January 2012

This January has been fun with a variety of activities.   Peter got his first pair of shoes and Katie is taking a new class --Fairy Fun (which sounds a lot better than the other class for her age group -- Drama Tots!).

Peter is walking around like crazy and enjoys exploring the house.  He likes banging little pots and pans together, picking up things and bringing them to people (today he handed me one of Katie's bunny slippers), and climbing.  He also likes playing with Rusty and Katie who, to their credit, have been very patient with him as he pulls their hair/fur and often falls on them.

We've had a few dustings of snow which gave Katie a chance to put on her new snow suit and clean off our cars (we're taking advantage of it while she still thinks its fun).  Nancy and Katie have made some fun arts and crafts projects like a winter ice wreath and yummy pretzels (shaped like different letters).

Katie and I went to see Beauty and the Beast in 3-D.  She loved it!  I'm still shocked that it cost $25 for two matinee tickets! (not to mention $17 for soda, water, and popcorn).   We saw it on the MLK Holiday which may have been appropriate.  MLK preached to not judge people by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.  Beauty and the Beast tells us to not judge people by the amount of fur they have but by the size of their castle and whether or not their furniture dances and sings.

Lots of photos below and here.


Peter wakes up happy


Peter in his new shoes.


We're never quite sure what Peter will play with next.  Today it was a container.




Catching snowflakes.






Katie clears the snow off Mommy's car.


Katie loves the snow... and the hot chocolate.


Peter's "guilty" face


Peter loves Rusty


He also loves to climb


Katie plays with a sheet of ice that was on our patio table.


Don't let this photo fool you.  It can a challenge to get Peter to take a nap sometimes.


The ice wreath that Katie and Nancy made


The wreath hanging from our tree.


Katie at the 3-D movie.  Afterwards, she took the lenses out of the glasses and wore them around the house (and to school).


Peter likes to bang pots and pans together


He also likes to kick the soccer ball while holding candlesticks.


He gives Rusty a kiss...


...and a hug.


Katie working on a puzzle.


Katie makes pretzels


Peter helps too... somehow.


Peter tries to shovel himself


Katie in her new snow suit.


Watching the snow


Ready to go outside!




Katie helps shovel the walkway




Whee!




Katie and Cameron at his 5th birthday party.


Peter likes to sit in the rocking chair, but not necessarily the "correct" way.

Happy New Year 2012!

It's hard to believe 2012 is here already. Everyone was awake at midnight to celebrate another year together. Katie took a long nap after dinner and woke up in time to see the festivities on tv. Peter woke up around 11:40pm so we brought him downstairs to celebrate too.

Katie was excited to see Lady Gaga perform even though she knows very little about her, other than her friend Abby dressed up as her for Halloween. Each time they showed a woman on tv, Katie would ask excitedly if that was Lady Gaga. "No," we'd reply, "you'll pretty much know when you see her." And we were right. Lady Gaga looked like she was trying to disguise herself as a disco ball.

When midnight struck, Katie jumped off the couch and shouted, "Happy New Year!" It was very cute. She enjoyed it so much that she did it several more times. We could hear a large firework show going on outside nearby, but were too tired and warm to venture outside.

After a few weeks off from school and work, it was hard for everyone to get back in their routines. Katie was about 10 minutes late for her first day back at school but was still one of the first ones to arrive.

The weather turned bitterly cold for a few days but then warmed up in time for the weekend. On Saturday we walked down to the park to run around. Katie played tag with her friend Tessa and I followed Peter around.

Peter is walking everywhere now! His balance has gotten a lot better, but he still takes an occasional header into a piece of furniture.

Tonight we took down our Christmas tree and hauled it to the curb, which is always sad. Katie wants to tap into the tree to see if sap comes out. We're hoping she forgets about it soon, but she never does.

The next few weeks will be busy attending open houses for prospective preschools. Our choices are the public school in our district (which has a year-round schedule), opt-out of that school and request another (but may not get approved), or a private school (catholic, montessori, etc...). Who knew picking a kindergarden would involve so much research!

Here's a video of Peter trying (and trying and trying) to pick up a ball at the playground.


Peter says hello.  He could probably fit inside his stocking...


...but not Katie.  She's gotten so tall!

Skatie Lessons

The week after Christmas Katie took a mini-session of skating lessons at the ice rink in Arlington.  It was her first time skating with her Mom or Dad and she did great!  She was very brave and didn't hesitate at all to get on the ice, despite saying she was a little nervous beforehand.  Grammy Butler got to see her first lesson before leaving for the airport.

Katie learned a lot during the lessons.  Her shining moment was when she wanted to stay after her last lesson and skate some more.  She did several laps around the ice rink all by herself.  I was so proud!

Afterwards we watched the Caps practice and then went on a "secret mission" to get a present for Nancy's birthday.  I was a little nervous about bringing Katie to a jewelry store but Katie ended up charming them so much that they gave her a nice bunny necklace.  She even got to model a few necklaces to help us decide what to get for her Mom.

Then we went on a family outing to Ikea to get a new pantry for the kitchen (we desperately needed more shelf space) and new storage shelves for the basement.  We spent all weekend putting everything together and tossing out some old stuff and now we may be finally starting to win our battle against clutter.

Here's a video of Katie's skating lessons (with bonus footage!):



Katie with the Caps practicing behind her.  She wanted to sit where it was warm but her Dad wanted to sit near the ice.  Guess who won? (hint: notice that we're far from the ice).


Katie posing with one of the potential necklaces for Nancy.


Katie with the winning locket.

Katie heard that Kaylyn made a movie at her grandparents house last week and wanted to make one too.  This is the first episode of KTV.  Enjoy.