A Prayer to the Ponies

Before going to nap last Saturday:

Ian to Harper, "When you get up, your going to have a snack, and then we are going to go to church."

Harper: "What church... Churchill Downs?"

Ahhhh, yes, we know we need to go to church, but for our 2 year old to think that "church" means a horsetrack?  Well, there's our motivation.  At least it's a Kentucky track-right? I think we now know one of our New Year's resolutions.

Here go!

Graham is starting to talk more and more.  The past day or so has brought about new words, phrases and jibber jabber.  He has started to say "Here go!" whenever he hands me something.  He says "cheese!" when having his picture taken.  "Thank you" and "please" are starting to make an appearance as well.  He is saying "Darper" for Harper and "Deuce" for Lucy. 

Last night he was trying to tell me something with such earnest that I had to stop and sit down with him to figure it out.  He said the same babble over and over again with the word "Darper" in it.  Then he would point out the window and stick out his tongue.  After some translation, I figured he was saying Harper, snow and then sticking out his tongue.  Then I said, "Did Harper eat the snow today?"  He smiled a great big smile and said, "Yes!"  Then he repeated several more times with me affirming.  He was so pleased to finally have communicated such a big idea, and he was going to make sure I fully understood.

Weigh Ins

We went to the doc yesterday for Graham's 15 month check-up/check-in.  Harper asked no less than 7 times on the way there, "Do I have to get shots?" or "How many shots do I have to get?"  She was not on the agenda at the doctor's office, I told her many times that she was not going to get any shots, but still, she had to be sure.  And yes, she asked again 2 more times when we saw the nurse.

Once there, Graham promptly filled his diaper with the world's largest #2.  Let's just say it weighed at least 4 ounces.    The reason why size and weight would matter is because the little guys are only 4 ounces off in weight, with Harper beating graham by just a sliver.  Quite remarkable since Harper is head and shoulders taller than her brother.  They both hover around 23 pounds.  Graham is at the 10th percentile for height (shorty!) and 25th percentile for weight.  So, while he may not be big for his age, he is a little hefty for his height- which is very apparent when his big buddah belly and dimpled butt are running round the house naked.

Two shots, no crying and Harper free and clear, we headed out the door where the two 23 pounders wrestled to the ground, both trying to push the button on the elevator.  At least it was a fair fight.

An end to the funnies...

Over the past fews months I have sent emails with some pretty interesting subject lines.  Don't let me take the credit, though.  We think the interesting subject liners are some sort of computer virus.  So, in the best interest of my address book, my computer and Ian (who insists), I am going to switch up some things in my email account to hopefully curb the craziness.  This is my tribute to my favorite random subject lines, which always made me roll on the floor with laughter:

"Beef Brisket Bingo"- this popped up in the subject line of an email sent to a chick who was going to have a candle party at my house.  No beef, no brisket and no bingo were actually involved.
"Please put your hands together for the lovely Shasta!"- the subject line to Ian about finding nannies in Alexandria. 
"Downtime Donna digs it"- I can't remember what the email was about, but I sure did laugh when I got an email back from a friend wondering what in the world my subject line was referring to!

Max and Molly! Pops and Grandma! Lauren and Damon!

We had a great long weekend with the Fahey/Legel gang.  The kids always love to see their cousins and Pops and Grandma are always up for fun.  We went and saw the trains at the Botanic Garden, explored the Natural History Museum and had an early Christmas.  Lucy was asking, "when are we going to see them again?" on Saturday (they didn't leave until Monday) and Harper was asking if they could come over again minutes after they left.  Graham started saying "Pops!" and Lucy had Grandma building forts, playing Littles Pet Shop, reading books, watching movies and so on and so on...  It was a packed house, but worth it for a great visit!

Last Dance Class

Harper had her last dance class last week.  She is already missing it and has taken to wearing her ballet shoes wherever we go.  In addition, she will put them on whenever we play the Nutcracker music.  She will come into the kitchen show me her "ballerina feet", or first position and then plie and twirl for minutes on end.  She now tells me that she wants to be one of the "little mice" that she saw in the Nutcracker performance we went to.  She got the idea from another mom.  I would be fine with that, but I'm not sure our super-shy Harper would actually be able to put away her thumb to perform.

Tree Decorating

Daisies in December

I took our Daisy troop to the Mt. Vernon Estate on Monday.  17 5 and 6 year olds, 6 adults, 30 degree temps and a windchill making it feel much more like 20 degrees. We performed a wreath laying ceremony where the curator asked us what the the girls knew about George Washington and Lucy instantly shot her hand up and said, "He was a general!"  She was so proud of her fact that she told me to tell several others what she had said as her answer. 
We performed the wreath laying ceremony, coming within a fingers width of the president's sarcophagus.  We actually stood in the tomb.  Tell me if you think the girls actually didn't touch the burial monument.  Right.  In addition, we toured the mansion, visited Washington's Christmas camel, the 2010 presidentially pardoned Thanksgiving turkey, and finally the giant gingerbread house replica of Mt. Vernon. 
The girls were so excited and cute and were very aware that they were earning their "respect for others" patch.  Lucy's favorite part was "all of it"!

We headed to the Nutcracker with the Daisies as well last week.  The girls really enjoyed seeing their friends in the performance and Harper was enthralled by the dancers and the story.



Was that a Snoofy reference?

Harper is in love with tv, movies, music and books, but sometimes I wonder if we are taking in the same thing.  She changes names, plots and stories to the point that I wonder what in the world she is talking about.  In addition, she will cling onto one minor point and talk about it (and talk about it, and talk about it!)  You can correct her, but she sticks to her story (movie, music or book!)
For instance, Charlie Brown has a dog named "Snoofy"
In the movie "Cars" the main character is "Lightening and the Queen"
In "Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer", the snow monster is the "Avondorable Snow Monster"
In the Nutcracker, the prima ballerina is "the Sugar Fun Fairy"
"You better watch out, you better not cry, you better not cry, I'm telling you why, Santa Clause is coming to town!"
"Rudoph has a red nose, and Santa tries to knock it off!"
We have a book about a little African-American boy who goes out into the snow.  Harper sees a page that has a picture of the boy with his bare foot in the snow.  Harper is convinced that his foot is poop.  Lucy finds this endlessly funny and has us read the book, just so Harper will point out the "poop".

Do the Dolphin Dance

Please watch, and feel free to pass along to friends.  It is worth the wait.  Lauren is playing Ring-O!  This game is very simple, you are swinging a ring and trying to hang it onto a hook.  The begining of the video is Lauren telling me not to video her.  So glad I didn't listen...

Turkey Week

We headed to Kentucky for Thanksgiving.  The trip started with a 10 hour drive to Lexington on Tuesday.  The kids were great in the car, watching movies, playing with wooden snakes, looking at books and magazines and gorging themselves on Cheetohs, peppermint oreos, lollipops and m&ms.  Graham's highlight was getting a glow wand and waving it in front of his face for about an hour and half.  Since it was dark so early in the trip, glow wands gave the kids something to play with that they could actually see.
We spent a night in Lexington, visiting Gramzie and Pop Pop, playing pirates, reading books and Graham discovering a little chair that he could climb up in and "work" like Pop Pop. 
Then we headed to Louisville, where we stormed into the Legels, happy to see everybody, but especially Max and Molly.  The kids instantly began running with their cousins, stuffing their faces at dinner and then heading back to the Fahey's where they all conked out for the night. 
Thanksgiving gave us a day at the races.  The kids loved having so many grandparents in one place, getting to see the horses and winning money.  Harper even picked a trifecta for Grandma that earned her $10 of her own and "an extra Christmas present".  Lucy was happy for the win, but since she takes Christmas presents very seriously, she was very jealous of Harper's moment.  Graham spent the time eating popcorn, hanging on Pops and finally conking out, an incredibly rare thing for Graham to do when out and about.
We then headed to Bon Bon and Grandpa's for dinner where we met up with Nanni and Pa, and Pop Pop and Gramzie joined us as well.  The kids ate and ate and then ate a whole lote more dessert.  We ended the night with fooseball, running nuts through the basement, a karaoke performance by the kids (where Harper inexplicable kept dropping her underpants) and Lauren doing a dolphin dance- to be seen later.
Friday was a day at Pops and Grandma's. The kids played and played some more and the girls had a sleepover that night.  Saturday they repeated at Bon Bon and Grandpa's where they also made beaded ornaments and played with the new puppy, before heading home on Sunday.  The trip home took 13 hours (ugh!) and the kids zoned out for 5 movies, endless amounts of candy and cookies and Graham crying- a lot. 
We were happy to be home, but the next day was back to school and work.  No rest, but a great long weekend!