman Sam videos at home (Uncle Mike does not have those).

Pip was Mr. Cool on the plane ride home. Viv only slept about an hour and much preferred charming the various men all around her. It was quite funny because we were surrounded by these burly, grouchy looking men (probably returning from Rugger-fest, hungover and tired). Viv kept standing up on me and peering back at them. They had their earpods in or were sleeping, but she persisted in smiling and cooing, undeterred. Eventually I looked back to find them waving and smiling back at her. I swear this girl could charm the pants off Osama.

If you didn't get enough pics here, our full album is available here:
http://picasaweb.google.com/NatalieBalas/200902February?authkey=Gv1sRgCKHL8rjjycilLg&feat=directlink

And the videos are here:
http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=9BB9DA4B4113C814

Florida: Day 6

On our last day we decided to break out the saw and hammer and check out some coconuts. Pip loves the tools.

We got a video too:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7RO9LDMjoMY

As it was our last day to go to the beach, we took one last trip. It was on the brisk side but bundled up we were warm and cozy. This time I got to play sand castle with Pip while Daddy hung with Vivster.

We took a walk to the pier and Pip got his feet and pants wet. He was not exactly down with that.

The pier is home to some aggressive pelicans that gave me a bit of a scare about 10 seconds after I took this shot.

We FINALLY got a family photo!!

Pip loves to grab our camera whenever he can to take pictures. Despite our best attempts to convince him otherwise, he holds it backwards. Here he also had it on video, and the result is pretty funny:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=94t7BxXGyaQ