I'm overdue for a blog post once again. Here's a bit of what we've been up to since my last post...
Daniel and I went to open tumble time at the kids' gym a couple times. They had a time scheduled on Monday mornings when Katherine is in school, so it worked out nicely and was fun to do something just me and him. Now they've changed their schedule and the times don't work for us at all - bummer.
Nana and Aunt Okeedokie (Laura) came to visit!
Trying to wrangle the two kids together for a picture can be tough!
Aww, that's better.
Katherine wanted me to swaddle her like when she was a baby. Fortunately this time it didn't involve hanging out in the glider for an hour in the middle of the night.
Dress, goggles, and a backpack? Yep, all ready to go!
Daniel was "cheesing" for me so Katherine came to get in the picture too.
Silly Katherine...
We loved having some warm winter days and tried to get outside as much as we could when it was nice.
This is what a kid who reeallly enjoyed his chocolate sprinkle donut looks like!
Katherine likes to play "movie star".
Katherine was pretending that Daniel was her bodyguard.
Katherine has been loving her swim lessons and has become so much more comfortable in the water.
Playground time in February without jackets?!? Yes please!
Katherine's class has a little reward system set up where the teacher will put a pompom in a cup when a kid is caught doing something nice, and when the cup is filled, each kid can pick out something from their prize box. She was excited to get this new ring.
When we come home from the gym after my yoga classes, Katherine likes to contort herself into crazy positions and ask if my teacher made us to that. Sometimes what she does is close to being what we actually did! I borrowed a kids yoga DVD from the library so she could try yoga at home with me.
Uncle and Joanie sent the kids presents for Valentines Day. Daniel got two new Cars (Sarge and Finn McMissile), Inky got a box of fancy dog bones complete with icing and sprinkles, and Katherine got a Strawberry Shortcake coloring book and figure set. She didn't put Lemon Meringue and Plum Pudding down for days, they went everywhere with her. Big hits all around!
Our little fish ready to swim
When the two-year-old spills the Cheerios, the "clean up crew" aka Inky is fast on the scene.
Katherine pretended to be a moviestar librarian. We multitask at pretending around here.
Brendan played in LCC's paddle club championship. I took the kids to watch for most of it and they were so well behaved. After the matches were over, the kids joined him out on the court and Katherine tried paddle for the first time.
She was pretty good! She'll be Brendan's mixed doubles partner before we know it.
Someone brought their dog to watch the matches with them, and she was a huge hit with Daniel and Katherine.
Monday seems to be a popular night for the dads to be busy, so sometimes we'll hit Chick-fil-a for dinner with the kids' friends after the gym.
We made pink soft pretzels at Sarah's house for Valentine's Day. Katherine may have used up every spare ounce of dough that Sarah had prepared because she was loving making them so much!
Daniel was content to hang out with all of Riley's and Jonah's fun cars and trucks while Katherine was baking.
Katherine's class exchanged cards on Valentine's Day. Her teacher asked for one parent to volunteer to help the kids swap cards into each others bags. I was lucky enough to be the first one who volunteered. Katherine loved being the one who's mommy was there and I loved to see her class in action!
Katherine's Valentine card
It's rare that Katherine will take a nap anymore, but she did after the Valentines party and I found her in this ridiculous position!
Katherine, at the Starbucks drive-thru: "Mom, I bet that lady knows karate! See, she's got a green belt!"
Daniel modeling what may be the coolest pair of little boy pajamas ever made.
Katherine tried Fun Dip from her Valentine candy and it blew her mind.
Katherine got a long due haircut at Sweet and Sassy, and we stopped by the Nestle Tollhouse store afterward for a cookie treat. Thumbs up for yummy.
One of the best parts of the Promenade shops is that dogs are allowed in most of the stores, so we often get to meet pups along our walk. This little guy was content to park himself right in Katherine's lap and she loved it!
Emily, Andrew, and Kim came up for a visit. Katherine and Andrew played some bar games.
Daniel worked on his arcade skills.
The kids all loved ice cream cones for dessert.
Daniel's first ice cream cone! He did great with it.
Katherine had a fun time at Clara's Cat in the Hat 2nd birthday party. Daniel was napping so he didn't go, but I was wishing I had tried to push the timing because he loves Clara and would have loved her amazing party.
Daniel got a new big kid carseat, and it came with a free box that kept Katherine entertained for quite a while.
Big guy now has a seat that matches his sissy!
Having fun playing at the "pirate ship playground" (Breiningsville Park)
More nice weather means more parks - this time we played at Ricky Park.
Daniel was brave and went down this very steep, tall slide.
I managed to get Daniel to agree to sit on the potty one day and the timing was just right, so we lucked out and got this ... Katherine made him a card because she was so proud of him, as we all were.
We've been having fun playing with the different "busy bag" activities that our playgroup moms exchanged together.
Katherine had "backwards day" at school - she wore her shirt backward, and when we got there she got to color under the table instead of on top. She thought this and all the other silly things they did were hilarious.
Daniel tried the Color Wonder fingerpaints. I think he didn't quite know what to do with them all being clear on his fingers!
We met Tigger at Perkins kids night. Katherine and Daniel both really liked him. Katherine then told us "You know that's not really Tigger, right? You can feel there's a hand in there under his paw which is really just a glove." - Seriously?! She's 4.
Katherine had such a fun time at Brooke's fairy dance party.
The Lorax was so fun to see! We went to Rave in the Promenade and saw it in 3D IMax.
Sarah brought her boys and met us at our neighborhood playground to play.
Katherine can read "Brown Bear Brown Bear, What Do You See?", and Daniel thinks it's the coolest thing to have his sissy read a book to him.
Our first trip of 2012 to the Philly Zoo
Katherine and Abigail the giraffe. Abigail is about a year and a half old, and we've enjoyed watching her grow since making her public debut.
Daniel loved feeding the sheep and goats. He said "Thank you, Daniel!" after they ate his food.
Katherine shared a bite of her Ritz cracker with a peacock along the way.
Daniel thought she was hilarious pecking at Katherine's cracker.
A friend came over to check out the cracker hander-outter.
Word got out quickly that there was a cute kid giving out crackers and they all flocked over! We went from one peacock to six or seven in just a few minutes.
The camel, pony, and draft horse rides were all closed, but we did get to ride the carousel and the kids always like that. Katherine chose an orange butterfly, and Daniel got the monkey next to her.
A cute boy hatched!
Katherine loves to get her face painted, and this time we let her do it at the zoo since some of her other favorite things were closed.
Happy butterfly girl!
Kat and a big cat
The zoo wore them out! Daniel was zonked before we even left our parking space, and Katherine followed shortly after once we were moving.
More fun at our neighborhood playground!
Katherine's first time riding her new bike outside! She rode all the way up to the playground.
Our dog friend Emily came to the playground too. She's got so big since being a tiny pup at Halloween time and is about fully grown now and so sweet.
