Standing and Lip Smacking at the Park

We love daylight savings evenings, and have been enjoying playing in the front yard, scooter and bike rides in the neighborhood, and dinners on the back porch this week.  Cas and the kids had fun in the hammock the other evening - 

On Saturday, I met my mom and grandma at a nearby park.

Collin was eager to show off how he held Maya as they go down slides, and I was happy to have adult help with Maya so I could capture the sibling slides where Maya is quite serious but Collin is having fun - 

Showing off her new standing skills -

Maya was so happy at the park, she lasted over an hour before she realized there was a bow in her hair and then of course, immediately ripped it off - 

Collin tossed leaves her way, but instead of annoying her, the leaves and wood chips made her squeal, kick and flutter her hands in excitement -

Playing with B, watching her tickling fingers, smiling and giggling, then gazing up at her to see when the tickling would start again -

And bouncing on Grammy's knees -

Collin told us, "I'm going to burn energy," clearly a phrase he hears often at our house, and set out on a running loop around the playground -

Maya noticed she got a reaction of laughter from her grandma and great grandma when she made funny smacking sounds with her lips, and hammed it up for them for several minutes while Collin was running - 

Silly girl showing more and more personality and opinions, turning on the tears and whines when she's not getting her way, but for the most part, giggling, shaking in excitement, and screaming with enthusiasm as she enjoys time with the family -

Going all out for St. Patrick's Day

Collin turned two months old on St. Patrick's Day four years ago, and as a very proud first-time parent, I felt the need to send my work team an email with a photo or two of him in his St. Paddy's day onesie.  Besides the "I had a baby" email, I had been operating in radio silence with my work since Collin's arrival.  And then, since I work with all guys, I maintained supernatural strength and reserved St. Patrick's Day as my annual photo-of-my-kid holiday. 

This year the holiday expanded to photo of my kids.  We woke up Monday morning and between breakfast and Maya's nap, we got the kids geared up in green.

Both my kids are in hand-me-downs, and Maya is decked out in a shamrock tutu which we wore for 10 minutes of photos and then switched her into jeans when we headed to Collin's gymnastics class.

Unsatisfied with the photos inside, I drug the kids to the front yard for a few more attempts.  This was the best shot, and the only reason we got a smile out of Collin was because I hadn't yet noticed the stick in his hand.

My best friend called this Collin's model pose, though I think this was Collin's reaction to my time-out threat.

Holding Maya . . . for a second before they tumbled in the grass . . . and the only shot of them both standing had Collin's eyes closed -

Despite the less-than-perfect photo, we had a fun Monday, and my work team humored me with their "cute kids" responses to my email!

I'm so thankful for shamrock tutus and a wonderful little girl to put in them.  We were discussing Passover & Easter this evening and how this will be Maya's first time celebrating, though it seems like she's been part of our family for ages.  As my Grandma Jewell Rae says, I just have to pinch myself when I look at my happy, healthy family!

Two generations of friends

We had a play date Saturday morning with my best friends and their children (minus Maya who was napping).  It was a play date where it seemed to be a disaster in the making - sprinkling rain with no clear skies in sight as we drove to the park, Amber's family was headed to a different park than where we were waiting, when we arrived every piece of playground equipment was soaked, etc.  And yet, we all had a great time - 

 My best friend Amber and her family squealing on the standing see-saw:

I love their genuine delight -

When we arrived I told Collin this was the SpiderMan climbing rope but for some reason he heard spider monkey, as he kept trying to corral the kids to play in the spider monkey area, and they all gave him blank stares -

Spider swinging.  Collin swung with Holden but it lasted two seconds -

Amber's kids make my tentative boy act more brave.  I'm okay if he follows their crowd, as they get him to participate in activities he normally wouldn't do without some positive peer pressure -

Collin's pants were completely wet from slide racing, but he was having too much fun trying the monkey bars, chasing after bubbles, kicking the soccer ball with the kids, and following Katelyn around to complain.

Baby Steps and Boxing

She's no fool.  Maya knows the difference between the three baby toy cell phones and the real thing, and prefers to nibble on the actual iPhone.

Locking eyes with Brownie as he and Grammy cheer for her walking practice

At breakfast, Collin saw Brownie give Maya a kiss and reminded Brownie of his house rule: if you give a kiss to one grandchild, you have to give a kiss to the other.  Fairness was highly valued in our home growing up, and my kids are at the stage where they're more than happy to receive more kisses!

Walking with the help of some fingers, wispy baby hair, firm eye contact -

He doesn't go long without a stick when he's outside -

When he got tired of bike riding and when my parents got tired of him building a castle with the mulch they had just spread in their flower beds two days before we arrived, Brownie suggested some wrestling, which turned into an intense boxing match in the grass -

A hit -

Shuffling around.  Collin's trash talk is to call my dad "big palooka" -

Following our morning at the zoo with an afternoon playing in the front yard and breakfast-for-dinner, Collin couldn't ask for a better Friday!  We all had a fun weekend, and squeezed in one last [damp] play date before heading back to our side of town for a birthday party.