Snow day

Preschool was canceled today due to snow. I was skeptical about the forecast of snow until it started falling at 9:30am and continued for the rest of the day. We watched Sesame Street and then bundled up to play in the falling snow.

02-12-10 from Cathi Lindsey on Vimeo.

Untitled from Cathi Lindsey on Vimeo.

School party

Today was the girls' Valentine's party at preschool. The girls had Disney Princess Valentine cards for the classroom, and we were in charge of the lunch entree (chicken nuggets) and juice. We made approximately 135 nuggets for the class of 22. Lauren really took ownership of the project and obviously felt like it was her duty to eat like an NFL football player (she ate a total of 9 nuggets -- her personal best).

As a very special treat, Skip spent his lunch hour stopping by the party, and he was a BIG HIT with all of the children. He got on the floor to read with Gracie, and he was swarmed by 21 other toddlers as well.

Waiting for party time:



Sitting in assigned seats:



Gracie's first order of business was to eat the icing on her cupcake:



Waiting patiently for another serving of chick-chick:



Gracie kicked off the reading session:



Everyone quickly jumped on the reading bandwagon:



We were in the classroom for less than an hour, but we both felt wiped out. I have no idea how those teachers manage that roomful of children all day, everyday. They clearly are saints.

Big chill

We're making the best of the cold snap by accomplishing as much as we can indoors. Gracie spent some good quality time with Elf. Lauren took the opportunity to catch up on some calls, a task that entertains her for longer than you might think. After she concluded her conversations, she shared her snack with Barney.

Princesses

For a Valentine's gift, we picked up Disney Princess sheets for the girls. Skip pushed for giving this one to them a few days early, and our house has been brimming with excitement since the beds were made this afternoon.

Sidebar: our almost 3 1/2 year olds are still in cribs. This has been somewhat controversial, as parents tend to fall into two camps here: those who move out of the crib early, and those who do not. (Admittedly, there is that unspoken third camp of we're-staying-in-way-too-long.) I remember reading about eliminating cribs at 18-20 months or so and thinking why in the world would a person do that? At 18 months, we felt like we had just assembled the thing. We certainly had just gotten accustomed to how they worked! Crib manufacturing and sales is a huge, HUGE industry, and some people invest significant dollars into decorating their nurseries. (We did not; our cribs, three in total, are on loan.) For those who do make the investment, it should be insulting that there is a group of experts advocating such a brief stint for that equipment.

The bottom line is that there are well-meaning, informed and competent folks who advocate being out of the crib by 2 years of age. That simply would have never worked for us for a number of reasons. 1) There are two of them. 2) We were blessed with a night owl and a morning person, meaning that a wild toddler would have been roaming the house between the hours of 5am and midnight each and every day. 3) There are two of them. 4) They share a room and would keep each other awake 'round the clock. 5) There are two of them.

Admittedly, we are pushing the envelope here, but we have not been braced for the chaos that will accompany transitioning to regular beds. We are getting mentally prepared for the move and are ready to begin shopping, but we're still in the cribs as of today's date. We can commit to being out of them before the girls start to school. Possibly sooner, but we're making no promises.

There are two of them.

Back to the gift, the store was out of the simple pack of pillow cases so we picked up the crib sheet and pillowcase for a few dollars more. The girls were absolutely giddy while their beds were being made. This set features the original three Princesses -- Cinderella, Belle and Aurora (their fav).

AURORA! Gracie shouts, "Dat's Sleeping Booty, mommy!"

They had the pillows on the floor, along with their Disney Princess sleeping bags, for much of the afternoon. Lauren, true to nature, allowed herself to enjoy the pillowcase for a full two minutes before asking, "Where is Snow White and Arial???" We often predict that Lauren will pursue a career as a lobbyist, and her ability to get on point and stay on point will be a tremendous asset.

So tonight we went through the usual routine. Instead of their post-dinner Sesame Street video, they played for an hour or so before we went upstairs to go to bed. Usually, at that point, they will plead to play more and read books. Tonight, while putting on pajamas, Lauren said, "I've played enough today, mommy. I'm ready for bed. Don't you, mommy?"

Biking

We could not take being home bound any longer and made a break for it on bicycle.

The afternoon

After "nap" today (and that is in quotes because there was apparently a unanimous vote to boycott nap), we ventured outside to catch some sunshine. I completely jinxed us by commenting recently about how well they have been sleeping this winter. In the fall, I was beginning to lose hope on our daily 2-3 hour nap because they consistently were staying up for the entire nap time. When cooler weather arrived, they practically began hibernating under the luxuriousness of three blankets ("other blanket, please, mommy?"). Gracie, especially, looked like a bear cub curling up to sleep for winter. I am hopeful that today was a "blip" in the otherwise perfect sleeping pattern, but I am afraid it marks the end of a long winter's nap.

Here they are playing, before the full crankiness hit. Visiting the playhouse again for the first time in a couple of months:





Hitting the swings:

Monday morning

This has been our morning so far.

Lauren singing a song:



Having a laugh:



Gracie experimenting with Mr. Potato Head pieces. Here she is trying out a new tongue:

Super Bowl Sunday

The only comment I have so far about SBS is that the game sabotaged my errands Friday. After dropping the girls at school, I had breakfast, went to Old Navy, Babies R' Us (more toilet learning -- don't ask), and OfficeMax before striking out for Costco. I had allotted 45 minutes for our monthly shop, but I had to scale that back when I saw how crowded the store was and how long the lines were. Friday was a horrible day for errands. Friday was day 2 of a three-day downpour. There should have been no one at Costco, but the store was completely packed! I went through the baby goods/toiletry/cleaning supply area without seeing another customer. I went down all the regular aisles without much congestion. Finally, I got to the frozen foods area, the meat cases and.... the beer/wine section. Ahhh... then I got it... It was Super Bowl traffic!

I raced through the store in 30 minutes, allotted 15 minutes for check-out, and arrived back at school -- with 10 minutes to spare -- to pick up the girls.

That being said, we're pulling for the Colts.

Post-game update: Our "pulling" did not seem to help. Big shout out to the Saints for an awesome game.

Happenings

It has been a typical week for us, including lots of dancing:



Discovering new music:



Playing:






And finally, managing some laundry:

Girls at play

Today's activities

Today in a nutshell:

One of our famous walks through the neighborhood:



While I love this picture of Lauren, I also like that Gracie's fancy foot work was also inadvertently captured in the background. Her feet rarely touch the ground when she is out-of-doors:





Gracie staying on alert:

Pajama party

Some weekend mornings we stay in our pajamas, and the girls like to take over the iPod and dance.

Here they are making selections:



Checking the output:



An unusual moment of calm:



Singing along: