John Paul and Cecilia are both really into the Maisy books that we read at the library.  They usually have other books listed on the backs of the books we check out, and John Paul decided that he REALLY wants to read "Maisy's ABC's" but we haven't been back to the library in a while...

Can't figure out how to rotate it...  But it says "mazesabc"

So I heard him saying, "Maisy's ABC!!!" Over and over again, and I figured he was just reading the back of our current favorite book.  Nope, he was convinced he had spelled it.  Pretty close!

One year ago!

Almost exactly one year ago (I'm a few minutes late...), Cecilia was born!  We celebrated her birthday at home with a pretty low-key "party."

Huge first birthday bashes are all the rage, I know, but I just don't feel like putting forth all that effort when I can't control how the kids actually act at the party...  So for the next few birthdays at least, we'll continue just inviting family.  We started off with present unwrapping, which John Paul helped with, of course!

The hats were our one "decoration" because I get a kick out of them.  

Cecilia was REALLY excited when we all put them on and kept patting her head, so I put one on her.  She immediately freaked out and started taking it off so she could chew on the tip.

Dollar Store balloons were, as always, a huge hit!

John Paul was quite excited about the balloons, too.

My favorite picture from today - Cecilia LOVES the reading nook!

Self-portrait!

Reading a new favorite book from John Paul's godfather.

I made cake pops because I figured they'd be less messy than cake.  Cecilia was not sure how she felt about this...

But she ended up liking it!  

And after a lunch of her favorite foods (turkey and cheese), what better way to end things?

As you can see, it was definitely not as messy as traditional cake!  Unfortunately, it was also really not very tasty...  Way too sweet for me!

Dad was exhausted, so she decided to climb all over him.

Happy Birthday to Cecilia!  And happy Feast of St. Thomas Aquinas!

New Boots!

When trying on a new pair of boots, one must first test them by climbing the nearest object.

Then comes the crash test - do they stay on the feet when one tumbles off a footstool?

And now we ask the age-old question, does this diaper make my butt look big?

Ah, indeed, it seems that we must test the efficiency of the diaper padding as well.

And lastly, a modeling pose for the latest Baby Calvin Klein campaign.

Found the charger!

"HAH!"  Said the baby, stealing her brother's PB&J and running toward the camera.

Top 10 Reasons NOT to teach your toddler to read

10.  He will insist on reading every. single. street sign you see on the road.  And house number.  And store name.  


Our car rides go something like this:


"NUMBER 32 HOUSE!  NUMBER 34 HOUSE!  NUMBER 36 HOUSE!!!  ONWY ONWY ONWY!  GIANT!  CVS!"  Etc.  It gets old fast.


9.  He will refuse to eat his dinner because he's too busy reading the placement.


Thinking it would be fun and would protect the table, Andrew got John Paul a solar system place mat.  Problem is, he pushes his food away so the mat isn't blocked, and spends mealtimes reading about how many moons Mars has.


8.  You will no longer be able to skip significant portions of books just because you don't feel like reading the entire thing.


If I skip, he knows.  Not because he has memorized it, because he's reading along so that he can learn how to read every single new word.  I've taken to hiding books that are too long or banning them from the bedroom because I can no longer skip several paragraphs or pages at a time.


7.  You will no longer be able to spell forbidden words to avoid saying them.


"Should we give the kids any B-R-O --"  "Brownies?  I LOVE brownies!" My 3-year-old sister exclaimed.


6.  You will have to hide every book that has any adult language.


Some friends gave us this book last summer with John Paul's other birthday presents.

We had a chuckle and put it away on an adult bookshelf for several months.  John Paul found it AFTER he learned how to read.  And sounded out the words.  Needless to say, it has been hidden where even I can't find it.

5.  You will have to hide any book that has even a remotely objectionable title.

Andrew was a European History major in college.  John Paul has pulled many books off the bookshelf and read the titles to himself, some of which consisted of juxtapositions of the words death, Holocaust, Nazis, Jews, Hitler, etc...  It's not *bad* but it leads to some awkward moments during play dates...  "What did he just say???"

4.  He will broadcast to the world what size top you are wearing at all times.

He's obsessed with clothing tags right now.  Thankfully I'm fairly petite, but I can imagine how annoying this will be whenever we have the next baby and I'm still wearing maternity tops for several months afterwards... "Mom is wearing...  Maternity XS!"

3.  He will come up with his own obnoxious pronunciations that he KNOWS are wrong, and you will have to agree to prevent a temper tantrum.

I blame my mom for this one - she was reading a book to him about a knight and a castle and teaching him how you don't say the silent letters.  Now he demands that we read about the "Ka-ny-guh-huh-t" and the "cas-TUHl."  And we can't say good night anymore.  Nope, it's "Good ny-guh-huh-t."


He whines about something and I sympathize saying, "I know, John Paul."  Immediately he's up in arms.  "I KA-NOW!"


2.  He will be more annoying than ANY other child his age at Mass.


We finally got him to start staying in the pew for all of Mass about 90% of the time (aside from a potty break during the Homily).  Problem is, as soon as we get there he immediately gets the laminated card for the Principal Parts of the Mass and starts reading them VERY loudly to everyone.  At the wrong times.  Saying the priest's part, too.  And we ask him to whisper and he starts yelling, "SAY DE ACT OF PENITENCE???  I CON-fess to awMIGHTY God and TO you my bwuthers and sisters that I have GWEATWY SINNED!"


It was cute the first couple of weeks.  It has gotten old.


1.  No more napping.


John Paul's nap frequency has decreased in direct negative correlation with his reading skill.  It used to be he would look at pictures in a couple of books and then get bored and decide to go to sleep.  No longer.  Normally I find him with a few books in bed that he read for a couple of hours while he should have been napping.  I have found him with as many as TWENTY SEVEN books in bed.  He just lies in bed at reads.  For HOURS.  And he's perfectly happy, but the lack of sleep has really been taking its toll on his behavior.


If only we could go back to the days of blissful ignorance before he decided it was absolutely necessary to learn how to read...

Oh, the sweetness!

Really wish I knew where the camera charger was...

John Paul has dressed himself in a shirt, underwear, socks, sneakers, and his puffy coat.  No pants.  Hood up.  And he's been playing like that for the past half hour. 

But that's not all!  He and Cecilia are currently snuggled together in their reading nook (a corner of the room stuffed with pillows) curled up under a blanket, reading books.  He stops every couple of seconds to give her a hug and kiss.

So.  Adorable.

Baby

John Paul found my nursing cover in a pile of things we hadn't been using and decided to put it on.  Then he wanted something to nurse...  So he happily got the baby doll out of the toybox and held it up to his bellybutton under the nursing cover for a little while.  He turned around and said, "Nurse? Ceciwia?" I told him no, Cecilia can't nurse from him because he can't be a mom, but maybe he'll be a dad someday. 

So we talked about the things daddies do for their babies - he decided that he would like to give the baby a bath, just like Dad.  So I told him to take the baby to the sink in his toy kitchen. 

Let's just say, it's a good thing he's not going to be a father anytime soon!

First he shoved the baby's face under the faucet and pretended to pour water on the baby's head for a while (baby has no name, by the way).  Then he needed soap, so I gave him some pretend soap (made out of air...).  He took it and rubbed it all over the baby's face, then smushed the baby so that its whole body was in the toy sink.  Then he ran to the middle of the room, lay down on the floor, and closed his eyes for a few seconds before going back to get the baby out of the sink.

Thank goodness that's not how bathtime works!

Potty mouth...

Okay, before my adoring public (oh wait, my mom and sister...) gets annoyed at the lack of posts, I have to let you know that the camera battery is dead and we don't know where the charger is.  So the posts will be a lot less fun for a while because they'll mostly be text-only.  And let's face it, you probably just skim the text and read the captions under the pictures, like me!

So John Paul has been potty trained (not counting naptime and nighttime, which are not even short-term goals right now...) for almost 2 weeks now - we've been going out with just underwear and haven't had a single accident (knock on wood!)!  He is VERY pleased about this - he loves his "cool" underwear and he REALLY loves using the potty in new places.  That's honestly his favorite thing about leaving the house now. 

Yup.  Potties.  We tell him where we're going and he immediately starts talking about the potty they'll have there.  Then he starts talking about ALL the potties he's used.  "Nature center potty!  Waymond (St. Raymond - they're on a first-name basis) potty!  Howwy Spiwit potty!  Store potty!  Westauwant potty!!!"  Etc.  We went to a one-hour concert at school and he used the bathroom three times.  But hey, it's better to be over-enthusiastic than a pants-wetter, right?

One of the nice things about him being potty trained is that he poops a lot less often (this paragraph is about flatulence and feces - skip ahead if you're eating!).  The not-so-nice thing is that he's REALLY gassy because he's holding it in.  And the gas smells like poop.  So for about an hour before he poops he smells like he pooped in his pants.  And I'm constantly checking to see if he did, but no, he didn't.  Not even once.  He just has NASTY farts.  But since he's pretty much continuously vile-smelling, I can blame any of MY gas on him :P

He is also VERY excited every time he uses the potty at home.  For a while I had to remind him to use the potty, but now he's almost entirely self-guided.  Problem is, as soon as he gets the urge, he drops his pants.  WHEREVER he is in the house.  And then waddles over to the potty, pants around his ankles, pants and underwear often falling off as he crawls up the stairs to get to the potty. 

Since I can't take pictures, here's what you can imagine it looks like...

But then he's SO excited when he's all done - "A BIG bit of pee!" or "Just a wittle bit of pee." or "I pooped AND peed!" or "Just a wittle turd." or (my personal favorite) "You did NOT have a wittle turd!"  For some reason he can only refer to himself in the first person when he manages to poop.

And he's excited to tell everyone he knows that he wears underwear now.  He spent a good portion of Mass last Sunday saying, "You're weawing UNderwear!"  Which I'm sure prompted many of the ladies around us to check and make sure their skirts were properly adjusted...  Of course, he's also very excited about anything that happens while he's wearing underwear.  "You farted in your underwear," he says, matter-of-factly.  I promise, that time it really wasn't me...  Or "You did NOT pee in your underwear!"

And that's a (almost) 2.5-year-old giving you his perspective on being potty trained.  You can tell our lives are exciting!

Hidden Pond

Not gonna lie, I thought John Paul was likely to jump into the pond when he begged us to let him out of the stroller so he could "climb."

But he was perfectly content throwing dead leaves into the water and watching them float away.

And, of course, posing for cheesy pictures with Mom!

But how much longer am I really going to be able to make him dress like this?  Gotta get the pictures while I can...

And gotta take advantage of the beautiful "January" weather we've been having!  Sure it snowed on Monday, but this weekend was gorgeous!

Piano time

Cecilia and Dad start out having a fun time together while John Paul plays next to the piano.

But someone just can't be left out of the fun!

So we make it a trio, rather than a duet...

And then the third runs off to do her own thing.

Reading to TWO

Cecilia brings me her book of choice:   "The Saving Name of God the Son" (it's a children's book, I promise...).  She climbs into my lap and I start reading...

Lap count:  1 child

"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word - who was with God and who was God - "

John Paul comes over, interested...  He leans against my side as I continue reading...

"became flesh..."

I turn the page, pulling John Paul onto the other half of my lap.

Lap count:  2 children

"and dwelt among us.  The Son of Man come down from heaven, to serve and to give his life..."

Cecilia starts climbing off my lap, cheese slice in hand.  John Paul moves over so that he's sitting right in the middle.

Lap count:  1 child

"as a random for many.  For in him was life and the life was the Light of men:  a Light to the Nations shining..."

Cecilia's cheese is crumbling on the floor and she circles around me, trying to get back into my lap.  John Paul objects to me turning the pages and rips the book out of my hand.

"a Light to the Nations shining..." 

Cecilia steals the book back and John Paul is distracted by the cheese crumbles on the floor.

Lap count:  1 child.

"in the darkness.  Behold, he is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.  Anointed by the Spirit..."

"He is the Beloved Son, calling the Bride to the Marriage Supper of the Lamb; giving to her the most previous gift, his Body and Blood,"

John Paul turns back to the previous page.  "Thaaaaaaat's?" he asks obnoxiously.  "That's a picture of John the Baptist baptizing Jesus."  "BATHtize?  WONG!  BAPtize is a word.  BATHtize is NOT a word."

"sacrificed... on the wood of the cross:  Our Lord Jesus Christ!"

"AND they HIT him!  And they KIWWED HIM!!!"

Cecilia rips the book away and skips several pages, then demands to nurse.  She nurses for a few seconds and then walks away, done with nursing and also with reading.  John Paul takes the book away and reads it to himself on the floor.  Apparently I am unnecessary.

Lap count:  0 children.

Wasn't it yesterday that they were small?

Well, Cecilia's still pretty small...  But when did John Paul turn into such a big kid???

He was VERY excited about his "cool" new 3T outfit from the consignment store.  Everything "cool" is REALLY good, so he's willing to wearing underwear instead of diapers now because underwear is "cool" and diapers are not.  Although it's tricky keeping his pants up now...

Look at how long and lean he's gotten!

I'm thankful that he's totally okay with Cecilia following him around and trying to do everything he does.  He was eating part of a cookie after a successful potty trip and Cecilia came toddling over with her arms outstretched.  I asked him to share a little piece with her and he immediately broke off a bit and handed it to her.  No fussing at all, just straight-up sharing!

And then of course, there's the fact that last night in the car he asked me to turn off the music so we could pray the rosary together.  And he did his half of almost every prayer!  He even barrelled right on through the Fatima Prayer on his own without me to prompt him.  We've got a rosary CD in the mail from Aunt Sister, and I have a feeling that'll be on loop for quite a while...

Are you still celebrating?

The Christmas tree is still up.  There are at least 5 nativity scenes scattered throughout the house.  But sometimes it still takes that little toddler voice piping up at dinner...

"Baby Jesus is BORN!  He's in da MANGER!  Mawwy was pwegnant and now Baby Jesus is BORN!!!"

I'm thankful for faith like a child, especially when we start seeing the trees by the curb and the Christmas lights taken down when it's not even Epiphany. 

Why is it that society tells us we must spend the entire month of December (and much of November) celebrating Christmas, but the moment it becomes appropriate to do so, everything is thrown in the trash?  Just because we're done buying presents doesn't mean we're done celebrating!

Our New Year's Eve

It was BEAUTIFUL weather here on the last day of 2011, so we decided to head out to Gravelly Point to watch planes take off at National.  John Paul was SO EXCITED!

On the car ride there he very excitedly exclaimed, "BIRDS!  And the MOON!  And an AIRPWANE!  And ANOTHER MOON!"  We explained that there's only one moon...  He got the hang of it quickly.

Dad pointed out the types of planes that were taking off.  John Paul didn't really care about different types - he mostly just shouted, "Seagulls!  And the moon!  Airpwane!  And more seagulls!"

He was VERY excited by the water as well - "I see da WATER!  I see da WIVER!"

The planes landing weren't quite so exciting, but our reward for sticking around for a few landings was a view of a BOAT in the water, as well as some ducks.  What could be more exciting?

Running in the grass, of course!

I don't think there's any airport in the US that has a more beautiful view during takeoff and landing, particularly during sunset.

We'll definitely have to get back here when it warms up,  John Paul had such a blast and I bet Cecilia will be excited come spring.

This was the biggest plane we saw and it flew right over our heads.

Cecilia had to make sure to CLING to me - it was pretty noisy!

There were TONS of people there.  We'd never been before, but apparently it's a pretty popular attraction even though there's nothing to do except watch the planes.

Happy Birthday!

To the father of this little hoarder...

And this little daredevil...

Oh, and to my wonderful husband!

John Paul is VERY excited that "DAD IS TWENTY-SEVEN YEARS OLD!  AND NEXT HE WILL BE TWENTY-EIGHT YEARS OLD!"  Andrew feels weird to be in his late twenties.  Cecilia doesn't care.  I look forward to April, when I'm only a year younger again :P

A box!

A simple afternoon foray...

Into a box!

With a celery stick and an empty milk jug.

What could be better?