Out of the mouths of babes

This morning Caitlyn and Nathan woke up at 5:30am. (I know, for some of you that's not that early, but for us it's at least an hour too early.) Well, I don't actually know who woke up the other one, I heard Nathan crying and went in to find Caitlyn in his crib "comforting" him. Aaaand Caitlyn wasn't the least bit interested in going back to sleep which meant Nathan didn't get to either since I was trying to keep them in their bedroom so Quinn could keep sleeping and get a good night's rest before long day of work.
Unfortunately, I was a tad grumpy by the time Quinn came in and found us all at 6:45, and I couldn't manage to snap out of my grumpiness for a little while. Later this afternoon we pulled into the library parking lot. (p.s. Is anyone else in love with the library? It's one of our favorite outings and we never get tired of bringing home new children's books and kids DVDs.) Before I loaded everybody out I turned around in my seat to look at Caitlyn and said, "Caitlyn, I'm really sorry I was so grumpy earlier today." "I'll forgive you this time." she replied. "Thanks Cait, I'll try to do better ok?" Then she looked me square in the eye and said, "Mommy, Jesus will help you do better." Touched, I thanked her and told her I knew that was true. I told her I would be sure to pray and ask Him to help me. Sometimes I think...no, actually I pretty much always know which of the two of us is the wiser.

A Plethora of Posts

10 points if you can name that movie (hint: the real line is a plethora of pinatas). The real reason for my recent, sudden outpouring of posts is that my parents have been in Thailand for the last month (lucky ducks) and my mom emailed to hint that it would be really nice to see what the kids are doing now. So, recognizing that I have been super lousy at posting lately, I spent most of an afternoon neglecting my kids so I could blog about them. Whaddya do.

Movin'

I wondered if developmental milestones would lose their novelty after the first child. Nope! I LOVED watching Nathan learn to sit up by himself, then get onto all fours, then do belly flops trying to reach what he was after, then crawl backward (much to his frustration -- "Why am I moving farther away from my object?? Whhaaaaa!!!").

And finally crawl forward.

This kid is a mover and a shaker people! I never had to baby-proof too much with Caitlyn because she was happy to sit in a pile of books and read or play with her toys or watch Baby Signing Time. Nathan? Not so much. He's only been crawling for a week and he already crawls around the house as fast as he can go finding (what I am convinced is) anything that looks like he probably shouldn't play with it. You know...toilet bowl brush, garbage can, fire place, cords, plugs, tiny pieces of dirt and paper and who-knows-what-else to put in his mouth.... Keeps us on our toes!

He also did a funny bear crawl whenever on a hard surface when he first started crawling.

Funny boy. :) Love that kid so much.

Sneakin'

After a lovely midday jog today with the kids in the double jogger, I came home, put a movie on for Caitlyn, and buckled Nathan into a bouncer in the bathroom with me so I could take a shower. I came out a few minutes later and walked over to the couch to check on Caitlyn...who was not there. I looked in her room. Not there. I looked in every other room of the house. Not there. Now I'm starting to panic. Did she open the front door and go exploring outside? Did someone break in and kidnap her? So I started calling her name more loudly and, to my relief, I heard her voice--but it was muffled. "Where are you?" I called. A very obstinate voice, coming from the front hall closet, commanded, "DON'T FIND ME MOMMY." So of course I ran to the closet as fast as could and found this little stinker.

Oh don't you worry, she had nabbed the homemade biter biscuits I made for Nathan last night and eaten almost the entire tupperware full! I guess I should just be happy that they both liked them?

Is it normal for a kid to be this sneaky at age 2 or should I be concerned for my child's future?

Is it parental negligence to shower while your 2-year-old watches a movie? Apparently so. I'm obviously going to have to figure out a new plan for jogging and showering. One that involves Quinn being home.

Talkin'

Caitlyn talks. A lot. I mean a lot a lot. It's actually really fun. I can reason with her about most things now and have logical, interesting conversations with her on a wide range of topics. Sometimes it's tricky though because she's not satisfied with simple explanations that usually work on toddlers and you also have to watch what you say and do because she has a way of repeating your sentiments or describing your behavior in full detail just when you least want her to.
Nathan appears to be headed down the same path. He loves to mimic sounds we make or our tone of voice. This is from a couple months ago, but here's a sample of his baby talk:

One of my favorite things is what I call his "viking roar". Sorry I'm super loud in the phone on this video.

Swingin'

One of the (many) amazing things about living in San Diego is that pretty much all winter long the weather is like this:

You've got your rainy, chilly days in there, but for the most part every day is a perfect park day. Or Sea World day.

Or San Diego Zoo day. 

Or Safari Park day.

I know...tough life. :)

So on one of our outings at the park the other day I put Nathan in a baby swing for the first time. He LOVED it!

It was so fun to see him kicking his legs with a big smile on his face. And so fun to be able to push them both at the same time.

Incidentally, Cait has started letting me do her hair and she actually leaves it in for most of the day rather than ripping it out pronto! She and I were watching hair styling tutorials on YouTube together one day and ever since then she's into having her hair done. Yay! Finally!

I Love Valentines Day...cont.

Last year I did a Valentines Day post about how much I love Valentines Day...and I still do!!! So here's this year's post.

First off, Quinn wins MAJOR points for MAJORLY good gift giving. We don't usually do much gift giving on Valentines, so I was really surprised when he came home with a Bath and Body Works bag full of foot massage stuff. Oh yeah baby!! Whenever my parents come to visit my mom brings her foot massage bag and she and I exchange foot massages. Last time they came I gave Quinn one too and he was sold for life. Plus Caitlyn had a blast rubbing lotion on our feet and feeling super helpful. So he said he thought it was a gift she and I would both enjoy. And he was definitely right!

He gave me a foot massage...

The next night I gave him a foot massage...

And Caitlyn got a double massage. Lucky girl. :-)

For breakfast that morning we had pancakes. My original vision was heart-shaped pancakes but after two flops I defaulted to round pancakes.

For dinner I made smoked gruyere white sauce on bow ties with asparagus and rhodes rolls. I'm not one of those people who are known for being amazing cooks, who never make anything that isn't incredibly delicious, so I feel like it's ok for me to be proud of and announce the fact that this meal was DE. LICIOUS. It turned out super yummy! I was really happy.

Caitlyn and I also did some construction paper Valentines Day crafts and made heart-shaped sugar cookies with pink frosting and sprinkles. Pretty much my favorite treat in the whole world. But I didn't get any pictures.

So we had another great Valentines Day! Hope you all did too!