A Cars and Trains Second Birthday for T

Our little baby Timmy is 2! Will there ever be a birthday when I feel like I can believe that they are as old as they are turning? I feel like it was just Cate's second birthday (well, it kind of was...) and now Timmy is already two. The seasons and years are whipping around so fast!

On Saturday we went to the choo choo restaurant in Glen Ellyn. Timmy and Cate loved it. Just like at Cate's second birthday, the food is delivered by train right next to your table.

After dinner, the birthday boy (and his big sister, of course) got special birthday cupcakes with sprinkles. They both devoured them. The frosting, anyway.

They also got in on some milkshake action. This was the beginning of the sugar overload for the weekend.

On Sunday after church (first day in the big 2 year old room!) and lunch and naps, we let Timmy rip into his presents. He was unsure at first of all the excitement and attention...although Cate was adeptly coaching him through it. Once he got the idea that under the brightly colored paper would lie cars, cars, legos, cars, footballs, cars, new clothes, cars, bikes and more cars, he was jumping around like a little maniac.

I was trying to get his cake ready in secret, but he came in as I was getting the candles lit and saw it. He started screaming, "That's Mater, That's McQueen!" The two race cars were off the cake before the candles were blown out.

He thoroughly enjoyed his cake (hence the black and white photo) with his friends, Mater and McQueen by his side. Happy Birthday TT! We love you!

Hey Daddy!

Since I won't talk on the phone, I thought I would send you a special blog post. This is me on my way to my second day of school. I can't wait to see you this weekend!

Love,

Cate

A Big Week

Cate's first day of preschool is behind us and she did great! We got her bag packed the night before and I made her favorite breakfast (french toast) to encourage a good mood. She was skipping along and holding my hand until we got close to her classroom and there were a lot of people, a little bit of chaos and a little bit of crying. Then she wanted to be picked up.

So we checked things out together and then Mimi swooped in so that I could make an exit. I got periodic updates throughout the morning when my mom had a chance to peek in at her. She was smiling, playing and having a good time. On the way home, I asked Cate how she liked school and her teachers and the other kids in her class. She liked school and the teachers, but not the other kids. She thought that they were too young to be in school. Of course she is one of the youngest ones, so I don't know what that means.

The weather turned cool, almost cold, last week, but we still made it over to our old playground. Timmy always wants to look for ducks on the bridge.

It's so much easier to be at the playground with both of them now that Timmy is more independent. I still look at other mothers who are sitting on a bench, talking to other mothers, drinking their coffee and wonder when that will be me, but at least I'm not holding one child and trying to help the other one anymore.

On Friday night we went out for dinner for Mimi's birthday. Cate and Timmy love their guacamole, so Mimi chose a Mexican restaurant.

Finally, on Saturday night with Daddy in Phoenix and Mimi and Pop at a wedding, I told C&T that we could make popcorn and watch a movie after bath time. They LOVE to eat popcorn out of a little plastic cup and watch "Toy Story." It was a good end to a busy week!

Ready for School

Actually, I think that the title of this post should be, "Ready for school??????"

Cate is going to preschool two days a week this Fall (or for however long we are still in Chicago). We started talking about it a few weeks ago. She told me, and everyone else who asked, that she was not going to school. She was staying home with me all morning. She said that she is not old enough to go to school.

So, I ordered her a new backpack which she loved to try to get her excited about school.

That worked for a day or so. She played school, pretended to go to school and packed some crayons in her bag. The next day she was back to saying that she was not going.

Today was "Meet the Teacher." Cate knows one of her teachers really well. My mom is the preschool director and we play in the empty playrooms and classrooms all the time. You might think that this would help her to be more comfortable.

You would be wrong. She wouldn't look at anyone, detach herself from the backs of my legs or speak the entire time. Thursday is the first day of school and I don't think it's going to be pretty. I think she'll have a great time once she settles down, but it's going to be a scene.

Also, if you're wondering why Cate is dressed for summer and Timmy for winter...I don't really have a good answer. We don't have a lot of clothes here. The temperature dropped dramatically this past weekend and Cate refused to cover up her new dress with leggings or a sweater.

Cate's Cooking Club: Nightfrog and Pearls Optional

Cate loves to cook. Since she no longer takes a nap, Cate now wants to cook something every afternoon while Timmy sleeps. Sometimes we make cookies.

Today we made our favorite Ghirardelli brownies. In her nightfrog. This is Cate's first nightgown and since it has frogs on it, she got a little bit confused and started calling it her nightfrog. Now all nightgowns are nightfrogs.

Then we moved on to making dinner...at 2:30 in the afternoon. It gets the job done. We made this new recipe. We were pretty happy with it. It is hard for Cate to help with dinner because it involves a lot of chopping and working with knives which she truly believes she is ready for. So we usually settle for me chopping the veggies or whatever and her counting them and putting them into a bowl. This is a totally unnecessary step, but efficiency is not king in our afternoon cooking club.

When we were just about finished, Timmy started making some noise in his crib. Cate said, "Mama, I think it makes sense when you have a girl and a boy to leave the boy in his crib. All day long. It just makes sense." And with that, Cooking Club was done. Who knows what we'll whip up tomorrow!

The Move, Phase I

This past weekend, we moved out of our house and Cate, Timmy and I moved into my parents' house until we find a house in Phoenix. I don't think that any move is fun but this weekend was a disaster. The storage people underestimated how much space we would need to fit all of our stuff and the packers and movers did a terrible job. After they left, everywhere we looked we found cabinets that had not been emptied, clothes in the closets and a slew of coke cans and water bottles that they just threw on the ground. A mess, a really huge mess. So we thought that we would just be cleaning an empty house on Sunday, but we were actually finishing their job, figuring out what else we could give away and hauling tons of extra stuff to my parents' house. We got it done and the renters moved in the next morning. I am so glad that that part is done.

It is strange to rent your house out. When you sell a house, you fix things up, do the best you can and then after you close, you wash your hands of it. You are done. When you become the landlord, it is kind of like having strange, unknown, very long term house guests. You want them to be happy, to like the house and you hold your breath when their name comes up on the caller id, wondering what they have found that is wrong, or what quirk of a 60 year old house you forgot to mention during the walkthrough.

So now we are settling in here. I bought some new, exciting toys for C&T and plan to take them out as needed. Even though my parents have a lot of toys, they are not in their usual routine and seem less able to occupy themselves for any length of time.

So today we played with some fresh play-doh and new tools. Timmy might have eaten a little bit of it while I wasn't looking. In the past, all he did was eat it, so this is progress.

We also loaded up on new library books last week, which Cate LOVES. One of her favorites is, "No more Cookies," which is about one cookie obsessed little girl. At the end, this little girl's mother offers to make frozen chocolate dipped bananas with sprinkles. It seemed easy enough, so after a trip to the store for sprinkles, Cate and I worked on this during Timmy's nap.

We saved these for after dinner and both C&T loved them. I think that Timmy was silent for 10 minutes while he worked on eating his banana. Cate kept asking him, "T, do you like these? Do you like the sprinkles? I made these for you."

Ice Cream Cones

It has been a crazy week. It is Friday and I think that our movers/packers are finally nailed down for next week on Saturday and Sunday. Otherwise known as the 11th hour. We hand over the keys Monday morning. It is taking all of my will to suppress the major freak out that threatens to bubble over.

Luckily, I have Cate and Timmy. To them it is just another week for playing, sleeping, running around and reading stories. If I were alone, I would obsess all day long over what I could be doing to prepare for the move. Instead, we play and dance to Taylor Swift and negotiate over how much juice is too much as usual.

Yesterday Auntie Jenn came over and we had strawberry cones outside after bath time. Cate danced on the back step and Timmy managed his cone all on his own for the first time (i.e. he didn't try to eat it from the bottom up). Tim is on his way home from Phoenix as I type for what will be our last weekend in our house. I'm sure that C&T won't let us make it all about work and moving.

House Hunters

I love that show. We watch it all the time and it looks so easy and like so much fun. You go to a few houses, one is clearly the best, you both agree and that's it...you have a new house.

I went to Phoenix this weekend for three days (the longest I have ever been away from Cate and Timmy) to look for a house. I got back on the plane yesterday with nothing settled, nothing certain. I thought, well, I will just go back in a month or so and look again. Then the plane landed and I had a message that our house had rented to a nice family with no pets for our full asking price. Awesome news. We have less than two weeks to be out.

I am trying to think of just one task at a time and not let all of the details seep into my brain and overwhelm me.

So this morning, before our new renter came to sign the paperwork, I had two snuggle bugs. After we made breakfast, I asked Cate what she wanted to do. She said, "Could you please just get back in your bed and snuggle with me?" So I got back in with her and then Timmy and Timmy's cars and we just hung out for awhile. Then the snuggling inevitably turned to wrestling (Timmy's idea) and hide and seek (Cate's idea). Whenever you ask Timmy to give someone a kiss, he plants one right on their mouth as seen below.

Timmy's idea of a nice way to wake up. Sleep sack on, cheerios in hand, watching "Cars."

So I hope that in the next few weeks I will be posting a picture of our new house...

Water Desensitization Training: Day Two

There are no pictures of day one, in case you are wondering, because there was too much yelling going on.

We are moving to Phoenix. A place where you must be in the water in the summertime to survive. I have two kids who really don't even like the water in the bathtub very much.

Last summer, Cate would not get in the wading pool or even in her baby pool in our backyard. When we visited Phoenix in June, I thought that they might like a splash pad/sprinkler park because they would not be immersed. Nope. They would not go near it.

So when I found out that our community pool, which is right behind our house, is having an hour of free swim for toddlers three days a week, I knew that we would be there.

On Day One of training, they lasted only 30 minutes but both spent some time in the pool.

On Day Two, I was armed with new pool toys, which helped. I managed to get Cate to not only touch the waterfall, but to go through it with me. Of course, once through the waterfall and on the other side, she was yelling, "I'm wet, I'm wet!" Then she insisted on getting her towel and having her hair dried as much as possible. She is a real adventurer. She did ultimately get back in and play in the water.

Timmy was most interested in playing with his new Lightning McQueen car on the edge of the pool...no waterfall for him, which surprises me, but he hasn't had much exposure to water.

So if you are looking for us in the late afternoon, we will be at the baby pool, making baby steps toward having fun in the water.

A Family Visit and Navy Pier

Last weekend my uncle Neil and cousin Cara came from Delaware for a visit. It was so great of them to take the time to come and get to know Cate and Timmy. They were great about playing with the kids and working on the always important task of wearing them out before bedtime.

On Saturday we trekked downtown to check out Navy Pier. Timmy stayed behind, but I thought that Cate would be able to handle the excursion. She did. Kind of. It was pretty hot and crowded, but we had a good time eating Mexican food, watching the boats (the race to Mackinaw Island started that day) and riding on the Ferris wheel.

The rest of the weekend we just hung out, cooked out and chilled out in the air conditioning to escape the insane humidity.