Two Little Peas in a Pod

Even though having two kids makes me want to pull my hair out sometimes, I sure do love my two little peas in a pod!

Visting Quinn's Nana and Papa after Papa's surgery...

Enjoying some tummy time together...

Looking extra super cute in their hoodie towels...

And Caitlyn's personal favorite -- laying in the little floor thing together even though only Nathan is really supposed to be in there.

The other day while Caitlyn was screaming at the top of her lungs instead of going to bed and I was getting upset because I wanted to finally watch the last Harry Potter dvd with Quinn (cause you know, seeing movies in theaters is pretty much out of the question for the foreseeable future) and eat the Harry Potter treats I'd made, I thought to myself, "Kids are such party crashers!" And then the thought that immediately followed was "Yeah, but they're also the party." :) In the long run, who cares about watching a movie when the funniest, funnest, sweetest, saddest, and most fulfilling things are in real life...with your own family!!

Swimming with Dolphins

I have a close friend whose three-year-old daughter has cerebral palsy among other challenges. They've been accepted into a study that could help her central nervous system start to heal, but it's pretty pricey and they have one week left to raise what has turned out to be quite a bit of money since their plane ticket donation fell through. So in one last hopeful effort she has made this video and I wanted to post it here. Every little bit helps! Watch the video

Things To Do...Revisited

So a while back I did some posts about "things to do"--aka constructive and productive ways to keep your toddler super happy. I think I'll do another one today.

Caitlyn LOVES TO PAINT. Yeah, it's kind of a pain to set up and clean up, but you know what? If it keeps her happy for a half our, sign me up. I'm in love with the dollar bins at Target, Michaels, and JoAnn and I found a little miniature paint set...for $1! She loved it so much that I got a box of crayola washable kids paints.

Things I give her to paint include scrap paper, coloring book pages, little cardboard letters or cardboard flowers(gracias Michaels).

I put on her little apron that i got for a dollar at a Foreign Services families yard sale in D.C., pull out the AWESOME plastic table and chairs my mom and dad gave her, and we're set! In this picture she's daintily painting with the paintbrush, but that has evolved to finger painting on everything including arms and legs. And you know what? I'm ok with that too. Quick trip to the bathtub and it's like nothing ever happened.

A few weeks ago I pulled out a cardboard moving box and made an "Autumn box" out on the balcony with her.

Fun for everyone! And fine motor skill development for Caitlyn as an added bonus.