Pretend You Are Two: The Breakfast Edition

If you happen to be two, ordinary apple slices at breakfast might just magically transform themselves into airplanes and butterflies. 

Seth schooled me on this and he happens to be two, so this comes from a reputable source (and also he really likes making airplanes out of food). 

Still, the butterflies were a new twist. 

- L.

Easter Morning Ft. "The Slow Boot Shuffle"

I commented in my previous post that "watching them walk from one end of the house to the other in those boots was absolutely priceless" – and thanks to the magic of YouTube, you no longer need to take my word for it. 

Enjoy!

- L.

We're Going On A Hunt...

There was no way I was going to leave Easter treats in the boys room for them to find in the morning – not even way up high, like on top of their dresser for example, because they have gotten far too wily of late – so I placed their Easter buckets in the hallway just outside the door to their room.

In the end, I decided to go low-key and just wait for everyone to notice the buckets filled with loot. I figured Seth would notice in a heartbeat since one of his nicknames is "eagle eye", but no dice. We went through our entire morning wake-up routine with the door open and the buckets on full display and no one noticed anything out of the ordinary.

As a last ditch effort as I was taking the not-so-fresh diapers out to the kitchen to dispose of them I made a big deal about leaving the room a la, "OK, I'm heading out the door now... the door that is over HERE".

*sigh*

Fortunately, my not-so-subtle hint worked and before I returned I heard some little voices saying, "NEW! NEW!". 

I pretended to act surprised of course.

And then I asked my boys what they thought it might be and they paused a moment and then said, "Christmas!".

Except, of course, it was nothing like Christmas because they both looked happy and excited about getting into their loot. 

After we gave the bucket contents (a little chocolate, the animal cracker cookies I'd made, some bubbles for outdoors and the BEST THINGS EVER (!!!) in the form of new cars) a good going over I "happened" to notice the first clue the Easter Bunny left and read it out loud. 

Their comprehension is quite excellent, so they understood that we needed to go to the front door but once we got there everyone seemed a bit mystified. After a bit of prodding, Seth eventually noticed the next clue card nestled between the new fire engine boots Gamma Rita sent for Easter while somehow not noticing the boots at all. 

These boots always been here, right?

At this point I was starting to have my doubts about this Easter hunting business and very much considering revoking Seth's "eagle eye" status. 

Still, they were pretty excited about the boots once I pointed them out and everyone wanted to wear them right away. Nate was especially keen to get going and watching them walk from one end of the house to the other in those boots was absolutely priceless. 

Of course I think it's pretty clear from everyone's expressions here that they still have no clue what's going on. 

The clue card said to look under a chair - the one they're standing right in front of actually. It's the only chair in the room that you'd have to stoop to look under to see if something might be hidden there, but getting anyone to check it out was like pulling teeth. At one point Seth took a quick peek and when I asked him if he saw anything under there he replied, "the Easter Bunny!".

In the end, I had to spell this one out too – "I think there's a treat from the Easter Bunny under the white chair" – but once I did, they couldn't get down there fast enough. 

Like a light switch turning on. Times two!

The loot was coloring books (with stickers!). Super fun. Everyone had to stop and check things out in detail. 

I'm not sure when (if ever) I should get concerned that Nate's viewing preference with books of any kind is upside down, but I will say that today was definitely not the day for concerns of any kind. And certainly not at this point since the boys were finally getting into things. 

They solved the next clue easily enough (Play-Doh hidden in their kitchen):

At last it was time for the final clue, which was hiding out in MY kitchen and in the only cupboard they're allowed to go into. 

Check out those droopy drawers everyone! 

And just in case Easter 2012 is looking a bit like Christmas all over again with the very serious children – rest assured, there was plenty of this after things got going: 

I saved the add-on to their Fisher Price Farm as the final gift even though I had a feeling either the boots or the cars would be the favored items. 

And even though everyone liked the new farm accoutrements a great deal and the new boots were also a hit, the new cars won out in the end. 

Nate was so excited about the new '66 Chevy Nova, they were inseparable most of the day. Not shown: Seth being equally smitten with the new '67 Chevelle (AKA: "New Chebelle! New Che-BELLE! NEW CHE-BELLE!!!").

- L.

Happy Easter Everyone!

The above picture is what Easter eggs turn out like when you don't take the time to properly read the package instructions and/or misunderstand the instructions you did manage to read. 

The eggs looked so bad and it was clear things weren't working out almost from the get-go that I ended up putting everything aside to dry while I hurriedly cut out construction paper eggs for the boys to decorate with stickers instead. When I got back to the real eggs later they had already dried and I decided they looked interesting at least, so I put them in a bowl and was surprised to discover that together they looked strangely pretty, so I took a picture.

Yesterday and part of Friday was spent baking up some Easter treats. I was planning to serve up the cupcakes for dessert last night, but the boys were so wired during and after supper I didn't want to chance giving them a sugar load.

Which meant these cookies were off limits also:

I didn't want to be a complete Scrooge though, and I had a few leftover animal cracker spice cookies that didn't make it into the bags designated for the boys' Easter baskets this morning, so I offered up the plate and let them choose 2 apiece. 

Seth picked a giraffe both times because he really likes giraffes I guess. It's the smallest of the cookies though. The first time Nate picked a lion, but got wise on the second pass and chose the elephant instead since it's the biggest cookie by far. I got a kick out of their different approaches and watching Nate's hand hovering over that lion before making a quick grab for the largest cookie instead. 

Oh, and somewhere in between the botched egg dyeing and baking I printed up some OP style clues for our Easter hunt this morning and trimmed several dozen bunny feet.

We had lots of fun today and the bunny feet were such a big hit that it instantly made all that tedious trimming worth it. Stay tuned for lots of Easter cuteness coming up in the next post!

- L.

Easter Eve

Hi there. It's been awhile since our last post which had something to do with breakfast cereal but the half dozen posts before that re: converting the cribs tell most of the story.

For what it's worth, I don't regret converting the cribs. It was time for us to do so since things were getting to a point where they were safer without than within. Still, within had its benefits – and without has come at a price.

After a week of switching beds, my boys decided they most preferred sleeping together again – and despite my fears about a foot in the eye at 3AM, if it's happened, I certainly haven't heard about it.

On rare occasions, getting everyone settled in for the night is a piece of cake – and just as often it's a complete circus. Mercifully, most nights fall somewhere in-between.

Good nights = asleep before 10:30. Really good nights = asleep before 10. Poorly nights = awake after 11. And the truly awful nights? Well, they're still awake after that and it's never any good.

This, for example, is more or less what a good night looks like: 

Except for the part where Seth doesn't usually use Nate's bum as a pillow.

And THIS is what a truly awful night looks like. I posted our latest video a week ago and never got around to blogging about it (or anything else) because I think I'm still recovering from that night. I'll admit I had some reservations about filming the shenanigans instead of sending Stern Mommy™ in straight away.

In the end, I decided it was 2 minutes and 30 seconds that would speak far louder than Stern Mommy™ ever could about shenanigans, so I put her on hold and just let them have at it. There is some very off-limits behavior going on and I really had to stifle Stern Mommy™ over the toy throwing in particular (this is a huge no over here in case you think I'm raising complete hooligans).

And then there are nights like tonight: 

Everyone was asleep by 10, which was mostly really good – a bit hard-won since I put them to bed at 8:30 and there were some serious shenanigans in those 90 minutes – but the best part? The best part was my boys asking for their bunnies to fall asleep with and calling them "Peter Rabbit".

Historically speaking, special occasions around here have fallen a little flat – and while tomorrow isn't their birthday or Christmas – I think they have finally cottoned on.

Tomorrow morning I'm hoping to blow their minds just a little. Fun Mommy™ pulled out a few stops (despite the reservations of Weary Mommy™ and the finger-wagging of Stern Mommy™).

As I type, there are bunny footprints all over this house.

The trap is set, everyone.

And despite being more pooped than I can remember since the boys were newborns, I can barely wait for morning.

- L.

S-H-E-E-E-R-I-O-S!

– Hey Seth, I has question. 

– OK, shoot.

– Why you always look so little and I look so big in the pics Mommy takes? We is more or less same size after all.
– 'Dis is good question Nate, and good question deserve good answer. Which I has of course. 

– Is fun to mess with Mommy sometimes, 'dat's why! 'Dis my little grin I like to make when I is pulling pranks. And I pull a few in new video that Mommy post today.
– 'Dat is good answer, Seth. Of course, I go with my Michigan J. Frog impression as usual*. I doesn't like to disappoint.

- L.

PS. Seth is reading letters off the Cheerios box, which both my boys do with great fervor every time we have Cheerios with our breakfast. For some reason when I decided to finally drag out the camera today to record this tried-and-true event, "C" got replaced with "S" and an extra "E" found its way in there somehow.

PPS. It's March and unseasonably warm, but nothing would do this morning other than their "Christmas shirts!". It was cool enough in the house at that point so it wasn't a problem per se. Still, I think they might be joining the infamous orange shirts in short order.

*Nate has been a bit of a Michigan J. Frog on camera of late, which is a bit of a surprise coming from a future theatre major. I think it has something to do with his recent discovery of a "boy" in the camera, but that's a post for another day.

Dining Out

Since we used up most of our free crayons from our previous venture out into the big world of family-friendly restaurants (which also happened to be our very first venture out into the big world of family-friendly restaurants), it was high time for a Part II adventure.

Unfortunately there isn't much available in our neighborhood that's family friendly that also isn't fast-food, so we revisited the same restaurant due to it's only-game-in-town proximity.

The restaurant? Swiss Chalet.

• • • • • • •

A small caveat: I worked at a Swiss Chalet while going to college. My shifts were for the most part not long enough to get a proper break with a meal, but the couple times they were I found their food landed like lead in my stomach. I've never been a big fan – including the times I've been dragged there by a rabid Swiss Chalet lover as a proper customer.

That said, there are far too many die-hard Swiss Chalet fans to make my dining experience anything other than a personal anecdote. Food preferences aside, I can also say that having worked in a few chain restaurants during my teens and early twenties, no one had it more together regarding food safety than the Chalet. Their standards are impeccable and their food for the most part is simply made and relatively healthy.

There is no accounting for their signature sauce however. I have no idea why people go bananas for it. A customer once commented that it tasted like mothballs and although it was still a few months before I tried it for the first time myself I'd have to agree that his description was fairly spot-on.

It was one of the few items at Swiss Chalet that wasn't made from actual ingredients in the restaurant, but rather came in powdered form in a mysterious bag, which should tell you something.

Seriously, stay away from that stuff.

And thus ends my caveat (which turned out to be not-so-small after all), and on with the dining out experiences...

• • • • • • • 

The first time I took my boys out was early February when Gamma Rita was still in town. We were fully prepared to exit if the experience was met with tears – and although there was a moment of doubt when it came time to get everyone seated in unfamiliar high-chairs, it turned out to be a better-than-expected venture.

Although I think the crayons were a selling point:

And the space where the tables met that was somehow perfectly positioned to shove said crayons down also had its appeal:

Of course there were other distractions which, at the time, we all assumed had to do with other patrons enjoying their lunch and a curious toddler:

It's hard to believe that was only 8 weeks ago when it was still technically winter here (we didn't really have winter this year, but it was February at the time) and also pre-haircuts. It seems like ages ago and I can't believe how much my boys have grown in such a short span of time.

But I digress.

Last night M. and I revisited Swiss Chalet after a play in the park for supper.

The boys weren't as taken with the crayons this time since we have plenty of crayons at home.

Oh. Crayons.

Still, we kept everyone distracted with a trip to the potty while we waited for our meals to arrive. Of course, once said meals arrived, Seth found a distraction of his own:

And unlike our previous visit where I assumed he was being a looky-loo in general, this time the source of his distraction turned out to be rather obvious:

Some might say a little too obvious. 

Hey cutie! Get back here – I not done with you yet!

*sigh*

• • • • • • •

Nate also had a similar reaction to the crayons:

Oh. Crayons.

At least until he discovered the ketchup that was well within his reach:

He admired that bottle as much as it is possible to admire a bottle of ketchup until the food arrived. 

And then he tucked in proper:

I'm fairly certain that his meal was at least 50% ketchup, but since it's technically a vegetable by some standards, we all did our best to look the other way.

- L.

PS. It's been tough on a first-time and last-time Mommy acknowledging that my babies are no longer babies.

Still, when I catch a moment like this it's impossible not to wax nostalgic: 

I'm not entirely sure that there won't always be moments like these that take me back in an instant to when they were barely born. A casual sweep of the eye and I'm right there all over again.

*sniffle*