Nutter Butter Bites

After dinner, Liam and I shared a pack of Nutter Butter Bites. He tried to pry apart the tiny sandwich cookie and handed it over to me when he couldn't get it saying, "Heh!" (Help!). I loosened the cookie and gave it back to him. He pulled it apart, put the peanut butter side half way in his mouth, and scraped the peanut butter off with his tongue and bottom teeth. Once the peanut butter was gone, he shoved both cookies in his mouth and polished them off. As he swallowed that cookie, he held out his chubby little paw, and said, "Moe, pea!" (More, please!). Each time I handed him a cookie, I loosened it first, then he peeled it apart, and ate it peanut butter first.

I remember when I was little, Mom would buy Nutter Butter cookies, and I would eat them in a similar fashion. I would pull them apart, peel the peanut butter off, roll it into a ball, eat each cookie, then eat the peanut butter ball.... mmmmm.... yummy! As you can imagine, I was totally cracking up when I saw Buddy eating his cookies like this, without having ever been shown this technique! He is definitely his mother's child!!

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!

We celebrated a very peaceful Mother's Day this year. Our only outing was to church in the morning, and it was quite a memorable experience! When we arrive at church, we drop Buddy off at the nursery, and Maya always goes to "big church" with us for about 15 minutes, until the "Children's Message" is over. Today, when Rev. Dan called for the children to come forward, Maya was the first one to the alter steps, as usual. Normally, Maya will ask Rev. Dan, "Do you like my dress?", but this time, Rev. Dan beat her to the punch. As soon as she started up the stairs, Rev. Dan said, "I LOVE your dress this morning!" I couldn't see her reaction, but I can only imagine that she was beaming and responded with a quiet, "Sanks!" She held up her dress and ascended the stairs, at which point Rev. Dan commented, "She even holds up her dress just like a princess when she climbs the stairs!" Indeed she does.

All the kids were finally seated, and Rev. Dan took a seat next to Maya on the steps. He asked the kids if they knew what day it was, and quickly informed them that it was "Dan's Day!" He repeated this a few times, until finally, Maya got up, walked over to him, put her little hands on his arm, leaned WAY in close to his face (the way she does when she needs to tell you something really important and needs your undivided attention), and explained very quietly as not to embarrass him, "Uh... No. It's, it's Mudder's Day!" Well, since Rev. Dan had his microphone attached to his tie, the entire congregation heard her proclamation loud and clear, and the entire sanctuary erupted in applause! It was SO cute! I think after that, Rev. Dan said something to the effect of "... I don't know why I even come to this. You don't need me here! How can I top that?!" So true! There are many Sundays when the kids steal the show.

As if that wasn't enough, at the end of the "Children's Message", Rev. Dan asked all the females in the sanctuary to stand up, to be given recognition for our nurturing character, whether we are mothers or not. He told the kids to look for their moms, and as soon as Maya spotted me, she started waving. Will and I waved back. Then, she yells over Rev. Dan, "I wuv you, Mommy!" I mouthed, "I love you, too!" back to her as clearly as I could, so she would understand. Then, she blew me a kiss, and I blew one right back. We were both smiling, ear to ear. It was really a great Mother's Day moment.

Liam has his own church story, too... Lately, he's becoming REALLY independent and communicating better every day. After church, as soon as we got into the "donut room" (also known as the Fellowship Hall), he started reaching for the donut table, saying, "Bi! Bi! Bi! Bi!" (Bite! Bite! Bite! Bite!). I selected a cake donut with chocolate frosting (I mean, that's what I would want!), and we sat down on the stage to eat. Awhile after he was done with the donut and had played with the kids, I saw him heading back towards the donut table. I rushed across the room and watched him. He surveyed the table, as though to confirm that there was still food there, and without helping himself (which TOTALLY shocked me), he headed back to the stage to get me! I met him about halfway, and as soon as we made eye contact, he started pointing to the table, saying, "Moe! Moe! Moe!" (More! More! More!). The boy knows what he wants, and he does his best to make it clear to me, too. It's pretty amazing how well he's doing!

Liam... He is his own joyful self, every single day. He constantly melts my heart with this LOOK... these big eyes that boar into my soul and fill me with love, several times a day. He is very physical and loves to be cuddled, wrestled, kissed, squeezed, and tickled. He just giggles this hearty little boy giggle that is completely infectious. And Maya... she has the biggest heart and just radiates affection. She frequently and completely randomly comes up and squeezes me tight around my neck, plants a kiss on my lips, and whispers, "I wuv you, Mommy, very much." It's all of those moments that also highlight this Mother's Day.

Oh, and the THREE hour nap was a nice touch, too. Thanks, Will!

Beef-Burrito-Head-Buddy!

I looked over at Liam tonight at dinner, and he was rubbing his burrito all over his head with this HUGE smile on his face! What the heck?? He's 100% BOY, I'm telling you. We are in trouble.

Maya's New BIKE!

"Bike! MY BIKE! MY BIKE!!!" That's what Maya screamed as she ran around the house and realized what was sitting in the driveway... her very own bike! There are tons of pics on this post because this was a VERY special event for Maya. She has been talking about getting a bike for awhile now, especially since last Friday, when in 1 1/2 hours, she mastered riding her friend, Lydia's, bike. It was then that we knew we couldn't make her wait until her birthday to get her OWN bike. It had to be sooner...
"I WUV IT!!" she exclaimed as she checked out all the bells and whistles, which is just a basket and streamers for now. She wanted a "princess" bike, but I couldn't find one that was the right size for her. I compromised and bought a girly pink and purple bike and princess accessories to go with it. She does have a bell, but it will have to go on her bike later because Will didn't want her to have too many distractions at first... always the ER doctor!
She was SO excited to get this bike! She said to me, "I been wonnering 'bout dis bike! I been checking da mailbox sore it!" Oh, so precious...
She just looks like such a big girl in this picture, with her little pigtails and all...
Now, she has her helmet, and she's ready to ride! First, she has to check it out some more. I think she was still in disbelief that she has her very own bike! Of course, Buddy was in on the action!
I'm pretty sure he's getting a lecture about how that's her "bastick", and he's probably not allowed to put anything in it. Yeah, yeah, yeah.... wah, wa-wa-wah, wa-wa, wa-wa...
Checking out how her feet look on the "flower" pedals...
Checking out the handlebars...
Posing with her bike! It's purple and pink! Her "savorite"!!
Here, she struck this pose and informed me that she was standing "wike a chipette"! She's so stinkin' cute!!
Her first trip down the driveway + pedaling way too fast + steering like a maniac = first "major" wreck...
I told her to get right up and hop back on! I informed her that is the first of MANY bike accidents she will have, and she just needs to get back on the bike and practice. She quickly dried her eyes and got right back on... and took her first trip down our street with her Daddy...
After one lap around, she paused for a moment to show me her "sirse srape" (first scrape)...
After watching Will and I give her little pushes when her pedals got "stuck" and she couldn't move them, Buddy decided to lend a helping hand. He grabbed the back of her shirt, and walked around right beside her, pushing on her back the entire way. What a sweet boy!!
Stopping to check out the streamers... again...
Finally, we put Liam in the wagon and let Maya ride her bike down the bike path. He's always game for anything and REALLY likes to ride in the wagon. Look at that smile!
Maya was the leader of the walk... "Sawwow me!" (Follow me!)...
One of my favorite pictures... PURE JOY, PRIDE, AND HAPPINESS...
She lead the way home, too. Notice how she mostly looks at her feet? Surprisingly, she does a pretty good job of staying on the path despite the fact that she rarely looks ahead. Only one time did she actually drive off of the path, into the ditch, and I happen to be right next to her and caught her, keeping her from tipping over. She said, "Nice tatch, Mom!" Whew... that was a close one!
Riding down another street... Eventually, I asked her if her legs were getting tired. She responded, "No. See, dese are my esercise kwowes, and dese are my esercise sooes." (These are my exercise clothes, and these are my exercise shoes... gesturing to her outfit and "trocodile crocs".) Oh, I get it... something must be wrong with my exercise clothes and shoes, then, because I still get tired in mine!
Here's a close-up of the streamers... notice they are princess ones, and she continues to look at her feet!
As we were finishing our ride, it started to sprinkle. Buddy-boy was having fun with the raindrops falling on his head... all kicked back in his wagon seat...
Now, if this isn't the picture of an accident waiting to happen, then I don't know what is! Maya says, "Watch me, Mommy!" then lets go of the handlebars! Oh. My. Goodness. Not even 3 years old and already concerned with "doe-ing sass" (going fast) and "wedding doe" (letting go)...
Warning: This bike riding is not for the faint of heart!!

Night-Night Gowns

Awww... my little angel! If that isn't cute, I don't know what is!! I always wondered at what age little girls decide they want to wear gowns to bed instead of the long sleeve, long pant pajamas that will actually keep them warm. At what point do they switch to the fashion-over-comfort style philosophy? Well, now I know. It's at about 3 years old. Yesterday, Maya wore a very cute cotton dress and tights to play in, and when bedtime rolled around, I suggested that it was time to put on her jammies. She informed me that the dress was her "night-night gown... with dese tights". So, she wore her dress to bed... and again all day today! This afternoon, we shopped for some new night-night gowns, and she chose one with Tinkerbell and one with Princess Tiana. I could hardly keep her from ripping off her clothes in the middle of Kohl's to put her gowns on right then and there! She couldn't wait to get home and change. As a bonus, one gown came with a wand, and one came with slippers. Both are pictured here! Maya will frequently cast "spells" on us with her princess wands. She points her wand at us and says, "Sell! Now you're _____ (pink, a pince, can't talk... whatever the case may be)!" Buddy's had so many spells casted on him that he does it now, too. He'll point his wand/graham cracker stick/whatever he's holding and say, "Sssseh!", I act surprised, and he just giggles. It's pretty cute.
So, we go from a total picture of innocence in the first pic to THIS! She actually WANTED me to take her picture with this silly face. She said, "Take another one!" Then, she struck this pose. When I showed it too her, she laughed. What a goofball!

Buddy's First Ice Cream Cone

"... he stuck in his thumb and pulled out a... bunch of ice cream! And thought, 'What a good boy am I?!'" I'm not really sure what prompted this unorthodox way to test the ice cream waters (Peg, any insight??), but this is how he went after his first of many ice cream cones. Then he decided to give it a little lick-test...
Hmmm... I think I like this stuff...This is how you do it, right?
OH! You've GOT to be kidding me right now! I can EAT this dish?!
Yeah! Just try and stop me now! I double-dog dare you! This is AWESOME!!!
Check this out, Papa! You can eat the WHOLE thing! Can you believe it??
Oh, yeah. Now THAT'S how it's done!
Papa!! Don't forget I JUST devoured an entire ice cream cone!! Wheeeee!!!
Please take note of the "... one sock off and one sock on. Diddle, diddle dumpling, my son... Liam." Hahaha... I bet 90% of the time, that's how he walks around the house. That would drive me crazy, but he doesn't seem to mind at all! Once I finally locate his sock, I'll tell him I need some piggies for the sock, and he always sticks his naked pigs in the air! So, he KNOWS... he just doesn't care. Drives. Me. Crazy. It is one of those things I love about that boy!!

Happy 3rd Birthday, Madeline!

Our little friend, Madeline, turned 3 years old! Here's a little line-up of some of the kids at her birthday party: (from left to right) Sedona, Maggie, Claire, Max, Maya, Anna, Madeline, and Charlie V. The party was at the local YMCA, at the Ace Place, and they did a fabulous job! Here are the kids doing some dances (lead by Coach Leah and Coach Tara, who are also Maya's gymnastics coaches!)... Head, shoulders, knees, toes, eyes, ears, mouth, nose, and chin... something!
My personal favorite, "The Chicken Dance"! Look at Madeline get down! The girl's got quite a twist...
Our Buddy, Max...
Maya, Liam, and Charlie V. on the rock wall... Maya was actually pretty good with just a little assistance. The scary part was when she was done (and had climbed above my head) and just leaned away from the wall, turned, and let go! Luckily I had a hand on her and managed to catch her! What a daredevil!
Liam always goes for the basket ball hoop! Anna was giving him some pointers on shooting a basket...
Maya and Madeline spent most of the time climbing up the obstacle course and sliding down this slide. Madeline always went first, and Maya was always trailing right behind her...
Sometimes a bit TOO close behind (amazingly, nobody was ever hurt)...
I just love this HAPPY girl...
Maya and Liam under the parachute...
Maya and her new best friend, Anna, walked every where holding hands. It was so cute. Maya is just enthralled by older girls, and Anna clearly loves to help the littler ones. Even though there's not much of an age difference, there is a clear difference in maturity. After Maya very eagerly gave Anna a big hug, Anna turned to me and said, "After you turn 4, you're not quite as playful as you used to be." Oh my goodness! She is so funny (and I hope that's not true!!)...
Here are most of the kids, singing "Happy Birthday" one more time while Madeline blew out her candles...
Buddy, Buddy, Buddy... all the kids are running around on sugar-highs, and he's playing with the weights. Seriously?
A balloon! Finally, Madeline left her post at the birthday-girl chair, and Liam rushed over to get the balloons...
Aaaand... we're back to the weight stacks. GOOD GRIEF!
After cupcakes, Max and Maya hung out on the window sill, eating raisins and Popsicles...
This was a super-fun birthday party! What a great idea, Kysa and Brandon! I wonder if everyone would mind returning for Maya's birthday party?? Although, after the Y, we met up at K2, a pizza place, to eat dinner. Maya and Madeline played at the arcade games (without any money) the entire time we were there, pausing only for a few moments to eat a couple of bites of food. As we left, Maya said, "I want to have MY birthday party HERE!!" Hmmmm... could be!