More than 80 Liters

My brother Mike and my sister-in-law Hanna quit their jobs and are traveling the globe for a year. (I know, I'm jealous too.) You can follow their adventures on their blog: www.80liters.com.

80 liters is a reference to the fact that they are traveling for a year in 2 40-liter backpacks. By comparison, here's what it takes for us to get out the door. For a day.

Wuh-wuh, Wuh-wuh, Wuh-wuh

That's "color, color, color" for those of you not yet fluent in Kelly-speak. The language lightbulb has gone off for her and she has become so much more verbal in the last few weeks. But you have to know what you're listening for in order to understand her. This gem of a conversation took place last week:

(Shannon and Kelly are in the family room, Jodi is in the hallway)

Kelly: Wuh-wuh, wuh-wuh, wuh-wuh.
Shannon: (funny fake "be nice to babies" voice) What you want, Kello?
Kelly: Wuh-wuh, wuh-wuh, wuh-wuh
Shannon: No wuh-wuh. I say, what you want?
Kelly: Wuh-wuh, wuh-wuh, wuh-wuh
Shannon: Kelly. My name Shannon, not wuh-wuh. Shan-non (she was very careful to enunciate)
Kelly: Wuh-wuh, wuh-wuh, wuh-wuh
Shannon: (mad) Kelly! My name Shannon, not wuh-wuh!
Jodi: (shouting) Shannon, she wants to color! She's saying "color"
Shannon: (shouting back) No, Mommy, she saying "wuh-wuh."

C is for cookie

This girl has such a sweet tooth. We walked by the bakery in the grocery store yesterday and when Kelly saw the baker dipping eclairs in melty chocolate, she started nodding emphatically and flashed me her best smile. We settled on a chocolate chip cookie. (And a bath!)

Raise your hand if you were really excited about turning 3

Shannon was very into her birthday this year. So we decided to have a big old princess pool party to celebrate.

Birthday cakes have become a hobby around here, and this one was really fun to create. Five boxes of cake mix and one trip to the Wilton aisle at Michael's later...

My favorite part was the Cinderella cupcake and her sparkly dress. Shannon's too.

After an afternoon of eating and swimming, we headed back home and opened some presents.

Disney princesses and girly-girl stuff have taken over. Shannon has had a blast playing dress-up,

reading princess books,

and making some important calls on her Cinderella phone. (She also sends emails from her phone, welcome to 2010.)

Happy Birthday, big girl!

Return of the Blog

Hi, remember us? Mama's trying to get back on track with the blog so stay tuned!

Kelly is hi-LAR-ious right now. She has figured out she can make us laugh by being silly and boy, does she make us laugh. She loves dogs and purses and babies and pushing things around. She knows our routines and likes to bring everyone their shoes. She's babbling a ton and I've caught her singing "row your boat" to herself a few times (my clue was the rowing arms and rocking head). She loves to dance and copy Shannon. She's learning body parts and can recognize characters like Elmo and Dora. She moved up to the toddler room at school. She's saying lots of "words" including Philly Phanatic (but refuses to even attempt "mama"). She's also testing boundaries and is fond of using her chompers if she doesn't get her way. Kelly's favorite foods these days are watermelon and bananas.

And then there's...

Shannon is such a sweetie these days. She is so excited about her upcoming birthday and is more than happy to tell just about anyone that she's almost three. We've been taking her to lots of Phillies games. Her favorite player is Shane Victorino and usually gets a laugh from the section because she cheers so loud when he's up. She is obsessed with Disney princess stories (Cinderella is the still the favorite). Our bedtime routine is "2 books and one story from your mouth." She's getting really good at counting and she likes tracing letters. She moved classrooms at school and is very excited that her new room has computers in it. She's doing great with using the potty and has been waking up dry at night more and more. She's got ideas out the wazoo, some which I'm amazed at the connections/logic she's using and others can't even attempt to understand (see below!).

Love you girlies!

Daddy and Dora

Turns out that if you've spent your whole life watching just about every kind of sporting event on TV, you're REALLY good at watching Dora. You know, because she actually asks you to yell at the screen.

I think between the two of them, Shannon and Chris might have scared off Swiper for good.

Spain Reunion

Spain girls are on a roll! We got together for our Fourth Annual Cinco de Mayo reunion last weekend. This year we met at Monica and Steve's new house outside of DC. We were excited about another girl trip and were joined by Alexandra and Brette from New York and Cheryl all the way from Shanghai.

I love getting together with these girls because we never plan on doing anything but hanging out and catching up. And that what we did. Here's what I'll remember about this year's visit.

Meeting Baby Cole! Who is a such sweet little guy. Umm, scratch that. Sweet big guy.

Dress up! Addie's got the best box of dress-up clothes. Everyone got in on the action (blackmail photos on Monica's blog). Shannon's philosophy: More.

Watching Shannon and Addie play so well together.

Cooking breakfast


Playing "Kelly says"

Having someone to share the drama of being 2 1/2 years old with. (This meltdown was over the rubber duckie.)

Hanging out in Monica's great backyard on a perfect day.

A great dinner and sitting around the table reminiscing about our days in Madrid.

Mixing up all parts of life: old friends and new kiddos.

See you next year!