John Paul has a new backpack that we bought for our trip to the Midwest (which started today - lucky you, I've pre-published a bunch of posts so you won't miss us too much!) and a new hat from Aunt Sister.  So I just couldn't resist taking this adorable picture after he accessorized himself!

Our busy Saturday

We had quite a busy day this past Saturday!  After Mass and the farmer's market in the morning, we had a very exciting outing...  A visit to the Playseum in DC, a kind of hybrid children's museum/used bookstore.

The kids LOVED the grocery area, even though the materials were scattered all over the floor and checkout area...  Andrew and I did more cleaning up than playing because it was such a mess :(

And John Paul was SO excited to play cashier and press the buttons!

Cecilia served us some tea.

And, of course, played with dolls.

While John Paul stayed occupied for quite a while with an old typewriter.

And then an old rotary phone.

Hello?

We made pizza and John Paul "took my order" while another older girl immediately made my "pizza" (out of felt).

Then we headed to dinner (after a stop at The Container Store, which is apparently HEAVEN for a toddler because every trash can in there is clean and you can touch the lids!!!).

And Cecilia posed for Dad while John Paul and I were in the bathroom.

Here's her "smile" face again...

And what better way to cap off a VERY busy Saturday than a trip to the fountain?

It took a while for the kids to warm up to the idea, but they were SO excited!

Cecilia particularly liked pointing out all the other babies.

And the kids chased each other around a fair amount.  

Mostly, Cecilia spun around in circles while John Paul ran around the whole fountain.

I think she got more daring than he did!  

But they tended to stick to the edges.

And come back to Mom and Dad for frequent check-ins!

All in all, two wet and tired kids!   A successful summer day :)

4 years!

10 years together, 4 years of marriage, 2.5 children, and going strong!

This is the man I married with his groomsmen, hours before our wedding.  Good thing I didn't see this picture until afterwards!

Happy anniversary, Andrew :)

A visit to Great Grandmother's house

We headed to Maryland to visit my grandmother last week.  John Paul encountered his first iPad and was OBSESSED!

Cecilia was perfectly happy with a game of peekaboo :)

Picnic time!

It was perfect weather for a picnic, so we headed to a park within walking distance of our house for a dinner of farmer's market tomatoes, peaches, salad (Costco mozzarella), and homemade focaccia.  Yum!

Cecilia ate a few bites and then had to go exploring...  But, impressively enough, she kept her hat on!

Then John Paul requested a picture with Dad.  

Also a picture of Cecilia.  And a picture of Mom's sunglasses.  And a picture of John Paul eating bread.  Etc.

And he actually finished most of his food before he went running off.  But hey, what's the point of a picnic if the kids have to sit the whole time?  So he carried his bread with him and eventually finished it, even though he collected a stick and a rock in the process.

Then they found a gravel-covered bench to play on!

Super fun!

And we finished it off with a little bit of time on the playground.  Such a tasty, fresh meal with wonderful weather and the perfect company :)

Reading Test

Proof that this really is a blog for my mom...  Only my mom will care about this!  But I know she'll be excited, so I'll post it.

John Paul was reading one of those "first reader" books (holy cow those things are boring!) and it had a little guide saying that this book was for kindergarten & first grade students.  So I thought, "I wonder what his actual reading level would be if we tested it?"

A quick google search led to this site, so I used the two reading tests in boxes that they have.  Copied and pasted, printed out, and asked John Paul if he wanted to take a reading test.  He was SO EXCITED!!!

The first test on the page was no problem for him until the 6th box - "Quality" "Urge" and "Grieve" tripped him up (but not a single mistake until then, and now that he's read those words for the first time he knows them forever!).  So according to the test that's a 4th grade reading level...  For an almost-3-year-old.

The second test went about the same - not a single error or hesitation until "Realized" and "Interrupted" (although in between boxes he had to pause to listen to the Gettysburg Address and run around in circles riding on a toy...).

And he was SO.  Excited.  The WHOLE time.

So I think maybe we don't have to worry about improving reading level for a while, right?

*Edit:  He got a sticker for every box he read correctly.  So 10 minutes later he asks to do "Test number 3???" but I didn't have any more, so I gave him the 2 he had already done.  He took all the stickers off and is now testing himself, reading all the words from a box and saying, "YOU GET A STICKER!!!"


Seriously, this kid never needs a teacher...

Learning from big brother...

I rotated the toys the other day, and of course John Paul found the most annoying toy of the bunch...  And proceeded to play with it during a particularly difficult trip to the potty.

So Cecilia picked up on it and thought, "OH, so THAT'S how you play with that toy!"

Perhaps not the best/most hygienic precedent to set?

Oh yeah, Father's Day happened

I meant to post about Father's Day.  But then I forgot.  The kids obliged me in the morning by playing by themselves for QUITE a while.  Here you see Cecilia clad in a diaper and her new shoes, engrossed in the dust cover of a book.

And John Paul needed nothing more than a stopwatch to entertain himself!

Which was perfect, because it took a while to make Dad breakfast in bed (even if he came downstairs before it was ready, so he ate it at the table...)!

A present from Aunt Sister

A map of the United States.  Which the kids are both IN LOVE with.  John Paul likes to listen to his "Wee Sing America" CD and march, run, or dance around the United States (depending on the song).

It can get rather frantic.  Cecilia likes to spin around the map until she gets dizzy and falls down.  She told me the other day, with a huge grin on her face, "Gee-ya BINAMEWICA!"  (Cecilia is spinning around America!)

How to keep toddlers entertained

The kids spend a LOT of time staring out the window at various things going on.  But sometimes something REALLY exciting happens.  Like the dump truck comes by.  OR THE LAWNMOWER MEN COME BY!!!

The yardwork guys always look confused when they see the kids watching them as though their job is the MOST amazing thing in the world.  But honestly, it IS the most amazing thing in the world when you're 1 or 2!  And I certainly don't mind them staying by the door for 20 minutes, fascinated by the intricacies of cutting the grass...

"Creativity"

I know, I've been gone for a while.  But I'm pregnant!  And tired!  And my computer battery doesn't last for longer than a minute when it's unplugged, so I can't blog lying down....  So I haven't been.  But I'm feeling somewhat better, especially since Sister is visiting and has lightened my load significantly.  So hopefully I'll be able to give you a few days of posts at least...

John Paul got a new packet of "MagnifiKid" (church magazine...) in the mail and wanted to open them IMMEDIATELY!  When I wouldn't do it for him, he ran to the utensil drawer and pulled out a butter knife.

Well, that didn't work, so he grabbed the plastic scissors (completely blunt-edged) from his doctor's kit.  

Not so much.

Luckily I distracted him with something, probably an animal cracker...