words

In addition to signing "more", "book", and "baby", Peyton can now say the following important words: "dada", "moo", "up", "down", and "circle". Can I get her to say "mama" just once? Ugh.

presidents' day

Presidents' Day was much more important to Austin than “Valentime’s” Day this year. Much. More. Important. Must be the 5K curriculum combined with his fascination with money. He comes home every night with a different factoid about a former president. Since he’s become captivated by everything Patriotic, I thought it would be fun to take him with us to vote in the presidential primary last night. Whooo, was it FUN. Austin couldn’t seem to grasp the meaning of VOTE. How do you define vote to a 5 year old? I tried all sorts of different explanations, and even the demonstration of me voting didn’t do the trick – as he was afraid of the machine and the man next to it.

So, on the short trip home I devised a plan – a family election. Held last night. In our kitchen. Up for grabs? – President of the household – for the night. On the ballot? Dad, Mom, Austin, and Peyton. Austin won, even though he voted for all four candidates; he thought we would “all make good presidents”.

valentine's day

I love Valentine’s Day! Love it. I know, it is a commercialized holiday for the flower/card industry, blah blah bah humbug I say. It is a day celebrating love, what can be better than that? Lately, hubbie and I have been a little lax in the romance department. We have been very busy and stressed at work and since we work together we often take this stress home with us. And, in general, we’ve just been tired! So, I planned something fun for the day after V day – today – he gets a massage – a professional massage at MODA and then we’re heading to Village Hearthstone for dinner. Ahhhh . . . looking forward to a date night. Oh yeah, and the kids are staying with his parents wooooh hooo!

And, Damian made it so special for me. Yesterday, he surprised me with strawberry pancakes and scrambled egg breakfast in bed. It shocked me and I loved it! And, I love him. So. Much.

more on valentime's day and the reason I love saying valentime - Austin.

want a free ipod? yes, I said free!

I never win anything. And, a few months ago, I won a pair of awesome running shoes from this company. I randomly received the pair in the mail, and it made my day, week, and month! I mean, there is nothing quite as exciting as getting a package in the mail you didn’t pay for. And, more importantly, the shoes are awesome and every night I put them on after work, I think about that exciting day I opened the package!

Now, what would go better with running shoes than an iPod nano and Baggage just happens to be giving one away over here.

money, money, money, money . . . money

Austin has lost his first two teeth in the past month. The tooth fairy made a trip to our house and gave Austin a most prized present each time – MONEY. The boy is obsessed with money . . . and presidents. U.S. presidents and money. It’s all he talks about. Tonight he taught his banker parents something about money we didn’t know . . . on the back of a Penny is the image of Lincoln sitting at his chair. Maybe I knew this and forgot? Anywho, it’s pretty interesting getting an educational lesson from a 5-year old.

big girl

I marvel at the personality differences between Austin and Peyton. For example, Austin knew 180+ words at 15 months. He knew about 15 nursery rhymes. Peyton knows . . . “uh oh” . . . and “da da”, but “da da”, is everyone and everything so I’m not even sure that counts. Peyton loves to be cuddled and Austin avoided it at all costs. Austin also avoided having his diaper changed and Peyton will go in her bedroom and bring me a diaper when she needs to be changed!

Austin was perfectly content being a baby. I am a little embarrassed to admit he wore diapers until he was 4 and happily sat in his booster chair until he was five. Not only does Peyton not want to sit in her booster chair for meals, she insists on a fork/spoon and a plate. When she has it her way she steals Austin’s seat before he arrives at the table. She pulls herself to the edge of the seat and twirls her feet while she waits to be served. If she didn’t insist on throwing her drinks when finished with them she would be using a cup all the time. I am pretty sure Austin would still take a bottle if I let him.

Peyton took a shower this morning . . . by herself. It’s a pretty odd site to see a 15 month old standing in a shower. She saw me take a shower, and then when she saw Damian in the shower she decided it was her turn.

She’s my baby; she’s not supposed to be growing up this fast! Next week she’ll be driving to school!