Peas in pods

I can remember taking this exact same picture of Pip about 2 years ago. Vivian is simply beside herself with energy and excitement these days. She wears a perma smile and is eternally either bouncing or kicking. Here she speed crawled (what's the past tense of crawl?) over to Pip and took over exploring the cabinet. So thrilled with herself.





She's mastered making bubble sounds by moving her finger over her lips and blowing air. She also makes a little wave 'bye-bye' when you say those words by opening and closing her fist. She's very proud of that move.

Phil commented the other day that he thinks she has even MORE energy than Pip. I didn't think it could be possible ... but maybe he's right. Today in the bath she REFUSED to sit, literally bouncing and cruising up and down the tub. The fact that she took two tumbles under the water did absolutely nothing to slow her. You have to basically hover over her in the tub to keep her safe. Needless to say it was a short, but fun, bath.

Soccer training

Phil and Pip have begun to play soccer together in the kitchen. Turns out that Pip is definitely right-footed. He's getting the hang of using only his feet and catching the rebound off the cabinets.

Usually he prefers the fast pace of kicking it back and forth, but sometimes he also gets a "kick" (pun intended) out of a game of keep away. Here's the video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-IF0lAazDAM

I was playing a lot of rugby

Phil re-injured his back injury playing rugby this past weekend. Very sad for him. Apparently, though, I'm not the only one who finds his "recovery phase" quite dramatic. Pip was so impressed with the theatrics that he put on a reenactment:




And of course, the video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BMKh247hXPc

Tunneling at Mom's group

Jameson really got into the tunnel at Mom's group and I got some cool photos.






Meanwhile, Vivie hung out with her other buddy Connor.

Costco

Today we took a family trip to Costco, which is becoming way more frequent than anyone wants to admit (they've cornered us twice for the hard sell on their executive membership because apparently we spend as much there as entire companies .. yikes).

Vivian is so excited to be a big girl now and ride along without her car seat. Happily, they were all about sitting next to each other and were peaceful the entire time.


Pip went so far as to kiss Viv's hand while he waited for his pizza. Viv loved it.



I must say, I am not sure if it's the ultimatum I've recently laid down ("PIP -- YOU WILL SHARE YOUR TOYS WITH VIVIAN OR YOU WILL GO TO TIME OUT. I. AM. NOT. KIDDING.") but he seems to be turning a corner and deciding to give up fighting with her over his toys. Instead, I've caught him playing with her (happily!!) a few times now. It melts my heart.

Here's a video of them bouncing (I missed the good stuff):

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

Cade's a lover, not a fighter

This weekend we were thrilled to host Glenna and Cade! What fun. Vivian got to be excited about a playmate her own size. Well, of course, except for that Cade is quite a big man so even he was bigger than her.

Cade turned out to be all about lovin'. He is an except hugger and gives fabulous Eskimo kissed. Vivian was enamored.

Vivian attempted to return the favor and teach Cade how to crawl and eat puffs. He was not impressed.

Tasha and Aislinn also came to visit and we had quite the successful 3 family sleep-over, if we do say so ourselves. Pip took the opportunity to show Aislinn his new-found appreciation for ice cream cones and what do you know, she shared the same affinity!!

There were too many precious moments to recount, but a lasting one for Pip was the game of "1,2,3 go to sleep" that Aislinn taught him. She slept in her pack n play in Pip's room. After a rousing time in the bathtub, several books, and a few songs, they were told to settle down and go to sleep. All I know is I left the room and Pip was standing, feet atop the footboard of his bead, holding on to Aislinn's pack n play, and peering at her. Both were awash in giggles. We heard lots of laughing and talking until eventually they passed out. Pip told Phil the next morning that Aislinn and he were trying to time their sleep by counting to three and then saying "go to sleep!" Of course, this was too much fun to stop and actually sleep. Tonight Pip requested the game with Daddy ... there was lots of "1,2,3 ... go to sleep!" and "1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10 ... go to sleep!" and "A,B,C,D,E ... go to sleep!" and 'twinkle, twinkle little star ... go to sleep!" and not a lot of sleeping.

Vivian rediscovers her bouncer

After Cade left Vivian asked for a turn in the bouncer. Her little legs were pounding up and down in the air as I was trying to plop her in there. She was so excited. She went absolutely kangaroo in there! I tried to get a video, but she was tiring out a bit.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QngeHabKp4o

Pip, of course, could not be outdone. He jumped in there himself and bounced away.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wRWkzv09d44

Ice Cream Reward

I can't believe how long this new laptop is taking to get!!!! It's really putting a hurt on our blog postings. Plus we've had a week and a half of steady fevers, pink eye, puking, and diarrhea between Pip and Viv, so maybe that had something to do with it too. Finally Pip and Viv are 100% again, although Pip requires eye drops twice daily. You may wonder how that goes. Not well until we discovered ice cream reward. Now he practically begs for his eye drops. We also discovered that he'll eat anything with a toothpick in it, so dinners now look like mini forests upside down.

Vivian had the cutest moment the other day, playing with her tongue. She stuck it out, felt it with her lips, then looked at us like - WOW! We stuck ours out at her which was equally amazing. We went back and forth sticking out our tongues for a while. Then she tried to push mine back in, which she loved. So now if you stick your tongue out and she's close enough, she pokes it back in and smiles.

Pip has also figured out how to work the power window buttons in our cars and he likes to lower his window and and feel the wind. He LOVES the wind. He prefers now to drive with his all the way down, wind in his hair, in total bliss. He gets annoyed when we have to stop because there is no more wind. Good thing it's not winter anymore.

Eye Drops

Pip and Vivian both went through a pretty rough health patch for the last 2 weeks. Vivian had a few viruses in short succession, barely recovering form one when the next set in. She was as sweet as humanly possible considering she was alternately feverish, puking, and pooping. We are all glad to have her back to her happy, healthy self.

Just when we thought we were out of the woods, we got a call from Pip's school saying they thought he had pink eye. UUUUUUUUGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHH. Took him in, got special drops. We quickly learned bribery would be required. Give Pip some of this, eye drops are no problem:

After the full 4 days of dosing, though, they didn't seem to be working. Eyes still crusty -- and even worse in the AM. Swollen eyes, flushed face. I started to get worried. Until my mom brain kicked into gear and I remembered that 1) it is spring, and 2) Pip suffered these exact same symptoms last spring due to allergies. Two days of Zyrtec and everything was clear. Wish I had remembered that 4 days ago!!

Well, at least my freezer is well-stocked with ice cream now.

The Beaster Bunny

Easter was great fun this year thanks to the "Beaster Bunny" and Grammie Balas's wonderful Easter bags o' gifts. Pip and Viv loved their books and toys.






Pip also had a great job looking for eggs. Here's a video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rhhfCwhtmN0

and a picture of the pure joy in finding these mysterious plastic eggs filled with chocolate.

Being silly with Dad

I'm really not sure what the occasion was for this photo, but I think it's so cute. Viv in the carrier with Daddy.


Later Dad apparently played a rousing game of peak-a-boo with Vivian:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a8cxs8Cf0IY

Seriously, what a good Dad. I love this man!!!

Vacuum Cleaner Rides

I don't understand kids who are afraid of vacuum cleaners. Seriously. These kids are not going to be anywhere near roller coasters. I'm pretty sure Pip will be first in lines for the super dooper looper when he goes to Hershey.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L5OPXddjgp8

Learning the hard way

Today Pip had a complete meltdown leaving Mom's Group. The boys had a blast throwing approximately 5,000 various toys, blocks, cars, and trains all over Liz's living room. (Dumping is a common theme for Pip, no doubt he had a part in instigating this).

As our time was coming to a close, the moms "suggested" that they clean up the toys. Not too much excitement about our suggestion. So we sweetened the pot and offered a video if they would clean up. Still no takers. As all the moms cleaned we warned the boys that failure to help would result in no video. Not impressed.

When there were two toys left on the ground Pip sauntered over and said he wanted to watch a video. I told him he lost his chance because he didn't clean up. Quick as a flash he grabs the only two toys left and picks them up. "Too little too late", I responded. It was pretty ugly after that. Here's Pip's recap to Daddy over dinner (and some other cute videos):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G7t82ugAMVE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=16MvovUVA2I

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dl7JXQPE9WM

Mom's Group Easter

On Monday Susan hosted our Mom's Group for an Easter Egg hunt. We had about 3 minutes to hunt before the rain started. Luckily we have some very good hunters. Pip was not that excited to find eggs himself, once he saw Nick's "Flintstones" car. He had to be prodded to get out of it to find eggs. He was quite happy to eat the candy once inside, though.

Here are the kids just before letting loose in the backyard.

And Pip making a token effort.

And here's their explanation of the whole bunny thing:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W4IRPr3XmFQ

Trip to PA

We were home to PA this past weekend. What a fun trip. We got to celebrate Jen's b-day, look for bridesmaid dresses, and generally hang out.

Here, Pip makes pancakes with Grandpa and Vivie enjoys them.

After dinner we serenaded Aunt Jenny over some ice cream. Here's a video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_pToggW4Wlg

Pip spent a good deal of time making sure the yard was ready for spring. Rest assured, it is now fully watered.

Later a game of soccer with Harry got a little rough (don't worry, it was only touch).

Pip and Dad discovered the hot tub. Gonna make you sweat-ta!

Sunday we spent at George's where Rhiannon and Pip continued to build a friendship. This involved joy-riding in a Mustang and bubbles, as all good friendships must.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OHDBkuoQ-Gc

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G7v-qc0fyg8

A few videos

Here are some videos we've taken over the past few weeks but hadn't posted yet.

Pip chatting with Harry (in his head):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zRJy8wSNihY

Pip "napping" -- first day without his soothie (pacifier) so all things considered not too bad:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MBjNm4Ero6I

Vivian walking (assisted):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HaJdVGQbrUQ

Pics around the house

I've been a little behind on the blog lately. All due to the fact that our laptop got a virus and crashed a few weeks ago and we can't do much in safe mode. Coming all the way up to the attic to work on the PC seems like such a chore.

Anyway, in the meantime Vivian has mastered the walker:



Pip was just cute with the blocks he's rediscovered.

Photographer Pip

Pip has started taking his own pictures. Here is a selection: