Birthdays, Bikes, Baseball and Good Beats

The kids are excited because they were invited to their first birthday party--for Craig's little friend, Abby--yes, the "Abby, Abby, Abby!" of his toddler days. Even now it's always about Abby: "Abby and me dug up dinosaur bones today," or "Abby and me ran and ran and ran and then fell down laughing." I work with Abby's aunt who came over to tell me at the library last week that Abby's mom had just called her from a cell phone while they were on their way to their weekend vacation. Abby was sitting in the back seat sniffling, "I really miss Craig." And to give you a picture of Abby, Abby, Abby, she's a feisty little adorable bundle of energy, and to sum up Craig and Abby as friends, "Mom, me and Abby, we're both chatterboxes!" Yes, yes you are.

Speaking of Craig as chatterbox, Pete said he turned on the Tiger game last night and heard about a million questions from Craig, "Where's the umpire? Why do they have a catcher? Why doesn't the batter just catch the ball?" and from Anna, "Dad, can we watch Good Beats?" That's Anna-speak for "Good Eats." She much prefers shows with real people to cartoons. She'll tolerate Dora but will play through most kids shows, preferring to sit and watch the "Builders" (This Old House") or "Good Beats." Craig, on the other hand, will watch any moving picture on a screen.

Their taste in books is different, too. Craig will listen to you read just about anything. I swear you could read the kid a dictionary, and as long as he was allowed to ask questions along the way, he'd listen. Anna is still pretty picky about books. She has many that she loves, but if they get too wordy, she will either try to shut the book or (more likely) just get down and play right in the middle. Craig's favorite books right now are mostly about dinosaurs, but many nights we end up reading a Rosemary Wells book about a cat named Yoko who takes sushi to school and everyone makes fun of her. Of course it's all resolved in the end, when Timothy the hungry raccoon tries the sushi, and they become BEST friends. Anna loves "Pete's a Pizza," and one that we just checked out of the library called, "We've All Got Bellybuttons!"

And below are photos of the kids with their bikes.

When we realized it would be much easier for Craig to ride his bike if the seat was raised up, I volunteered to go to the basement for tools. Craig wanted to go with me. When we got down there he suddenly got so excited, "Mom, I know....we'll use *my* tools!' And he hauled them upstairs like a big kid. (P.S. He's getting a smaller helmet.) 

The big kid rides his bike! 

 

This is what Anna looks like most of the time, except apparently when she wants Craig to "camp out" in her room and he says "no." Then she sobs and sobs... 

Anna inherited Craig's bike now that he got a new one. 

Smiling and spelling

The kids sure were glad to see me after my trip to my mom's. I didn't feel too sorry for them, as I know they were spoiled while I was gone by their Grandparents and Dad. Pete told me on the way home from his folks' on Thursday evening Anna piped up from the back seat, "I love you, Daddy." She has been saying it to the three of us...though she's old enough to deliberately pester Craig now and sometimes does. He didn't want her touching the pieces of his new game and she should have been OK with that since she had a new puzzle to play with, but there was something about her smile (as she deliberately touched the very pieces he'd asked her not to) that brought me back to my childhood car rides ("Mom, (s)he's touching me...") She does smile like crazy. Anna's favorite day care teacher, Miss Tiffani, told me she has to ask another teacher to put Anna down for her nap because Anna will just keep smiling at her and trying to chat with her!

Craig has a brand-new bike, so you should be seeing photos shortly, if he'll actually get on it! He surpises me with his creativity constantly (see the train engine below) but he is like his mama--a scaredy cat! Anna is begging to ride it, which is egging him on a bit because he refuses to let her learn to ride it before he learns. We'll see how it goes. We have been having great fun because Craig is actually old enough to play board games. His present from my trip to my mom's was a board game, so now we have several to choose from. One thing I love lately is that now that he knows how to recognize his letters, he'll ask his to spell everything for him. But even better is when he asks us what some random combination of letters spells. "Mom, what does 'toenoonerigfeppppeg' spell?"

The new cupake pjs from Gramma Gayle are a big hit. 

The new baseball tee. Check out the gardening/batting gloves! 

Craig's train engine made of shapes. 

Circus Day at Day Care!

Circus Day at Day Care!

Anna and Quacky get ready to go to Aunt Dina's funeral. 

Raggedy Anna took a break from hammering and swinging the bat just long enough for me to catch her on camera.

Craig and Pete had a great time one evening this week. Craig ran and ran and ran...and then begged to "play football" some more. This mostly involves them running around until they dissolve into laughter.  

Still running... 

Pete stayed home with the kids on Friday and took them to the zoo! When I got home I asked Anna, "How was the zoo?" She said, "A polar bear ate my shoe!" I just about died laughing. I have no idea if that line comes from a book or poem or if she just made it up...but it was funny wherever she got it. The kids got to see a trailer parked where the elephants are--the elephants are leaving permanently for a warmer climate. We have some photos of them with the elephants from when they were younger, so that's kind of neat. 

Craig made this project at the Scrap Box as a gift to his dad. Don't guess that it's a cat (like his dad did)--it's a bunny...of course, complete with cheeks and whiskers. 

All dressed up and ready to go to Grandma and Grandpa's for Easter dinner.  

Anna was the keeper of the Easter Egg gathering basket this year, as Craig hurt his leg and had to crawl around looking for eggs.