Yarrr! Happy Mother's Day!

Pre-flower-picking in the afternoon.

No pics from this morning since we had a lot to get done and everyone slept in to boot (Mommy's Day score btw!), but we did have a follow-up conversation pursuant to my previous post... 

• • • • • • • 

Me: Do you remember what day it is today?

S: Is special occasion.

N: Special occasion today!

Me: Wow. That's some big words. I can't believe you both remembered "special occasion". Do you remember what the special occasion is?

S: Is Saturday!

Me: Hmmm... well, no. It's actually Sunday today, but that's a good guess. What do you think Nate? Do you remember why it's a special occasion today?

N: Is Blue Day!

Me: Blue Day? Hmmm... I don't know what that is, but it sounds fun. It's actually Mommy's Day today. Do you remember Mommy's Day?

S: ...

N: ...

S: Avast me hearties!

N: ... and a bottle of rum!

S: Yo-ho-ho!

N: Yarrr!

And end scene.

• • • • • • • 

Highlights from today:

Between breakfast and lunch we made art. Specifically, we recreated a previous art project on actual watercolor paper since I was so impressed with the boys' Jackson Pollock stylings I decided I wanted some to frame. I did one as well this time.

The pic doesn't do our efforts justice since they look much nicer in person and less like crime scene spatter analysis photos. Definitely frameable and we had lots of fun making art. Left to right: Nate, Mommy and Seth.

After lunch, my guys surprised me with an unexpected nap instead of quiet times. They slept for a good 90 minutes and it probably would have been longer, but I finally decided it was time to go in and make a little noise. 

Nate was not quite as ready as Seth to wake up, but we got going eventually. Also, I am loving Seth's sweaty bed head look.

By the time we got out the door this afternoon the local market was sold out of cut flowers, but we still had fun browsing the gardening section. At least until the boys got a little hands-on and starting picking flowers. Oops!

I didn't want us to leave empty handed, so we picked up a little cactus that we all agreed looked interesting and headed home where I promptly put the boys to work in the dandelion ridden backyard.

OK, not really. The truth is they love picking dandelions and if you've been around our place then you know that the backyard is rife with weeds. My guys had a grand time gathering a bouquet for Mommy.

Long-stem dandelions no less. Fancy!

As fun as that was, I think I can safely say the cupcakes and ice cream for dessert were the highlight of the day's festivities. Well, as far as Nate and Seth were concerned anyway: 

Om. Nom. Nom. Nom.

Dessert was yummy, the art was fun and the flower picking was a sweet time. I had a wonderful Mommy's Day.

Still, that surprise nap out of the blue (hmmm... blue day?) that gave a weary me a nice break in the middle of the day? Well, that made a wonderful Mommy's Day fairly magical – and by that I mean actual magic was probably involved if my boys were in a mood to take a nap. I try not to question these things for the most part lest it break the spell.

- L.

PS. There was a chorus of "Mommy's Day!" and "Happy Mommy's Day!" coming from the boys' room while I was preparing dinner tonight. I thought about grabbing the camera, but much like questioning the gift of an unexpected nap I didn't want to break the spell here either, and so I kept on with the food prep and just enjoyed the moment.

PPS. I'm pretty sure I was asking for the pirate chat since I taught them that one. Not sure how or why it appeared today since it was a one time thing that happened well over a month ago, but there it was. Yarrr!

Things We Know

At 17 months, we know:

Our colors:

Red, blue, green, orange, yellow and purple. And possibly white. Their favorite color to seek out seems to be blue, but their favorite color to say is "purple". They both love to say "pur-pah".

Our sounds:

All the requisite cow, horse, sheep, pig, goat, and pirate sounds. Yes, I said pirate. Everyone with a pirate ship should know how to say "yarrr!".

Enough said.

Also, courtesy of Mr. Brown Can Moo! Can You?, we also know how to say:

Pop, pop.
Klopp, klopp.
Hoo hoo hoo.
Dibble dibble*.
Bzzz, bzzz.
Boom, boom, BOOM!

Our numbers: 

Nate and Seth have "one" and "two" down pat when stacking things. Also, they are freakishly good at stacking things. Blocks, toys, peas**... you name it. They are stacking it.

And whatever gets stacked on top of "one" and "two", be it three things or twelve things, the highlight is declaring "nine, ten!" when you are done.

Our alphabet: 

Or "abba-bet!" as the case may be. Upper-case abba-bet is no match for Nate and Seth. They are keenly interested in all things abba-bet and can tell you what every single letter is no matter how abstractly it's presented.

• • • • • • •

In case any of this sounds like a shameless brag, it's not. I'm not the mom with the flash-cards.

I enjoy reading to them. And building things with them. Sometimes we count, but more often we don't. We make noises. Often with purpose. Sometimes loudly.

We have fun basically.

And I have no idea what's going on over here lately, but I do know I'm outnumbered because I can also count to one and two.

And quite frankly, I'm a little bit scared.

- L.

*Dibble, dibble appears to be unrelated to this, although it seemed like a likely suspect at first. "Dibba Day!" (whatever it means) is no dibble dibble, in case you were wondering.

**I bet you thought I was kidding, but I'm not. They have attempted to stack peas – with some actual success. Something I learned from my 17 month old boys: with a little bit of careful squishing along the way, it's not entirely impossible.

Happy Easter Everyone!

– Oh, hi everyone. It us. 

– I think you mean it us again everyone. You might remember us from last Easter.
– That not go so well as it turn out.
– No, it not.
– We hope for bigger things this Easter.
– We wait all year for our big moment.
– But is not to be.
– No, 'dis not our year.
– No, is not.
– You think Easter about the bunnies bringing treats.
– You think bunnies at Easter be treat enough all by themselves. But no.
– Last year we get upstaged by cute babies.
– And sad babies too.
– Yes, very cute and very sad.
– Very sad, but you know what sadder than that? And not so cute?
– I bet you not guess.
– 'Dis year Easter about the Pirates. Yes, I said it everyone. Pirates. 
– Is true.
– Who ever hear of Easter Pirates?
– 'Dis definitely a new low for bunnies everywhere.
– *sigh*
– *sigh*

•   •   •   •   •

Mommy note: The REAL Easter Bunny is apparently into pirates. So without further ado, the OP is proud to present our big Easter Bunny present.

Hint: it *might* be pirate related.

And just for the record, Nate and Seth loved it almost as much as I do. : )

It's got lots of cool stuff. 

Like a cannon. 

With cannon ball. 

Of course, you aren't supposed to fire it directly at anyone due to it's awesome force. Except, it's not very forceful and I have no idea why Fisher Price put that warning on the box. Seth especially liked being fired at. Repeatedly. He found it quite funny in fact. 

– Easter Pirates is the best everyone!
– They is pretty cool I must admit. I mostly just glad it not about bunnies 'dis year. 

– I overlook the bunny photobomb in 'dis pic. Cannot say the same for Seth. He skedaddle pretty quick.

•   •   •   •   •

Mommy note II: In case you noticed something a little different about the backdrop in some of the photos, you were definitely onto something.

For the record, our bookcase with drawers currently looks like this: 

It started off with a sudden enthusiasm for the sock drawer which was sort of cute despite the sock mess 87 times a day, but quickly progressed into a finger-pinching threat of epic proportions. So, until a solution is found we are literally without our drawers – which makes sense since I really did get caught with pants down on this one.

- L.

If It Seems Like It's Been A Little Quiet Over Here...

Let me assure you, it has not been quiet. 

We are moving, standing, and attempting somersaults (no joke). I've been on a mission to get some nice shots of the boys and their new moves, but alas... my mission has been a fruitless one.

So you get what you get in other words. These really are the best pics I've gotten all week.

I hope you remember what Nate and Seth look like because I'm pretty sure future posts with photos will look something like this:

For the record, please note that everything around my two motion machines is in focus.

Also, for the record please note that if you are looking for a walker/wagon for your baby to practice his first steps with you don't need to shell out the big dollars like I did. An $8 bucket will do nicely.

Seth cruised his way across the room and over to PooBucket™ Corner hanging on to nothing more than his favorite bucket. Go Seth!

Oh, and in case you're wondering why the boys are wearing hats in the nursery, it's because I was eager to take some pics of them in their new pirate hats (they are getting quite the hat collection btw). They are also modeling their new fleece lined jeans, which have to be the most comfortable jeans ever. I wish I had a pair.

For what it's worth I wish you had a pair too, but I digress...

This is the best picture I got of Nate:

At least you're looking at something other than the back of his head. Also, it kind of looks like their pirate hats are fighting. Y'ar!!!

And the best picture of Seth:

Of course, I was only able to get a face shot because he was wondering where Nate went. Cute hats though, right?

And this photo pretty much sums up our week in pictures so it's sort of my favorite:

Also, now you know where Nate went. Hi Nate!

The video is at least a little more impressive, so head on over to our YouTube™ channel to check it out. Nate does a full stand, Seth exits with his marine-man crawling moves (and that's him you'll hear in the background making a little noise btw, but he's OK). I definitely had to put the camera down for good once Nate started doing his moves one-handed, but the little trembles for the first few seconds are adorable. Also scary.

Very, very scary.

It's the end times everyone – better lock your doors.

- L.