Cookies, Jack O'Lanterns and Hide 'n Seek

Mike and I continue to be amazed at how much energy a two year old has. However, I have to say Tyler sleeps more than most. He usually sleeps 7:30-7:30 and then naps for at least two hours a day. If I got that much sleep I would probably be a little more energetic as well. But literally from the second he wakes up in the morning, yelling to me, "mommy, where are you?" he is off to the races. Poor Mia, before her eyes are even open he is yelling, "Mimi, wake up!!" and showering her with kisses. ("Mimi", "Bee" and "Sweetheart" are Tyler's nicknames for Mia). She is still at the age where she startles easily so it's really amazing she is so tolerant of him but she smiles every time he is near her. Anyway, this morning, since we didn't have to be anywhere, I decided we would make pumpkin sugar cookies. Tyler is really into cooking right now. He loves to pull up a chair to the island and "Help mommy." He especially enjoys breaking the eggs, so if we make you anything, that explains the crunchiness. Actually, these cookies are completely inedible because everyone single one has been licked.


We followed up our cookie baking with a game of hide 'n seek. Somehow it turned into both of us hiding and there was no one left to find us. So we were standing in the pantry with Maria, the cat, and I was on the phone with my mom when Tyler decided to start playing with the soda cans. I was only half paying attention to what he was doing until a can of sprite fell off the shelf and started spraying everywhere. Have you ever had been closed in the pantry with a cat and 2 year old while there is sprite spraying everywhere? The best way to describe it - it would have made a good cartoon strip..
Tyler is really captivated with the Jack O'Lantern. We are constantly checking on it to make sure it is still outside the door.

Happy Birthday Grammy Posch!

Somehow the weekends seem to be getting shorter and shorter and trying to pack everything into two days requires some creativity. This weekend, it meant pumpkin carving at 10am on a Sunday morning followed by a birthday party for Grammy Posch. Tyler and I have been talking about pumpkins and jack o' lanterns for about three weeks now. I thought this was just going to be the most exciting activity for him - a memory he would treasure for years to come. It didn't quite work out as I had envisioned it in my head. Tyler had zero interest in pumpkin carving, pumpkin scooping or even watching us carve the pumpkin. He took one look at the inside of the pumpkin, said "Eww!" and was off to watch Caillou. Which I promptly turned off, telling Tyler that we were going to carve pumpkins together as a family. Yeah, that didn't have much of an impact either. As I am constantly reminded, things seldom go according to plan when you have a two-year old. As you can see from the pictures, Mike carved the pumpkin, Tyler ran around the house with a blanket over his head and Mia watched from her bouncy seat, I videotaped -stopping momentarily to keep Tyler from causing any bodily injury to himself or anyone else.

Grammy's party was more Tyler's speed. In fact, I think only saw him for about 10 minutes the entire afternoon. He was off outside playing football with Carly and Chase and then inside wrestling with Mike and Uncle Eric. It's so nice that he is now at the age where he can just go and play and I don't have to worry about him every second. Mia made the rounds, being passed from Grammy to Aunt Lori and back again. Happy Birthday Grammy Posch!

Picture Day

So off we went again. For the fourth time in two weeks, I rose early and began the laborious process of preparing the kids for getting their pictures taken. Did I mention the pictures weren't until 3:20 p.m.? So after baths, wardrobe selection, lunch (during which I had to remind Tyler several times that we don't put our fingers in ketchup and then run them through our hair) and naps we were off. Since the first three times have been met with limited (actually no) success, we decided to drive to a different portrait place located an hour away. All the signs were pointing to a successful venture - everyone was well rested, Tyler had watched an hour of Barney in the car and Mia was happily chomping ona pacifer. I had somehow managed to shower, dry my hair AND put on makeup. Everything was going well, that is until we sat them in front of the camera and Mia immediately dissolved into tears while Tyler pleaded with her, "Please don't cry sweetheart. Ty treat. MOM, TY TREAT PLEASE. No cry Mimi." Well this went on for about 20 minutes, while we all tried to cajole Mia into just one smile. We finally left, heads down in defeat. The sympathetic photographer suggested we try back in a few weeks. I am sure she doesn't have children or she would never have suggested such torture.

The irony is that as soon as I got everyone back in the car for the long ride home, Mia was all smiles and giggles as we got to enjoy an encore presentation of Barney's awe-inspiring "Moovin and Groovin" dvd.

Here are some pictures from this last week. Tyler doing a dress-rehearsal for Halloween, Mia(with lots of Aquaphor on her face) watching me make dinner and pictures from the pumpkin farm.